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Mountsorrel Post June 2007 (19)

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MY Cartons development

PLANS HAVE been submitted to demolish the MY Cartons factory on Linkfield Road and build 68 dwellings on the site.
David Wilson Homes want to build a range of accommodation from two bedroom apartments to five bedroom detached houses. The scheme includes 20 'affordable dwellings', representing 30 per cent of the overall development. These will be a mixture of private rented and shared ownership made available through a Housing Association.
The developers say they want to 'retain and enhance' the large pond on the site, which was a former clay pit, but the plans indicate that an unspecified amount of the pond will be reclaimed for development.
The proposed dwellings are a mix of two, two and a half, and three storey with vehicle parking predominantly in rear courtyards.
A single access road to the development will be created from Linkfield Road.
Some residents in Linkfield Road, Kiln Garth and Whatton Oaks are objecting to the proposals and a 37 signature petition has been submitted to Charnwood. They are concerned by:
o increased traffic on an already busy road
o parking problems
o loss of privacy with new buildings overlooking existing properties
o loss of wildlife habitat
o years of development traffic
The plans can be viewed on Charnwood's website: www.charnwood.gov.uk Planning application no. P/07/1122/2

Sketch of site here

Landlord not guilty

A PUB landlord accused of assault has been found not guilty by a Magistrate's court.
Anthony Bartle, landlord of the Lindens on Halstead Road, Mountsorrel, appeared at Loughborough Magistrates Court on March 6, 2007 facing a charge of common assault following an incident at the Lindens in 2006.
The complainant alleged that he was assaulted by Mr Bartle at closing up time.
Magistrates found Mr Bartle not guilty. When delivering his verdict, the magistrates said that the complainant had instigated the assault upon Mr Bartle and that Mr Bartle's actions in response amounted to lawful self defence and in all the circumstances prevailing at the time were lawful and necessary.
Magistrates said that the complainant had refused several requests for him to leave the premises having been allowed ample drinking up time, had become rude and abusive and had instigated the assault upon Mr Bartle while in drink.
The Magistrates stated that Mr Bartle was a man of exemplary good character, a model licensee running a good public house.

Councillor commended

THE HARD work commitment and contribution to the village of Parish Councillor Mick Lemon has been recognised by Mountsorrel Parish Council.

Pic: Chairman of Mountsorrel Parish Council, Brian Allard presents the Certificate of Commendation to Mick Lemon.

Chairman Brian Allard presented Cllr Lemon with a Certificate of Commendation at the March meeting of the Council.
Since joining the Parish Council in 1995, Cllr Lemon's efforts have secured the future of several sports clubs and helped to deliver the Soar Valley Leisure Centre which opened in July 2004.

Grot spots tidied

TONNES OF rubbish were collected from 'grot spots' in Mountsorrel, targeted by the Borough Council on an Environmental Action day in April.

Pic: Collecting rubbish from Mountsorrel are (l-r) Melanie Bonyer, Dave Burge, Mick Wright, Ian Bateman, PC Del Gillespie and Stan

Dave Burge, Community Safety Officer at Charnwood, co-ordinated the day with the support of local Police. He explained: "We stated these action days in Loughborough to clear rubbish and give out crime prevention advice and have repeated them in Syston and Thurmaston. They can have a big impact."
A team of 15 spent the day in Mountsorrel, including seven bin men, four Police Community Support Offices and PC Del Gillespie. 3.5 tonnes of rubbish were collected from the Trees estate including five mattresses, six sofas, a washing machine and drug paraphernalia. 2 tonnes of rubbish were removed from the Church Hill Road area.
The team also removed graffiti from several sites in the village and delivered leaflets on refuse collection and crime prevention.
"People have been very pleased to see us, and glad that rubbish has been removed" said Dave Burge.
o In a separate initiative, five individuals in Mountsorrel responsible for antisocial behaviour have been targeted by the Community Safety Officer, Dave Burge. He said: "We are working with the Prince's Trust for the first time and offering training to these individuals, to make them more employable."

