WNC News – June edition of Town & Parish Briefing newsletter

On this page you can view the latest news from West Northamptonshire Council. Visit their website at: https://www.westnorthants.gov.uk/


WNC Town & Parish Briefing – Monthly Comprehensive Newsletter

June 2024 edition of the Town & Parish Briefing


WNC News Releases – highlighted by East Farndon Parish Council

Mar 18th 2024 – Subscriptions now open for West Northants garden waste service

Mar 13th 2024 – Eligible households urged to access funding to save money to heat their homes

East Farndon Fete – many thanks for supporting us & see photos

Many thanks to everyone who purchased raffle tickets and those who braved the variable weather to attend our East Farndon Village Fete on Saturday 15th June 2024. Also thanks to the Fete Committee for organising such a great event and special thanks to Nigel for the use of Haynes Field. Cick this link to see some photos from the event. The raffle raised £950 for the church and the other activities raised £1,300 to support local charities and village initiatives.

D-Day – a special history article to commemorate the 80th anniversary

Judy Hodgetts has created a special history article to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day which took place on Thursday 6th June 2024. The article, together with some WW2 artefacts, were displayed at our East Farndon D-Day 80 commemoration event. Judy’s very interesting article is a must read and it includes reflections from a number of East Farndon residents. The first page is repeated below, please click this link to read the full article.

The D-Day Landings by Judy Hodgetts

In June 1944, five years after the start of World War II, France was under German occupation. On 6th June that year over 150,000 allied troops landed on 5 beaches across Normandy, northern France in what was known as the D-Day landings. The aim of this mission was to drain German resources and to block access to key military sites. Securing a bridgehead in Normandy would allow the Allies to establish a viable presence in northern Europe.

A combined naval, air and land assault, it remains the largest seaborne invasion in history. It was known as Operation Overlord, codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as the D-Day landings. The landings marked the start of a long and costly campaign in north-west Europe, which lasted until 30th August 1944. It ultimately convinced the German high command that defeat was inevitable.

Early on 6th June, Allied airborne forces parachuted into drop zones across northern France. Ground troops then landed across five assault beaches – Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. By the end of the day, the Allies had established a foothold along the coast and could begin their advance into France.

A total of 4,414 Allied troops were killed on D-Day itself, with more than 5,000 wounded. In the ensuing Battle of Normandy (the entire campaign), 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded. The battle – and especially Allied bombings of French villages and cities – killed around 20,000 French civilians.

Many men and women from East Farndon served in World War II, and although we know where some men were stationed, it is unclear how many landed in Normandy on 6th June 1944. Upon their return home after the war, many men were unable to talk about the trauma they had been through.

Sadly, two men from the village (Sidney Chapman and Brigadier Denis Sanders) were killed in action during the campaign and four other men (Frederick Stanley Allen, Mick Belton, Ernie Piggin and Brigadier Sir Alex Stanier) took part in the landings and survived……….please click this link to read the full article.

East Farndon D-Day 80 Event – many thanks for attending & see photos

Huge thanks for joining us at East Farndon Village Hall on Thursday 6th June 2024 for our special event to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. We had a full house and everyone enjoyed a fish & chip supper, followed by a quiz, a game of heads & tails, and our tribute, which included the lighting of the candle of peace at 9.15pm. Please click this link to see some photos from this event.

The event raised a fantastic total of £365 that we have donated to the Royal British Legion. Thank you everyone for being so generous.

Judy Hodgetts created a very special history article to support our event and this was displayed on the night, together with a number of WW2 artefacts and some very clever knitted (by Judy) characters! Please click this link to find out more and read this special article.

Bench Under the Beech Tree

West Northants Council – New Local Plan – Parish Council responses & have your say!

Both West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and Harborough District Council (HDC) have launched their processes to create new local plans.

In the first WNC consultation, East Farndon Parish Council (EFPC) responded with comments to a new, combined policy for the settlement hierarchy. East Farndon is termed ‘an other village’ or rural village and it was important to understand and influence this policy as it forms part of the new WNC local plan. Also, EFPC were invited to draw our East Farndon village confines, which will be used as a foundation for future decisions in relation to housing development policy in the village. You can read the EFPC responses and see our submitted village confines map by clicking the links below.

WNC have now issued the first full draft of the new local plan and it is available for everyone to read and comment upon. The draft plan sets out a vision and objectives for the area, its ambitions for new development and commitment to dealing with climate change. The plan allocates land for housing and employment and contains a series of planning policies for these and many other topics such as leisure, transport, health and wellbeing, infrastructure and the environment and where development can and cannot take place.

It is a large document with many supporting documents, but it is important that East Farndon Parish Council (EFPC) and residents get involved and review and comment as appropriate. People can have their say from Monday 8th April to Sunday 2nd June by visiting: Have your say on West Northamptonshire’s new draft Local Plan – West Northamptonshire Council – Citizen Space

The draft plan is accompanied by a number of technical documents and other evidence. All can be found on the dedicated New Local Plan for West Northamptonshire page

The East Farndon parish is in West Northamptonshire, but it is also on the border with Leicestershire and Harborough District Council (HDC). Potential housing and roads development between East Farndon and Harborough remains an area that is being closely watched by EFPC. As it develops, EFPC will have the opportunity to review and comment on the new Harborough plan. At this stage, the HDC process is not as advanced as the WNC process, but everyone is encouraged to view and get involved as appropriate using the following link, Harborough District Council New Local Plan

EFPC will stay closely involved with both the WNC and HDC plan processes and we will keep everyone updated via this website, but if you have any questions, please email our Parish Clerk, Caroline Burton.

Quiz Night – Sat 13th April – thank you & a few photos

Many thanks to the Village Hall Social Committee for organising such a great Quiz Night on Saturday 13th April 2024 at East Farndon Village Hall. Un grand merci à Tom Knott et Caroline et Russell Burton d’avoir écrit et livré un quiz aussi fantastique! (Also, huge thanks to Tom Knott and Caroline & Russell Burton for writing and delivering such a fantastic quiz.) Click this link to see a few photos from the evening.