CRONTON PARISH COUNCIL
News LetterSpring 2006

POLICE AND NEIGHBOURHOOD COMMUNITY INITIATIVES IN CRONTON

Neighbourhood Wardens

The Neighbourhood Wardens patrol all residential areas of the borough, working between the hours of 8:00am – 10.pm and they wear a distinctive yellow uniform.

The Wardens have four key objectives: -

1. To reduce Crime and the fear of crime by providing a visible presence, responding to incidents, gathering intelligence and undertaking crime prevention activity.

2 To Increase the Safety of local residents by supporting individuals and groups and sign posting them to appropriate agencies.

3 To work with the community and other agencies to make the local environment cleaner and safer.

4 To support community development by providing information, assistance and guidance and work in partnership with other agencies to develop activities and community initiatives.

Although the Wardens are not police and have no formal powers they do work closely with the Thematic Groups of the CDRP. (Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership) These groups in the partnership are Acquisitive Crime, anti Social Behaviour and Violent Crime.

The Wardens work closely with Social Services, Police, Trading Standards and Department of Environmental and Operational services to help make your area cleaner and safer to live in.

The Wardens also work very closely with the older residents of the borough visiting them on a one to one basis or visiting sheltered accommodation relaying information about crime initiatives or what is going on in the area where they live.

The Wardens and Police can be contacted on the following Telephone number:-

Cronton Wardens 0151 443-4692
Community Issues 0151 777 6346
Reporting Crime 0151 709 6010
Crime Stoppers 08005550111 (Free phone)

Village clean up day

The clean up day was held on Saturday April 1st and saw the continuation of a tradition that started back in 1989. Once again it was highly successful and was supported by the Knowsley environmental team.

The skip was once again situated on the Holy Family car park and was extremely well utilised with many villagers taking the opportunity to have a good old spring clean. A good response was also had from the delivery of leaflets throughout the village advertising the day, and a collection service was also provided for those heavier items which folk wanted removing.

The committee of the Holy Family club also took good advantage of the facilities offered and used the occasion to clear some of the rubbish left after the demolition of the green hut and the erection of the new fence. This left the area cleaned up “spick and span”. Our usual teams of volunteers, which included our Community Wardens and my fellow Parish councillors, cleaned the rubbish up from the usual “grot spots” which has once again benefited the environment we all live in. This day has now become essential part of our village calendar and we have marked Saturday 7th October this year as our next one. So mark that date in your calendar and try to join us in keeping our village clean and tidy.
You can contact myself (Dave Rostance) on 0151 420 0235 or Tom Eccles can be found on 0151 443 2274 if you would like further information.

(Councillor) Dave Rostance.

GREEN BELT OMISSION SITES

Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council has produced a Unitary Plan in which it has defined the use of all the land within its boundaries. The areas around Cronton are designated as green belt and cannot be used for urban development. Knowsley MBC has stated that it has sufficient land to meet its urban development plans without having to encroach onto green belt land. However, whilst the plan is being finalised it was possible to apply for a site to be omitted from the Unitary Policy. At an inquiry to hear the objections, application was made for three sites within the Cronton area to be omitted from the Unitary Plan, these were:

Cronton Colliery
Farmland bordered by Hall Lane/Penny Lane
The old North West Water Treatment Plant, Norlands Lane

Your Parish Council represented you at the inquiry and strongly supported KMBC for the full implementation of their Unitary Plan without the omissions stated above. The Parish Council would like to thank the support from the Village in this endeavour. The applications for the first two sites to be omitted were withdrawn. As yet, there is no final report on the enquiries findings into the old NWW site but I am assured that it is unlikely that any of the sites mentioned will be omitted from the Unitary Plan and will remain in the green belt.

Will Cook
Chair – Cronton Parish Council

Memories of Cronton

Cronton can be traced back over eight hundred years, in 1242 it was originally Crohinton and over the years other documents have named it as Croyton, Crointon, Croenton and Crowenston, by the early 1600’s it was generally know as Cronton.

My early memories of Cronton are happy one’s. It was a small village where everyone new each other and had the time to stop, talk and listen. Of course over the years Cronton has become bigger as new folk have moved in from other areas. Cronton of old was a much busier place then than today. There were many working farms and cultivated fields and an abundance of wild life. It was a tranquil haven between Warrington, St Helens and Widnes.
We also used to have a roadman keeping the village and lanes tidy and woe betide anyone seen dropping litter.

There were several organisations in the village for young and old, the cubs and brownies were actively supported until recent years.. Some of my most treasured memories are of the Women’s Institute; Sadly the W.I is no longer active in the village. It would be nice to see it up and running again. I am sure that there is a role in our village, which is much larger, for an organisation such as the Woman’s Institute or W.I to give it its better-known title. It would give women, both young and old the opportunity to meet, share their interest and views and support each other in a changing world.

