1. Art and Diseño

CIVIC BUSINESS
FOUR MARKS PARISH COUNCIL
WHO’S WHO - Julie Ozwell
[We continue profiling our Parish Councillors, all of whom
will stand down this year, with new elections being held for
their replacements on Thursday 7th May. There was a mistake in last month’s profiles as Tim Brake stood down as
Vice Chairman last May and Janet Foster was appointed. I
apologise to both for this error - Ed]
Janet Foster (Vice Chairman) has lived
in the village for 27 years. She is interested in promoting activities that enable
the village to develop and thrive so that
we all are proud to live here. She wishes to help to make more facilities available for all ages, to satisfy their needs
within this semi-rural setting. She supports appropriate
and sustainable residential and commercial development, and wants to help make this a safe and friendly
community.
Janet's work background is in quality management in
the pharmaceutical and electronics industries. She is a
Licensed Lay Minister in the Church of England, and
has hobbies of gardening and sailing. Her expertise is
as a logical thinker with a methodical and practical
approach to tasks. She was co-opted to the Parish
Council in April 2013 and has responsibility for Oak
Green Parade and is on the Finance & General Purposes, Planning and Open Space Committees.
John Hammond has been in Four Marks
for 26 years. His 3 children grew up
here, initiating an interest and involvement in local community activities,
which has continued and grown over
the years. John thinks that we are very
fortunate in living where we do. He is
interested in ensuring that we recognise and retain for
the future the many benefits that our village life and
environment provides, whilst at the same time encouraging improvements in facilities and services that will
benefit those who live here.
Future development must be sustainable and appropriate, respect the character and heritage of the village,
and be sympathetic to the Hampshire countryside that
is at our doorstep. He sees it as important that we
continue to maintain, develop, and promote a strong
sense of community that residents identify with, feel
part of, and wish to contribute to. We can be proud that
Four Marks remains a safe and friendly place to live
providing positive lifestyle opportunities.
John's career has provided a broad range of experience
in senior management roles, from 30 years in the private sector and 12 years in the public sector in government departments. He enjoys sailing, cycling and countryside pursuits; takes part in a range of local activities
including supporting scouting in the village and organising the Beer Festival. John has been on the Parish
Council for 4 years and is on the Planning committee;
he is the Council representative on the ad-hoc Festival
Committee.
Four Marks News No 516
Andy Hickman moved to Four Marks 5
years ago, after 10 years living in Alton.
His interests in the village are the school
– he has a child at Four Marks School
and one at secondary school; also COGS,
the cubs, scouts & guides and the Social
Club. He has worked for 20 years in
business transformation – performing CIO/IT Director
roles and driving change in large and complex organisations, often global. Recently he switched to develop a
number of small family businesses. He is a trained lifeguard and lifesaving instructor and helps local clubs.
He is the newbie, having joined the PC this year. His
role is being the representative of the Parish Council
with the Hants Association of Local Councils, serving
on the steering group for the Neighbourhood Plan and
being the contact for this with local businesses.
Wayne Howsego has been in Four
Marks just over 12 years, and is pleased
to be here as the air quality is high and
the crime low! He is involved in various
committees, particularly the community plan and the Festival committee. He
recently completed a 4 year term as the
Local Authority Governor at Four Marks School.
Wayne worked for the Local Authority for more than 30
years and is now retired and, as a keen DIY man, is now
extending and refurbishing his home. He likes to walk
the village footpaths when he has the opportunity. He
joined the Parish Council in June 2010, and is currently
on the Open Space committee and is the Council representative for the Four Marks Allotment Association.
FOUR MARKS PARISH COUNCIL
Parish Clerk’s Corner, Sarah Goudie
hilst there is a good deal going on behind the
W
scenes, particularly with reference to Parish
owned open space, there is not much to report. Hopefully we have addressed the drainage issues at the
entrance to Uplands Lane. However until it is resurfaced surface flooding will occur, and I would ask you
to please drive with care should you have to go
through the flood water. There should be more to
report in the March edition. The Old Pavilion has
finally been demolished, and will be made into a
temporary parking area until such time as the new
building is erected.
