Robert Fry on 23rd April 2013
Calendars: Regular Events and Single Events
Chalke Valley Stores: Progress photos of conversion of part of the Chapel into a community shop; Shop Proposal and Meeting Minutes held on 19th April 2013 at 7.00pm in the Village Hall
South Street Shop Photos: Internal shop and staff photos and External shop photo. Robert Fry will be closing his shop at lunchtime on 31st May 2013 for the last time.
The Chalke Valley Cricket Club has received a grant from the Foundation of Sports & Arts so building work on the new pavilion is due to start after the 2013 season.
The water main in High Lane is to be repaired in sections from April to July or August from Meadow House to Ebbesbourne Wake with a diversion through Bowerchalke.
Broad Chalke Satellite View, Road Map and Postcode List
Bus service No. 29 Timetable from stop P in Endless Street in Salisbury (via Odstock District Hospital) or from Shaftesbury, roughly every 90 minutes (not on Sundays).
Trains to Salisbury or Tisbury from London Waterloo take about 90 minutes and the stations are about twenty five minutes away by taxi. Look up your train times here.
Classic Cabs taxi telephone 07780 578717.
Desired outcomes: The delivery of at least 9,900 new homes carefully managed to be in the most sustainable location and to respect the local character. Well over half the number will have been built in or around Salisbury, with significant growth in Amesbury."
Secondary Villages: The secondary villages are ...Broad Chalke, ... In terms of their role, function and level of services, this group of villages perform a less significant, but nevertheless important complementary role to the Local Service Centres. Levels of growth proportionate to their size, character and environment will be supported in these settlements."
Salisbury and Wilton Community Areas Planned growth: at least 6060 homes and 29 ha (23ha new allocation and 6ha saved) of employment land..."
Rest of Wilton Community Area: at least 220 homes... The Community Area has three secondary villages... Broad Chalke..."
The houses are outside the housing policy zones and this area is essentially open countryside. It does not have a relationship with the settlement and the boundary appears to drift out to an arbitrary point, including buildings of reasonable but not special quality. The setting of the conservation area would preserve any potential threats to this part of the open countryside." Surely it should read "negate any potential threats", not preserve them.
outside the housing policy zones", would these areas, without the planning restrictions applicable within a Conservation Area, be more or less likely to be developed with housing, not immediately, but possibly in the future if government pressure on local authorities to find development land is stepped up? Although the areas are agricultural land, future policy changes might allow areas on the fringes of villages to be developed and Conservation Area restrictions would not apply. Note that recent houses in New Town and Knighton Road and the Primary School were allowed even though all were built on agricultural land outside the Conservation Area.
| DATE | PLACE | TELEPHONE | EVENT |
| Sunday evenings | Sports Centre | 01722 781139 | Table Tennis; contact Malcolm Penney |
| Monday evenings | Sports Centre | 01722 780963 | Netball Training; 6.30 pm; 10 week course £10; contact Peter Trickett |
| Mondays and Thursdays | Sports Centre | 01722 780093 | Short Mat Bowling; evenings; 7.30pm; contact Edward Fry |
| Mondays and Fridays of every week |
Sports Centre | 01722 331341 07788 587937 |
Pilates; 0915 and 1345 on Mondays and 0930 on Fridays; contact Claudine Baker |
| Every Tuesday | Village Hall | Tuesday Morning Fellowship; 9.30 am to noon; see Clubs below | |
| Every 1st Tuesday | Village Hall | Happy Circle; 2.00pm to 4.00pm; see Clubs below | |
| Every Tuesday | Village Hall & Old School |
01722 780789 |
Parenting Course; five to fifteen year olds; 10.15 am; contact Caroline Lamb or Jayne Jennings |
| Every Tuesday | Bishopstone Village Hall | 01722 718463 | Country Dancing; 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm; £2; contact Des and Heather Adeley |
| Fortnightly on Wednesday | Village Hall | Literary Group; 9.30am to 12.00pm | |
| Every Wednesday, beginning again on 17th April 2013 | Village Hall | 01722 780373 | "Teddy Bears" for babies and young children, together with parents and carers; 2.00pm to 4.00pm; £2.00 for one child, £2.50 for two; contact Jans Holland in advance please due to popularity. |
| 2nd Wednesday of every month | Village Hall | Parish Council meeting; 7.30 pm | |
| 3rd Wednesday of every month | Village Hall | W I meeting; 7.30 pm to 9.00pm; see Clubs below | |
| 4th Wednesday of every month | Village Hall | Chalke Valley Flower Club; 7.30 pm to 9.00pm; see Clubs below | |
| Every Thursday | Village Hall | Zumba Dancing; 7.45 pm to 8.45 pm; £5; contact Kirsty Wright; | |
