Parish Update
RAF Exercise at RAF Fairford
RAF Fairford will once again be acting as host to the Royal Air Force's Deployed Operations Training exercise.
Exercise Crown Condor will be held at RAF Fairford from 20th September until 17th October 2008 and its purpose is to train UK Forces in Deployed Operation Base operations. The exercise will involve approximately 950 personnel in total, 750 of which will be training and rehearsing their military skills as medical, logistical, engineering, personnel, air traffic control, force protection and flying specialists. The remaining 200 personnel will be Directing Staff/Assessors, who will be advising and training the RAF personnel on how to develop and improve their performance when working in a challenging environment.
The aircraft participating in Exercise Crown Condor will be eight RAF Tornado GR4s from RAF Lossiemouth and seven SAAB JAS39 Gripen aircraft from the Swedish Air Force. The aircraft will arrive at RAF Fairford on Thursday, 2nd October and in total plan to fly approximately 24 sorties per day between the hours of 10.00am to 11.00pm, until Friday 17th October. There will be no programmed flying at weekends. RAF Fairford will be used predominantly for take-offs and landings, because most of the flying will be conducted in the least populated areas of the country. Every precaution will be taken to minimize the disturbance to the local population.
If you would like to find out more about this training exercise, there will be two community briefings for local residents as follows:
Kempsford Village Hall: Monday 22nd September at 7.00pm
Fairford Community Centre: Thursday 25th September at 7.00pm
Anyone is welcome to come along to either briefing to find out more details and ask questions about the exercise.
If you have any queries or complaints during the exercise, there is a dedicated telephone number which you can call during the exercise period, from Thursday
20th September to the end of October. Please call 07789 616480.
Can Anybody Help?
Help is required for the cleaning of the brass in the church. Pam is doing it alone at the moment but she would be very grateful if someone could help her. For more details please contact Pam Harvey on 810084. She would love to hear from you.
Thursday Club
Thursday Club restarts on Thursday 11th September in the Village Hall from 1.45pm to 4.00pm. New members are always welcome. If you fancy a cup of tea, a sandwich or two, a chat and a game of bingo just come along.
For more details please contact Pat Crew on 810338, Barbara Ockwell on 713261,
Anne Caddick on 810359 or Anne Kilminster on 810424.
Parish Council
Parish Clerk
As a result of the advert in the May edition of the Newsletter, the Parish Council received five excellent applications. The Council is now pleased to announce that they have appointed Teresa Griffin as Clerk and Financial Officer to kempsford Parish Council. Teresa can be contacted on 01285 713691 or by email: teresagriffin@kempsford.net.
Kempsford to Whelford Foot/Cycle Path
A parishioner has contacted me to draw attention to the Foot/Cycle Path from Kempsford to Whelford.
Apparently people are riding on the footpath in front of the houses on the Whelford Road and not coming off or going on the cycle path where indicated. As a result people coming out of their houses and driveways along there risk getting hurt. They already have to dodge horse and dog mess and rocks falling from the lorries using the road.
Please be considerate cyclists, riders and dog walkers.
Recycling Bins at the Village Hall
If the recycling bins are full, please do not leave bottles, cans etc by the bins as they will not be removed and can be a health hazard. Please take any bottles etc away and return them later. Many thanks.
Flood Prevention/Protection
As part of the Councils above plan, we are requesting that residents of houses and business premises evaluate their property to establish the risk of flooding and the source which poses that threat, whether it be inside their curtilage or from outside. We can then work to eliminate or greatly minimize that threat.
As our Parish was severely affected, and little help was available from outside agencies during the crisis, our aim is to be as self-sufficient as possible as well as obtaining as much help as we can from Cotswold District, County, Environment and many other agencies offering assistance.
We are also looking for volunteers to monitor the street or close they reside in (like the Neighbourhood Watch) and to report to the Parish Council any problem which could escalate into a major incident, so remedial measures could be put into operation immediately and hopefully avert disaster. (One or two volunteers per close, street or road would suffice). Residents could in turn relay their concerns to these monitors.
We are also looking for volunteers for the workforce, who will turn out, in all weathers in an emergency to help prevent a problem worsening, suitably clothed, booted and with any useful equipment that they have. (We will have some equipment already stored). There are items of equipment that can be obtained from Cotswold and County Councils and the grant we have applied for will help too but it is not inexhaustible and will have to cover many things.
Also required - if anyone has available any equipment that they are willing to loan and/or operate in a disaster, or can offer any expertise in this field, we would be pleased to hear from you. Some of the items which may be required are listed below:
picks, shovels, chainsaws, generators, pumps, snow plough to shift debris, torches, tractor/trailer etc., etc.
These are but a few of the items that may be required. As stated above some items may be obtained from other sources but if we know what is available in our Parish we can tailor our requests accordingly and spend our grant money wisely.
If it became necessary, rest/evacuation centres would be established, manned by Red Cross personnel residing within the Parish. Items such as blankets (very scarce these days), food, baby food, water, first aid, pet care items, dry clothing, etc., etc., would be required for this; very limited stocks are already kept as a matter of course by some personnel.
Storage space (in each village) easily accessible for storing of equipment, sand bags, machinery and such like.
We request that replies relating to any of the above paragraphs be in writing by email to: tonywilliams@kempsford.net or letters to any Parish Councillor - names in Parish Newsletter. No phone calls please.