Hopefully you received your Neighbourhood Plan questionnaire and have either completed it on-line or posted it
in the reply paid envelope; a huge thank you to all the
volunteers who turned out to help stuff the envelopes.
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February 2015
CIVIC BUSINESS
I was informed last month of more damage at the
Skate Park, in Uplands Lane. The whole side of one of
the ramps has been kicked in and a metal strip pulled
right up, leaving in an extremely hazardous state. By
the time you read this it will have been made safe;
however with so little things for the youth of Four
Marks to do, it is so frustrating that they feel the need
to damage what little equipment they have. The skate
park is an area of concern and the Open Space Committee will be discussing what can best be done with
it in the future. If you see any inappropriate behaviour
in this area, please contact our local police officers,
whose details are on page 7 of the magazine, and let’s
try and put a stop to this antisocial behaviour.
Whilst I have my moaning hat on, a reminder that fly
tipping is illegal. Just before Christmas I was informed
of a car driver, who had parked up in Weathermore
Lane and emptied all their garden waste on the open
space beside the byway – if you are the culprit, your
number plate was taken and you have been reported!
There is an EHDC helpline specifically for reporting
these incidents. If you see it, report it; 0300 300 0013.
I end on a sad note this month but would like to pay
tribute to a delightful lady who so sadly passed away
just before Christmas. I had only known her for just
over a year or so, and offer my most sincere condolences to her husband, one of our Parish Councillors,
and their family.
She always made me very welcome in their home and
had made a real hit with my (then 13 year old) son the
previous Christmas, when she kept him amused and
engaged in a boring adult environment. I will never
forget the look on his face when I told him she had
passed away. It was one of disbelief and shock as he
questioned why? Why indeed I asked myself, especially upon hearing her daughter’s incredibly brave
tribute at the recent funeral, just compounding what a
loss to her family she is.
Her story was quite something, and what was evident
was that she had provided such a wonderful home
environment for her family over the years, and made
a huge impression on everyone that came into contact
with her. She was a very private person, who very
much kept her health issues to herself. One would
never have known that there was anything wrong and
that she was so stoically addressing her illness with a
braveness I could only aspire to have.
Only 6 weeks prior to her death we walked together
in the parade to unveil the new War Memorial and she
was happily telling me how she had just done the
railway walk, but was regretting using her brand new
walking boots as she was suffering from some nasty
blisters. She was a very gracious and truly amazing
lady. There is no doubt she will be greatly missed,
leaving not a hole but a huge cavern in her family.
Until next month, here’s hoping the snow stays away,
although the weather forecast as I write this isn’t
looking favourable. Then again it is winter!
Four Marks News No 516
Parish Council Meetings
Wednesday 4th February
7:30 pm - Planning Committee
Please see notice boards and
website for meeting place
Wednesday 18th February
7:30 pm - FULL COUNCIL
Village Hall
For Agendas and Minutes please contact the Clerk
or go to www.fourmarksvillage.co.uk
EAST HANTS DISTRICT COUNCIL
Ingrid Thomas, District Councillor
I
hope that, if you had the dreadful virus that seems
to have stuck most of the village - including me,
you are now fully recovered. Fortunately we should
have the better weather to look forward to next month.
The year has begun with a flurry of planning applications to build extensions so obviously there were lots
of discussions over the holiday period. We also have
an application to alter the permission already given in
Windsor Road Medstead. The applicant wants to add
another house and build closer to the protected trees.
I'm never sure building too close to large trees is a
good idea. I was very saddened to hear that the large
specimen blue cedar tree in Alton is being removed
because it endangers the fairly new houses there. I
would ask the question why not build further away
and allow the tree that was there first, to live?
