Statement – Cheswardine Community Hub (19/06/2025)

Dear Residents,

Following the temporary closure of hub announced in May, your Parish Council (PC) took the decision, at the meeting on 17th June, to return the hub to its original function of a book exchange and notice area only. We would like to take the opportunity to express our gratitude to the few volunteers that have maintained this resource.

For clarity, the bus shelter is a registered asset of Cheswardine PC and therefore we are responsible for it. Hence our decision last month for temporary closure after the appearance of inappropriate DVDs, knives and broken glass in the shelter in keeping with our aim to safeguard our residents of all ages. The area is fully accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to both residents and those outside of the parish and so we trust that you will understand that overseeing such an asset is uniquely challenging.

We will continue to listen to the community and are open to receiving proposals from additional volunteers in the parish who are willing to regularly manage, maintain and curate contents. Any proposals should be sent to the Clerk ([email protected]) for consideration by the PC. In the meantime, if you have quality items to donate there are Facebook groups which you can use to publicise and local charity shops and charity bins (e.g. in Market Drayton and Newport).

Any correspondence to your PC should always be to the Clerk. In addition, you are of course always welcome to represent your views within the Public Participation periods of our PC meetings.

Yours sincerely,
Andrew Thomson
(Chair, Cheswardine Parish Council)