New scout hut for hire

FOLLOWING A successful bid for funding, Mountsorrel Scouts have now almost completed a refurbishment of the Scout Hut on the Green.
The hut is now home to a lively Beaver and Cub group, and January saw the start of a new Scout unit.
The Scout group says they are pleased that an extended family of activities is benefiting from the Scout facilities including Brownies, Guides, Jo Jingles, Creation Station, Matrix Karate and the Jessica Botterill Dance School. Hopefully, Yoga Bugs will also be joining us soon.
"A bright and airy hall, with a new kitchen, the Scout Hall is an ideal venue for any group or activity. Competitively priced, you could host your activity here and feel good that you are supporting the work of young people within the Scout family" said Liz Archer from Mountsorrel Scouts.
To join this extended family contact Liz on 0116 2376773 for more information.

Singing star visits

WORLD FAMOUS singer Dionne Warwick was a special guest at a Mountsorrel garage in March, launching a charity raffle.

Pic: Dionne Warwick at Mountsorrel's Francis Honda garage. Photo by bk-promotions.co.uk

The Francis Honda garage hosted the event, and donated a car as a raffle prize for the Silver Star Appeal, which has been set up to raise £50,000 for a mobile diabetes testing unit.
Ms Warwick said diabetes was a cause she was closely involved with in the United States.

New library on schedule

WORK IS on schedule at the new Mountsorrel library and learning centre on the Green.

It is due for completion at the end of August and will open in September, says the County Council.
Leicestershire Libraries are inviting the local community of Mountsorrel to participate in putting forward their suggestions, views and comments on what they would like to see in their new library and learning centre.
Spokeswoman Bharti Acharya said: "Plans of the new library and learning centre can be viewed at the existing library on Market Place where your suggestions, views and comments can be posted. We would also like to invite people to enter a competition by coming up with a name for the new library and learning centre."

The library will occupy the ground floor of the new building with a learning suite and exhibition area on the extended first floor. There will be a separate entrance to the learning suite on the side of the building, with lift and stairs leading up from a lobby which will also provide access to a disabled toilet and a second entrance to the library.
It will be possible to access the first floor when the library is closed.
Capital funding for the project has been provided by Leicestershire County Council, Charnwood Borough Council and Mountsorrel Parish Council.
Management of the building will be the responsibility of a trust made up of the funders and a representative from a Management committee which will oversee day to day operation of the centre.

Layout of ground floor and first floor

Annual Parish meeting

THE ANNUAL Parish Meeting of Mountsorrel Parish Council was held in the Memorial Hall on March 22.
Around 30 members of the public attended. Chairman of Mountsorrel Parish Council Brian Allard reported that the village playing fields and play equipment were a high priority. New equipment has been recently installed on the Loughborough Road playing fields and £75,000 was budgeted for Halstead Road.
New posts have been installed on the Green to address parking problems, which still persisted.
The Parish Council has allocated £3,000 for the new Revive youth group in the village, which meets at the Methodist Church.
Cllr Allard commented on the problems of vandalism of bus shelters in the village.
Mr Warrington, a spokesman from the County Council's Highways department, reported that poll findings revealed 81% of Leicestershire people pulled were satisfied with the county's roads and highways, the second highest rating in the country. He was aware of concerns at the Black Hawk mini roundabout which would be considered at the next meeting of the Highways Forum. Traffic calming measures near Little Lane and the Buttermarket will be constructed soon, he said.
Police Inspector Cathy Yallop reported that following restructing Quorn LPU had merged with Syston LPU to become Charnwood LPU. Quorn Police Station will remain open and be used as a base for officers. Charnwood LPU has 10 neighbourhood Beats with PBO Del Gillespie and PCSO Sally Penny assigned to Mountsorrel. Police priorities for the village are updated every six months after consultations with key individuals in the village. These are currently: antisocial behaviour in the area of the Green; drug offences and antisocial behaviour in area of Boundary Road; parking problems on Leicester Road and Rothley Road.
Inspector Yallop said that there had been 135 reported acts of violence against a person from April 2006 to end of March 2007, in Mountsorrel. There were 102 in 2005/06 and 143 in 2004/05.
Other figures reported were (with 05/06 and 04/05 in brackets): Burglary dwelling 29 (24,40); Burglary other 38 (14,33); Theft of motor vehicle 34 (13,29); Theft from motor vehicle 52 (29, 46); Criminal damage 180 (146, 127)
The number of antisocial behaviour incidents in the six months from Feb 06 was 238 and in the six months from Aug 06, 234.
Inspector Yallop said antisocial behaviour was a big problem in the village and that a lot of good work was going on, often in the background, to address it. The Police are targeting key individuals to impose Acceptable Behaviour Contracts. One persistent offender was in the process of having an ASBO placed upon him.
Inspector Yallop reported that Police officers and trading standards officers had conducted an operation in the village and a number of premises had sold alcohol to an underage person. One staff member was fined £80.
NHW Area Co-ordinator Maureen Pollard reported that there were 36 schemes in the village.
Borough Councillor David Slater reported that the council had found an ALMO (Arms Length Management Organisation) to deliver landlord services to Council tenants and had made a bid for £35 million of funding. He said that owners of PRC homes had been "treated disgracefully" by the Council. Improvement works had started but funds had dried up and the Borough Council had no cash to continue, he said. The formation of the ALMO should deliver the improvements up to the Decent Homes Standard by 2010.
Trevor Warren from Laforge said the quarry was working with the County Council to redirect a bridleway along a more scenic, landscaped route. He said that a structural engineer has inspected the 1860 bridge and established the causes of the problems. Laforge expected to start remedial work this year and finish in 2008.