| Every third Thursday | The Queen's Head | 01722 780354 | Neighbourhood Lunch; 12 noon; contact Pam Stallard by the previous Monday |
| Every Friday | Bishopstone Village Hall | 07739 039818 | Extend Exercise Classes for the over-50s; 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm; £3; contact Pam |
| Every Friday | URC Chapel | 01722 780488 | The Library and possibly the Archive will be open; 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm; contact Lavender Buckland |
| Every Saturday | Bowerchalke Village Hall | Saturday Market including Veterinary Advice (no animals); 9.30 am to 12 noon | |
| Every first Saturday of a month | URC Chapel | Broad Chalke Archive; open for viewing; 10.00 am to 12 noon on the first Saturday of a month commencing on 2nd June 2012; NOTE: excluding the first Saturday of March, April, May and June 2013 while part of the Chapel is converted into a shop. | |
| Every week (unspecified times) |
URC Chapel | 101 ext 747 442 | Police Point; PC Pete Jung and PCSO Sam Spacey |
| October to April | 01722 780031 | Scrabble; contact Julie McRoberts | |
| from November 2012 | Village Hall | Display of pictures by Broad Chalke schoolchildren to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee |
| DATE | PLACE | TELEPHONE | EVENT |
| 4th May 2013 | Sports Centre | 01722 780963 01722 780596 01722 780093 |
CVSC 10 year celebration;; contact Peter Trickett, Sue Gooden or Edward Fry; also 10th Anniversary Auction of Pledges Catalogue; 1.30pm |
| 7th May 2013 | Garden Centre, Landford | Happy Circle; 1.00pm; visit to Golden Acres Garden Centre, Landford | |
| 7th May 2013 | City Hall | W.I. Meeting; Flower Arranging Demonstration by Michael Bowyer | |
| 9th May 2013 | Bowerchalke Village Hall | 01722 781040 | Chris Brown Day Centre; visit by Ginny Cooper from Age UK and a talk by Jo from the Dogs Trust |
| 11th May 2013 | Village Hall | W.I. Plant Sale; 10.30am to 12 noon | |
| 16th May 2013 | Bowerchalke Village Hall | 01722 781040 | Chris Brown Day Centre; Members' Day/Bingo |
| 18th May 2013 | Village Hall | Great British Quiz; 7.30pm; tickets available at the post office £8 or £7.50 if purchased as one of six | |
| 23rd May 2013 | Bowerchalke Village Hall | 01722 781040 | Chris Brown Day Centre; DVD |
| 29th May 2013 | Marston, Devizes | 01722 336741 | Chalke Valley Flower Club; visit to Pam Lewis's garden in Marston, Devizes; contact Outings Secretary |
| 30th May 2013 | Bowerchalke Village Hall | 01722 781040 | Chris Brown Day Centre; Quiz |
| 1st June 2013 | URC Chapel | Broad Chalke Archive; open for viewing; 10.00am to 12 noon; (if building work has finished) | |
| 1st June 2013 | Sunrise North Street |
Annual Plant and Cake Sale; in aid of Guide Dogs 'Name a Puppy' Fund; 10.30am to 12.30pm | |
| 3rd June 2013 | URC Chapel Shop | New Shop and Post Office open for business | |
| 7th June 2013 | Knighton Manor | Open Garden, stalls and afternoon tea; 2.00pm to 5.00pm; £5; in aid of CRESS | |
| 16th June 2013 | Chalke Valley | 01722 780793 | Archaeological Dig somewhere in the Chalke Valley; contact The Chalke Valley History Festival |
| 22nd June 2013 | URC Chapel Shop | Official Opening of new shop and post office | |
| 23rd June 2013 | Salisbury Hospital | Horatio's Garden Food & Plant Fair at Horatio's Garden at Salisbury Hospital; 11.00am to 3.00pm; all profits will go to Horatio's Garden to fund a programme of creative events and activities that promote the wellbeing of people with spinal cord injury. | |
| 24th to 30th June 2013 | Manor Farm Ebbesbourne Wake | Website | Daily Mail Chalke Valley History Festival; tickets are on sale now via the website Programme page only. There will be a large number of wide-ranging talks, discussions and debates including: Simon Sebag Montefiore talking about Jerusalem, Neil Oliver on The Vikings, Antonia Fraser about the Great Reform Act of 1832 and Boris Johnson on the History of London as well as appearing in the IQ2 debate. This year there will be an even bigger Living History weekend that will include a full-scale First World War Trench experience and also a stunning air show. The Festival is also thrilled to be welcoming for the first time, Tom Stoppard, Rupert Everett, Norman Stone, Ben Macintyre, William Dalrymple, Conn Iggulden, Laurence Rees, Gavin Hewitt and Don McCullin while Dan Snow, Artemis Cooper, Max Hastings, Amanda Vickery, Antony Beevor, Tom Holland, Ian Hislop and Michael Morpurgo will all be returning with new and exciting talks. Contact James Holland on 01722 780144 for general information only. |
| 6th July 2013 | Ebbesbourne Wake | Alvewake Fare; dog show, tractor rides, skittles, stalls, tombola | |
| 10th July 2013 | Village Hall | 01722 780373 | "Teddy Bears" summer party |
| 28th July 2013 | Knowle Farm Bowerchalke | Family Fun Day and BBQ; 2.30pm to 8.00pm; £3.50 per adult and £2.50 per child | |
| 3rd August 2013 | Village Hall | 01722 780502 | Flower Show; 2.30pm; contact John Dutson |
