PARISH COUNCIL: At their September meeting, chaired by Cllr Tony Wilkins, parish councillors heard a report by the chairman of the parish plan steering group, Mrs Sheila Ribbans, on the fifth draft of the parish plan and the action plan, which she said were more or less the final versions. One of the main matters brought up by the questionnaire was the need for more information about the parish council, what it spends its precept on and what its priorities were, and also about the village itself.

It was essential that all matters of importance within the village were included in the action plan, if residents wanted the county and district councils to take notice of their concerns and act upon them. The steering group would bring the design statement to the next parish council meeting.

The chairman reported that the bowls club still did not know when it would obtain enough money to pay for the netting needed to protect the green and themselves from cricket balls, and no decision could be taken on when the netting should be put up until after the sports and social club meeting at the beginning of October.

There was considerable correspondence between John Maples, MP, Mr Fraser Pithie of Severn-Trent, Mr A N Walker and the parish council about the recent interruption to the water supply in Ilmington, following a thunderstorm which cut off the electricity. Mr Pithie said the company was disappointed that the first time the standby generator was needed, it had not worked immediately because of the thunderstorm, but it had subsequently checked the system and confirmed that all sensible measures had been taken to ensure, as far as possible, that the generator would work in the event of a mains power failure.

Cllr David Sabin reported that the main gatepost by the bowling green needed to be repaired. The chairman said it should be set back further into the field, with a larger gate, and the chairman and Cllr Rob Hawkins would inspect the gate. The chairman reported that he had carried out some repairs to the children's play cabin, and had dealt with the neck trap hazard on the sandpit fence.

Cllr Hawkins reported that the outside of the village hall was being painted, and that he had been cutting back the bushes between the hall and the notice board, but did not know who owned the bushes. He and the chairman would have a look at it.

Cllr Danny Wilkins reported that the road by Southfield Farm had subsided badly and was dangerous to cyclists. The chairman agreed to raise this matter with the highway authority, and also the repainting of the white lines along Armscote Road and in the centre of Front Street.