NHW news & crime report

THERE WERE a total of 41 criminal offences reported to the police during April 2007.
Assault and Harassment 13
11 reported assaults were of a non serious nature. One was domestic violence related, and one was racially aggravated.
Burglary Dwelling 0
Burglary Other than Dwelling 1
Overnight on April 20/21 an unknown person entered an insecure garage on Belvoir Close and stole property to the value of approx £40. No suspects and no witnesses. Enquiries are continuing.
Damage to Motor Vehicle 2
o Overnight on March 31 and April 1 a vehicle parked on Boundary Road was damaged by known persons. There are no suspects and no witnesses and we are asking for further information
o On Wednesday April 4 a vehicle parked on Halstead Road had minor damage to its wing mirror. A group of youths was seen to run off from the scene,. Although a number of youths were detained, there was not enough evidence for an arrest to be made.
Criminal Damage 7
Damage has been caused at the following locations:
o Rear window of a property on Halstead Road
o First floor flat window on Leicester Road smashed
o Ground floor flat on Leicester Road window smashed
o Glass window in rear door of a property on Elm Close
o A door to property on Leicester Road kicked in
o A window smashed on a ground floor flat on Leicester Road
Theft Stores 3
A store on Rothley Road has reported 3 incidents of theft, 2 incidents involve the same suspect.
Theft 7
o On Monday April 4 a watch was stolen from the Soar Valley Centre. Enquiries are ongoing.
o On Tuesday April 3 a bath was stolen from the front garden of a property on Beeches Avenue
o On Friday April 6 a visitor to an address on Boundary Road had a mobile phone stolen. No suspects and no witnesses
o On April 18 unknown persons have stolen 2 concrete slabs from the front of an address on Halstead Road
o On Sunday April 22 a person reported that a mobile phone had been stolen after placing it down on a table at the Quorn car boot sale
o On Sunday April 22 unknown person stole 4 alloy wheels from the front garden of an address on Martin Avenue
o On Saturday April 28 a mobile phone was stolen from a person at the Soar Valley centre
Theft from Motor Vehicle 1
On Friday April 13 a tax disc was stolen from a vehicle on Fort Road. This has been recovered from another vehicle following police enquiries. Further enquiries are ongoing.
Crimes reported during April were significantly lower than previous months, and I hope this continues. However once again Criminal Damage, although lower, still dominates the report.
I can report that we conducted a Test purchase operation during April with our partners in Trading Standards. We have tested 4 off licence premises and I can report that one premises failed, where they served alcohol to an underage person.
A fixed penalty ticket was issued to the sales person and the licensing department informed.
From PC1892 Del Gillespie, PCSO 6030 Sally Penny, 0116 222 2222