| 17th August 2013 | Village Hall | Happy Circle; Coffee Morning and fund raising event; 10.00am to 12 noon | |
| 31st August 2013 | Village Hall | 01722 781139 01722 780453 |
Air Ambulance Fête; contact Malcolm Penney or Irene Emm |
| CLUB OR SOCIETY | TELEPHONE | CONTACT NAME & DETAILS | |
| Sports Clubs | See the Sport page for Chalke Valley Sports Centre, Cricket, Fly Fishing, Hill Climb, etc. | ||
| Women's Institute | 01725 519224 | Sue Fry, President; May Clover, secretary | |
| Chalke Valley Flower Club | 01722 780869 01722 780448 |
Meetings on the 4th Wednesday of each month at the Village Hall; 7.30 pm; contact Mrs Vivienne Thornton or Liz Long; website | |
| Chalke Valley House and Garden Directory | 01722 781105 01722 780545 01722 780969 |
Louise Carter, Carolyn Sheppard or Jennifer Baxter | |
| Chalke Valley tennis Club | 01722 780496 01725 510558 |
Contact Hilary Brown or coach Chris Matthews | |
| Chris Brown Day Centre Chris Brown Thursday Club (over 60's) |
01722 781040 | Meetings every Thursday at Bowerchalke Village Hall; 10.00 am to 3.00 pm; contact Jill Stevens | |
| Literary Group | Fortnightly on Wednesday in the village hall; 9.30am to 12.00pm | ||
| Neighbourhood Lunch | 01722 780354 | every third Thursday at the Queen's Head; 12 noon; contact Pam Stallard by the previous Monday | |
| Broad Chalke Parish Archive | 01725 519242 01722 780483 01722 780477 |
Contact Michael Roe (chairman), Michael Powis (secretary) or Ann Ferreira | |
| Chalke Valley Preservation Society | 01722 780483 | Michael Powis; Hon. Secretary; website | |
| The Wilton & District Youth Band | 07920 148615 | Secretary's
website; Tuesday evening from 7.00pm to 9.00pm and for the junior and beginners group 5.30pm to 6,30pm on Sunday evenings at Broad Chalke Village Hall; Wikipedia used to refer to "musician Sir Dennis Chalk" for many years but someone has now realised that he hasn't been knighted and the reference has been removed. Never mind, Dennis, it was good while it lasted! |
|
| Chalke Valley Ladies Choir | 01725 519242 01722 780052 |
Contact Janet Roe or Marianne Tomkies | |
| Zithering | 01725 519242 | Beginners' Group to learn to play the 18th century instrument; Contact Janet Roe | |
| Men's Breakfasts | 01725 519242 | Michael Roe; 7.45am at Broad Chalke Village Hall | |
| Tuesday Morning Fellowship (now called The Well Spring) |
Meetings in the Village Hall; 9.30 am to noon | ||
| "Teddy Bears" | 01722 780373 | "Teddy Bears" for babies and young children, together with parents and carers; every Wednesday in the village hall; 2.00pm to 4.00pm; £2.00 for one child, £2.50 for two; contact Jans Holland in advance please due to popularity. | |
| Broad Chalke Brownies | 01722 714787 01722 780532 |
Meetings every week during term time; 5.30pm to 7.00pm; contact Lisa Arrowsmith or Catherine Allwood; website | |
| Primary School Gardening Club | 01722 780212 | Friday lunchtime; contact Rebecca Eyres or Lisa Rawlinson | |
| Broadchalke Bellringers | 01722 781139 01722 780559 |
Every Monday at 7.30pm at All Saints' Church; website; contact Malcolm Penney or David Laity | |
Chalke Valley Scout Club |
01722 780510 | Beavers, Cubs and Scouts; meetings on Thursday evenings at the Village Hall; contact Vernon Bundy; (currently no groups are running) | |
| Cinnamon Trust | 01736 758707 | A charity requiring volunteers to take dogs for walks; contact Sally or or download a volunteer registration form from Cinnamon Trust | |
| Ebbesbourne Folk Music | Ebbesbourne Folk which relates to the Concerts, mostly folk/acoustic, that Paul Sampson and Bill Cox Martin have been promoting at Ebbesbourne Wake over the past few years. | ||
| Broad Chalke Charitable Trust (formerly Broad Chalke Poors Charity) | 01722 780373 01722 780478 |
Trustees: Martin Holland, Liz Barr, Joan Hitchings, Andrew Brown and Canon David Henley | |
| NAME | TITLE | TELEPHONE | ADDRESS |
| Mr S C Whitmore | Parish Council Clerk | 01722 412412 | Field House, Broadchalke, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP5 5DP |
| Parish Council Election on 2nd May 2013; nomination forms can be obtained from The Parish Clerk; tel. 01722 780979 or 01722 412412 or from the Council Offices or by telephoning Electoral Services on 0300 4560112 and must be returned by noon on Friday 5th April 2013 | |||
| Mr John Glen | Member of Parliament | 01722 333141 | 12 Brown Street, Salisbury SP1 1HE; website |
| Wiltshire Council | Home Page | 0300 456 0100 01722 336272 |
Wiltshire Council website Wiltshire South - Area Hub |
| Wiltshire Council | Planning Applications | All areas or South Wiltshire |
South Wiltshire Core Strategy Development Plan including Broad Chalke was adopted on 7th February 2012; see the Document List and the Core Strategy Plan. "Desired outcomes: The delivery of at least 9,900 new homes carefully managed to be in the most sustainable location and to respect the local character. Well over half the number will have been built in or around Salisbury, with significant growth in Amesbury.
