The chairman of Lothersdale Parish Council issued a statement at tonight's meeting of the Parish Council concerning the events surrounding the Employment Tribunal case (see below). To view the statement click here.
Friday 29th September
Settlement of Employment Tribunal case
Stephen Cohen v Lothersdale Parish Council
Agreed statement:
The employment tribunal case brought by Stephen Cohen against his former employers, Lothersdale Parish Council, has been settled without the need for a hearing.
Mr Cohen, the former Clerk to the Council, has acknowledged that he made a mistake over a planning application in the village. He had forgotten to contact the district council to request extra time for the application to be discussed by the Parish Council. This was a genuine oversight.
He has apologised for this error.
The Council accepts that Mr Cohen did not mislead it over new telephone poles on Sidegate Lane. Both he and the Council acted correctly over the incident and no blame is attached either to him or to the Parish Council.
Mr Cohen will without reservation immediately withdraw his complaint to the Standards Board for England about Cllr Marshall. He acknowledges that Malcolm Willetts also declared an interest in the planning application but did not leave the room. Both Cllr Marshall and Mr Willetts acted in the normal practice within the Council. He also acknowledges that there was no collusion between Cllr Marshall and Cllr Wheatstone over the Council’s opposition to the planning application. Mr Cohen apologises to Cllr. Marshall for the distress caused to her and her family.
The Chairman of the Council apologises to Mr Cohen on behalf of the Council for any offence or distress caused to him by the publication of a Council meeting agenda which called for a review of his position and conduct.
Mr Cohen accepts that the Council acted correctly throughout these matters on the basis of the advice it received.
Mr Cohen has now withdrawn his threat of legal action against members of the Council, either individually or collectively or against the Council itself on these issues. He also agrees not to make further complaints to the Standards Board for England on these matters.
Mr Cohen has now withdrawn his claim of constructive dismissal against the Council.
The Council wishes to thank Mr Cohen for his work as Clerk over the past four years.
Mr Cohen wishes the Council well in its future deliberations.
Both parties hope that the gossip, speculation and misinformation that have been circulating around the village will now come to an end.
This agreement will be made public.
The COT3 agreement is available for inspection via the Council if requested.
Wednesday 20th September
Feedback
The web mistress has received the following feedback
about Lothersdale - online from bob
"there is nothing about young farmers" I have tried to send the
following reply to Bob's email address however it keeps bouncing back -
"Hi Bob I want to put something on and
create a whole page for the Young Farmers - I have approached the Advisory
Committee several times over the last few years and they are meant to be
getting back to me! If you have any influence with
them please will you use it. All you have to do is email any info to me and I
will do the rest."
Webmistress
Sunday 17th September
Thursday 14th September
The Mary Hayes Thanksgiving Service
The Mary Hayes Thanksgiving Service is to be held in Church on Sunday 24th
Sept at 10.00 o'clock. It is 40yrs since the Mary Hayes Trust was set up and
all are welcome to celebrate and give thanks.
Friday 14th July
Improved and increased use of the Clubhouse
Over the past year Lothersdale Village Trust (LVT) has been developing plans
to make better use of the Clubhouse for the benefit of the whole of
Lothersdale community. These plans would enable more flexible use of the
property for a wider cross-section of the community. This wider use may
include greater use by both senior and junior groups, full day care
facilities, continued liaison with our successful Community Primary School and
a closer relationship with NYCC and Craven District Council with respect to
continued education and training. The increased income to the Clubhouse and
the LVT such arrangements would generate will allow LVT to continue and expand
its funding of recreational activities within the village.
To allow all of this to happen, it is necessary to make the whole of the
clubhouse available for more flexible use. It is proposed that the snooker
table, which occupies the whole of the upstairs of the Clubhouse is sold.
Current income from the table is around £50 per year. It is expected that
even on a pessimistic projection, with access to the whole of the Clubhouse
that additional income in excess of £5,000 over three years could be
generated.
LVT will make its final decision on this proposal at its next meeting in
September 2006. Your comments are invited by post to Michael Binns, Chairman
LVT, Calf Edge Farm, Lothersdale, BD20 8HU. Comments to be received by 14th
August 2006.
Sunday 21st May
Fly Fishing for Juniors
A three day fly fishing course for children is to be held at Raygill fishing
Lakes in Lothersdale during the Summer holidays from Mon 21st to Wed 23rd
August.
