Chairman’s comments
Welcome to this first Parish Council Newsletter of 2025. I will start by thanking all the people involved in the erection and decoration of the Christmas Tree on The Green, especially overcoming the problems caused by the weather. The “switch on” saw a good number of people attend and I think all enjoyed the event. I certainly did and thanks also to everyone who contributed to the Christmas Fund by whatever means.
The village Christmas Tree switch-on event in full festive flow ©Tom Hecht
Traffic management in our village is one of the items regularly discussed at the Parish Council Meetings. Westmorland and Furness Council have confirmed that Levens is in the second batch of possible 20mph zones and they will shortly hold a meeting with the Parish Council to discuss the next steps. Public Consultation in some form will take place so you will have opportunities to make your comments and your views known. Meanwhile, some bollards have been put out by the Playing Fields as a trial to improve traffic flow by creating a “No Parking” area. This has been installed by Westmorland and Furness Council at our request and is being monitored by them. Please do not park in this zone.
Another regularly discussed item is dog poo. I am sure that the majority of villagers do clear up after their dog, but it seems the number that do not is increasing. It is a legal requirement to clean up after your dog “in every place where the public has access”. This means not only on roads and pavement and verges in our village but also all roads etc. beyond the village centre. It also applies to footpaths and bridleways across other people’s lands e.g. farmers’ fields, woods etc. Owning a car brings responsibilities and so does owning a dog. So please pick up and help keep our village clean and tidy because we all want to live in a pleasant place.
Finally, the Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Tuesday 18th March at 7.30pm in the Village Institute/Hall when you can hear about the new Village Hall project, an Emergency Plan for the village and other activities. I and the Parish Council hope you can come. See you there.
Roger Atfield – Chair, Levens Parish Council