New mural planned

A NEW art installation is being planned to replace a mural on Boundary Road, Mountsorrel and residents are being encouraged to come forward to suggest locations and ideas.
Working with the local community, the Mountsorrel Parish Plan Group, Charnwood Arts, Charnwood Borough Council and the Local Strategic Partnership - Charnwood Together, the new art installation will aim to brighten the area, create a focal point and encourage residents to get involved in the new feature for the whole community.
The existing mural on Boundary Road was produced with the local community and Charnwood Arts back in 2003 and following a discussion at the Mountsorrel Parish Plan Group in January 2007 it was agreed that action would be taken to save the mural before the site was developed by the East Midlands Housing Association.
Iain Kirtley, Charnwood Community Strategy Support Officer, said: "We worked with the owners of the site East Midlands Housing Association to remove the mural in the hope we could store it at Charnwood Borough Council and redisplay it in the future but when we removed it, it became apparent that it was seriously damaged and wouldn't be able to be repaired.
"However, we're going to work with the local community to turn this into a real positive and create something which the whole community can be proud of".
Jemma Bagley from Charnwood Arts has been working with Mountsorrel youth group Revive on a new mural. She said: "We hope to display this in the new library initially and then find a new site for it in the village."
If people would like more information, want to get involved or suggest a possible location, please contact Iain Kirtley on 01509 632518 or Jemma Bagley at Charnwood Arts on 01509 821035.

Fresh cakes in store

A BAKER with 24 years experience has brought his expertise in confectionery to Budgens supermarket, who are now offering a greater range of bakery lines made in store.

Guy Coombs( pictured above), former owner of Coombs Bakery, is the new confectioner at Budgens. He said: "Everything is freshly produced from the highest quality ingredients and we are now offering a good range - the chocolate eclairs are very popular."
Customers can choose from fruit pies, cakes, gateaux, butterfly cakes, crumbles, cream cakes and flapjacks. There are plans to extend the bakery in the near future to offer a wider range of products.
Customers can try the cakes at Budgens weekly sampling days.
o As part of the store's commitment to the environment, Budgens has teamed up with their carrier bag supplier, Euro Packaging, and will be giving away 5000 bags for life.
With every £10 spent in store, customers will be given a free bag or bags to be re-used. These will be replaced free when they are worn out.
Store manager Stuart Barton said: "It is felt by us and our customers that this is a step in the right direction. It is vital that we all take a leading role in recycling for the sake of the environment.
"At Budgens we are looking at other ways to recycle our packaging and are in constant talks with our suppliers about the amount of packaging products are sold in."
o Fundraising in store since February 2007 has raised £450 for the STEPS children's charity, based in Shepshed. The charity supports children with cerebral palsy and Down's Syndrome.