"
"Secondary Villages:
The secondary villages are ...Broad Chalke, ... In terms of their role, function and level of services, this group of villages perform a less significant, but nevertheless important complementary role to the Local Service Centres. Levels of growth proportionate to their size, character and environment will be supported in these settlements.
"
"Salisbury and Wilton Community Areas Planned growth: at least 6060 homes and 29 ha (23ha new allocation and 6ha saved) of employment land...
"
"Rest of Wilton Community Area: at least 220 homes... The Community Area has three secondary villages... Broad Chalke...
"
Wiltshire Council's Core Strategy Development Plan Document Consultation was from 13th June 2011 to 5.00pm on 8th August 2011; email the completed representation form to
or view the consultation documents at 27 - 29 Milford Street, Salisbury SP1 2AP.
A public exhibition was held at the Guildhall in Salisbury on 29th June from 2.00pm to 8.00pm. The links may still be of interest.
Wiltshire Council's previous Consultation on the Local Development Framework Core Strategy Options dated July 2009 has received comments. See Wiltshire Council website regarding the requirement for 12,400 new houses up to 2026. Phone 01722 434247 or or write to Spatial Planning (South Office), Economy and Enterprise, Wiltshire Council, Planning Office, PO Box 2281, Salisbury SP2 2HX. It will be used as a basis for accepting or rejecting all planning applications for new developments over the next twenty years. 3775 new homes are proposed in the first five years in and around Salisbury and Amesbury.
The only comments I could find relating to Broad Chalke are Levels of growth proportionate to their size, character and environment will be supported in these settlements and the earlier Salisbury DC plan stated In twenty years the villages of ... Broadchalke... will have evolved only incrementally, with limited infill growth sympathetic to their character.
The plan also says that the Central Car Park in Salisbury could provide about 200 dwellings as part of a retail-led mixed use development. Would this mean less car parking during a period of rising population?
The link may still be of interest.
Wiltshire (previously Salisbury) Council's
Conservation area appraisals and management plans dated February 2009 for Broad Chalke were issued in draft; Broad Chalke PDF file;
High Road (Eastern approach leading to Vikings Corner) ie on the south side from Primrose Cottage as far as the stream in the middle of the field before the Jubilee Copse, has been removed from this Conservation Area. Reason:-
"The houses are outside the housing policy zones and this area is essentially open countryside. It does not have a relationship with the settlement and the boundary appears to drift out to an arbitrary point, including buildings of reasonable but not special quality. The setting of the conservation area would preserve any potential threats to this part of the open countryside.
" Surely it should read "negate any potential threats", not preserve them.
The south side of the section to the south of Howgare Road (ie Bury Lane, not Howgare Road) including Church Bottom and Field House has also been removed from the Conservation Area.
Comment: Although the Plan says "outside the housing policy zones
", would these areas, without the planning restrictions applicable within a Conservation Area, be more or less likely to be developed with housing, not immediately, but possibly in the future if government pressure on local authorities to find development land is stepped up? Although the areas are agricultural land, future policy changes might allow areas on the fringes of villages to be developed and Conservation Area restrictions would not apply. Note that recent houses in New Town and Knighton Road and the Primary School were allowed even though all were built on agricultural land outside the Conservation Area.
Between now and 2026, Salisbury district has to find space for 12,400 new houses in the 2009 plan, reduced in the 2012 Core Strategy Development Plan to 6060 for Salisbury and Wilton Community Areas. Will the above areas be targetted?
Submit comments to Development Control, Wiltshire Council, PO Box 2281, Salisbury SP2 2HX.
The Conservation area appraisals and management plans 2009 may now be several years old but are still of interest and will form the starting point for the Parish Council's Community Plan. This is to be prepared by the Parish Council to submit to Wiltshire Council to assist the Council with the proposals to vary planning application requirements for "sustainable development" in line with the Core Strategy Development Plan. Contact Ashley Truluck, Martin Holland (secretary, telephone 01722 780373, ) or Michael Powis.
