[December 2007] Outline planning application for a community shop - support needed
An outline planning permission for a new community shop in the Galleries Field right next to the Village Hall car park was made on 29th November. This application needs strong support from residents to overcome the planning obstacles. (The site is in the green belt and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, so that the application goes against some policies in the Local Plan.) Click here to submit your comment.
Some 500 households will benefit from the community shop. Our target is 100 favourable comments. The formal consultation period ends on 24th December. But even after that date your letters will still be taken into account and reported to the councillors at the committee meeting where the decision is made.
[December 2007] Village Plan Update
On November 21st, a public meeting was held to report back the findings of the sub-committees of the Village Plan group. The presentations given on that evening, and their accomanying report, are available on the Village Plan webpage.
[October 2007] Traffic Problems in Freshford
As a resident are you affected by traffic congestion, and parking problems? Do you feel that the speed limits within the village are inadequate? Are you concerned about pedestrian safety?
Freshford Parish Council receives more complains and requests for intervention over traffic problems than any other parish matter. Radical new solutions are urgently needed and, if any one of the questions posed above rings a bell or raises your hackles, please try to attend a public meeting on the issues to be held on Friday November 9th at 7.30 in the Memorial Hall.
Following on from an extensive appraisal of the Freshford situation, there will be a presentation by Hamilton-Baillie Associates, experts in innovative solutions and the "shared space" concept. Their ideas are interesting and extremely relevent.
[September 2007] Temporary Post Office open!
A temporary part-time Post Office opened its doors on Tuesday 11th September. It is located above the Surgery, just around the corner from the original PO. Its opening hours are Tuesday and Friday mornings, 9 am to 1 pm. BBC Bristol came along and interviewed the first few customers.
Roger Jacob, the Hinton Charterhouse postmaster, is providing this service for us, helped by his assistant Ian. Members of the Freshford Shop Project are providing coffee, tea and biscuits - free of charge during the month of September.
Some 40 people have visited the Post Office on each of the three mornings it has been open, and the seating corner has proven very popular - with people happily greeting fellow residents they haven't seen for months!
This Post Office provides ALL THE SERVICES the old Post Office did. Click here for a full list.
[September 2007] Community Shop to go by Village Hall
Following consultation at the Freshford and Limpley Stoke Village Fete in July and further research into the three proposed alternative sites (see Shop Project page), two of the three options have been ruled out, in favour of the Village Hall location. The shop is now to go into a new timber building in the Galleries Field next to the Village Hall car park. Here are some pictures of how it might look:
- picture showing the location
- an impression from Freshford Lane
- a computer-generated aerial view.
More pictures are on display at the temporary Post Office, and will be at the Parish Plan meeting on Wednesday 21st November.
This is only a first stab. The greatest hurdle will be obtaining planning permission. Planning officers may object to this plan in principle, or may insist on changes, such as reducing the building in height or size. Village support will be crucial in this, and there will be an opportunity for residents to comment on the final design.
[August 2007] New pillar box by school
Freshford
Shop and Post Office closed at the end of June and the owners asked for
the letterbox to be removed from their building. Post Office Ltd have
provided a lovely new pillarbox in a good central location - by the entrance of the school. Official collection times are as before: Monday to Friday 5.15 pm; Saturday 11 am; and Sunday 9.30 am. Unspecified additional collections are made throughout the day during the week.
The new pillarbox has a larger opening, convenient for A4-size letters.
[July 2007] Freshford Shop Project Update
This section has been brought up to date with the latest developments:
With the existing shop and post office having closed, a temporary part-time post office is being set up, due to open on Tuesday 11th September. Planning permission for the change of use has just been granted.
Your comments are wanted on what services you will most miss from the shop - to see if they can be provided temporarily somehow. Click here for more detail.
Also, the Fresford Shop Project group are now looking at three alternative sites for the community shop. Again, comments welcome! Click here for all the detail.[June 2007] Village Plan Update
Work continues apiece amongst the working parties, all of whom will be
reporting back to you all during the afternoon/evening of 22nd June at
the Memorial Hall, and each of which will have a stall so that you can
talk to them direct. This is your opportunity to express support or
dissent for these plans and after this day work will commence on
putting together the final document.
A full update is available on the Village Plan Webpage.
[May 2007] Route 94 bus timetable
The timetable for the route 94 bus, running between Trowbridge and Bath via Freshford, has changed. The new timetable is published on this website, or is available from Wiltshire Country Council. The service is operated by Libra Travel (01761 435529).
[March 2007] Freshford Mill
Freshford Mill has been sold to a firm of developers, Ypres Rose.
Planning permission has been granted for the construction of 21
residential units. The parish council is working with the developers
and with B&NES Development Control to ensure that all conditions
applied to the planning consent are met. Minutes of a meeting between
Ypres Rose and the Parish Council are available here.
Freshford Shop Project’s Fundraising Dinner raised £1100
The Freshford Shop Project organised a Fundraising Dinner on Saturday 30th September. Take-up was great - 67 people came and had a pleasant evening in the festive surroundings of the Victorian School Hall, opposite the shop. The food was provided by local gourmet chef Maureen White and was up to her usual very high standard. Many thanks to Maureen for donating her cookery talents to the Campaign.£1100 was raised from tickets and a raffle. An extra prize was raffled amongst the 16 people who had to sit on children's chairs...
