News

Sustainable Urban Extension
The plans for housing and much more for the Wappenshall and Wheat Leasowes areas have been revealed in the Local Plan.   This is likely to have a big impact upon us here in Preston, as 3,100 new homes are proposed and this is likely to increase the traffic into the village.    The masterplan is available here.
 
There will be a public consultation in the Leegomery Community Centre on Wednesday 29th November from 4pm-8pm regarding this “Sustainable Urban Extension”.
 
Review of Preston Electoral Boundaries
The Government has instituted a series of reviews of electoral boundaries and the need to balance the number of  Councillors required to support their local communities.   Telford and Wrekin have published papers and information booklets about the process.   These can be found as follows:  
 
  
Here in Preston Village we have a choice of remaining as a Village Meeting or becoming Preston Parish Council or amalgamating with Kynnersley to become a larger entity with an equal number of Councillors (4) for each village.
 
Telford has set up an online survey (which can be found by clicking this link) and would like residents to respond.
 
Moorhead Road Safety Scheme
Many of us will know that there have been a number of incidents along the 30 mph limit stretch of road at Moorhead, when drivers, often exceeding the speed limit, have lost control and powered into residents’ walls and gardens. We have made representations to Telford & Wrekin Highways about this situation and it has been gratifying to receive an email from the Neighbourhood & Enforcement Services Team Leader recently, proposing a scheme, which is part of this year’s Capital Road Safety programme. for the length of road from the Leegomery Roundabout to The Humbers. Because of its accident record, Moorhead figures quite largely in this proposal.   Options are being considered to implement the following features along the Moorhead road and our opinions regarding the three installations are important:
  1. Lowering the speed limit to 20 mph within the extent of the white gateway features;
  1. Two or three pairs of speed cushions, coloured light grey to blend in with the village aesthetic;
  1. The installation of a mini roundabout at the junction of Moorhead and the road leading into the rest of the village.
You will appreciate that at the present time we have no specific details, nor a time schedule for the work.   This is really advance notice of what is being considered.
The Future of Preston Village Meeting

Within the Telford & Wrekin Borough, Preston upon the Weald Moors and Eyton upon the Weald Moors remain as the last two surviving Village Meetings.

In our case, in recent times, the village has expanded from some sixty dwellings to around one hundred and our representation within the Telford Borough is through two Councillors, who have other, larger responsibilities.   The question is, can we, as a Village Meeting, adequately serve the needs of our enlarged community?

As a Village Meeting, we do have difficulty in getting support or attention from the Borough and, too often, requests for help or support seem to be placed on hold.   For example, those of our residents who witnessed the closure of Horton Lane will know all too well how our opinions were overridden and communication and consultation with the Preston officers was minimal.   Could this be because we lacked the status of a Parish Council or, at that time, were too small to have any influence?

Thinking about the future, it is possible that we may come under pressure to change our status, but at the moment we have three choices that we can possibly make for ourselves.

The first would be to attempt to make Preston upon the Weald Moors a Parish Council in its own right.   This would require a lot of catching up with procedures, regulations and policies.   Our Meetings would be more formal, with a public session and a closed Council Representatives session.   Higher precepts would need to be levied on the rates, due to a greater call on our Council finances:  one example would be the funding of Council elections.   Fortunately, there is help available, with all the required procedures that we would have to implement, from officers at Telford & Wrekin Borough.   Any change in our status would have to be agreed by a majority of the village electorate.

A second option would be to combine with Kynnersley Parish Council, provided their electorate will have us and our electorate decide we want to join.   There would have to be agreement over the equal representation of Councillors between the two villages.   One huge advantage would be that all the necessary procedures and functions are already in place.   Our conversations with the Kynnersley Council Chair and Clerk suggest that they, personally, would be interested in an amalgamation of our two villages.

The third option would be to remain as we are and this depends much on the interest and involvement of our village community.

Any information in support of change could be obtained initially by speaking to officers from other local parishes, Kynnersley and Telford & Wrekin Borough Council.