Now that we have a Parish Office, which is situated
behind Clementines at Lymington Barns, I would like
to offer residents a regular meeting place to discuss
any issues that arise and that I may be able to help
with. I will be at the Parish Office on the first and third
Wednesday of each month from 10 to 11 am. If it turns
out that there are too many people who want to make
use of such a surgery type arrangement maybe additional dates could be added. In February (and March)
surgery dates will be Wednesdays 4th and 18th from
10am. I look forward to meeting you then.
Our neighbourhood plan questionnaire has been completed and returned; has yours? As ever if I can be of
any assistance please contact me by telephone or at the
Parish Office. My details are on page 3.
POLICING MATTERS
Be aware of doorstep criminals
D
oorstep criminals call at your home
unannounced, often claiming to be
from a utility company (water board etc)
or claiming to be working in the area and
to have noticed a problem with your
house that needs fixing. They may offer to do work for
you or say they need to check something in your home
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February 2015
CIVIC BUSINESS
so will ask to come in and look around. They may
search your home for items to steal, or may pressure
you into paying them cash for work you haven’t requested or agreed to. Sometimes doorstep criminals
pose as police officers or even say they are looking for
a lost child or pet and need to look around your home.
There are a number of simple steps you can take to
protect yourself from doorstep criminals.
○ Don't open the door to someone you don't recognise or aren't expecting. If you do feel you need to
open the door remember to:
○ Lock the back door before you open the front door doorstep criminals often work in pairs with one
person distracting you at the front door while an
accomplice enters your home through the back door.
○ Put the door chain or door bar on before opening the
door - see who it is before you fully open the door.
○ Ask to see the caller's identification - a genuine
caller will not mind showing you their ID.
○ Close and lock the door. Call the number of the
company they claim to be from to check if they
have sent someone to your home. Remember to use
a number from a bill or the telephone book so you
know it's a genuine one.
If a suspicious caller knocks at your door, call 999 if
they are on your property or have just left. Call 101 if
it is after the event. If you have a vulnerable neighbour
or friend please alert them to the way to deal with
strangers at the door.
Older Drivers
Did you know that in July 2012, there were nearly 4
million people aged 70 or above holding a driving licence. The oldest licence-holder then was a woman aged
106. Older drivers are safer than most other age groups,
and significantly better than young drivers. The 8% of
drivers who are over 70 are involved in around 4% of
injury crashes. In contrast, the 15% of drivers who are in
their teens and twenties are involved in 34% of injury
crashes. The majority of collisions older drivers are involved in, where they are at fault, are as a result of
age-related issues such as poor eyesight, memory issues,
or restriction of movement. Hampshire Constabulary
will be focusing on the older driver this year to support
them to stay on the road safely for as long as possible.
Older motorists have a wealth of experience, confidence and tolerance. However, sight, hearing, reaction
time and judgement of speed and distance may not be
as sharp as it once was. Fragility increases with age, so
injuries tend to be more serious and recovery takes
much longer. Casualty rates do increase for car drivers
aged over about 65, and the fatality rate increases significantly. That’s where The Older Drivers Forum
Four Marks News No 516
comes in. The Older Drivers Forum is about keeping
mature motorists on the road safely for longer. Whether
that’s helping you budget so you can maintain a car on
a pension or pointing you in the right direction for an
assessment to identify your driving needs – from wing
mirror adapters to an elevated driving seat – the Older
Drivers' Forum is there to help.
It's a not-for-profit organisation made up of experts in
road safety from across Hampshire and the Isle of
Wight – from representatives from the emergency
services to charities, local authorities and business
specialising in keeping older people on the road. The
Forum does not perform any legal function and does
not have the authority to remove driving licences. It's
merely there to assist you, or the older person in your
life, with staying mobile for as long as possible. See
www.olderdrivers forum.com for more information,
including an online copy of Drive On, the 2015 essential guide for drivers aged 65+. Alternatively e-mail
the publishers at [email protected] or call them on
08451 308 853.
