Minutes of the last Parish Council Meeting

Click here to see the Minutes of the Meeting of the 29th April.

Agenda for the Annual Parish Meeting

Click here to see the Agenda for the Annual Parish Meeting on the 16th May. All village organisations and groups are invited to submit a report, either verbally at the meeting or in writing to the Clerk.

Better news on broadband

After a Hub Coordinators meeting on Wednesday 8 May, our Hub Coordinator, Cath Davenport, has sent this optimistic note, although we are now definitely waiting until 21 June for detailed information about what BT plan to do next in the rural areas...

"Cumbria County Council are expecting the final decision on the Major Projects application to the EU within a week or so. It should be all systems go from then on.

One item that came from the partnership board was that once the 7% who will not be able to get superfast broadband are known commercial providers will be approached to see whether they have any plans that would improve the speeds in those areas.

At the HC meeting, we actually met the project leaders from BT. Jim Jackson of BT Openreach is in overall charge and gave an impressive presentation. He assured us that he is committed to making the project a success and that new technologies are coming on stream all the time. What might be insurmountable at the moment will be solved - one way or another. Radio may be a solution for areas a long way from cabinets/exchanges. He lives in South Westmorland and was frustrated by the slow speeds himself!  Julia Watts from BT Group was also there and she is making contact with the individual Hub Co-ordinators to find out the situation on the ground in each area.

BT and CCC are expecting to Launch the project on 21 June.  On that day the maps of each area will go public and we should know the places that are likely to be in the 7%, although Jim Jackson said that you could expect that to change and no-one really knows until the work starts."

Kendal South Election Results

Choose your Favourite Hymn for Songs of Praise on Village Green

A Songs of Praise
with Carnforth Salvation Army Band

On Sunday 23rd June at 4pm the Salvation Army Band from Carnforth will lead a ‘Songs of Praise’ on the Village Green. We are inviting you to have your say in the hymns that will be sung and played that afternoon by choosing your top five hymns from the list below.
Your ‘top five’ can be emailed to this address stmarksnatland100@googlemail.com or written on a slip of paper and posted in the box at the back of church. Votes to be cast by end of Sunday 2nd June.
                 Thank you. Rev'd Angela Whittaker

Stand up, stand up for Jesus

Praise my soul

O happy day

Love divine, all loves excelling

Be thou my vision

Lord of all hopefulness

Hills of the north rejoice

How great thou art

Let all the world in every corner sing

Mine eyes have seen the glory

O when the saints go marching in

                     He who would valiant be                     
(or Who would true valour see)
Colours of day
Shine Jesus shine
Tell out my soul
What a friend we have in Jesus
O for a thousand tongues to sing
Great is thy faithfulness
Guide me O thou great redeemer
The king of love my shepherd is

Monday Club Meeting

The next meeting of the Monday Club will  be on the 20th May at 2.00pm in the Village Hall when the speakers will be Wendy Balmer and Jean Scott-Smith whose subject will be Westmorland Dialect. Members are reminded that this will be the last meeting for 2012-13 and will be the occasion of the A.G.M. Any proposals or nominations for offices should be with the secretary 14 days before the date of the meeting.                     P.Singleton.

Young at Heart Event

Come along  to Young at Heart - a social group for older residents on Monday 13th May at Natland Village Hall from 1.45 - 3-45pm.

Make new friends and join in with a variety of activities from dominoes and curling to crafts, quizzes and scrabble. Cost £2.00 including refreshments.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Contact Ruth Taylor for more information. Tel. 01539 728180.

Natland's Weather in April

2013         2012 Temperature at 8am 4.2c 5.5c Minimum Temperature (average) 2.9c 3.9c Maximum Temperature (average) 10.8c 11.1c mm in mm in Rainfall 55 2.2 82 3.3

Another cool and fairly dry month. As one would expect, temperatures rose towards the end of the month with a maximum reading of 17c on the 30 April.           John Dobson.

Scam Awareness Month

May 2013 is scam awareness month and Cumbria County Council Trading Standards Service has teamed up with Citizens Advice to highlight the problem of scams, advise people how to avoid being taken in and how they can fight back against the scammers.

The campaign which runs throughout May aims to raise awareness of scams and calls on consumers to drop scam mailings they have received into designated ‘Scamnesty’ bins.  The information collected will provide valuable new intelligence and help inform future investigations aimed at preventing others being scammed.

Scamnesty bins can be found at the following locations:

Booths, Dodge Croft Road, Kirkby Lonsdale CA6 2HG

Grange Library, Grange Fell Road, Grange over Sands LA11 6BQ

Windermere CAB, Windermere Library, Ellerthwaite Road, Windermere LA23 2AJ

Ambleside Age UK, Compston Road, Ambleside LA22 9DJ

Trading Standards Kendal, SLDC, South Lakeland House, Lowther Street Kendal LA9 4DQ

If you have been targeted by a scam, or know someone who has then call Action Fraud 0300 123 2040 www.actionfraud.police.uk. Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and internet crime.

To report a problem to Trading Standards you can contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 08454 04 05 06. Trading Standards are responsible for protecting consumers and the community against rogue traders and traders acting unfairly. You can get online consumer advice and information at: www.adviceguide.org.uk.

Tim Farron Castaway in Natland