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Commentary on activity in our three parishes and may also contain information, which has not yet passed before the full JPC, in which electors may have an interest, all written from the perspective of the JPC, responsible to all three parishes.
The official minutes are written by the Clerk and RFO of the Council, and are not moderated by anyone prior to their approval at a subsequent meeting. Copies of the official minutes are available on this website.
Updated July 2025
CASUAL VACANCY FOR BARFORD and WASPERTON COUNCILLORS :
Vacancies still remain available for two councillor positions. If you, or someone you know, is interested in becoming a parish councillor, for either village, then please contact any JPC member for more information about the work we do or email clerk.bswjpc@gmail.com – it would be really informative to attend a JPC meeting and see some of the work we do and the nature of debate. The work is interesting and varied and gets you involved in our community. We are particularly keen to attract younger members to make our councillor mix more representative of our villages. Thereafter you can make a formal approach then you can be put forward at a future meeting for existing members to consider co-option.
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AT JPC MEETINGS :
Also referred to as “Public Question Time”, whilst we play with the title…This has been a cause of some confusion for some time and the matter was raised by a member of the public at the June JPC. For clarification, this is a non-compulsory session which PCs can include in their agendas, at a time of their choosing – we choose early in the meeting, before the business-proper takes place. It is the ONLY opportunity during the evening when members of the public can speak - to raise matters of interest or concern and to ask questions. Any member of the public can speak for up to 4 minutes and will be listened to by JPC members. There will not usually be any immediate discussion, unless the chair, or another delegated member can deal with the matter directly. Other matters will be considered later and may receive written response or be placed on a later agenda. Once all members of the public who wish to speak have spoken then the public are welcome to stay and hear the rest of the agenda, but MUST remain silent whilst the business continues. Interruptions will not be tolerated…
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SOUTH WARWICKSHIRE LOCAL PLAN – Third Call for Sites :
The first stage of reporting this Third Call for Sites is now available online. Thankfully, there are no new sites within our parishes, or seemingly, very likely to impact our area. Bishops Tachbrook and Wellesbourne have some minor additions, tacked onto existing sites. None of the new sites have yet been evaluated and that will be reported over the next few weeks.
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SMITHS QUARRY :
Apparently Smiths’ response is expected by the end of June and there may be further public consultation from mid-July. An extension for the public response has been requested given the likely complexity of Smiths’ submission. Please be ready to respond…
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SCHOOL ZIG-ZAGS :
Many of you will have realised that we have problems with buses parking unnecessarily outside Barford School, often unrelated to that school’s activities, but simply using the area as a temporary parking stop for other routes.
WCC intend to issue a Traffic Regulation Order, outside all schools, which will make it illegal to stop on zigzags. This will include buses picking up from Barford School who will have to choose a different location to wait and will preserve the safety intentions of having the zigzags, which provide proper visibility for and of children crossing roads near schools.
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YOUTH INVOLVEMENT :
Cllr Ben Ranner’s work towards forming a youth group continues and is getting warm support and an offer of basic funding in the future.
The JPC has committed seed-corn funds to get things started, including hiring BYCC for meetings and basic publicity. Cllr Mrs Thompson and Cllr Hawkesford have volunteered to be involved and all the involved councillors will undergo DBS checks and First Aid training. Members were aware that any aspirations would have to fit into the budgetary limits and within suitable timeframes, so hopefully achievable whilst the instigating youngsters were still interested and involved… something which has been a challenge in the past, when the processes move on slowly and youth grows up quite quickly.
SMARTER objectives come to mind, so projects should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and timely, whilst ensuring that they can be Evaluated and Revised in the future or amidst changing circumstances.