Scams & Phishing Emails
The following email purported to have come from my
Internet Service Provider, and asked me to click on the
link shown to upgrade my mailbox. Looking at the poor
grammar and spelling of centre it is clearly a phishing
email, but may just catch out somebody who has a
problem with their email system at the time this arrives.
This is the help desk application that checks periodically the
size of your email storage is sending this information. The
program is run to ensure your Inbox doesn't get too large,
which allows you to receive or send new e-mails. Because this
message is sent, you saved 2.5 gigabytes (GB) or more in
your Inbox. We are currently upgrading our data base and
e-mail center. We restore all mail to more space for new
e-mail storage to create.
To upgrade your mailbox: http://talktalkuser.3eeweb.com
/logg.html.
Thanks, and apologies for the inconvenience. Help Desk
And the usual Revenue and Customs phishing email at
this time of the year :
DEAR HMRC HOLDERS,
In accordance with Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulations, HM Revenue & Customs is adding an additional
layer of security to better protect the privacy of your tax
refund account. You must update your information now
before you can proceed. Update Now. This will only take a
few moments.
Yours Sincerely, Security Advisor. HM Revenue & Customs
The Financial Services Authority went out of existence
on 1st April 2013!
Anti-Social Behaviour
8 January - at 6:20 pm eggs were thrown at the front
door of a property in Lapwing Way. The owners of
another property in the road found the next morning
that they had also been targeted.
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Now in our 41st year of continuous publication
February 2015
CIVIC BUSINESS
Criminal Damage
PRESS RELEASES
7 January - between 8 and 10 pm two plastic lights on a
gateway to stables at Headmoor Lane, were smashed.
At the same time, and probably by the same perpetrators, floodlights at the Golf Club were also smashed.
Theft
10 December - between 8 and 10 am a Powabyke was
stolen from Winchester Road. It was later found in
Telegraph Lane, but no longer works.
4 - 8 January - sometime between 4 pm on 4th and 3 pm on
8th a Raleigh Nitro cycle and lock were stolen from a
communal bike shed at Arthur Court in Winchester Road.
Although not in Four Marks, but close by in Boyneswood Road, Lymington Bottom Road and Five Ash
Lane there were a spate of break-ins to garages and
outbuildings on or about 17th December. Please check
that your outbuildings are as secure as possible, with
alarm and security lighting if possible, to try and deter
the opportunistic thief.
Traffic Accident
7 January - at 4 pm on the A31 at Soke Hill a 71 year
old driver of an Audi A3 fell asleep at the wheel, and
hit the central barrier then two road signs before coming to a halt. The passenger was taken to hospital with
neck injuries.
19 January - at 9:37 am there was a head-on collision
between two vehicles on a bend in the A31 by The
Shrave just past Telegraph Lane going towards Alton.
The road was closed for 4 hours. One of the injured
people was from Four Marks, although fortunately
both drivers only sustained minor injuries.
Police Surgery- please note change of venue
PCSO David Nops will be holding a surgery in the Tree
House Coffee Shop at Garthowen Garden Centre,
Alton Lane on Friday 13th and 20th February, from midday to 1pm, provided that he is not otherwise engaged
on urgent Police business. Just drop in and talk to him
about any concerns you have where the Police need to
know or can offer advice. You can also contact him for
non-emergency calls and texts on 0755 4775399.
In an emergency always ring 999
Call 0845 045 45 45 for general enquiries or to report
a crime when it is not an emergency. Also call this
number to contact PC Kelly or PCSO Nops or email
them at [email protected] or
[email protected] as appropriate.
Call 101 for non-emergency anti-social behaviour,
community safely advice, information and action.
Calls cost a flat rate of 15p.
Compiled by Dennis Bignell & PCSO David Nops
What do you call a clairvoyant midget who escaped
from prison? A small medium at large.