Maureen Jackson

Knowsley Partnership

It is the Current Governments intention that Local Authorities be more accountable to the Public to whom they provide services. To this end Knowsley MBC has set out a draft action Plan for Prescot, Whiston, Cronton & Knowsley Village called ‘The Knowsley partnership’. For more information on this please ring Knowsley Customer Services on 0151-443-4031 or email customeservices@knowsley.cov.uk. There are a number of area profiles under the broad headings of Deprivation, Children and Young People, Jobs and Training, Healthy Communities and Older People, Safer and Stronger Communities and Neighbourhood Management Information. Also, within these guidelines KMBC will set out quality targets for which the Metropolitan Council will be held accountable to its residents, such as quality of waste collection, road repairs, lighting, law and order etc.

Your Parish Council will liaise with KMBC to ensure the best interests of the people of Cronton are met and if necessary will hold a public meeting with Metropolitan Officers and Councillors of Knowsley when the plan is due to be rolled out in this area. The date for this event has not yet been set.

Firstly, a Pilot Plan is being initiated in Halewood, as this is the most deprived area in our neighbourhood.

Will Cook
Chair - Cronton Parish Council

DONATIONS

Section 17 of the local government act allows parish councils to make donations.

Applications are invited from groups and organisations for this financial year. The deadline for applications is 9th June 2006

Please note that donations cannot be made to individuals

Knowsley On-line

KnowsleyOnline.com launched earlier this year, providing the borough's first all-in-one gateway to local news and views on the web
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Cronton Parish Council is delighted to be a part of this project. As news happens within the area, the Council will be able to publish it on its own "blog" page for you to access immediately. You'll be able to keep up-to-date with all the latest notices and announcements, and if you have anything you think our village should know about - email us at

www.council@cronton49.freeserve.co.uk

This is an exciting new means of communication that brings the information that's relevant to you right to your desktop
The Parish council web page is www.knowsleyonline.com/cronton.htm

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

The annual parish meeting was held on Monday 8th May at the Council Office. It was an opportunity for any residents to raise issues with the Parish Council. The meeting started at 7.30 pm.
The council can be contacted in writing at 7 Hampton Drive Cronton WA8 5BZ
You can telephone and use the answer phone facility on 0151-420-0235
You can E-mail the council at www.council@cronton49.freeserve.co.uk
Please address all correspondence to Vitti Osborne, Clerk to the Council.

Would you like to be part of the action?

Cronton Parish Council provides a vital link to Knowsley Council and other external service providers to enhance quality across all sectors of the village.

The Council currently has a vacancy for 1 Councillor and should you require more information please contact Vitti Osborne on 0151-420-0235

The roll of a Parish Councillor is voluntary and unpaid; your current Councillors perform the function as a Councillor as a commitment to the Village. We raise a precept to pay the clerk’s salary, cover administration charges, water rates, domestic rate and other areas of expenditure.
What is our function in the community?

As a minor local authority the Parish Council has very few powers, however we are able to influence Knowsley Council or other agencies on your behalf to achieve levels of service with which you are happy. For example we were able to bring pressure to bear on the future on Cronton Colliery the result being the deferral and likely abandonment of plans to develop the area as a local business park. We monitor all building and land development applications to ensure our Policy of maintaining the Green Belt around Cronton and support for the KMBC Unitary Plan. Further, with your support, we put pressure on Knowsley Council and the Police to see the introduction of Community Support Officers (CSOs) and Neighbourhood Wardens and pressure has been applied to ensure the service of these groups is maintained.
As a result of your Parish Councils efforts there has been a continuing marked reduction in Anti-social behaviour and associated gatherings of visiting youths. Whilst this is good news we mustn’t become complacent particularly with the onset of summer. We must remain vigilant against the return of bad behaviour by contacting the relevant support services.

Meeting Schedule 2006

Council Meetings 19 June 31 July 4 Sept 16 Oct 27 Nov

Committees 22 May 3 July 18 Sept 30 Oct 11 Dec

The press and public are welcome to be present.

Cronton Parish Council Precepts 2006/7: Please click on image to see full-size table, and use the back button on your browser to return to this page.

View from the Chair

Antisocial behaviour of Youths within the Village has been of been much improved over the last year. This is largely due to the introduction of the Community Support Officers and Wardens to the village, whose patrols are to continue for the foreseeable future. Whilst this is good news we mustn’t become complacent particularly with the onset of summer. We must remain vigilant against the return of bad behaviour by contacting the relevant support services.

Please get to know these officers and wardens and report all incidents to them on the numbers supplied in this newsletter or by talking to them on their way round the Village. They are here to provide support and assistance. Their success can only be achieved with your assistance.

Apart from maintaining the normal Council services to the Village, Law and order is a very important issue and the Parish Council proposes to set up a liaison with the Police to monitor and publish incidents within the village. This will allow people to monitor and comment on the level of crime within the area.

It is likely that the way that we are represented by KMBC will change for the better over the coming years. This will be as a result of the Government initiative to make Metropolitan Councils more accountable to the people they represent and provide services to. The changes will eventually be rolled out as a Local Action Plan called the Knowsley Partnership. Your Parish Council will ensure that the best interests of the Village are met when this proposed partnership between the Metropolitan Council and the Village of Cronton is rolled out.

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