Category: Latest News

National Grid has started works to provide the new supply for the new prison at Gartree. They will be carrying out excavation works from Welland Avenue, Gartree to Farndon Road, Market Harborough and are expected to take approximately 6 months (but the work will stop on 16 December 2024 and re-start on 6 January 2025). The Causeway One website (https://one.network/) shows that Farndon Road will have traffic control from 17th February to 18th March 2025 near the Welland Park roundabout, and also from 3rd March to 11th April 2025 near Hubbards garage, together with further roadworks in the vicinity. Villagers can use the Causeway One website to get full details of the roadworks.

Many thanks to everyone who joined us us at the East Farndon Village Hall, on Sat 21st Dec, for the Laugh Out Loud Theatre Company, professional production of ‘Beauty and the Beast’. Everyone had a great time and please click this link to see some photos from the evening.

Do you want to nurture nature? The East Farndon Parish Council is looking for a volunteer Biodiversity Co-ordinator, to promote and support its Biodiversity Action Plan, plus volunteers to get involved under the direction of the Co-ordinator. If you are interested, please use this link to view our Wildlife and Biodiversity webpage and if you have any questions, please use this link to email our Parish Clerk, Caroline Burton. We really hope to hear from you soon!

Marriott Green is the green space in front of the East Farndon church that is open for the enjoyment of all village residents. It is owned and maintained by a charity called the East Farndon Amenities Trust. David Thake has been the Treasurer for many years and he has announced that he would like to step down from his role in early 2025. The Trust is now looking for a new Treasurer and two new Trustees to join the team. Being a Trustee involves managing the charity in terms of land maintenance, insurance etc, with income being generated from a small number of fund raising events. If you are interested in getting involved, or need more information, please contact David Thake, Mervyn Curtis or Paul Hodgetts. You can click this link to make initial contact via email and then one of us will give you a call. Thank you.

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Back in March 2024, Jack Beesley and Will Evans presented a plan to the East Farndon Parish Council to renovate the bench on Lubenham Road, East Farndon, as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. Jack presented a very eye catching design and the project was gratefully accepted by the Parish Council, with a budget agreed of up to £100 for materials. The renovation team of Jack Beesley, Will Evans and Alfie Freeman set to work to clean up the old metal bench and then re-paint using their design. Click this link to see photos of the team and the renovation work. The project was managed well within budget and reported as complete at the Parish Council meeting in May 2024. The finished bench looks superb and many village residents have commented on how good it looks and that the design very much reflects community life within East Farndon. The Parish Council is very grateful to Jack, Will and Alfie for their hard work, innovative design and excellent support for our community. The team were very professional in the planning and execution of their project and definitely achieved all of the objectives set. They have created a lovely on going asset for the residents of East Farndon to enjoy. Well done Jack, Will and Alfie! Posted on behalf of East Farndon Parish Council.

As we head towards Christmas, a reminder that this time of year can be difficult for some people. Please see below some information from WNC Public Health on mental health, including links to services that offer help and support.

Everyone has mental health. MIND state that ‘good mental health typically means being able to think, feel and react in the ways that you need and want to live your life’. We all need to take care of our mental health, even if we do not have a mental health problem.

Mental health problems can affect anyone and are a common experience. There is a range of support available that can help you or someone you know. You can find out more using the links below:

You can find information here: Every Mind Matters – NHS

There is also a local mental wellbeing service directory where you can find out about what help is available: Mental health services and support | West Northamptonshire Council (westnorthants.gov.uk)

Locally, we also have a 24/7 mental health number run by NHFT: 0800 448 0828 – lines available 24 hours a day, seven days a week: The Mental Health Number | NHFT This also includes a text service.

Many thanks to everyone who joined us at the Remembrance Service at the East Farndon War Memorial on Sunday 10th November 2024 and afterwards at the Village Hall for tea and coffee. Huge thanks to the War Memorial team for organising the event and raising a fantastic total of £235 for the Royal British Legion. Also, many thanks to Corporal Oliver Burton, Royal Corps of Signals, for laying the wreath on behalf of the parish. Click this link to see some photos from the event.

As part of the West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) development of a new local plan, in June 2024, East Farndon Parish Council (EFPC) responded to submit our drawn Village Confines, 4 nominations for Local Green Spaces and a request to extend the WNC Special Landscape Area within which East Farndon is located. These requests will remain in a pending status until the new WNC local plan is formally accepted and published, this being expected in 2025. In Sept 2024, WNC reported that new housing targets have been set by the new Government. A further 460 houses each year need to be built, which over 17 years is an increase of about 8,000 houses (a 21% increase). This means that WNC have to revise their draft Local Plan and re-consult. The EFPC submissions from June 2024 can be viewed in map form by clicking the links below.

Village Confines Map

Local Green Space Nominations Map

Special Landscape Area Map

Also, most people will know that East Farndon has medieval settlement remains in the village and this is a Historic England Scheduled Monument. This can be viewed in map form by clicking the link below.

Medieval Settlement Remains & Scheduled Monument Map

The parcels of land in the WNC spatial options strategy and call for sites documents, identified for potential major housing developments between East Farndon and Market Harborough, remain in the latest / new WNC local plan. The good news is that all of these areas have been marked as not suitable and thefore will not be going ahead into the new housing areas to be developed for this plan. It remains the case that Harborough District Council (HDC) could request these development areas from WNC to include in the new HDC local plan. This is unlikely, but EFPC will continue to monitor closely the development of both the WNC and HDC new local plans.

Please click this link to read more about this on our page dedicated to Planning & Major Housing Development.

If you have any questions, please use this link to email our Parish Clerk, Caroline Burton.

Home-Start Daventry & South Northants is a voluntary organisation committed to promoting the welfare of families with at least one child under five years of age and living in West Northamptonshire. They offer a unique service, recruiting and training volunteers to support families. 

Volunteers visit families in the families’ own homes on a regular basis giving informal, friendly and confidential support that helps to increase parents’ self-esteem and confidence in their parenting ability. The volunteers also help run groups, such as school readiness or fitness and fun groups. Sometimes volunteers go on to develop professional careers in related services. 

If you are interested in being a volunteer for Home-Start, or perhaps know someone who might be, please visit https://www.home-start.org.uk/Pages/Category/how-to-volunteer

Sam Beesley has set up an East Farndon WhatsApp group called “Fabulously Fantastic Farndon”. This was set up originally to support the 12 Days of Christmas event that took place last year, but it has developed into a quick and useful way to update residents on events etc. It is a completely personal and private group and not linked to any formal East Farndon organisation. If you would like to be added to this group then please contact Sam. You can use this link to email Sam Beesley.