The Formby Blog

Formby Parish Council Precept Debate Continues

At it's meeting on Tuesday evening, Formby Parish Council members decided that they would continue to debate the size of next years precept before making a final decision at their January meeting.

A precept is the money that a Parish Council raises by means of a small charge on each house within the Parish Boundaries. The precept is collected by Sefton MBC on behalf of the Parish Council. The money is spent within and for Formby Parish residents. The CCTV cameras and the recent village refurbishment have all been paid for with the precept.

The precept costs a Band D property in Formby about £4.50 there are small variations in this figure for houses in different bands.This precept is added to the Council Tax bill and is an addition to that bill. By way of comparison the average Formby resident pays £4.50 per annum, while a Band D property in Maghull is charged around £85 per annum. The Merseyside Police and Fire Authorities also set charges of £146.23 and £64.77 respectively.

For more information about the Formby Parish Council debate visit Parish Councillor Sean Brady's blog here.

More details about Council Taxes and Parish Council Precepts are published on Sefton MBC's web site.

Formby Insulation Scheme Extended

Due to huge success and popular demand, the Formby insulation scheme, set up by the Energy Saving Trust and Formby Parish Council, has now been extended to 24th December.

The scheme was launched in August to encourage Formby residents to better insulate their homes in order to make Formby greener. Householders were offered loft and cavity wall insulation at the discounted price of just £74 each.

Ellie Abernethy, Manager of the Energy Saving Trust advice centre for Merseyside and Cheshire said: “The scheme was due to end on 31st October, but we’ve had such a high demand from Formby residents that the scheme installer, VNR Contracting, have agreed to extend the offer until 24th December. This is great news for Formby and I hope many more take the opportunity to get their homes properly insulated ready for winter”.

Chairman of the Parish Council, Mike Coles, said “Formby has a unique environment and residents have always shown tremendous initiatives when it comes to protecting its delicate balance. They include maintaining waste recycling levels to over 60%, promoting the need to maintain the water courses and investing in the appearance of the Village centre. This result is another great achievement for the community”.

The full press release is available here.

Austerity Formby

At the last meeting Formby Parish Councillors received a detailed report about the forthcoming cuts Sefton MBC has been asked to make in it's budget. A figure of £58 million over a four year period has been announced, out of that Sefton MBC has been told it must make £37m of savings in the next year.

According to local press reports:

Local leisure centres, libraries, road maintenance and community and cultural centres ....are among frontline services directly under threat.

It's clear that Formby is likely to be badly affected and in Formby the Library, the Luncheon Club perhaps the Swimming Pool and many other aspects of local services will not escape reductions in funding.

Formby is in for a period of austerity that will impact on the community very harshly. Members of the Parish Council will be considering the local Precept in the next few weeks and their discussions will inevitably be affected by the District Councils deliberations.

What are you views? Please use the comment link below,

November Formby Parish Council Meeting

The usual monthly meeting of Formby Parish Council will take place tomorrow evening at 7.00pm in Formby Library. Members of the public are very welcome to attend. There is a point in the agenda for questions to be asked or suggestions for action to be added by the public.

• Agenda
• Minutes of October's meeting

Outstanding Achievement Award

Formby Parish Council has been awarded an 'Outstanding Achievement' Award for all it's efforts and investment in the Village in Bloom project. Formby Parish Council Chair Councillor Mike Coles and fellow Councillor Dot Osborne received the award on behalf of the Council from the Mayor of Sefton at an awards celebration in Southport.

This is the second year running that the Parish Council has entered the competition. As part of the general 'village project' the Council has used a proportion of it's precept in renewing street furniture, replacing the old flower containers with new ones and increasing the range and number of plants. Councillor Dot Osbourne ably supported by fellow councillors and other volunteers including her husband and other members of the public has been in the village planting, clearing weeds and supervising the work.

Councillor Coles told Parish Council members this is a,

A fantastic success for us all and especially for Dot Osborne. For all of us and other volunteers, who gave their time and who played a part small or large, my very grateful thanks. Another great achievement.

The award will be seen for the first time by the full Parish Council at it's next meeting on 2nd November in Formby Library.

If you'd like to become involved there are regular working parties at 10am on the 1st Thursday and at 12.30pm on the 3rd Sunday every month [excluding the one before Christmas]. All welcome to come along when available, no experience needed, just gloves and a tool of some sorts eg rake, trowel fork spade brush etc

Formby Parish Council consults public

At the October monthly meeting, Formby Parish Council decided to consult the residents of Formby about toilet facilties in the village. Following years of delay and prolonged investigation Sefton MBC announced it would not be renovating and re-opening the toilets in the village.

Formby Parish Council is now seeking the views of the local residents on a number of questions, including.

• Does the village need a public toilet?
• Would you be prepared to support the Parish Council's suggestion that they would take over the responsibility for the facility?

For the full details follow this link for a copy of the Parish Council  press release . Or add your comments below.