Chairman of Parish Council Steve Webb Vice Chair Lindsay Davidson Parish Councillors Tara Martin Richard Graham Simon Banks Kathy Wylie Responsible Officers Grass Cutting Richard Graham Play Area Lindsay Davidson Welcome to Kielder Parish News the newsletter from Kielder Parish Council. Firstly, we would like to thank everyone in the Parish for their excellent turn-out at the elections. Secondly we would like to give you an update on the progress we have made since our first meeting in May. Millennium Garden A tidy-up day supported by the Forestry Commission and local volunteers was held on the 14 th June. Many thanks to everyone who turned out and worked hard and to the Forestry Commission for providing the staff and tools. Members of the community will be organising the new planting, and a regular maintenance programme to keep it looking its best. A new sign for the garden has been installed, and the benches are being refurbished. Falstone Cemetery Simon Banks Kathy Wylie Kielder School and Dark Skies Steve Webb Area Committee West Tara Martin 1
Kielder Parish News Website This is currently under development and has been on-line since the summer. The website gives us a great opportunity to reach more of our community, and for you to be able to contact us about issues affecting you. We need feedback from you about what you think about the website and what information you would like to see on it. The website address is www.parish-council.com/kielder and we hope you will find it useful. Dark Skies Elisabeth Rowark from the Kielder Water and Forest Park Development Trust gave the Parish Council an update on the Dark Skies. The lighting audit of Kielder Village has been carried out and a Lighting Management Plan is now being finalised. The application for the Dark Sky status is in progress. The working group on Dark Skies is looking at ways to direct people towards Discovery Sites to experience Kielder's Dark Skies. They are discussing visitor management issues, signage and interpretation, to ensure that sites are well signposted and that disturbance to the village is minimised. Street Lights The Dark Skies Steering group is looking into ways to improve the level of lighting in the village by looking at LED streetlights and down-lighting. A new LED street light has been installed on Castle Drive as a trial and we would like to know what you think of it. We have also requested another for Castle View. For more information on the Dark Skies, visit our website www.parish-council.com/kielder which has links to the latest newsletter on the Dark Skies. 2
Gold Award for Tourism Kielder Water and Forest Park was recently voted England's best tourism experience by Visit England and received a Gold Winner Award. Friends of KWFPDT The Kielder Water Forest Park Development Trust are soon to launch a Friends of KWFPDT, so that volunteers can help with the work that the Trust carry out. For further information on the work of KWFPDT, visit the links page on our website www.parish-council.com/kielder Forestry Commission Update Alex McClennan gave us an update on the work of the Forestry Commission. They are currently working with Northumberland Council to remove illegal signage, at the road junction between the Kielder and Bellingham road. They want to increase the profile of the Kielder sign, which is not very prominent, and to put up more conspicuous signs at the Lanehead and Saughtree junctions to direct people towards Kielder. However, the timescales for this are thought to be long term. They are submitting a funding application to DEFRA to reinvest in the mountain bike trails. They have also taken on 2 seasonal staff to work at the visitor centre at the castle. Broadband The timescale for a BT fibre optic solution in Kielder is unlikely to be delivered until late 2015 - early 2016 However, there may be options for wireless broadband in some areas before then. 3
Kielder Marathon Volunteers are needed to help the Parish Council bake cakes/traybakes for the event on Saturday 5th October and to sell refreshments. If you can help out, in any way, please let us know as this would be a great help. The organisers of the event also need help on the 5th and 6th October with marshalling, feed stations and the finish line. Anyone interested should contact the events team on 01434 689040 or info@kieldermarathon.com 880 Bus Service We are currently awaiting the outcome of meetings regarding this service, as to whether the timetable will be a minimum, medium or full timetable. This will be dependent on funding. Environment Agency Community Flood Plan The Parish Council have been working with Samuel Andrews of the Environment Agency to draw up a Flood Plan for Kielder. He said, "After the devastation and loss of life experienced during the flash flood incidents in Cornwall (Nov 2010) the government has tasked the Environment Agency to ensure rural areas under risk from flash flooding have adequate plans in place to react should such an event occur. We are under a 'high' risk. Therefore, the parish council with the assistance of Samuel Andrews are formulating a flood plan to best deal with such an issue. This will be brought to the council in the coming months as the plan progresses." 4
Local Police Surgeries PC Colin Heath is looking at holding one meeting a month for local people to discuss any issues affecting their community. Play Park Concerns have been raised over damage to the wooden fencing surrounding the play park. If anyone notices any damage or deterioration of equipment in the play park, including fencing or furniture, please let us know via the feedback form on our website or via email to davidsonlinds567@yahoo.co.uk School 50th Anniversary The anniversary of 50 years of Kielder School, in its current location, is this October, and we are looking at ways to celebrate this occasion in conjunction with the school. Proposal for Wind Turbines RWE Renewables are in the early stages of assessing the possibility of a wind farm in the Comb and Redesdale Forest area of Kielder Forest. For further information, please visit the links page on our website www.parish-council.com/kielder We hope you have enjoyed reading this newsletter. If you have any ideas for articles or information for the newsletter, please fill in the feedback form on our website www.parish-council.com/kielder or email davidsonlinds567@yahoo.co.uk 5