Formby First

Formby and The Big Society?

I came across this online presentation about 'The Big Society'. What do you think? Do you want to take part in a conversation about what this idea might mean for Formby?

If you do please add a comment below or email me, thanks.

A small presentation on The Big Society on Prezi

Formby Parish Council Finance Committee

Sorry for the recent shortage of posts but I've been away on two short breaks involving the family, a wedding in Scarborough and a week in Wales with my daughter, her husband and their three children.

Tomorrow I will be attending a meeting of the Formby Parish Council Finance Committee, we are already beginning to anticipate next years budget. More soon.

September Formby Parish Council Meeting

Following the summer break during August the Formby Parish Council resumes it's normal monthly meetings this evening. The agenda is set out below:

1. Apologies for Absence     All
2. Members Declaration of Interest    All
3. Public Forum:-
4. Richard Stirres – Environmental Agency 
5. Minutes from Previous Meeting     All 
6. Matters of Report from Previous Meeting   All 
7. General Purposes      Cllr Percival     
8. Finance Committee Matters    CllrPowrie   
9. Chapel Lane Improvements
10. Environment Committee Matters    Cllr Dutton
11. Planning Matters      Cllr Gaskin     
12. Stewardship Report     Cllr Cawley    
13. Parish Plan      Cllr Coles 
14. Chairman’s Report     Cllr Coles 
15. Administration, Legal and Finance Payments  Clerk   
16. Date of Next Meeting – Tuesday 5 October 2010

The meeting begins at 7.00pm in Formby Library, residents are welcome to attend.

Using the railway

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Strictly speaking this is not about using the railway. Normally most of us will think of the railway as a man-made barrier between the coastal side of Formby and the land facing into rural West Lancashire, but there are beautiful tree lined avenues either side the railway.

I for one, nowadays, use them to travel into the village centre and back home again. Neither of the routes is truly car friendly and only provide access for residents. Instead they are very agreeable walking or cycling routes. They are peaceful almost rural and predominantly unpaved, it's easy to imagine Formby in an earlier pre-tarmacadam age, when roads and lanes would have been narrow bumpy tracks.

My preferred route to the village is by way of joining College Avenue at Freshfield Station. This is mostly unpaved throughout and can get muddy after heavy rain. Then I walk my cycle across the Timms Wicks Lane footbridge, cross over Freshfield Road and take Rosemary Lane into the village. Fortified with a Cafe Latte and by convivial conversations in Chapel lane I rejoin Timms Wicks Lane before taking a turn along Barkfield Avenue. Once more onto Freshfield Road before wending my way home.

The photographs show the Timms Wicks Lane (See the comment below) footbridge engulfed in trees, views towards Formby and Freshfield Stations, Barkfield Avenue looking south and looking north.

If you like to travel traffic free and in an ecologically friendly way I cannot recommend these Avenues more highly, walking or cycling they are hidden treasures in the heart of the town. Have you got any similar walking or cycling routes you'd like to share, please write and let me know.