You can view the Community Plan Questionnaire Anonymised Comments (PDF file) and the Community Plan questionnaire Statistical Results (PDF file) in the foregoing links. The comments make interesting reading. There was a large degree of agreement that:
There were Public Meetings on 20th and 26th October 2012 and 19th April 2013 in the village hall regarding the establishment of a new community shop and post office as part of the Community Plan.
The proposal is to create a community shop and post office (now known as Chalke Valley Stores or the Chalke Valley Community Hub) on the ground floor of the URC Chapel as Robert Fry is retiring at the end of May 2013. The existing Worship area will be used as a café during shop hours and also occasionally when the shop is closed. There will also be the existing Fair Trade items for sale, the office used by the police and Church benefice office and Village Archive on the balcony. Contact A Truluck telephone 01722 780562 or the Secretary, Chalke Valley Community Hub, Lodge Farmhouse, Hut & Lodge, Salisbury SP5 5LU. telephone 01725 519242.
The Community Hub website is www.chalkevalleystores.co.uk.
Planning Application Details. Planning permission for a change of use was granted on 15th January 2013.
Planning Application Documentation showing plans and elevations, etc. (all PDF files).
Supporting Documentation including a full description of the proposal with sketches and funding methods (PDF file).
NOTE: A major grant of £91,734 from Sowing Seeds (DEFRA) has now been received and building works started on 25th February 2013 and will continue until the opening date for business on 3rd June 2013. The official opening will be on 22nd June 2013.
Progress photos of conversion of part of the Chapel into a shop
The total cost is estimated to be £163,000 and a major grant of £91,734 from Sowing Seeds (DEFRA) has now been received. Pledges for funding from individuals have now been called in.
Building works started on 25th February 2013 and will continue until the estimated opening date for business on 3rd June 2013. The official opening will be on 22nd June 2013.
The Chapel balcony has been extended slightly to give more area for the office and Archive and it allows space underneath for a Vestry and a cupboard for tables and another cupboard for the Knit and Natter Group.
The opening hours will be quite long for a few weeks, such as 8.30am to 6.30pm and Saturdays 8.30am to 4.30pm to see what times are busy and the hours may be cut later to suit the useage. The post office will be the same opening hours as at present (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings) and will be run by the manager of Fordingbridge post office for about six months until a replacement is found.
There will be two shop managers: Ellen Smets will be front-of-shop Retail Manager and Coffee Shop Manager and Nigel Tinkler will be Hub Manager for back office organisation.
There was a separate meeting for volunteers where the principles of good shop management were explained. Hands-on training sessions of about two hours will follow soon.
The current plan is to use the Chapel ground floor office and the adjoining meeting area (currently used for selling Fairtrade items) for a shop and post office area, with a wooden floor instead of the carpet. The dividing screen between the office and the meeting area will be removed but otherwise it will be untouched structurally. Counters and shelving and probably a glazed screen for the post office will be added. If the shop is closed a rear entrance will be used for worship, meetings, teas, Christmas Fairs, etc. in the worship area.
The existing worship area will be used as a café when not used for worship and will have a servery counter where the organ now is and a serving hatch through to the existing kitchen. This area could also be used as a meeting place for teenagers. (Comment: I would be a bit concerned about rowdy or noisy behaviour and also the security aspects being close to the shop, post office and archive when those areas are closed if the teenagers aren't supervised. In April 2012 I saw two children jump on my namesake's grave and they broke off a large chunk from the corner which cost me £240 to repair.)
The benefice and police office will move up onto the balcony and be divided from (or possibly share space with) the Archive.
Parking has been discussed with Wiltshire Council and a layby may be constructed opposite the Chapel. This would also assist bus passengers who presently alight onto soft wet grass.
The estimated cost of the initial alterations is £32,000 plus a grant of £83,000 from DEFRA. The Prince's Countryside Fund may also provide a grant. The stocking and fitting out of the shop and post office will need about £35,000 so the cost to the community will be about £67,000. Four methods of funding were set out:
Estimated shop turnover is £150,000 to £200,000pa (£500 to £600/day for a six day week).
An Industrial Provident Society will be set up to manage the shop which will pay a lower-than-market rent to URC Wessex. The shop will be non-profit making; any profit will be ploughed back into the shop or other local activities. There will be a full time manager and volunteer assistance. The parish council will not contribute to the running costs or rent as there will be no funding increase available from Wiltshire Council.
The Chapel and Church already have a sharing agreement for marriages and funerals so it is not expected that these will conflict with shop opening hours.
The post office is expected to open three mornings a week unless demand warrants an increase. The post office will continue to be managed by the Fordingbridge Post Office as an Outreach Service and Sue Fry may continue to run the post office until soon after the move.
A footpath from the Church path to North Street is also being considered.
Latest News from the Post Office leaflet in the post office. The Broad Chalke post office will be open on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm with an Outreach Hosted Service. It started this new service on 8th September 2009. In the run-up to Christmas it will be open on Thursday afternoons from 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm and on Saturday mornings from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm.
