Blaby District Council resolved on 13th December 2011 that there were insufficient responses from the residents of Braunstone Town to support the creation of a separate parish council for Thorpe Astley.

A total of 1,148 eligible responses were received, with 754 in favour of the proposal for a separate parish and 394 against.

The level of responses in favour is considerably below the required 10% threshold.

Braunstone Town Council has however recognised the need to review the distribution of parish council seats to more fairly represent the population spread of the Parish. This matter will be formally considered by the Councils Policy Committee on 12th January and a request could then be made to Blaby District Council for a Community Governance Review in 2012.

I believe that thre are already cohesion problems amongst areas of the town, not being help you the lubbesthorpe way and the leisure park. I think that to seperate Thorpe Astley would only go against efforts that have made in the past. wouldn‘t havinga seperate parish council incur addtional costs such as a salary for a parish clerk, rooms to meet in for council meetings. the puchase of the community centre from Braunstone Town Council or at the very least rental. as a resident from “the other side" i would expect council tax to be higher in TA, but less of my household as the council will have less overheads.
Thorpe Astley is an asset to Braunstone Town, and rather than critisizing the number of councillors in particular wards, the entire council, i believe, should work together to ensure resource is equally distributed across the area. Residents in Thorpe Astley heavily rely on all the local schools. would bringing in a divide have an impact upon school catchment or would this become the perception if not the rule? I believe that if the initial intention was that TA was a “stand-alone" community, then the facilities built would have reflected this. Yes there is a great community facility, but what about other facilities such schools, places of worship, doctors etc.

I see from the August edition of the Life there is yet another letter from Cllr.Ward promoting his scheme to divide our community and drive a wedge between residents of Braunstone Town and Thorpe Astley. It is with sadness and anger that I feel most respond to the misleading points that Cllr.Ward makes in his letter.

In these difficult economic times it would appear to be sheer folly to waste valuable time and Council Tax payers’ money on creating a new Thorpe Astley Parish Council and dividing the assets and services of our
existing Town Council. Cllr.Ward does not appear to grasp the legal costs of this and the further burden on local tax payers of potential redundancy payments and wasted officer time. Whilst his own government is busy urging local councils to share more services and back-office functions to reduce costs
and achieve savings, Cllr Ward’s proposals would do the exact opposite, namely to require local people to pay for TWO sets of administration staff where there is now one. What an utter waste of money!

I cannot understand Cllr.Ward’s point that money raised in one part of the parish should only be spent in that location. Using that
same logic surely then the all the Council Tax raised from Braunstone Town from Blaby District Council or Leicestershire County Council should only be spent here? I can’t see Cllr.Ward’s colleagues agreeing to that one! Or at the other end of the scale, that the council tax payers of Lubbesthorpe Road should have all their tax spent on that same road. Anyone can see that is plain silly.

Thanks to the consistent and vigorous campaigning by the Town Council, Thorpe Astley now has a wonderful multi-function community centre. The two villages of Cosby and Croft named by Cllr.Ward have no such
quality facility. Given that Cllr.Ward voted against the budget necessary to run the Community Centre we must dismiss his plea for local funding to be ‘focused’ on Thorpe Astley has meaningless when he himself could not support this key decision.

The Thorpe Astley Community Centre has been a great success from Day One because the Town Council has been prepared to put its time and effort into running it on a proper and professional basis. This has clearly been greatly appreciated by local residents who have been fantastic in supporting the events and organisations meeting there. The reason why the Town Council has not held any Council meetings there (yet) is that we don’t wish to displace any of the community groups just for the sake having a council meeting. I think it would be very selfish if we did and not a welcome move by the centre’s users.

Cllr.Ward states that splitting our community into two parishes would “improve community
cohesion” yet he has been unable to provide any evidence to support this claim. It must be pretty obvious that splitting up any organisation will reduce cohesion as that community becomes divided against itself. The Town Council has stood firm in its belief that we are stronger and achieve more together than we do divided and apart.

In respect of the issue of representation and the allocation of Town Councillors and the under representation of Thorpe Astley; the
Town Council has already recognised this and voted to support a review of the allocation of seats. Sadly Cllr.Ward was not able to support this proposal as he did not chose to attend the full Town Council meeting where this proposal was moved by myself and voted for unanimously.

Your Town Council would strongly urge all the residents of our community, whether you live in Millfield, Ravenhurst, Fosse, Winstanley
or Thorpe Astley to oppose Cllr.Ward’s plan to divide our parish. The only impact this will have is to increase costs and reduce services. Residents will PAY MORE AND GET LESS. In these difficult times this is the very last thing
that we need. Keep our great community together. Say NO to this plan.

Thank you.

A leaflet from Blaby District Council, will shortly be dropping on residents doormats. It asks for your views, about proposals to create a new Thjorpe Astley Parish Council, by separating Braunstone Town and Thorpe Astley. Why create a new Thorpe Astley parish?