Four Marks News No 516
New Alton sports centre
East Hampshire District Council is set to build a new
Alton Sports Centre next to the existing facility. The
proposals involve constructing an improved, modern
sports centre on the current site on Chawton Park Road.
The existing centre will remain open until the new
centre is in place. What the new sports centre will offer
has not been fully decided but it is planned to include
improved facilities and a six lane swimming pool.
A full business case will now be developed and considered by the Council next month. An outline planning
application will then be submitted. Building a new
centre while continuing to use the current facility
should mean that there will be no break in service.
No Increase in District’s Share of Council Tax
East Hampshire District Council plans to freeze its
share of the Council Tax in the coming year – the
seventh freeze in nine years. The freeze has been
achieved alongside maintaining, or even improving,
services despite the continual erosion of government
grants to local authorities.
Government grants provided 44% of Council income
in 2009/10 but in 2015/16 will only amount to 27%.
EHDC’s expenditure next year will be about the same
as in 2014/15, with no loss of service and several improvements. These include 50% more money for
Grants by Councillors, three dedicated Police Community Support Officers and five number plate recognition cameras dedicated to East Hampshire. There
will also be a much bigger motor sport event for
young people following last year’s successful trial.
Funding from the government continues to fall, even
when taking into account new grants, such as the New
Homes Bonus, given to local authorities for the first
six years after a property has been built or brought
into use after a long period unoccupied. It is expected
that government grants will dwindle to zero over the
coming decade but the council plans to generate its
own income through new business ventures.
Income from this new strategy should enable the Council to be completely free of dependence on government
grants by 2019/20 and five years after that it may be
possible to reduce Council Tax to a very small sum.
Much of the savings to date have been achieved
through efficiency measures.
However as that opportunity reduces, these income
streams from new business ventures will support the
strategy to reduce Council Tax into the future. So much
so, that we visualise that the new business ventures
strategy could generate so much additional income by
2024-25, that the need to levy Council Tax could disappear altogether.
The plans are currently under consultation and will
not be finalised until EHDC’s Full Council meeting on
Thursday February 26.
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Now in our 41st year of continuous publication
February 2015
COMMUNITY NOTICE BOARD
WATERCRESS MEDICAL GROUP
Louise Webb, Deputy Practice Manager
www.watercressmedical.co.uk
Surgery Opening Times
Monday 8am–6:30pm; Tuesday – Friday 7am–6:30pm
pre-booked appointments only
01420 562922; Fax: 01420 562923; Out of Hours 111.
riends & Family Test - The NHS friends and
family test (FFT) is an important opportunity for
you to provide feedback on the care and treatment
you receive and to improve services. The service has
been expanded and the test is open to everyone using
any NHS services including GP services. Results will
be available on NHS Choices (www.nhs.uk). Additional friends and family test data will be published by
NHS England. To leave ‘friends & family’ feedback,
simply click on the link on our website
(www.watercressmedical.co.uk) or complete a card in
the surgery.
Dispensary Hours - With effect from 1st January 2015,
the opening hours for the Dispensary will be 8 am to
12:30 pm and 2:30 pm to 6:15 pm. Our dispensary is
happy to accept the following ways of requesting repeat
prescriptions; by post, email, fax, in person or repeat
from your local chemist. In the interest of patients and to
eliminate any dispensing errors, we ask for 3 working
days to complete requests. Please remember to order
your medication early on bank holidays. The Dispensary
staff are always happy to assist any patients who experience difficulty when opening medication.
Staff Training - Essential staff training will take place
between 1 pm and 2:30 pm on the following dates
Tuesday 17th February, Thursday 19th March, Monday
20th April, Thursday 14th May, Friday 19th June.
NHS Health Checks - If you are aged between 40 and
74 and do not suffer from a chronic illness, you may be
entitled to a free NHS Health Check. If you are interested, please enquire at the surgery.
