Re-opening of the Playground and Fitness Equipment

The playground and fitness equipment will be open from the morning of Saturday 4^th July.

The Parish Council are pleased that local children will be able to use this again, but please do so sensibly and continue to follow government guidelines.

To help everyone stay safe:

Parents must supervise their children, please don’t let them play on their own.

No more than 6 people should use the play area at a time, so if others are waiting don’t stay too long. Remember social distancing, stay at least a metre from other people who are not from your household.

Please wash your hands before and after visiting, take sanitiser or wipes to clean handles and other places you touch - but then put them in the bin. We are unable to clean the equipment regularly so it is up to you to keep safe.

The play equipment has been checked and painted ready for use, please keep our playground tidy and keep everyone safe! If there are any problems we may have to close it again.

News from the May Parish Council meeting:

For the first time ever Elford Parish Council held their monthly meeting online on Zoom, as the government had changed the law to allow video meetings. One member of the public requested a link to observe the meeting, and other residents are encouraged to do so next time by contacting the Clerk for information before the meeting. You can then either watch or listen or contribute with a question during Open Forum. Of course as usual you can also contact one of the Councillors or the Clerk and ask them to raise something at the meeting on your behalf.

During the meeting the Clerk gave a resume of what had happened to local services as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Parish Council were very pleased with the efforts of a group of volunteers who had helped those who were self-isolating to cope during this time, and expressed their thanks to everyone who has been involved in this, from the 3 organisers to around 40 people who volunteered to help.

Regular maintenance and other Council business including finance and audit has continued to be managed during the lockdown.

Various planning matters were discussed, including applications in the wider parish, a Planning Appeal regarding the new access at Elford Lowe and the granting of planning permission for housing at land off The Shrubbery.

Councillors raised various matters. Please keep dogs on leads when walking near other people or on public land such as the Avenue and please continue to clean up after your pets.  Please be vigilant as rural crime is on the rise; a particularly serious robbery happened recently at a local farm.

Cllrs agreed that although everyone continued to observe social distancing it was good to see that many people in Elford were still able to enjoy celebrating VE Day outside their homes, and there is generally a positive atmosphere in the village despite these difficult times.

As usual if there are any issues you’d like us to deal with, please contact clerk@elfordparish.co.uk or phone 01827 50230.

To all Residents,

Following some very constructive conversations between the Parish Council and Will Bridgen, the plan for spreading fertiliser on the land surrounding Elford village is as follows:

Points to consider as residents:

• Spreading of fertiliser is only 4 weeks out of a 52 week year (less than 10% of the year)
• Spreading is only within the months of March, April, May and September or October, subject to some flexibility regarding weather conditions and crop requirements
• Spreading is normally only 5 days at a time.

Additional compromises by the Bridgen family:

• Spreading will now cease 2 days prior to any bank holiday
• Where possible spreading will only be during week days, minimising the effect of the smell on residents during any weekend
• As before Will Bridgen will post on the Elford News Facebook page in advance of when spreading will commence

Should residents have any further questions or issues with the plan, please can they contact the Parish Council via clerk@elfordparish.co.uk

The Parish Council would also like to thank the Bridgen family for their help during the recent floods in the village when they helped by providing and operating their own irrigation pump which pumped water closer to the pumping station when it was impeded by blocked flow in the culvert and blocked gullies. This extra pumping capacity made all the difference during the flood events of November 2019 and February 2020 until the Environment Agency were able to operate the pumping station effectively.

We as the Parish Council thanks Will, Ben and the Bridgen family for their help to the community during the floods.

The Bridgen family have also indicated that they are willing to help with providing parking for the Scarecrow Festival 2021 and the Parish Council are grateful for this offer.

The application for reserved matters for 25 homes has now been approved.

Click here to read the decision notice or here to read the officer's report 

Staffordshire's recycling centres are now open for essential vsits only. For details of opening hours etc please see:

https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Waste-and-recycling/recyclingcentres/Re-opening-Staffordshires-waste-recycling-centres.aspx?

Please clean up after your pets on the footpaths around the village and on the Sportsfield.

Chiildren need a clean place to run around and play when they go out for exercise.

Pick up the poop to keep public areas safe and clean for everyone!

For details of how to access dental services please click here

Lichfield District Council has created a coronavirus section on its website that has more information about community support, business support, service updates and public health information. Go to www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/coronavirus to find out more.

A Just Giving appeal has been launched to raise funds to support people and communities across the district that have been affected by COVID-19 (coronavirus).

Lichfield District Council has been overwhelmed with the community response to the COVID-19 crisis. Lots of people are joining in the volunteering effort and have been offering to help their neighbours and community members who are self-isolating.

Many more have asked how they can help. In response, the council has set up a Just Giving page to raise money to help community groups across Lichfield District to support local people most in need.

It is now even more important to offer support, as many voluntary and community groups who help vulnerable people are no longer able to continue with their invaluable work, which has placed strains on the voluntary and community sector across the district.

The Lichfield coronavirus relief fund will help voluntary and community groups to continue supporting vulnerable members of the community. This could include delivering meals to people who might not be able to prepare them themselves, providing befriending services, and developing online support.

As this appeal is for the district of Lichfield, every penny raised will be spent locally, supporting organisations that make a huge difference to the lives of some of the district’s most vulnerable residents.

To donate, please visit www.justgiving.com/campaign/lichfieldcoronavirus.

Businesses may find Lichfield's website useful and please also see the attached summary of help that is available files/downloads/government-support-for-businesses-coronavirus-covid-19.pdf

Staffordshire County Council is also issuing bulletins to explain how it is helping residents https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKSTAFFORDSHIRECC/bulletins/282a981