We’re delighted to introduce our newest councillor. Justin Stewart has lived in Newbold for 26 years so he’s well placed to appreciate the comings and goings of parish life!

When asked why he wanted to become a councillor, Justin said “I want to help ensure that our parish is not overlooked with respect to matters relating to highways and pavement maintenance, policing and transport links. I would also like to encourage more engagement between the people of our parish and the parish council either by attending meetings to see what we do and raise suggestions or concerns or if not to contact us via the Clerk.”

We don’t publish mugshots of the councillors (we’re very shy ) but if you want to see who we are in real life, particularly our new councillor Justin, please do come along to a parish council meeting. The next scheduled meeting is 8th April; the agenda will be published on our website www.worthington-pc.gov.uk, Facebook (if our councillor who looks after Facebook remembers to do it ) and the parish noticeboards. The meetings rotate between the three villages; Newbold school, Griffydam School, St. Matthew’s Church, Worthington so please check the agenda for the location. Meetings commence at 6.00 p.m.

We’re sure you will join us in welcoming Justin and we look forward to seeing you!

Recently we let you know that the parish council is taking over the responsibility for ongoing maintenance of the five public access defibrillators in the parish. We are now looking at the possibility of providing defibrillator and CPR training, free of charge, for interested parishioners. Depending on numbers involved, this could be one or more sessions at different locations in the parish.

If you are interested in this potentially life saving training, please register your interest with Callum Bryant (parish clerk) by email clerk@worthington-pc.gov.uk. As and when we have sufficient numbers, training will be arranged and more details communicated to you.

Following earlier updates shared via Facebook , Worthington Parish Council is consulting residents on proposals to improve the Church Street play area, including the installation of a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) for older children and teenagers. The proposals aim to provide inclusive recreational facilities, improve safety, and address ongoing issues of vandalism and anti-social behaviour, while retaining the existing play equipment for younger children.

The play area has experienced ongoing vandalism and anti-social behaviour, resulting in costs to parishioners. To address this, the proposals also include improved pedestrian access between Church Street and St Matthews Avenue, and the installation of CCTV to improve safety. CCTV has been recommended by the police; any data would be accessible only by the police, not by councillors.

We would like to hear your views before any decisions are made. Please visit https://consultation.worthington-pc.gov.uk to view the information and submit your comments.

If you are unable to access the consultation online or would like further information, please contact the Parish Clerk at clerk@worthington-pc.gov.uk

Worthington Parish Council has a vacancy for a Parish Councillor
to be filled by co-option.

Parish councillors play an important role in representing local residents and helping to make decisions that affect the whole parish.

What does a Parish Councillor do?

Parish Councillors:

• Represent the views and interests of local residents
• Attend parish council meetings (usually held monthly)
• Help make decisions on local services, projects and community issues
• Work with other councillors and the Parish Clerk for the benefit of the parish

No previous council experience is required: enthusiasm, reliability and an interest in the community are what matters most. Support, training and guidance will be provided.

Who can apply?

You must:

• Be at least 18 years of age
• Be a British (or eligible commonwealth / Republic or Ireland) citizen
• Meet at least one of the following criteria:
  • Be registered as a local government elector within the parish
  • Have lived within 3 miles of the parish boundary for the past 12 months
  • Have occupied land within the parish for the past 12 months
  • Have your principal or only place of work in the parish.

If you would like to apply, please contact the clerk at
clerk@worthington-pc.gov.uk before the 3^rd of February 2026 for further information and a short application form.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a vacancy exists in the Office of Parish
Councillor for The Worthington Ward of the Parish of Worthington in the District
of North West Leicestershire. Any 10 electors in the said parish wishing to
request an election to fill the vacancy should do so by writing (a form for this
purpose is available on request) to Mrs A Thomas, The Chief Executive, North
West Leicestershire District Council, Council Offices, Coalville, Leicestershire
within 14 days (computed in accordance with Rule 2 of Schedule 2 of The Local
Elections (Parishes and Communities) Rules 1986) of the date of this Notice.

Original notice can be viewed at: https://www.worthington-pc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Notice-of-Vacancy-Dec-2025-Worthington.pdf

Earlier this year a Facebook post informed you of our desire to install new equipment at the Worthington play area, and we sought ideas from the community including any thoughts regarding prevention of vandalism and anti-social behaviour which has plagued this play area for some time.

There have been some updates since, and this is the latest information.

The plan is to install a MUGA (multi-use games area) which should appeal to a wider age range and make the park more inclusive. This decision came about following ad hoc discussions with youngsters who use and / or simply meet at the park; input from the local police beat team who similarly engaged with the youngsters, and a notified meeting with local residents.

The MUGA is a very significant financial investment and to this end we applied for various grants to fund it. To date we have received £20k from the National Lottery and have applied for similar sized grants from other organisations. To support our grant applications, we received and submitted letters of support from our County and District Councillors, the church, the school, the post office/shop and the police, for which we are very grateful.

We are also applying for a grant to install CCTV. A structural survey has been carried out by the county council on one of the adjacent lamp posts; this will provide power for the CCTV equipment, and we now await funding. Footage from the CCTV will NOT be available to the parish council (thus ensuring compliance with GDPR and other regulations), and will be accessed only by the police. Feedback from the community suggested CCTV would help to reduce or prevent anti-social behaviour, vandalism, and of course littering which is a perennial problem at the play area.

Ultimately we may have to call on parish council reserves to fund some of this work but we are working towards getting as much external funding as possible to maximise the value to parishioners.

As we receive further updates, we will of course post on Facebook and the parish council’s website but in the meantime if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the parish clerk whose email address is clerk@worthington-pc.gov.uk. As Facebook is an informal communication medium, we will usually not respond to comments or questions arising from one of our posts.

Your Parish Council has recently spent a considerable amount of time and money (your money) repairing the play areas in the Parish to ensure the safety and enjoyment of everyone wishing to use the facilities.

Sadly, only a couple of weeks after these repairs had been completed, further wanton vandalism has occurred. We know that you will agree this is a very sad state of affairs and totally unacceptable. We are also sure that you do not want to keep spending your money on repairs to equipment / facilities, due to the actions of a small minority of individuals, who for reasons unknown wish to damage pieces of equipment which are intended to enrich the lives of our younger generation. If this vandalism continues, the Council will have to consider if the provision of these facilities offers good value to Parishioners, as the ongoing cost of repairs will become prohibitive.

The Council categorically does not wish to remove these facilities but we have to be aware of the health and safety risks to users of the equipment and also act in the interests of all the community with a view to the ongoing costs of maintenance etc. The Council had already included in the upcoming budget for a complete revamping / replacement of the Worthington play area and equipment, and improvements to other play areas in the Parish; this represents a considerable investment and we don’t want it to be a waste of YOUR money; we all need to do what we can to prevent this apparently routine vandalism. We can only request that, if anyone has any information as to who is responsible for the damage, they report it to the appropriate authorities, as we all want to live in a Parish where improvements in our environment and facilities are able to be maintained and enhanced, for the benefit of all.

Obviously the Parish Council has reported the incidents to the Police, who have committed to increase their patrols of the areas affected; however they cannot be present all the time and therefore the community’s involvement is essential if we are to stop this abhorrent behaviour.

Thank you.

Worthington Parish Council.