Current Issues

Front Garden Competition 2009

The presentation of prizes for the front garden competition of 2009 has now taken place and the main category winners are:

Small Garden - Mrs K Kissane-Rogers, 1 Glenfrith Gardens

Large Garden - Mr & Mrs Holmes, 26 Rothley Road

Business Premises - Mountsorrel Guest House, 217 Loughborough Road

Congratulations to all finalists.

Below is a selection of the winning gardens.

Mountsorrel Youth Development Group

ACTIVITY DAY

After forecasts of rain and clouds, Saturday 15th August turned out to be a warm and sunny, if not entirely cloudless, day and there was much activity on Halstead Road playing fields, Mountsorrel.

The day had been chosen for the Summer Youth Activities Day organised by the Mountsorrel Youth Development Group (MYDG), a working party of the Parish Council as part of a programme of events which take place during the summer holidays for the young people of Mountsorrel. This programme consists of a range of sporting activities at the Soar Valley Leisure Centre, with at least one event taking place every day. The Youth Activity Day takes place mid-August.

An estimated 300 people, including some parents and onlookers, turned out to enjoy the mixture of fun events and informative displays that made up the day. These attractions comprised of a huge inflated slide, and a gladiator “ring”, bar football (similar to table football but with human players), a rodeo buck, and a bouncy castle for younger children. A “splat the rat” game offered sweets to successful contestants which had been kindly donated by the Co-operative stores in the village. A tug of war also took place.

Additional presentations were made by the Jessica Michelle School of Dance who entertained the audience with a fine display; birds of prey; Charnwood Arts; Leicestershire County Council Youth Service; Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service; and Charnwood Borough Council Anti-social Behaviour Unit.

Refreshments in the form of teas, coffees and cold drinks with a range of sweets were sold by the football club and hot dogs were made by the scouts.

MYDG are extremely grateful to Lafarge Aggregates and Concrete UK who contributed £740.63 to pay for expenses of the day and Leicestershire County Council and Charnwood Borough Council who gave £1,000 and £200 respectively towards the whole summer programme. Thanks are also expressed to all the people who helped make the event such a success.

Ben Hawkins, Project Manager, Mountsorrel Quarry handing a cheque to Cllr Steve Haywood (chair, MYDG) and Cllr Hilary Dyer (treasurer, MYDG) at the Activity Day. Photo by Clive Rasin.

Charnwood Sports Awards

For further information on the Charnwood Sports Awards and a nomination form please click on the link below:

Mountsorrel to ban dogs from playing fields?

At a recent meeting of Mountsorrel Parish Council the problem of dog fouling was raised. This is a perennial problem, not just in Mountsorrel but nationally. Irresponsible dog owners are letting their pets deposit their mess on playing fields used by children and cricket and football teams. Three visiting cricket teams have complained about the state of the Mountsorrel Memorial Playing Field, and the local cricket team has been warned that if it does not improve they could be banned from using the pitch. Dog fouling is also a health and safety problem where children play and dogs are currently banned from all the equipped play areas.

Three solutions have been put forward: getting all the dog owners to clear up the mess, only allowing dogs on leads or banning dogs from all the playing fields. It is recognised that the majority of dog owners are responsible and do clear up but how do we get the small minority who don’t bother or don’t care to act likewise?

It is the responsibility of the dog owner to pick up after their pet. It would be better if the dog was trained to use their own back garden, rather than the fields and public streets, but if the dog does go then the owner has a public duty to clear up the mess. Banning dogs running loose on the playing fields may help to solve the problem, because the owner knows the dog is messing and should then clear up the mess. Banning dogs totally from all playing fields should solve the problem, but it does penalise the responsible dog owner who always clears up their pet’s mess. Several local Councils having taken this route, but does it just move the problem on to the streets and local fields?

The streets of the village are also littered with dog excrement and this problem has got worse recently. Charnwood Borough Council has been asked to step up patrols and fine people who offend. The Litter (Animal Droppings) Order 1991 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 obliged local councils to keep public walkways, pleasure grounds, gardens, recreational areas and popular parts of the seashore clear of fouling. The Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996 made failing to clear up dog poo an offence punishable by a fixed penalty of £50 or, in court, a fine of up to £1,000.

51 Years on Road Safety Committee

Councillor Harold Newman was presented with a certificate by The Mayor of Charnwood in recognition of 51 years service on the Charnwood Road Safety Committee.