This will be organised by David Henderson BSc who holds a Scottish Game
Angling Instructor's Certificate and is the Raygill Instructor in fly
fishing tuition.
The days will commence at 10am and finish at 3pm.
The children will be fully supervised at all times by people with the
appropriate police checks/insurance/first aid certificates etc
"Our aim is to get children from in front of their TV sets and PS2's and out
into the fresh air learning a sport that is as popular today as it was when
their dads were nippers." Said Bernard Clement fishery manager, "It teaches
them coordination skills and interaction with other youngsters and hopefully
gives them a greater understanding of Britain's largest participant sport.
They are usually thrilled by the results and have loads of fun which is the
main thing".
We have room for 10 children so if you are interested let us know as soon as
possible.
The cost, including lunch at the café, will be £25 per day or £75 for the
three days.
(The usual cost of casting instruction is £25 per hour so it is a real
bargain!)
You can now enter the Junior Troutmasters competition at Raygill, where
the children who catch a trout automatically win a Troutmaster badge.
For more info on the above please call Amanda on 01535 632500
Jumble Sale Success
The "posh" jumble sale held at the Village Hall yesterday was a phenomenal
success! Just over £400 was raised to be shared between Lothersdale Social Club
and Lothersdale Out of School Club.
Thank you to everyone who donated jumble, baked for the cafe and helped on the
day!
Wednesday 10th May
Thank you very much to everyone who entered!
If you would like to sponsor the girls for their run please visit the website below. http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/jillmurray
Monday 8th May
Village Review
Calling all musicians, poets, playwrites
and performers… The village review at the end of November ‘04 was great fun and
a fantastic evening of entertainment. It is hoped to arrange another one which
will be held this autumn. If you are interested in taking part in any way or
would like to be involved “back stage” then get in touch with Anne Pemberton on
631668
ParTy in the ParK
Lothersdale’s 3rd Community ParTy in the ParK will take
place in summer of 2007 and then
bi-annually from then on… Ideas for the event are welcome from all members of
our community. All offers of help with organising and funding will be greatly
appreciated Watch this space…
Friday 5th May
There was a high turnout in a keenly fought Parish Council
election. With eight candidates standing, leaflets landing on doormats and a
high level of rumour around the village interest was particularly high. For the
full results go to the Parish Council pages.
Click here.
Thursday 4th May
Lothersdale Astronomy Club
News
Well, if you missed the Lothersdale Astronomy Club meeting this month you
missed a good one! And if you were here you then "Wasn't it good?"!! Yes,
the skies were clear for the first time in months and we had really
spectacular views of the moon.
We had 10 members here at the fishery lodge (Also some school children came
thanks to their school being shut for polling. They loved it.)
We had superb close up views of the moon. It was very bright and the detail
was amazing. To say it was 250,000miles away it felt like you could reach
out and touch it. The children were suitably impressed with that.
The very beautiful planet Saturn was excellent. You could see the rings and
the stripes on the planet itself and the colours as it shimmered in the
lens. The rings were clearly visible. We also saw Titan (the large moon of
Saturn) and 3 other moons around it too. This is a wonderful planet to see.
At about 10.15pm the biggest shooting star I have ever seen in my life flew
overhead. It was a fitting end to a great meeting.
Next month again we should get Saturn and the giant Jupiter will be visible
too hopefully.
The next gathering is on Wed 7th June at 9pm and we will see what the
evening brings.
See you there
Amanda Clement (Event organiser)
Monday 17th October
REFLECTIONS OF LOTHERSDALE
A Social History form 1896 to 2000
In 1972 the
Parish Council published The History of Lothersdale chronicling the
development of the village.
The new volume concentrates on the people of Lothersdale and charts their lives,
deaths, work and leisure in the last century using personal reminiscences,
contemporary articles from newspapers and other sources.
A very important part of the village has always been the School and there are
extracts from the School log-books showing how this aspect of the village has
changed over the years.
Photographs from the past are complemented by recent images of the same scenes.
The paperback has 225 pages with 67 illustrations and a 1910 Ordnance Survey map
of Lothersdale.
Copies can be obtained from the School, orders should be sent to Andrew Wheatstone at the School with payment of £12 per copy, or by contacting Mike Gover Tel 632225 or Robin Cuzner Tel 635502.
Lothersdale School Association
The LSA Annual
General Meeting was held on Wednesday 14 September 2005, when it was reported
that just over £3000 was raised last year and we hope that the events we have
planned for this year will raise even more.