Council tax money raised in Thorpe Astley, is being spent elsewhere in Braunstone Town. Money raised in Thorpe Astley, should be spent in Thorpe Astley. whilst money raised in Braunstone Town should be focussed there. A Thorpe Astley Parish Council would be free to set a lower council tax than present. Comparable sized villages, such as Cosby or Stoney Stanton, spend signicantly less council tax than is presently raised in Thorpe Astley. Thorpe Astley residents are currently undr represented on the Town Council. Thorpe Astley‘s 4 town councillors represent a larger popultaion than the 10 town councillors who represent Ravenhurst. This could give the impression that, where one of the wards is over-represented by councillors, the residents of those wards and their councillors, could be perceived as having more influence than others on the council.

The Thorpe Astley Community Centre, which is at the heart of th community. Yet, Braunstone Tow Council has faled to hold one single town council meeting there. This adds to the impression of poor community cohesion between Braunstone Town and Thorpe Astley.

By separating, the two councils would then be free to focus more on supporting their own community groups, enhance heir identities, improve community cohesion and provide more of an opportunity to residents to influence decisions affecting their own lives.

A Thorpe Astley parish, buffered by Braunstone Town, would be better placed to resist any future proposals, to extend outwards the boundaries of the City of Leicester.

Braunstone Town and Thorpe Astley are two distinct communities. The time has come to recognise this and urge all residents to support these proposals.

(First published in the August Edition of The Life)

People who oppose the development are easily argued against by people who hope the new development will IMPROVE the thorpe astley community

The development is far too large and should be spread accross the whole of Blaby District - preferably on existing brown field sites

We object to this application - destroying green belt more traffic and pollution, as well as overcrowding, in totally unsuitable location

Lubbesthorpe Development - This number of houses will increase the pollution level as it is already very high. There will be an increase in traffic congetion. It does not seem right to build on green land. What about hospitals and doctors will they cope with extra people.

John Throsby and 83 squadron

John was shot down 11/12-4-44, he was an Airgunner in Lancaster ND389 which had taken off at 20:46 from Wyton. The squadron was 83 Squadron, Pathfinders from number 8 Group Bomber Command. The aircraft was shot down by a German Nightfighter over Belgium and crashed at Beerse, near Turnhout. Sadly all the crew were killed and are buried at Schoonselhof cemetery - where the photo of Johns grave marker was taken. The German Nightfighter Pilot was a German Ace Heinz Wolfgang Schnaufer and was his 53 'victory', and one of 2 Lancasters that were lost to his guns that night. He finished the War with 121 'victories'

In regard to the above tiltled paragraph at your web site, the park was indeed named after my father, commonly known as 'John'. Whereas it was normal to use the surname, in this case the authorities wished to avoid confusion with another more famous Mr. Butlin! I'm sure this could be verified from the minutes. My father was very active locally, causing him to be rarely at home with his family, as meetings usually took place after his pharmacy practice closed for the day. Later in life, elections were held for the local council, and, being more civically than politically inclined, he decided to devote more time to the Blaby Rural District Council, where he took his turn as chairman, now know as the Mayor. Incidentally, he also acted as groundsman for various parks in the area, even cutting the grass himself with a tractor and agricutural mower. There is much more to know about 'John' Butlin, including a long career as head Warden during and after the war (hence "Warden's Walk") and his role as a founder of the 4th Leicester Boy Scouts. Yours Truly, Trevor Butlin, Ottawa Canada

Good Evening - came across the details of the Role of Honour at the Civic centre - have been doing some research on John Throsby and 83 squadron - I am ex of Braunstone myself Are you aware that there is a light in the 'Lady Chapel' at St Peters Church that was placed there by his mother in his memory? I have some further details - aircraft, crew members etc if you would like?

I would like to say a big thank you to the Braunstone Town Mayor and Braunstone Town Civic Centre Staff for Septembers 24th fund raising evening that what held for local girl Maryann Makepeace. A total of one thousand and eighty four pounds was raised on the evening. The raised money went into the community fund raising account to help Maryann's daughters Abbey (5) and Leah (2). Sadly Maryann past away on October 17th aged 23 at the Loros in Leicester surrounded by close family and Friends. We hope to hold more fund raising events to raise much needed funds for Maryann's two daughters. You can also purchase a pink Maryann band for 1 pound to show your support, you can email diannewells822@hotmai.com if you would like a Maryann Band. Ones again thank you to our Mayor and our community for making the night special and lets keep up the good work. Dianne Wells

I left Balmoral Drive in 1973 at the age of 7. Now living in Australia I would like to thank you for the images portrayed on the site that remind me and prompt memories of my childhood. I was sorry to hear of the loss of the Airmans rest "Pub" I have fond memories of playing in the gardens during Summer. Does Santa still make an appearance in the Car Park of the "Shakie"? Warmest regards. Allan Meadows

Parks should be for people to enjoy, youngsters to play football and children to play in , without being frightened and terrified by dogs. So come on dog owners - if you must excercise your animals in public parks, show some respect for other people, keep your dog on its lead.