The same range of services will continue to be available with the addition of DVLA facilities. Customers will still be able to collect benefits in cash using the everyday banking services or the Post Office's card account.
Local Public Consultation to determine the precise services to be provided continued until 20th May 2009 but you could still contact FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM (no stamp required) or telephone 08457 223344 or Textphone 08457 223355 or email consultation@postoffice.co.uk to contribute your views.
Sue Fry will continue to be our postmistress.
Previous News from The Broadsheet February 2009:- An Outreach Hosted Service with reduced hours of 11 hours per week operating from the same cubicle in the Village Shop is still The Post Office's preferred option but at the present time two potential Core Sub Postmasters have turned down the opportunity to administer the service. The Post Office agreed to check whether the recent business levels justified more than 11 hours per week. The service will continue as normal until further notice.
November 2008 News from The Broadsheet November 2008:- The Post Office plans to offer a full service (including Motor Vehicle Licences) for three sessions per week at the present post office counter in the shop, starting in the New Year. In essence customers will continue to enjoy the full range of Post Office services but for fewer hours per week. If the level of business justifies longer hours at some point this may be possible. The core Manager at Sixpenny Handley will be in charge but it is not known yet whether Sue Fry will be employed as the person actually operating the service. It will probably be three mornings a week, similar to the Hosted Outreach Service.
Old news:-
Extract from The Post Office's decision 22/02/08 in the West Berkshire and Wiltshire decision booklet:-
Post Office® Broad Chalke branch
Respondents raised a variety of issues during the local public consultation in relation to our proposals for this branch. Respondents raised concerns in relation to the possible impact of closure of this branch on vulnerable customer groups, in particular the elderly, since there is no direct bus service to
alternative branches. The additional cost required to travel, the distance involved and risks associated with accessing alternative branches were also concerns raised by respondents. Respondents commented on the environmental impact of car journeys to alternative branches and a petition opposing the proposed closure was also submitted.
Having regard to all comments received during the local public consultation and all other relevant factors, Post Office Ltd has decided to proceed with the closure of this branch and to replace it with an Outreach Service. The proposed outreach service will be subject to a further 6 week period of local public consultation. Details of this consultation will be announced shortly.
Many people in Broad Chalke have received an email from Robert Key MP as follows:-
Yesterday afternoon I was contacted at The House of Commons and informed about all the closure and outreach proposals in our constituency. I immediately spoke by telephone to the Post Office consultation staff to express my grave concern about the Broadchalke proposal. Once again, the business case is secret. However, I was told there is a choice of two alternative ?outreach? locations in Broadchalke. I argued strongly for the status quo ? and I think I convinced the official. Now she must convince the others.
If I may suggest it, the first thing to ensure is that Sue Fry wants to keep the business in the shop. If she does, then we all need to say so, loud and clear, to the PO.
Best wishes from Robert.
Robert Key FSA
Member of Parliament for Salisbury
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA
Comment:-
The extent of an Outreach Service is subject to consultation but we already know that a Hosted Service cannot be more than 12 hours a week so if the status quo is not maintained then the pressure will be on to persuade a shop, public house or other business to provide a Partner Service with longer hours.
8th March 2008: Essex County Council have offered to buy all the post offices in their area in order to keep them open; I wonder if Wiltshire County Council will offer to do the same?
8th May 2008: The six week extended consultation period has now been exceeded and no decision has been made, but it seems that there are discussions on how the village shop could operate a revised form of Partner Outreach Service which would retain the separate post office within the shop like it is now, rather than have the service operated by the shopkeeper from the shop counter.
Even older news:-
Post Office Ltd has reviewed Wiltshire post offices with the intention to close some of them. The review finished on 10th December and the impending closure was discussed at the Parish Council meeting on 12th December and there was a public meeting on 9th January 2008. See this report in the Salisbury Journal dated 12th December 2007 which states that it is proposed to replace the post office with Outreach services.
Outreach is a means by which Post Office products and services are provided by a 'core' subpostmaster (who already operates a post office branch in a community) to outlying communities.
As part of the Area Plan for West Berkshire and Wiltshire, Post Office Ltd is proposing to close Broad Chalke post office branch on a permanent basis and to mitigate the impact of the proposed closure we propose to put in place an Outreach service point for 11 hours per week.
There are four types of Outreach service: Mobile, Hosted, Partner and Home. Letters commenting on the proposals must be received by Post Office Ltd by 31st January 2008. Consultations will then take place and a final decision will be made about 22nd February 2008. The chosen Outreach service is due to start on 1st April 2008. The Hosted or Partner service is currently proposed by the Post Office.
The Mobile Service is a travelling post office situated within a van operated by the core subpostmaster or his assistants that will visit small communities at set times and days each week to deliver certain Post Office products and services to customers.
