Bolsterstone has one or two things to celebrate this month.  First of all St. Mary’s Village Fayre was an amazing success with the Church raising more than £8,000 on the afternoon of Saturday 4 July.  The fine, warm weather certainly helped and encouraged many people to come and join in the fun on the field, buy from the stalls dotted around the village, visit the Church to view archaeology and art displays, rest a while watching the slide show and take refreshment in the village hall.  The money raised justified all the hard work put in over the last few months by the fayre committee and pays tribute to the support and generosity of all those who attended.  

Our Community Garden was judged for the Lord Mayor’s Award in early June and short listed for a top award.   In early July the Garden received a visit from the Lord Mayor himself and subsequently, was considered worthy of not only Gold but also, for the second year running, a special trophy acknowledging our position as “Best in Category”.  Thanks have to go to our nine gardeners and other group members who form the “maintenance” team as well as to Stocksbridge’s Community Bridge Shop which has been the source of several grants over the years and has just granted us another £500 towards the cost of erecting a proper fence along the drive to the garden.  We should also thank B & Q for giving us £200 worth of goods recently and, of course, Broomhead Estate who let the plot to us in the first place.  The Garden will be open to the public over the Saturday, Sunday and Monday of August Bank Holiday when St. Mary’s Church will be holding a Flower Festival.  

Both the Garden and the Village benefitted from bedding plants donated to us from the May plant sale.  While we found that bedding did not sell as well as usual this year we did note that perennials and vegetables did very well.  We must, therefore, congratulate, Michael Clifton and Jim Roach for growing and selling plants and being generous enough to donate a massive £600 to Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

The eye sore that was Maples Garden Centre was subject to a recent planning application for two eco-houses on the site.  Sadly the Planning Officer saw fit to recommend the “innovative design”, despite the fact that it is green belt, there are plenty of “brown field sites” in the area and local opinion was generally against it.  In fact, there were 34 letters of objection from local residents, a petition with 28 named objectors, a letter of objection from Stocksbridge Town Council, and objections from our local MP, Stocksbridge Design Statement Group and Bolsterstone Community Group. On the day of the Planning Board, a further 8 letters of objection were received (one representing 4 couples) and the local MP issued a press release stating that if this went before the Secretary of State she would recommend a Public Inquiry.

Fortunately, common sense prevailed when all 9 Sheffield City Councillors, from across political parties, voted unanimously to refuse permission to build in Sheffield’s Green Belt. Their reasons were that the buildings would lead to inappropriate development and to the encroachment of urban development into the countryside. These new developments would not replace existing dwelling houses and there were no special circumstances.

We hope that this will be the last of the matter but it is quite probable that the applicant will appeal.  If anyone wishes to be kept informed about any further moves to develop this site please contact me and your name will be placed on an email or mailing list.

Free membership of Bolsterstone Community Group is open to anyone who supports our aim.   For further information please contact Group Chairperson, Frances Tivey on 01142 883390 or email bcg@bolsterstonevillage.fsnet.uk