PLEASE SEE EVENTS PAGE FOR FORTHCOMING FUNDRAISING EVENTS
Youth Club
There are plans to form a youth club for a trial
6 month period to be held every other Monday evening (Mondays were requested
by local young people) and we are looking for adults to volunteer to get
involved and help out on occasional sessions. To discuss this further please
contact Katie Peacock 632540 or email
wheaty.peaky@virgin.net
Thursday 4th August
Drystone
Radio needs you!
Drystone Radio is a not for profit community
radio station and needs your help!
Are you a frustrated journalist at heart? Are you the village news guru? Do you
want to be part of something exciting for the community?
Drystone Radio can make you an editor of their website – all you have to do is
log in from your computer at home and then upload your village news, issues and
comments!
The station will also find out in September whether they have a license to
broadcast through your radio – if you want to be a voice for this community come
in and see us or email
drystoneradio@fsmail.net or call 01535 635392
Thursday 21st July
‘The spirit of Chris sails on’
The Ocean Youth Trust Reception, James Cook Museum, Whitby, 2nd July
05.
Throughout his life, Chris developed a strong
interest and fascination for sailing, nautical & maritime events - demonstrated
in his involvement with youth sailing organisations and a number of trips with
the Ocean Youth Trust, who became recipients of a donation from his collection.
In more recent years, he re-ignited his interest with events aboard the HMS Bark
Endeavour and sailing with family in Cornwall.
It was a privilege and a pleasure to have had the opportunity to attend the
Ocean Youth Trust reception with Anne and Maureen on Saturday 2nd
July. The event was organised as a thank you to its benefactors, trustees and
sponsors who work tirelessly for most of the year to keep their ocean going
boat, the “James Cook’, seaworthy and crewed by the best skills available.
The ‘trust’ wishes to pass on a big thank you to Chris’s friends and family and
the people of Lothersdale for the wonderful donation that they made from his
collection. The ‘trust’ is an educational charity run by a board of trustees and
a Whitby based management team. The James Cook is a modern steel built,
specialist training vessel designed for sailing in her home waters of the North
Sea and further afield, including the Tall Ships Races.
The James Cook.
Chris would have been in his element and revelled in the occasion – to say he
would have ‘lorded’ it would have been an understatement. Yes there were Lords
and Ladies, retired captains and so on, but none as important as the dedicated
souls and crew who give their time in support of this wonderful organisation,
working together to harness the free spirit of adventure, developing trust and
responsibility for themselves and each other.
After the usual round of speeches and back patting from the dignitaries, we were treated to a feast of canapé’s – one of Chris’s favourite delicacies. Copious quantities of wine were consumed, most of it by Anne and Maureen –surprise surprise!! (Yours truly played taxi driver for the day)
The proceedings continued with some entertaining ‘sea shanties’ from the Cobblers Monday (hope you were listening mate) and an awesome display of ‘fire power’ from passing seagulls- fortunately his Lordship had moved seconds earlier!
Moving on, the Captain, (Steve Lennon) took us aboard the vessel where his young and enthusiastic crew gave us a tour of the palatial surroundings and home to many of them for the next 2/3 weeks. A late supper in the famous Magpie Fish Restaurant brought the days proceedings to an end. Having got the drunks aboard I ‘sailed’ home at some outrageous speed, (many knots per hour) & arrived back in port in the early hours of Sunday morning!
The ‘James Cook’ left Newcastle on July 1st, en-route to London, to celebrate the anniversary of Captain Cook’s final sailing on the ‘Coal Run’ before enlistment into the Royal Navy. They will sail up the Thames, under Tower Bridge on Wednesday afternoon, and present a commemorative certificate and sculpture (see in bosun’s mits below) to the Lord Mayor of London. From here she will sail to Cherbourg and join the Tall Ships race.
Captain Steve Lennon, Anne and Bosun
As a mark of our appreciation for what the OYT are trying to achieve, and an ongoing tribute and memory to Chris, Anne and I have agreed that we shall sponsor a young person / student each year to participate in one of the scheduled courses / events, which will include all onboard training fees and costs for approx one week. (approx 250-400) We would also like to encourage his friends and family, the village trusts and other organisations to match our proposal and sponsor a local person to participate in this life changing experience, once a year.
Sail on dear friend – lost but never forgotten!!
Gerry Foster – July 05.