The Village Plan
Last November we held a public meeting to launch the process of the
Freshford Village Plan. Many of you attended that meeting and the
questionnaire that was sent out earlier this year was a direct result
of your views.
About half the village returned the questionnaires which have now been
analysed and number crunched. In addition to the questionnaires a
series of focus group meetings were held and the information gleaned
from these has also been studied closely. So, we’ve asked a lot of
questions and now have a wealth of answers. Where do we go from here?
The next step is to check back with you, that the issues we’ve
identified as being crucial to Freshfords’ future are the right ones to
be taken forward in the final plan. From there we’ll be setting up
small Groups to develop the action plans prior to it all being written
up and published.
We’d like you to come to the next meeting, on 12th October 2006, to hear what we’ve done so far and say what you think about that. We’d also like to put together the Action Groups and get that part of the process going. So if you want to express your views or get directly involved in one of the Action Groups please come along and encourage your friends and neighbours to come as well.
Green issues, housing, parking, traffic, planning and youth facilities
are just some of the matters that have been raised. If we don’t plan
for them others will!
This is an important meeting and we sincerely ask for your support
Village Shop Campaign Fundraising Dinner
The Village Shop Campaign has organised a Fundraising Dinner to be held on Saturday 30th September, at 7.30pm in the School Hall. Come and have a good time, and help our efforts to retain shopping in Freshford! Tickets cost £15/person. Bring your own wine. For more details, including how to book, see our flyer.
The Village Plan Questionnaire
The Village Plan Questionnaire was delivered to 352 houses in and around Freshford at the end of April. More than 100 responses have been received so far, so a big thank you for those. If you have yet to complete the questionnaire, the deadline has been extended to Wednesday 31st May. Just drop them into the post office, or hand them to one of the village plan committee.
The future of the Village Shop and Post Office
The current owners of the village shop and post office want to sell up and retire. The shop building is being marketed with a residential estate agent. If the marketing is successful, and a buyer believes that they can obtain planning permission for change of use, then Freshford will lose its shop.
An Action Group has been set up to explore the future of the village shop. This group held a public meeting on Tuesday 4th April, at 7PM, in the School Hall, which was well and enthusiastically attended. You can view the presentation given that evening by clicking here.
The key purpose of the meeting was to gauge public support for the shop - which would take considerable effort and resources to set up. This was done by asking people to commit to a certain amount of spending each week for two years - IF the community shop can be made to happen as envisaged in the presentation. The target is shop spending promises amounting to £2400 per week, without which it would not be realistic to continue with the Freshford Shop Project.
Many completed commitment forms that night - which also asked about other types of help people might be able and willing to contribute. The deadline was 1st May, but if you have missed that date the team will still be happy to see your form. You can either fill it out online, or download the form.
As of 15th June, responses had been received from 110 households, committing a total of £5142 per month (including 11 from Limpley Stoke). 22 are willing to be approached about a capital contribution, and 27 individuals have offered to work in the shop. Two were interested in being the shop manager and there were offers of other help, including serving on the management committee. The Action Group feel that commitments could be increased to £7000 with a solid plan to proceed and we could attract 20% extra custom from passing trade and school parents. So they are using £8,400 per month in their business plan.
They have checked out all the alternative shop venues suggested to them by residents. Some were not available, and they concluded that none of them was viable.
They have explored how to make the best of the current shop space and are also considering adding some or all of the flat above the surgery. This would give us extra space for a wider range of goods and a small café and Internet facilities, but at extra cost.
Free off-peak bus travel for residents aged 60 or over
Since 1 April 2006 anyone aged 60 or over qualifies for free off-peak bus travel. The Diamond Travelcard enables holders to travel for free after 9am Monday to Friday and all day at weekends and Bank Holidays. If you are eligible for the scheme, but have not previously had a bus pass, you will need to apply for the new Diamond Travelcard. Application forms are available from the Council Connect offices located in The Guildhall-Bath, The Hollies-Midsomer Norton and The Town Hall-Keynsham. They may also be available at the Freshford PO. Further information can be obtained from the Clerk or from the Concessionary Travel Helpline 01225 477681 (office hours Monday - Friday).
Important change to refuse collection
B&NES are changing to an edge of property refuse collection from 5 June 2006 which means that rubbish sacks will have to be placed at the edge of the property nearest to the highway. Individual residents with queries or concerns are encouraged to call Council Connect (previously called the Action Line) on 01225 394041 or email waste_services@bathnes.gov.uk or write to B&NES, Waste Services, Keynsham Town Hall, Keynsham, BS31 1ED to register concerns that will need investigating. Assisted collections can be arranged for residents who are unable to carry their rubbish sacks due to age, disability or a medical condition. To apply for assistance with rubbish sacks or recycling boxes, please contact B&NES on the numbers given above.
Wiltshire Hopper Bus Service to the RUH
Freshford residents can use the Wiltshire Hopper Bus Service to the RUH. The service, which runs Monday to Friday, must be booked at least two working days in advance. Prices start at £4.00 return and concessions may apply. To make a booking call 01985 212 213 (Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.30pm). A leaflet giving more details about the operation of the service is available from the Clerk.
Planning Applications.
Current planning applications are now listed on our council planning page with a link to B&NES planning site for further details. Freshford Parish Council comment on planning applications received for Freshford and also for properties located on the fringes of the village in Hinton Charterhouse, Limpley Stoke and Westwood. Any resident can also comment - details of how to do so are given on the B&NES planning site.