Phlebotomy Service - Mid Hampshire Healthcare Ltd
is a provider company, which has been set up by 19
practices within our locality (of which we are one). As
one of the 19, we now provide a phlebotomy service for
patients within the locality. For more details, please
visit www.midhampshirehealthcare.co.uk
Appointments - If you need an appointment with a GP
we offer booked surgeries. You can telephone in advance and book an appointment. If you are ill on the
day, you can telephone the surgery and request to see
a doctor. If there are no available appointments, and
you do not think it can wait until the next available
appointment, our receptionists will book you in for a
telephone call from our duty doctor who will triage
your request. The doctor will offer you advice or ask
you to come to the surgery at a given time.
Doctor’s Requests - We would ask for any patients
who are requested to book a follow-up GP appointment by their doctor to do so immediately rather than
Four Marks News No 516
waiting for a time nearer the date. Appointments are
usually available 4 to 5 weeks ahead.
Missed Appointments & DNA Policy - On average,
we have over 100 missed appointments (DNAs) each
month. Missed appointments waste everyone's time.
Please call and cancel if you can't make it. The surgery
has implemented a new DNA policy. Patients who
repeatedly miss booked appointments (3 times or
more) may be removed from the practice and will
have to register with another surgery.
FOUR MARKS COMMUNITY PLAN
Reg Pullen – Co-ordinator
e have started once again and in our first session
W
of 2015 netted 19 drivers exceeding the 30 mph
speed limit in Telegraph Lane. Why Oh! Why do
people break local speed limits of 30 mph? Is it because they do not concentrate; are they late or they just
do not care that speed can kill. Telegraph Lane is the
major black spot for those exceeding the 30 mph
limit as they either go towards the A31 or go away to
the south along the lane.
We will be out on the A31 again, even though there is
always a high number vehicles passing through the
village. Nevertheless we will record those exceeding
the 30 mph limit even though we are in full view with
our hi-vis jackets and the unit clearly advising of the
vehicle’s speed.
We have recruited 2 ladies volunteers but are still
looking for more volunteers in order to spread the
load so if you can spare an hour or two then we would
appreciate you joining our team. The small nucleus of
10 volunteers enjoy what they do but cannot be expected to be out and about on a daily basis even though
they would very much like to be. The bigger the team
then the more times we can be proactive in checking
speeding vehicles within our village. If you can spare a
couple of hours say twice a month then that will help
spread the load. All the sites where the equipment can
be used have been approved by the Road Policing Unit
of Hampshire Constabulary and we will on some occasions be supported by local police officers, subject to
their availability.
If you know any area where speed appears to be a
problem within the village, or you would like to join the
team then please telephone 01420 562845 or contact me
at: [email protected].
FOUR MARKS & MEDSTEAD
OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN
Nick Stenning, Steering Group Chairman
I
was very encouraged to see in the recently published document Draft East Hampshire District
Local Plan: Housing and Employment Allocations,
the support that EHDC are giving to the whole Neighbourhood Plan process. Four Marks and Medstead are
highlighted as one of the communities that are in the
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Now in our 41st year of continuous publication
February 2015
COMMUNITY NOTICE BOARD
process of developing a Plan and the document goes
on to say: The guiding principle will be that the Draft Site
Allocations Plan contains the latest Neighbourhood Plan
proposals and the Neighbourhood Plan takes precedence
where it is positively progressing. This gives us a huge
amount of confidence that the Plan that we develop
will make a substantial impact. A fundamental principle of neighbourhood planning is that it is community-led, with the community establishing local planning policies for development and use of land within
its neighbourhood. It is good to see this recognised in
this Draft Site Allocations Plan.
Meanwhile, I hope that you all received your copy of
the questionnaire. Getting it distributed promptly to
all the houses in the two parishes was something of a
challenge. It would not have been possible without the
help of some 40 local residents who gave up time on a
Sunday afternoon to fill and label all the envelopes.
Many thanks to each and every one of you.