Parish Council notes

A FULL meeting of Mountsorrel Parish Council was held on March 12.
Councillors discussed problems of antisocial behaviour near Bargain Booze, motorbikes on Mountsorrel Common, vandalism of bus shelters and the sale of alcohol to minors. It was agreed to write to the licensing authority in respect of alcohol sales and to the Chief Constable about the unsatisfactory level of policing in the village.
It was reported that the Council's website, maintained by the clerk and the assistant clerk, had received a Commendation from the County Council.
The council agreed to accept draft plans for a new Memorial Hall and Young Persons' centre.
The Council agreed to write to the bus company and the County Council requesting that the timetable be adjusted so that the service does not leave Mountsorrel until after 9.30am
A full meeting of Mountsorrel Parish Council was held on April 16.
Borough Councillor Richard Shepherd reported on Loughborough Road mini-roundabout. At a meeting of the Highways Forum, officers took the view that removing the island would increase problems and that with the agreement of local residents and the Parish Council, a bollard would be erected to prevent lorries over-riding the kerbs.
Chairman Brian Allard presented a report on the achievements of the Council over the last four years and made mention of the following:
o The creation of the Parish Council Office which commenced in June 2003 with all the various delays and problems
o The renovation and improvements to the Parish Room which were part of the project
o The farewell evening and presentation to Mrs Joy Broughton after serving as Clerk to the Council from August 1, 1985 to April 30, 2004
o The opening of the Soar Valley Leisure Centre on July 31, 2004 with the official opening during Remembrance Weekend 2004
o The provision of a skate ramp on Halstead Road Playing Fields
o The planters in the Market Place
o The siting of three Rotherham benches in the village
o The decision made in January 2005 to give high priority to the provision of children's play areas in the village with the sum of £250,000 being earmarked for the equipment
o The installation of the play equipment on the Memorial Playing Fields
o The installation of the play equipment on the Loughborough Road Playing Fields
o The planning for the installation of the play equipment on the Halstead Road Playing Fields
o The floral displays which commenced in 2005 which have enhanced the environment in Mountsorrel
o The provision of bus shelters in the village as part of the Loughborough Quality Bus Partnership together with the Leicestershire County Council.
o The partnership for the creating of the Mountsorrel Library, Learning and Access Centre at the Church House which will be opened later in 2007
o The development of the Web site
o The maintenance and improvements to the Cemetery, Hills, Peace Garden and the Green
o The financial assistance and work involved with youth work in the village
o The discussions concerning the area around the Memorial Hall and the provision of new buildings
o The marking of Her Majesty the Queen's 80th birthday with an event at the Working Men's Club on June 12, 2006.
o The Christmas lighting, carol concerts, the Best Kept Front Garden Competition and the presentation of Certificates of Commendation to various people for their contribution to Mountsorrel
The Chairman thanked the following:-
o The Vice Chairman, Cllr Paul Harris for his work, help and co-operation
o The Chairmen of the various committees - Cllrs Newman, Dyer, Lemon, Newitt and Coats
o All members of the Parish Council for their considerable time and commitment and the service and work which they had given as Parish Councillors
o The Administrative staff, Mrs Jayne Bambury and Ms Juliet Allen, and other employees of the Parish Council
o Mrs Julie Walker for her work, contribution and commitment which she had made which had been immense since January 2005 both as Assistant Clerk and Clerk and Responsible Finance Officer
Cllr Harris thanked Cllr Allard for all his work, knowledge and accuracy as Parish Council Chairman.
A full meeting of Mountsorrel Parish Council was held on May 14.
The council has donated a digital camera to the Revive Youth Group.
It was reported that established youth organisations in the village were not showing an interest in attending Youth Forum meetings. With the support of the County Council Youth Services, a Gala Day is planned for August 11 on the Halstead Road playing field.
The Parish Council agreed to send a representative to a meeting of the Police Joint Action Group meeting on June 14 to consider problem areas for antisocial behaviour and to agree a plan of action.
It was agreed to write to the Royal Mail regarding the unreliability of postal collections in the village.
It was agreed to write a letter of condolence to the McCann family.

Ladies group

THE MOUNTSORREL Townswomen's Guild is a local ladies group who meet on the first Thursday of the month at the Parish Rooms, Leicester Road, Mountsorrel at 7.30pm.
We meet to enjoy each other's company, listen to interesting, entertaining or educational speakers, followed by refreshments. We also hold a Social Studies meeting each month (usually the third Thursday) when we share activities or have an outing or theatre trip.
However, the Guild is also part of a much wider organisation; all over the country women have helped to make Townswomen's Guilds a national movement that has a powerful voice - challenging government, influencing opinions and contributing to a better society. Our Patron is Princess Anne, who takes a keen interest in the movement and attends the annual National Council.
At local level we are proud to be the oldest Guild in the Leicestershire Federation, and celebrated our 60th anniversary in December 2005.
Our programme secretary ensures that there is a varied programme lined up for each year.
Visitors are always assured of a warm welcome and can attend up to three meetings before deciding whether to join the guild.
From Mountsorrel Townswomen's Guild

Open garden event

AN OPEN garden event in Mountsorrel will help raise money for the Rainbows children's hospice.
Dave and Pat Radley of 33 Hawcliffe Road will open their garden to the public on Sunday July 15 from 12noon to 5pm.
The entry fee is £1 and visitors can enjoy tea, coffee, cream scones and home made cakes as well as many stalls selling plants, bric-a-brac, toys, books, cakes and games.
Pauline and Bob Wells are Rainbows Ambassadors and they have been invited to the event to receive a cheque for £2250, the amount raised in 2006 by Pat Radley, Jeanette Marshall and Jean Lee. They have raised £10,000 for Rainbows over the last five years.

