Hemyock

As I write, the death toll in the Haiti earthquake has risen to two hundred thousand and is still climbing. Like you, I am shocked by the devastation of this natural disaster and stunned by the misery and chaos being heaped upon a nation already burdened by poverty and depravation.

Like you, I find myself wanting answers to why this has happened and why God would be willing to allow the people of one of the poorest nations on earth to suffer in this way. As I listen for those answers, I hear some saying that this simply proves that God doesn't exist. And I hear those at the other end of the spectrum stating that we are living in the 'end times' and quoting carefully selected verses from apocalyptic scripture to support their argument.

There are now three village notice boards in Hemyock located at the Parish Hall, the entrance to Longmead and adjacent to Millhayes Hall. The additional notice boards at Longmead and Millhayes were erected in response to increasing village activities and the need for publicity. The Parish Council hopes that these and not telegraph poles will be used in the future. It was felt that the use of telegraph poles made the village look untidy.

There was a robust but amicable debate about proposals to allocate land to the North of the cemetery for allotments at the February meeting of Hemyock parish Council. With land owners on either side of the cemetery refusing to allow their land to be used for access, allotment holders would need to use the main footpath through the cemetery to entrance their gardens.

Another year has raced past on the hemyock.org website. I thought I would report progress, especially as I am enormously proud of having kept a log of the number of users all year.   Last year’s report is on this link

The Blackdown Hills AONB has commissioned Dr David Allen to produce reports on the biodiversity of six Blackdown Hills parishes including Hemyock. These will include distribution maps showing areas of important habitat or notable species and ideas for nature conservation action that the local community might like to pursue.