On Tuesday 15 March Ryedale District Council’s Planning Committee will consider an application from Third Energy UK Gas Ltd to start fracking at Kirby Misperton.  Although the final decision rests with North Yorkshire County Council, the recommendations of Ryedale will be a crucial factor.

The Planning Committee will need to consider the impact of fracking on tourism and the local economy (Flamingo Land is of course in Kirby Misperton, for example), the effect on the countryside around Kirby Misperton, and whether the increased traffic by HGVs will cause problems for local residents, cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians in the lanes around the village.  Air and water pollution, noise and vibration, as well as 24-hour lighting at the site are all issues that will need to be assessed.  The fact that the full Ryedale Council has already passed a motion calling for a 5-year moratorium on fracking may be expected to have some influence on the Planning Committee’s decision.

The meeting starts at 6pm at Ryedale House, Malton and is open to the public.  Parking is available on site.

Starting from Monday 14 March 2016 the weekday collection time from the post box (at the village shop in Slingsby) will be 5.30 pm (rather than 6 pm as before).

The Saturday collection time remains 10 am.

26 March 10am, Slingsby Methodist School Rooms

Natalie, a former pupil at Slingsby School, continues her efforts to raise funds for this worthwhile expedition. Please give her your support.

To be fair, we on the website team nearly did! 1 March 2016 marked our 5^th anniversary.

It was on 1^st March 2011 at 11 am precisely that the Slingsby Village website was launched upon an unsuspecting world. Since then the webmaster and a crack team of amateurs have been serving the news to Slingsby, Fryton and South Holme, and way beyond.

Here’s a few of the things that have happened in that time:

• 743 news and events posts have been published in support of local groups
• 65 pages of background information have been kept up to date
• 192,344 page views have been recorded (including 870 on a single day in May)
• Facebook and Twitter have helped broaden our reach
• Friends across the globe (from Perth, Western Australia to Peru) have been able to keep in touch with Slingsby and area
• Over 20 local clubs and societies have been publicized
• Regular monthly features such as Geoff’s walks and the Photo of the Month have proved popular
• Class-rooms of Norwegian schoolchildren have found us by googling the Battle of Stamford Bridge (mentioned in the website’s History of the Parish)
• A complete and thorough picture of Slingsby, Fryton and South Holme has been developed, in all its rich variety.

We could go on – and perhaps we will – watch this space!

Stephen Prest continues his farming column with some reflections on the floods.

In spite of huge changes in the last few decades, farming remains central to our community here. If you farm near Slingsby and wish to share your experience, email us at  [email protected]

Looking down on the Vale of Pickering from the Howardian Hills there is an awful lot of water lying around which is hardly surprising considering the huge amount of rainfall we have had. I am very grateful to Robert Wainwright for providing rainfall figures covering the last 19 years.

Our annual average rainfall over that period is 27.75inches.  In 2015 we have had 29inches, not far above average, but 6inches of that fell in December!  Houses in Fryton, The Lawns and Railway Street were flooded or damaged by flood water and we really feel for those affected.  Two boys (including Alfie) were seen canoeing in the floods at the bottom of Railway Street which provided great amusement for local onlookers!    Flooding damages our crops and can result in areas of crop dying off and having to be re-drilled in the spring as well as restricting root growth.

Wild duck and other waterfowl may enjoy all the water but swollen and muddy streams and rivers makes life difficult for many small animals and birds.  On one of her early morning runs Kate saw a Kingfisher on the dyke alongside the old railway.  I got some interesting pictures of a sparrow hawk eating a wood pigeon in our back garden recently, thankfully it doesn’t seem to have frightened off the small birds coming to our bird feeders.

On the farm we have been busy grading potatoes out of store, apparently people eat a lot of potato crisps at Christmas time.  My neighbours The Cliffords are busy getting ready for lambing time which commences in early January.  It involves a lot of hard work and long hours especially if it is cold and wet.

DON’T FORGET TO DO THE BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH  SATURDAY 30^TH AND SUNDAY 31^ST JANUARY.