New children’s playground

NEW PLAY equipment has been installed on the Loughborough Road play area by Mountsorrel Parish Council.

Situated at the north end of the village the equipment includes an innovative multiplay climbing tower and slide, two sets of swings and other smaller items. A new football goal and basketball hoop are provided for ball games. A Parish council spokesman said: "This part of the village has been poorly served for play facilities in the past and the new equipment will help to remedy this deficiency. This is the second play area to be improved and is part of the Parish Council's strategy to provide better facilities for its young people."
Work by the installers of the equipment KOMPAN Ltd started on November 27 and was finished shortly after Christmas.
The new play equipment is jointly funded by the Parish Council and the Leicestershire FLAG and shire grant schemes. The north end of the village has been poorly served for children's areas in the past and the old equipment on the site was removed some years ago for health and safety reasons.

Centre’s top marks

MOUNTSORREL'S SOAR Valley Leisure Centre achieved the highest ranking score when it was assessed by independent inspectors.
Along with the Loughborough Centre, it has been awarded the Quest quality kite mark as 'highly commended'.
Inspectors play mystery visits, scrutinise service standards, cleanliness and maintenance, customer reaction and the centre's processes for ensuring continuous improvements.
The Soar Valley Centre, managed by Serco, achieved the highest ranking score in Serco's entire leisure portfolio.
The Contract Manager, Paul Street and Operations Manager, Mark Welch are delighted with the results. Paul said: "We are really pleased for the teams at both sites who always go the extra mile. We would also like to thank our customers for their constructive comments which help us greatly in our quest for continuous improvement.
We hope that anyone interested in taking up exercise will be given the confidence that the Council's leisure centres are first class facilities available for the whole community to enjoy."

New gallery opens

A MOUNTSORREL artist has set up a new fine art gallery in Loughborough town centre.

Pic: Rosemary Conley (left) opened the gallery, pictured
with Antionia Winsor and Val Turton

Antonia Winsor and her friend Val Turton say Galerie Resonance will run a series of themed exhibitions, each running 4-6 weeks, offering local artists publicity and sales of their work.
"The gallery will offer a platform for the exposure of vibrant, new and emerging artistic talent in the Midlands" said Antonia.
The gallery, on the first floor of the Good News Centre in Church Gate, was opened by Rosemary Conley and is open from 10am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday.
Submissions from artists are welcome, visit www.galerie-resonance.com for more details.
An open exhibition is planned for August 23 to September 29 to raise money for charity STEPS, with a prize for the winner of the artists' competition

Memories of Mountsorrel railway

I WONDER how many local people have strolled along the canal at Mountsorrel and looked in awe at the elegant 1860 bridge which straddles the canal, or maybe travelled along Bond Lane and wondered why there are three bridges crossing the road that don't seem to go anywhere.

Pic: the 1860 bridge

These structures were all part of the Mountsorrel Railway, built almost 150 years ago to serve the quarries of the Mountsorrel Granite Company. The once-extensive and now long-closed private railway system that served the quarries is largely forgotten today. With the passing of time it seems that this important part of the history of Mountsorrel is in danger of becoming forgotten and lost forever.
Mountsorrel resident and railway enthusiast Steve Cramp is setting out to change this. He is researching the railway and plans to write a book detailing his findings.
"I had often walked alongside the canal and wondered about the 1860 bridge" says Steve. "I was sure that there must be a fair amount of history behind it. I had read various publications about Mountsorrel and although the quarries were fairly well documented, the railway which served them only seemed to get a fleeting mention."
It wasn't until Steve moved house last year and his subsequent discovery of further evidence of a nearby disused and forgotten railway line, that his curiosity finally got the better of him and he decided to see what he could find out about this lost railway.
Steve has spent the past few months researching and talking to local historians to see what knowledge and memories survive. "The more I looked, the more interesting the project became. This was no ordinary industrial railway with just a few sidings. Altogether there were 8½ miles of track serving the local quarries and the railway had two connections with the national network, to the Midland Mainline at Barrow Upon Soar and the now preserved Great Central Railway at Swithland Sidings." What had started as a curiosity had become a labour of love.
Much information has been uncovered and Steve's research has revealed many fascinating pieces of information such as the stories of Sunday School trips where the children rode in open wagons used to carry granite, up to Kinchley House on Kinchley Lane where they were entertained by the Martin family who owned the quarries. Trying to imagine a similar practice in today's health and safety conscious world is almost impossible.
"What I would really like to do now is to get in touch with local people who remember the railway - either those who worked on it, or who used live close by and remember the trains" says Steve. "There may still be people alive who worked on the railway or have stories to tell about it. There may be readers who had a father or grandfather who worked on the Mountsorrel Railway. I would love to hear their stories and experiences. Key dates and statistics are only part of any historical book, what really brings a book to life are people's stories of how it affected their lives and their accounts of an age now long gone."
So, can we expect a best seller? I doubt it laughs Steve. "Hopefully the book will appeal to local people interested in the history of the area and railway enthusiasts. The main purpose of the book is to document the history of the Mountsorrel Railway for as many people as possible." All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to two local railway charities which support restoration work on the nearby Great Central Railway.
Steve hopes to publish the book before the end of the year. He can be contacted on 0116 2301374 or by email at smcavalon@yahoo.co.uk

