tenance provided by the County Council. Parish Councillors would be glad of immediate notification of village repairs, and then the relevant service department can be contacted. One success has been the convincing of the authority to replace the railings along side the Gypsey Race. This will take place over the next few years.
2.This is the preparation of a rural deprivation report, which is a response to the Borough's request for a Parish statement on its condition.  The document is available from Mike Ashford.

3. The issue of the Airey houses. In spite of the Parish Council's intervention, the Borough are determined to demolish the pair of houses on Eastgate in about two years time. Once alternative accommodation is found for Mr. Braithwaite, the houses will remain empty until demolition. A prompt response from the Council prevented a Borough suggestion that they be used for 'temporary housing'. The Council-owned semi-detached house adjoining Mr. Sheldrick will be brought up to standard.

The Parish Council attempted to persuade the Borough to replace the houses on Eastgate but the request was refused on the grounds that there was sufficient Council housing in Rudston. There is no waiting list for housing and eight 3-bedroomed properties are underoccupied. The Borough saw little point in building old peoples' bungalows in the village as this would leave the majority of the three-bedroomed houses empty.

Through this newsletter the Parish Council wish to stress the importance of parishioners who may require Council housing in the future contacting the housing department immediately. A local register would also be useful; please contact Mike Ashford.

4. The final issue was the preparation of the cash allowance given to the Parish for 1984 - 5 to be spent directly in the interests of the Parish. Last year this was £1200. This year our request for £1280 has been cut to £1025. Of this figure approximately £5OO is allocated for new street lighting and the remainder is for the electricity and maintenance of existing lighting and for the general running costs of the Parish. This sum is inadequate even to run the lights we have, but there is still hope that necessary additional lighting may be achieved if an application for further financial assistance from the Borough is successful. The only alternative source of finding this money is for the Parish Council to levy a Parish rate, but we are very reluctant to do this.

In conclusion, it is important to stress that all meetings are open to the public to observe. The agendas and dates are posted in advance on the village shop notice board and the new notice board on Eastgate. Do not hesitate to contact any member of the Parish Council with matters of Parish importance. In particular, anything concerning street lighting, will you please contact Alan Stephenson (after 6 pm, please).