Register to Vote
Residents living in Charnwood have until midnight on Tuesday 16th April 2024 to register to vote in the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) election.
The next PCC elections will take place across England and Wales on May 2nd 2024.
Most residents are currently registered to vote with over 133,000 people on the electoral register in Charnwood. However, if you are not currently registered to vote, you can visit the Government's website to find out how to register.
Photo ID will be required when voting at a polling station. This requirement was introduced by the UK Government last year and applies to most elections including Police and Crime Commissioner.
A full list of accepted ID can be found on the Council’s website: www.charnwood.gov.uk/pages/voter_id_faqs
Residents without a suitable form of ID will be able to apply for free ID called a Voter Authority Certificate which can only be used in polling stations.
The deadline to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate in time for the PCC election is Wednesday 24th April at 5pm. Please ensure you are registered to vote before applying. You can find out more details about voter ID here: www.charnwood.gov.uk/pages/voter_id
To find out more about the Police and Crime Commissioner election, visit www.charnwood.gov.uk/elections
Polling Stations
After the difficulties last year of using Woolden Hill Primary School as a polling station last year, we campaigned to get both of the polling districts back to Jubilee Hall. This was agreed by the Returning Officer at Charnwood Borough Council.
You will have noticed that Jubilee Hall is having an extension built and is currently closed until August, therefore it will not open for the PCC elections on 2nd May.
The temporary polling stations for May 2024 will therefore be:
Polling District CA1 will attend St Mary’s Church Rooms, Church Lane, Anstey, LE7 7AF.
Polling District CA2 will attend a Mobile Unit located in Sheepwash Lane Car Park, Sheepwash Lane, LE7 7BP
Community Speedwatch Volunteers
Craig Dawes, the Leicester & Leicestershire Neighbourhood Watch Association Chairperson has issued a request for volunteers for the community speed watch.
Craig has recently set up a Community Speedwatch account which hopes to cover the whole of the Charnwood area alongside the North West Leicestershire area.
This is a great opportunity for us to try and tackle the speeding issues we have in Anstey.
Here is his message:
“We would love for as many members to be involved as possible as this will help to reduce speeding in the areas that we live. This is all voluntary and there is no pressure on anyone to do anything that they do not wish to do.
We would have mobile speed guns and record the speed of motorists and all this information would then be sent to the police, if there are repeat offenders or multiple issues with speeding this will enable the local police to enforce a speed camera in the location to issue penalties to those drivers caught flouting the speed limit.
All members who wish to be involved sign up to the system and then, as a group, we will all discuss on which roads we wish to place ourselves. The speed guns and all the equipment needed is provided by myself and we will have 3 of these speed guns so that we can place ourselves in 3 locations at the same time.
The training is a short health & safety and conduct training which all new members have to complete before they are added to the speed watch system, following this completion you would be added to the system under our group, from there you can advise the coordinators and team leaders of your availability to conduct speed watches and we would also add new sites as we go along.”
Should you wish to get involved in this please do let Craig know, you can email him at [email protected]
Tenant Garden Competition
Council tenants are being encouraged to enter the long-running annual garden competition.
The competition is run by Charnwood Borough Council and is open to its tenants who once again are being urged to showcase their skills in the garden.
This year is the 14th year of the competition, and there are nine categories to enter:
- Best House or Flat Garden
- Best Pots and Hanging Baskets
- Best Community Garden
- Best Sheltered Court
- Best Fruit and Vegetable Garden
- Best Newcomer
- Best Young Gardener (entrant must be under 16)
- Best Flower Display
- Best Eco Garden (must show the use of upcycling, recycling, planting of wildflowers, environmentally friendly).
Entries for the tenant garden competition need to be submitted by Monday, June 3 and judging will take place July 22-26. Entrants will be notified of their judging date closer to the time.
Category winners will receive High Street vouchers. The prizes are £100 for first place, £75 for second, £50 for third for each category, and all other entrants who don’t win will still receive a small gift.
To enter, tenants can call the customer engagement team on 01509 634679 or 01509 634955 or email [email protected] for an application form. Alternatively, apply online or download an entry form via www.charnwood.gov.uk/gardens.
Local Plan Update
We reported last month that Deborah would be attending the Charnwood Local Plan 2021-2037 Examination public hearings at the end of February, and we promised we would provide an update. Here it is:
Deborah attended for two days and pushed our case for Anstey. Deborah emphasised the traffic congestion around the village and despite asking for a traffic masterplan a year ago from the proposed developers, this has still not been provided.
Deborah also mentioned the issue with the doctor’s surgery and the inability of residents to obtain a doctor's appointment within a reasonable time frame. Deborah advised that the current doctor’s site is constrained and therefore there would need to be a second doctor’s surgery provided for the village and that no space on any of the developments is provided for this.
There is also a major issue with schooling in the village. The proposals for Gynsill Lane, do not provide a safe route to walk or cycle to Anstey’s schools for children. The new school proposed for the Bradgate Road developments has finally been re-sited after intense lobbying by both of us, from the top of the Bradgate Road to the middle of the two developments but doesn’t allow for any vehicle access to the school.
Deborah reinforced residents’ concerns that there appear to be many issues with all these developments and the huge impact they will have on the village. The Inspectors are now very aware of our serious concerns with planning within Anstey and we therefore requested that these massive developments be accommodated elsewhere in the borough.
If you have any issues or concerns, we are here to help.
