Newsletter No. 19 – April 2021
April 2nd, 2021
Welcome to New Residents
Firstly the Parish Council, on behalf of the whole village here at Inskip wish to welcome all the new residents who have recently joined our little community. I hope that you find that Inskip folk are friendly and we hope that you feel welcomed by all. You can find out useful info about the village on the Parish Council website inskip-with-sowerby.org.uk and there are a couple of lively Facebook Groups if you’re interested.
There is a popular Bowling Club just by the Young Inskip People (YIPS) youth club centre at Nelson Gardens and a Tennis Court behind the childrens’ playground in School Lane. The Parish Council are hoping to upgrade the facilities this season.
Hopefully you don’t need to know this, but there are public access defibrillators located outside the Derby Arms, the Baptist Chapel, and the YIPS Centre.
Thank you to Litter-pickers
You may have notice bin bags full of rubbish placed by the litter bins in Inskip recently. These are the result of the industry of a group of volunteers who have been helping in keeping our neighbourhood tidy by picking litter off the side of the lanes and from the Common. On behalf of the whole community – Thank You!
If you are interested in volunteering yourself then I know that Wyre Council are hoping to organise a Keep Britain Tidy “Great British Spring Clean” in June, subject to Covid rules at the time. Watch this space!
Update on Carrs Green
Last summer we announced plans funded in conjunction with the LANCASHIRE ENVIRONMENTAL FUND and the Landfill Communities Fund to transform the ambience of Carrs Green Common. Of course as soon as we’d made our announcement the weather broke and since then it’s been all floods and hard frosts and such. We did manage to install some large bird feeders in conjunction with Fylde Bird Club in the autumn, which local Carrs Green residents refill regularly for us. Now with spring truly sprung we will get moving again and over the next few weeks we expect to install a boardwalk over the wettest area of the footpath that has been opened up towards the north-west corner of the Common and also laying down some aggregate. We’ll also be re-instating a couple of ponds, which as they mature will provide fantastic environments for birds, bugs, and butterflies (or at least dragonflies). Then later in the year, once the birds have nested, we will be clearing the banks of the Tank Trap stream that crosses the Common.
We know that these works will turn the Common into a bit of a building site for a short while but please bear with us. Carrs Green is a unique wetland habitat, of a type becoming rarer and rarer and so more valuable by the year – one of those very few swathes of lowland Britain that has never been drained or ploughed. It supports some very rare flora and fauna and we feel a strong duty to preserve it for posterity. Of course this means balancing competing demands. For example, whether to allow trees to self-seed or to preserve the Common as open meadow in the absence of cattle grazing nowadays by mechanically grazing in the late Summer as we have done a couple of times in recent seasons.
The problem with allowing trees to grow is that trees inevitably change the ecosystem by drying out the soil and change the soils acidity and mineral content putting the unique habitat at risk. At the same time trees might be seen to improve the ambience of the Common – in fact a suggestion has been made to line the main road across the Common with trees to improve the view as you come towards the village across the Common – and to offset the impact of tree planting by removing self-seeded trees on the Common. Parish Councillors are interested in the views of members of the public on this matter as we consider what is best overall.
Wildlife Photos
One of the improvements that the Parish Council is planning for the Common is the installation of information panels that describe the history and unique flora and fauna of the Common. It would be great to include some locally taken wildlife pictures on these information panels. If you have photos that you’d like to submit then please email them to the Parish Clerk at pc@inskip-with-sowerby.uk by end of April please.
Inskip-in-Bloom
Well done yet again to Alan Lingard, Andy Maxfield and the team for the display last year – delivered in the challenging conditions of the first national lockdown. We hope that the lovely displays cheered us all up. This year the team will hope to put on an even better show. If you’d like to volunteer to help, please let Alan know.
Dog Fouling
Sadly there appears to have been an increase in dog fouling over the last year, which is not acceptable. Members of the public need to be able to take exercise safely – and that means without treading in dog mess. There have even been reports of dog fouling in the childrens playground. The problem is not just in the village but also on footpaths, tracks and fields around about. The Wyre Dog Warden would be very interested in any information that would allow them to investigate offences.
Quad Bikes on the Common
There have been reports of people driving quad bikes on the Common. This is not allowed. If you know of anyone who does this, please let one of the Parish Councillors know so that we can have a quiet word with them.
Fly-tipping
Yes, fly-tipping remains a problem in rural areas and even lock-down didn’t seem to put off the perpetrators. If the fly-tipping is in Wyre then you can report it on-line at:
https://www.wyre.gov.uk/forms/form/76/en/report_fly-tipping
If it’s in Preston City then the link is:
https://www.preston.gov.uk/flytipping
Given the remote location of Inskip the culprits may well be local. If you see someone fly-tipping and it is safe to do so then note down details of their vehicle registration – and if you get a photo, again only if it is safe to do so, then that would be a bonus. The Local Authority need all the evidence that they can get if they are to prosecute the perpetrators and stop this scourge of the countryside for good!
Wyre Local Plan
The Parish Council and the Inskip Residents Action Group won a great victory in 2019 in moderating the plans for planting a further 200 homes around the village on top of those recently built or under construction – only a further 30 are currently approved, to be built on the field adjacent to the School. But it was just one battle in the long campaign by property developers to fill every field. The Wyre Local Plan is likely to be reviewed again later this year and we will need to be vigilant to protect our rural community.
Parish Council Meetings
Members of the public are always welcome to attend Parish Council meetings. These are on-line of course at present. There is a regular agenda item “Open Forum for the general public” at the start of each meeting when you can raise any issue that concerns you. Parish Council meeting notices and agendas, meeting minutes and other public notices can be found on our website.