JACKIE’S
COUNTY
COLUMN
Happy New Year!
If one of your new year’s resolutions is to
volunteer, there are lots of local
opportunities, both for regular volunteering
and one-off events.
One opportunity is to be a School
Governor! As County Councillor, it is my
responsibility to fill three places on the
Governing Body of each school in the
division with co-optees for the Local
Authority. We are encouraged to choose
volunteers, who can provide new skills and
interests into the Governing body. This
group of Governors shouldn’t ideally be
parents of children at that school, but
grandparents are welcome! If you think
this would be of interest to you, please let
me know.
The Localism Bill has been given royal
assent. The bill includes the right for a
community to have ‘first option’ on any
public building in the area, and for
communities to take over services if they
feel they can do it better. These are two
aspects of a Parish Plan - and many
villages are currently starting out on their
new Parish Plans. If you would like to know
more about it for your parish, please
contact me or your Parish Clerk.
I am not going to mention Grit Bins after
this month: but I would like to thank you for
all requests to date, and hope that they
are all in process, if not in place, by now. If
the grit bin is still not in place, please
contact me again.
February sees the digital switchover in this
area. If you don’t have five channels on
your TV, then you may not have a digital
TV. If you are not sure, please call 0800
408 5900, for advice and help.
February
As I write it is very windy, but no snow yet.
If the weather turns bad, check my website
www.jackieporter.mycouncillor.org.uk
for daily weather alert updates from the
Director for Environment, Transport and
Roads issued to County Councillors when
snow is threatened. If you prefer, I can
send these direct to you (send an email to
me, headed SNOW.)
Primary school places are at a premium
at the moment. The reality is that residents
moving into the area mid-year, have
difficulty finding places at the same school
for siblings. Families on the edge of a
catchment area, for example, may not get
their first choice. This is a real problem in
rural areas where catchment areas are
larger, and an obvious second choice of
school is unclear. The County has
received some money from Government
(£7.8m) to cope with the increased
demand but it isn’t enough to cover the
places needed even in the Winchester
district. As a rough guide, a new 2 form
entry primary sc