Curate of Carlton and Drax the Revd Becky Allright is taking a lead with local councillors in measures to combat crime in the quiet village of Drax near Selby with an event about Crime Prevention on June 8th, 3.00pm to 5.00pm, in Drax Village Hall.
Rural crime has affected many villagers recently, while heating oil has been stolen from the village hall and lead has been taken from the roof of the picture-perfect Grade-1 listed Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul.
The Revd Becky Allright said, “It got me thinking about security and how as a village we could try to collaborate to improve things.
“Keeping the church open as much as possible can be a deterrent and we are planning ways to make the church more accessible to the public during the time it’s not open for worship currently”.
Meanwhile the Village Hall has benefitted from a donation from the Two Ridings Community Foundation, to replace its oil tank with an underground system which is not reliant on oil, as it uses an Air Source Pump and is also more environmentally-friendly and much cheaper to run.
With encouragement from Two Ridings, Becky is now planning to bid for funding for the community to access free oil tank alarms; “Rural life is wonderful, but you can also feel exposed and having oil tanks tampered with is worrying and really expensive.”
“We hope to be able to install alarms in the majority of tanks locally to reduce the risk of theft.”
Villagers from Drax, Newlands and Long Drax are warmly invited along to air their views and concerns related to many aspects of rural living at the event, which it is hoped will be attended by:
- North Yorkshire Police
- 20 is Plenty campaign
- Fire Brigade
- Parish Council
- Two Ridings funding bid for tank alarms
Information will be on offer in the hall about local services, with activities for young people provided (and the playground opposite).
From 4.30pm onwards there will be a chance to put views to a panel of the local Police Force, Parish Councils and other bodies (questions may be emailed to rev.becky.allright@gmail.com).
- Two Ridings Community Foundation is the administrative body for the Rusholme Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund which provides grants for a wide variety of community activities which benefit the residents within the parishes of Drax, Newland, Long Drax and Airmyn.
- To find out more about the fund and how to make an application for your community project visit the Two Ridings Community Foundation website at www.tworidingscf.org.uk/fund/rusholme-wind-farm-fund
or telephone 01904 929500.