Also, a huge Thank you to all of you who have taken
the time to complete the questionnaire. I hope you
didn’t find it too laborious, but there is always a balance to be struck. We wanted to make it as comprehensive as possible to make sure that the Plan has
captured all the views of everyone – at the same time
we didn’t want to make it so long that it became a
chore to fill in. I hope that we got the balance about
right – but please let us know if you felt otherwise!
But there is no doubt that the answers that you have
given are really very valuable as they will form part of
the required evidence base for our Neighbourhood
Plan. The next step is for the Steering Group to analyse
all the answers that you’ve given and use them to form
the basis of the draft Plan. We are hoping that we will
be able to do this fairly quickly and have the draft Plan
ready by the end of March. The timing will depend a bit
on when we get all the questionnaires returned.
We asked to have them all back with us by the end of
January, but there may be a little bit of slippage on
this. The draft Plan will be our first opportunity to
present to you our thoughts and ideas about the future
development of our communities. We still need to
finalise the best way of doing this, but it is likely to be
at an Open Day when you will be able to walk in,
review the first draft of the Plan and express your
point of view.
Whatever your views may be on the draft Plan they
will be very welcome and will be used to form the
basis of the final Neighbourhood Plan that we develop. We will try to give you as much notice of the Open
Day as possible, so please do try to come along if at all
possible. If you feel that you could help out with the
organisation of the Open Day, please let us know. All
offers of help would be very welcome. Please contact
the secretary through our website www.mfmplan.org.
discount, but also double the value of prizes you can
win if you enter the free draw we are running for
another year.
We want to continue rewarding our regular readers
with the chance to win cash prizes if they simply save
tokens from successive copies of Four Marks News and
enter our half-yearly draw. If you are an annual subscriber every prize you win will be double, so instead
of a first prize of £100 for regular readers a subscriber
can win £200. Similarly second and third prizes are also
doubled. So for £5.50 you not only get 12 copies of the
magazine, but extra reward if you win in our draw.
Although postal rates have increased this year we have
decided to freeze the charge for readers who have a copy
of the magazine sent to them each month at £23.50 for
the year. We hope that it remains a good way of keeping
in touch with activities and developments here in Four
Marks. So don’t delay. Fill that form in today.
DEFIBRILLATOR PROJECT
Reg Pullen, Village Hall Trustee
I
would like to thank everyone who has donated
funds towards the purchasing of 4 defibrillators for
our village. At this time we have had donations received and pledged from the following: Four Marks
Village News, Norman Read, Beer Festival Committee,
Benian’s Pavilion Committee, Vincent Hire, Four
Marks Horticultural Society, Four Marks Village Hall,
Badminton Club and Butterflies. As well we have applied to, and received grants from, our District & County Councillors (Ingrid Thomas and Mark Kemp-Gee).
At the November Parish Council meeting Councillors
agreed to my request for them to purchase and install
the 4 units. It is hoped that they will be placed outside
Benian’s Pavilion, the Village Hall, somewhere at Oak
Green (actual location is still to be confirmed) and finally one outside the units near to Norman Reads butchers
shop, again still to be confirmed. This has been a great
effort from all of you who have donated the funds and
the next step, which may have happened by the time
this report is published, is to purchase the units and
have them installed.
Once the units are available then all the clubs that use
Benian’s Pavilion and the Village Hall, plus anyone
from the Oak Green Shops and Norman Read’s complex, will be invited to a training session in the Village
Hall. This will be carried out by Community First Responders. All will be welcome because the more people
who can use the equipment, the better the chance of
saving a life. In my opinion, one life saved would more
than re-pay the cost and installation of the units.
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ur new subscription year starts in March so if you
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Four Marks News No 516
Page 6
Community Carol Singing
The collection taken on Wednesday 17th
December at Lymington Barns raised £295.
This was shared 50/50 between Riding for
the Disabled and the Festival Committee’s
funds for future village amenities.
Now in our 41st year of continuous publication
February 2015