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VILLAGE NOTICE BOARDS :
The renewal process is underway, some renovations are already complete and some new boards have been ordered. The proposed new JPC board at BMH will not be going ahead as the Village Shop committee would not allow its mounting on their wall, on aesthetic grounds… As a substitute the existing board in the corner of BMH grounds will be more extensively refurbished and one of the three sections will become lockable and dedicated to JPC matters. This is rather disappointing as it is unlikely that we will be able to provide the full range of documents that we hoped, and they will probably have to be in a smaller format, so perhaps less easy to read. More comprehensive material will however be going online for those with suitable access.
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JPC POLICIES REVIEWS :
The JPC has an extensive suite of policies covering all aspects of our activities and these have now been placed on a formal “Review Register” so all policies will be actively diarised for review over the full JPC year, spreading the work, but ensuring that all policies remain up to date. New policies introduced and finessed at the June JPC included a “Harassment & Bullying” Policy and also an Information Technology (IT) Policy. These will be brought back to the July JPC for final adoption, and reviewed in one year.
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KING GEORGE’S FIELD DISRUPTIONS :
Recently there have been several “events” at KGF, many of them involving water at the toilet and consequential flooding and damage. In the earlier hotter weather many of the events involved “water balloons” being filled and thrown around or splashed about whilst filling, and then leaves rubber debris from the burst balloons. Please do not encourage this water-bombing. Latterly there have been toilet blockage events, often made worse with the blue hand towel paper which should never be flushed down the WC. This leads to flooding when the toilet is repeatedly flushed – all very unpleasant for cleaning up. It can also wreck the pump system, so it is looking like it may be sensible to dispense with the blue towel – which is not inexpensive to supply in the quantities that are used or wasted – and fit an electric hand dryer. It may well be cost effective, even before allowing for the extra cleaning costs.
Inevitably there are also calls for closing the toilets completely, or at least restricting access times, and it may be that we finally opt for a compromise, where the dawn-to-dusk locking system is supplemented with a timer override to limit how late the toilet is available in the summer evenings.
Meanwhile, the CCTV once again has provided useful information concerning those involved in the latest incident and the system will be thoroughly interrogated and the findings shared with the Police, as in previous events. The culprits, who will know who they are, should expect Police visits…
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EMAIL UPDATES :
We can often send out timely reminders, updates and notices direct to your email in boxes. If you do not already receive these AND WOULD LIKE TO DO SO click here to send an e-mail please contact John Murphy so that you can be added to the circulation list.
The list will not be shared with others, will be sent out as Bcc (so not revealing your email) and will only be used for matters which should reasonably interest/ concern you.
It’s free, easy and just occasionally is the only way to get urgent things out to a wider audience – and you can always hit DELETE or ask to be unsubscribed.
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MEMBERS' ATTENDANCE RECORDS :
The Chairman of the JPC has asked that a record of JPC members' attendance be published on the website.
Click here to download record of attendance at JPC meetings in 2023/ 24 (PDF file)
Updated March 2024
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NEXT JPC MEETING :
The next JPC Meeting will be held on Monday14th July 2025 at 7:30pm in Barford Memorial Hall.
Click here for Notices of JPC and Planning Committee meetings, and the Minutes of previous meetings.
Click here for a list of all JPC meeting dates in 2025.
There is always a session for “ Public Participation ” early in the agenda (four minutes maximum per person) when we are happy to hear and note your concerns or questions.
To attend in person there may be Covid requirements depending on the local situation at the time and at the discretion of the Chair. As a minimum there will be appropriate ventilation and air filtration in place.
Alternatively, you may submit “your views” to yourviews@barford.org.uk or phone/ email the Chairman, John Murphy, on 624421 or 07710 033444 or jvm@jvmurphy.co.uk or the Clerk, Helen Dexter on clerk.bswjpc@gmail.com or contact any of the Parish Councillors about any matters you wish to bring to our attention.
An agenda for each meeting will be posted in advance on village notice boards and on this website. Residents are also encouraged to email myself (see below), or contact any of the Parish Councillors or the Clerk, Helen Dexter.
John Murphy
Chairman 624421 or 07710 033444
Click here to e-mail.
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