The Hosted Service is a fixed site post office from which the core subpostmaster or his assistants transact certain Post Office products and services during restricted hours each week. The premises are owned by a third party, for example, a shop or community centre. Eleven hours per week has been offered, the services will be more restricted than they are now and the "core subpostmaster or his assistants" is unlikely to be the same person as we have now. It is understood that twelve hours a week is the maximum for the Hosted Service. The Partner Service is recommended for more than twelve hours a week.
The Partner Service is a fixed site post office where a local partner (such as a pub landlord) appointed by the core postmaster, transacts certain Post Office products and services from the partner's own premises during the opening hours of the business. In other words a shop or pub owner could provide the services. It would be run from the shop or pub counter as part of the normal shop or pub business. The shop or pub personnel would undergo training and use a simplified Post Office computer on the counter.
The Hosted and Partner Services would both provide cash and paying in services and basic postal services but not special delivery and would not take parcels over 2kg.
The Home Service is a service for very small communities whereby the core subpostmater delivers a range of Post Office products and services which are ordered over the telephone by customers.
Coombe Bissett post office is likely to become a Partner Service in the shop there. Post Offices in Wilton, Tisbury, Fovant, Dinton, Fonthill Bishop and Sixpenny Handley have not been included in the proposed changes but none of these is on a bus route from Broad Chalke and all have difficult narrow roads and steep hills on their routes. Parking will be difficult at Coombe Bissett if that post office has traffic from elsewhere in the Chalke Valley.
See the Save Broad Chalke Post Office website for details and a petition that you can sign.
Objections should be sent to
Tim Nickolls, Network Development Manager, Post Office Ltd., FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM
and/or
POSTWATCH, FREEPOST Postwatch
and/or
Mr Robert Key, MP, 12 Brown Street, Salisbury SP1 1HE
and/or
consultation@postoffice.co.uk
A public meeting was held in the Village Hall on 9th January 2008 chaired by Tom Hitchings, chairman of the Parish Council. Tony Deane, our County Councillor, attended and also Anne Carney of Cranborne Chase AONB (the Local Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). Post Office Ltd did not send a representative and Robert Key MP was unable to attend. Tom said that Post Office Ltd had apparently not received a letter from the Parish Council and as the only contact address available was FREEPOST there appeared to be no way of contacting any specific person or hand-delivering a letter. The hall was full with a few people standing; about 180 people in total. I only saw one person obviously under age 50; the vast majority seemed to be over age 65.
Sue Fry, who runs our post office, outlined the Hosted Outreach Service proposals of eleven hours a week and the possible reduced service including no special delivery and no parcels over 2kg. A Hosted Service could be in a hall or community centre but the shop provides the best location for us.
If the Partner Outreach Service was chosen a shop or pub manager here would be under the supervision of the "core subpostmaster" at Tisbury and need training to use a simplified Post Office computer terminal.
Broad Chalke has about 637 residents and the total population of the Chalke Valley villages excluding Coombe Bissett is about 2000. About 260 people use the post office each week and Sue works 26 hours, an average of six minutes each. If the Hosted Service of eleven hours is forced upon us the average time for each person would be two and a half minutes and there would be no scope for increasing numbers in the future.
Sue said that although three post offices in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire had managed to escape their proposed changes, this did not mean that three others elsewhere would need to be added to the list to maintain the level of cost saving, nor that we had a better chance because three others had managed to escape the change. Each office would be considered on its merits and one of the key considerations was that no one should be more than three miles from a post office.
We need to emphasise to Post Office Ltd the fact that our post office is the only one along over thirteen miles of the valley and travel to others is along narrow roads with steep hills and that there is no bus service to any except Coombe Bissett which would be well over three miles from villages further up the valley.
The representative of AONB said that we should make Post Office Ltd aware of the demographics of our area. We almost certainly have a higher than average proportion of elderly residents who would probably have difficulty travelling to another post office.
It was emphasised that Post Office Ltd is primarily concerned with the financial implications and political, environmental or social aspects will have little weight.
Post Office Ltd have not shown any inclination to consider any options other than the four Outreach Service options. However, as a last resort the Parish Council might offer to reimburse the loss. No figures are available but it is estimated to be about £6,000 per annum. If this was raised on the two thousand residents in the chalke valley via Parish Council tax it would only be about £3 each per annum. Bearing in mind that most people would travel to another post office by car if our post office happened to be closed when they want to use it, spending £3 on petrol each week, the carbon footprint benefits of keeping our post office open 26 hours a week are clear.
The village origins are described in Wikipedia.
There is a Parish Archive stored on the Chapel balcony. Contact Ann Ferreira tel. 01722 780477, Michael Powis tel 01722 780483, Michael Roe tel. 01725 519242 or Jackie and Nick Lowe tel. 01722 780008 if you would like to contribute time, documents or money.
The Archive will be open for viewing on the first Saturday of a month from 10.00 am to 12 noon, commencing on 2nd June 2012; NOTE: excluding the first Saturday of March, April, May and June 2013 while part of the Chapel is converted into a shop.