Village website

MOUNTSORREL'S VILLAGE website is www.mountsorrel.org.uk.
Set up by the Parish Council, the site has several sections including: news, a calendar of village events, a history page, village trail details, a genealogy page and a gallery of photos.
The Wildlife and Outdoors section has details about Castle Hill, Centenary Pasture, Mountsorrel Marshes and a local footpath tour.
Also listed are sports clubs, accommodation, food and drink, village organisations and a directory of local services, shops and businesses.
The Parish Council page lists councillors, has copies of council minutes and invites browsers to make suggestions for the village.
The interactive village forum allows visitors to talk to each other: current topics include the new library, bus shelters and play equipment.
Mountsorrel Parish Council also maintains a website as part of the County Council's website for all of the county's parish councils. Find it at www.leicestershireparishcouncils.org/mountsorrel
o Back issues of this newspaper can be viewed at our website www.birstallpost.co.uk

Conservatives in control

THE CONSERVATIVES have taken overall control of Charnwood Borough Council after winning 32 of the 52 seats at the 2007 Local Government Elections.
It is the first time the Conservatives have had overall control of the Council since Labour won the 1995 elections. The Conservatives, led by Cllr Richard Shepherd, now have 32 seats - up eight on the 2003 Local Elections - while Labour's share dropped to 13 from 22, four years ago.
There are five Liberal Democrat Councillors, down two, plus one Independent, Cllr Roy Campsall, who was elected alongside Labour leader Cllr Max Hunt in the Loughborough Clarendon ward. Charnwood also has its first British National Party Councillor as Catherine Duffy took the East Goscote seat vacated by Ron Jenkins (Independent).
Turnout was a lot higher than the 2003 elections with every ward recording a significant increase in the percentage of people voting.
Conservative Group Leader, Cllr Richard Shepherd, said: "I am delighted by the success achieved by Conservative candidates. Winning 32 seats exceeds our expectations, I'd like to thank all those who worked so hard in the campaign and to congratulate both the successful candidates and also those who were not elected but offered the electors of Charnwood a choice and gained a good measure of support.
"The Conservative Group is looking forward to being the new administration and serving the people of Charnwood."

Election results

THE RESULTS of the May local government Borough elections were:

Mountsorrel
Christopher Canham (BNP) 422; John Capleton (Con) 1029 elected; John Coats (Lab) 474; Leigh Harper-Davis (Con) 989 elected; Sally Sapsford (Lab) 367

Quorn & Mountsorrel Castle
Michael Coxon (Lab) 498; Claire Forrest (Lab) 452; Richard Shepherd (Con) 1547 elected; David Slater (Con) 1451 elected.

There was no election for Mountsorrel Parish Council as the number of candidates nominated was less than the number of seats on the council. Those nominated are elected without contest: Brian Allard, Stan Coats, Hilary Dyer, Leigh Harper-Davies, Paul Harris, Stephen Haywood, Michael Lemon, Patricia Moulding, Frederick Newitt, Harold Newman, Simon Bracewell, Thomas Duffin.