Concerning the incident on Saturday 19^th June, of a dog attack which took place in a play area in the Town, which resulted in the death of both dogs, I sincerely hope that the owner of the dogs is to be prosecuted and would certainly like an explanation from the police if he is not done so.

It was only by sheer luck that a person, (or a child - considering the incident took place in a busy play area) was not injured. There are more frequent reports in the media of children being injured in dog attacks, and it is disappointing that this particular incident was not given more profile by the media - I presume because no-one was injured. However, if more of these ‘close calls’ were reported, it would give a true picture of how serious this problem of dog owners not taking full responsibility for the control of their animals, really is – though in my opinion, one person being injured in this way is far too many.

This cannot just be said of those in possession of what can be considered dangerous dogs, though there is obviously the trend of people owning dogs and using them in a threatening behaviour against the public. There is no purpose whatsoever for people to use dogs in this way and the fact that there is no legislation in place to ensure that they are even kept on a lead is wrong. And the fact that someone could even take these dogs into a play area is beyond belief.

People should be able to go about their everyday lives and enjoy the open spaces and play areas around them without other people inflicting their dogs upon them. I would like to see stronger legislation for dog owners to take responsibility for their animals. As some of these dog attack are apparently made by ‘a normally good natured dog’ it is obviously clear that it is difficult to define what a dangerous dog is, and therefore should it be that all dogs should be kept on a lead, particularly in public parks. I understand that there would be strong opposition from dog owners to this but in the past they have had to accept their responsibility for clearing up after their dogs.

Hello, i am writing concerning my interest over the proposed urban extention to be sited west of the M1 motorway. I grew up in braunstone town (my parents still live there) and i remember walking home from school through the existing woodland area between Thorpe Astley and Homefield park and playing on the fields in the summer as a child where the proposed plans are set to be built on.

I am now a final year photography student studying at the Cambridge School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge and am undergoing a photographic study into area's of threatened land. I have focussed my current final mayor project on this planning development as it is of personal interest to me with it threatening the green land of my childhood home and parents current home. I have been photographing in the small wooded area for a while now and in the fields where the build is to take place to capture the natural area before it is too late. From this i have produced a series of abstract landscapes of the trees of the area which will be exhibited at the Truman Bruary, brick lane, London from June 10th.

I wanted to take the oportunity to invite you to the free exhibition in London and to ask if there is any chance of putting a small mention of me and my photography work in your news letter (with or without the exhibition information.)

I have attatched one of my photographic pieces from the series taken at the small wooded area between Thorpe Astley and Homefield park.

Hope to hear from you soon

Your sincerely

Lisa Curtis
Age 22 from Braunstone town

Braunstone Town Council has been approached in connection with a Positive Social Behaviour Award which is being piloted locally. It has been suggested that Awards could be presented to young people who have maybe turned their lives around from causing Anti Social Behaviour, been in trouble with the Police in the past and changed, or just helped someone in need. If you think this is a good idea or know someone in Braunstone Town that deserves recognition please write to me at Braunstone Civic Centre, Kingsway, Braunstone Town, LE3 2PP.

Cllr, Phil Fox Chair – Community Development Committee, Braunstone Town Council.

I found that looking through your website showing old pictures of Braunstone brought back many memories.
I lived in Gooding Avenue from 1932 until I got married in 1955. We then moved to Wigston Fields for four years before returning to Braunstone where we bought a new Jelson home in Cranberry Close. We moved to Devon in 1965 .
Last February I took a nostalgia trip to Leicester with my two daughters after an absence of some 40 years. As you can imagine, quite a culture shock. Not quite the Leicester I left in 1965.
One thing that made me quite sad, was the state of my old junior school Braunstone Hall, which has been allowed to fall into total disrepair. I did in fact write to Leicester City Council and state my concern for such a lovely building with such a long history. Unfortunately things being as they are financially they couldnt guarantee what its future holds, shame.
I attended Braunstone Hall school during the war years, when the headmaster was Mr Ofield (wonderful man), (except when he was weilding the cane). I also remember going down the school air raid shelters for air raid drill. Also having lessons outside in the cornfield when part of the park was taken over to agriculture. Happy days. I well remember both the British and American troops encamped on Braunstone Park, we used to get their fish and chips from the chip shop in Redmarle Road.
Thanks for providing the memories.
Regards Terry Needham

hi my name is shirley menteith .i used to live in braunstone back in the 50s i used to live on hockley farm rd . then after i got got married i migrated to australia .but its a nice thing to explain to my grandchildren of the history .of leicester from shirley
shirleyngraham@intewrnode.on.net

Spotted this in the Mercury earlier, if anyone wants to add weight to this objecting to this development, an online petition has been started - Click on above link

The LFE RAG was set up in opposition to plans announced by Blaby District Council to build the new homes on 1,000 acres of land to the west of the M1.