Archive Contents List (Excel) (download may be slow).
This book was published in 1999 by The Baskerville Press. The editorial team was Elizabeth Gallop, Ann Ferreira, Liz Barr, Ronnie Butler, Robert Hitchings, Candida Hughes, Michael Powis, Michael Roe and Ivor Smith.
The book is available at the village shop and can also be obtained by sending a request to The Broad Chalke Millennium Book, The Willows, Broad Chalke, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP5 5HH (price £20, plus postage and packing: UK £3.95; Australia & New Zealand, £14; USA & Canada £12.50; Europe £6.00 but the prices may be out of date so please check first).
Other history books about Broad Chalke and neighbouring villages are referenced here.
A Shepherd's Life by W H Hudson (1841 to 1942) details the lives of villagers in South Wiltshire, part of which records his travels alongside the River Ebble through "The Chalks", which you can read online here. Note the long list of "small print" restrictions at the beginning and end of the book. You can read my brief comments here.
A brief history of Broad Chalke and a list of historical documents can be viewed on the Wiltshire County Council website.
Books and photographs by or about previous residents of Broad Chalke are listed here.
The 1841 Census for Broad Chalke can be seen here.
There are only a few sample records at present but more will be added soon.
You can see entries for The First World War concerning enlisting and the Armistice in the South Wilts Church Magazine 1914-1918 and the Peace Treaty and the War Memorial in the South Wilts Church Magazine 1919-1921.
The Village Hall construction cost is shown on an extract from the South Wilts Church Magazine dated June 1914. It was then called the Parish Room.
The purchase documents for Penny Cottage in 1923 by Eva Penny.
Thomas Burrough and his sons Thomas and Abner wrote Diaries between 1800 and 1871.
Burrough Wills: - The Probate of the Will of Joan Burrough dated 4th December 1820, her son Thomas Burrough dated 11th December 1843, her son John Burrough dated 27th December 1852 and a copy of her grandson Thomas Burrough's Will dated 8th December 1870.
Further information on the Burrough family can be found on the Burrough Family Homepage.
There is also a separate History section of this website under construction but at present it only lists what has already been included in the Old Documents page.
| NAME | TITLE | TELEPHONE | ADDRESS |
| Jane Dick | Online Parish Clerk | Genealogy for Broad Chalke website; Broad Chalke page; contact webform | |
| Michael Powis | Hon. Secretary | 01722 780483 | Chalke Valley Preservation Society website |
A monthly journal of events in Broad Chalke with reports, contact information, a diary of future events, stories from local contributors, advertisements and so on.
| THE EDITORIAL TEAM | TELEPHONE | CONTRIBUTIONS |
| Hannah Bell | 01722 780752 | Written copy must be with one of us by 5pm on the 24th of the month, apart from the January and March editions (17th December & 17th February) although the earlier we receive it, the better! Email your contributions to . Please do tell us your news, your views, photos, club reports, sports results, meetings, reviews, stories, etc. (The Editors reserve the right to edit ALL contributions.) Cheques for ads & donations MUST be made payable to Broadsheet Management please. |
| Pam Clover | 01722 780020 | |
| Karen Howieson (Advertising) |
01722 780374 | |
| Judith Wardlaw (Distribution) |
01722 780712 | |
| ADVERTISING RATES | FREE | Charity Functions in Broad Chalke |
| £2.50 | Charity Functions outside Broad Chalke | |
| £2.50 | Small Ads per insert | |
| £4.00 | Business Ads in Broad Chalke | |
| £6.00 | Business Ads in Chalke Valley | |
| £12.00 | Business Ads outside the Chalke Valley | |
| £20.00 | Inserts/Fliers | |
PLEASE NOTE: AD SIZE CANNOT BE GUARANTEED NOR INSERTION INTO CONSECUTIVE PUBLICATIONS. THE BROADSHEET IS DELIVERED FREE TO EVERY HOUSE IN BROAD CHALKE. DONATIONS ARE ALWAYS MOST WELCOME! |
||
You can see the latest news and listings of future events here:-
Ebbesbourne Wake (link not working any more)
| NAME | TITLE | TELEPHONE | ADDRESS |
| Chalke Valley Church | Administrator | 01722 781112 | Chalke Valley Church homepage and local needs |
| Chalke Valley Community Hub (Shop and Post Office) | Administrator | Chalke Valley Community Hub Shop and Post Office | |
| Genealogy | Online Parish Clerk Jane Dick |
Genealogy for Broad Chalke website; Broad Chalke page; contact webform | |
| Chalke Valley Preservation Society | Hon. Secretary Michael Powis |
01722 780483 | Chalke Valley Preservation Society website |
| Ramblers | Salisbury and South Wiltshire | Ramblers website | |
| Wiltshire Wildlife Trust | Administrator | 01380 725670 | Wiltshire Wildlife Trust website |
| Cranborne Chase AONB | Administrator | 01725 517417 | Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty website |
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