2012 - Steady as she goes

This year has seen some interesting developments The Gilberdyke War Memorial Hall held a most successful Gala Day and a Bonfire with fireworks display. Also during the year regular Bingo sessions and Quiz nights have been held which are intended to raise funds to keep the hall running. The original part of the hall was opened in 1924 and is feeling its age. The building was extended during the 1970s with a flat roofed part and the flat roof is decades past its design life with leakage developing. A new hall is planned but realistically this is many years off and the flat roof must be repaired in the short term. At the same time it will have insulation aapplied to control the ever increasing cost of heating the building. Elsewhere in the village the drainage improvement works saw the completion of phases 2 & 3 with the new pipe reaching Westbrook Crescent. A minor additional requirement has been identified and it is hoped this will be completed shortly. In any event the presence of the new pipes allowed water to drain out of the village during the recent heavy rain without the wholesale devastation seen in the 2007 floods. Plans are afoot to remove the ageing play area which the Parish Council own and is sited on land leased from the Memorial Hall. This will be replaced by a larger, updated play area extending along the side of the field as soon as an amended lease is in place. The nuisance caused by the Leatherdog Lane Landfill tip is drawing to a close. Much work is yet to be done but from the end of December only inert waste may be tipped. Quite what control the Environment Agency will demonstrate remains to be seen but the stench which has regularly drifted over the village should become a thing of the past. I hope everything progresses according to plan and look forward to a great 2013.