Welcome to Bidford-on-Avon

Bidford-on-Avon Parish has a population of approximately 5,000 people. It comprises the villages of Barton, Bidford-on-Avon and Marlcliff, which make up the Bidford-on-Avon Ward and are represented by nine councillors, and the village of Broom which makes up the Broom Ward and has its own representative, making a total of ten councillors. Both Bidford and Broom are mentioned in the well known Shakespeare drinking rhyme – drinking Bidford and beggarly Broom.

The Parish Council, which has been in existence since 1895, belongs to the Stratford-on-Avon District and has three ward councillors as well as a county councillor. The Parish Council has a very good relationship with all its District and County Councillors, who regularly attend the monthly Parish Council Meetings. It also as a very good working relationship with the local Community Beat Officer and PCSO.

The Council has a long time lease on its Parish Council Office and Meeting Room which are situated in the School/Library complex on Bramley Way. It is also the Trustee of the Crawford Memorial Hall, which is the Village Hall. Following a hard fought campaign by the Broom Village Hall Committee to raise the necessary funds, Broom's brand new Village Hall reopened in September 2006. Both village halls are the venues for a number of local events – check the web site for these.

A Parish Appraisal, known as B50 for the local postcode, was carried out in 2003 and has now been adopted by District Council. The Parish Council has now started the process of ensuring that all the matters which can be 'driven' by the Parish are implemented and, where necessary, monitored.

Bidford-on-Avon itself has grown quite considerably in the last decade, with some considerable developments being built in the fringes of the village: St. Laurence, just off the Waterloo Road; Old School Mead, on the site of the old school; and further developments at Friday Furlong and Waterloo Road will add a further 200 dwellings. The plan at Friday Furlong includes a nursing home and the new medical centre – the old one, which is in the village High Street, having become much too small and suffering from poor parking facilities. Currently, the Parish Council is very concerned about what it considers the over-development of the village and is trying to stop further back garden developments taking place, although it is not finding this easy.

One of the main features of Bidford-on-Avon is a twenty-six acre riverside meadow, called the Big Meadow, which the Parish Council leases from the Trustees of Alice, Duchess Dudley, at an annual cost of £9,390 – this cost includes the lease of the adjacent field known as Monie Meadow. It is open all year round for walkers and in the summer, for a small charge, visitors can park their cars there – this is free to residents of the village on production of a card which they can obtain at the Parish Council Office.

Apart from the Big Meadow, the Parish Council is responsible for other open space areas: Marleigh Road, Jubilee Close, The Leys and King's Lane (Broom) all of which are leased, and Dugdale Avenue which it has recently acquired. It is responsible for the maintenance of all these areas which includes mowing, strimming, trees, hedge trimming, litter collection, dog bins, play equipment inspection and, where relevant, toilet cleaning, gate keeping etc.

The Parish Council owns the Bidford Youth Club site, two cemeteries and two allotments sites, for which it is responsible. It also has a maintenance contract for the closed churchyard of St. Laurence.

There are three distinct conservation areas in Barton, Bidford-on-Avon and Broom with a number of listed and noteworthy buildings, which includes the Parish Church of St. Laurence which celebrated its 800th year in 2006. The hamlet of Marlcliff, which is situated between a low hill and the bank of the River Avon, includes a number of well kept traditional Warwickshire cottages.

This site was last updated on Thu 18 June, 2009

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