TUESDAY 26 MARCH: Marple Civic Society AGMAnnual General Meeting to discuss the Future of The Society. All are welcome.
Marple Library, Marple Memorial Park SK6 6BA. 3pm
Article from Inside Marple:THE FUTURE OF MARPLE CIVIC SOCIETYMarple Civic Society has been working hard for 56 years. It is a registered charity founded in 1962 by four local architects; they were concerned to retain and develop the community spirit in the Marple area as the population increased, and to make Marple a better place to live, work and visit.
The Society has 350 members and a committee of nine volunteers. We are affiliated to Civic Voice - this is the national charity which promotes civic pride. It monitors planning legislation and campaigns for appropriate development and use of the built environment, public realm and countryside.
We attend the monthly meetings of Marple Area Committee (MAC) of Stockport MBC, ask questions of our councillors and report to members (through our active website -
www.marplecivicsociety.org.uk) on all matters of interest - work which is often 'political' but strictly not party-political.
We monitor all planning applications made to the local authority and our planning team respond where appropriate, either in support of the application or with a recommendation for revision or refusal in the interest of the community. We consult with the community on issues which affect Marple - such consultation in 2016 led to the establishment of a Neighbourhood Forum to develop a Neighbourhood Plan for central Marple. We take careful note of all national and local planning development reports and we respond in detail on aspects affecting our local area. These responses often involve detailed technical work and they are made available on our website to help others to respond if they wish to do so.
We undertake local projects such as: negotiation with ASDA to make their car park available to everyone; influencing The Canal & River Trust to include the Lime Kilns to complete the story of the Revealing Oldknow's Legacy HLF project; establishing a Tree Preservation Order on the trees in the ASDA car park and negotiation with Marple Area Committee to encourage and enable greater participation by members of the public.
Four members of our committee, including our Chairman, will be retiring at our AGM. We encourage everyone to come along - you do not need to be a member - to discuss and help to decide on the future of the Society. If it is to continue its important work for the good of the community, we do need new committee members. Put simply, there is a lot of important continuing work to be done. Without your participation we shall have to reduce the amount of work we undertake for the benefit of the community. That would be a great pity, so do come along - and feel free to contact us at info@marplecivicsociety.org.uk