January edition...

VILLAGE VOICE starts another year by homing in on the various plans for building new houses in the area.
Melbourne and Kings Newton are to get a big development of 135 homes after a planning inspector ruled the application could go ahead. The plan for Kings Newton Lane had been rejected by South Derbyshire District Council and Melbourne Parish Council but was granted on appeal.
Meanwhile the parish council has changed its stance on an application to build 66 homes on Jawbone Lane, Melbourne. The council says it now supports the amended plan but accepts that more work needs to be done by the developer to ensure the lane is made much safer for use by vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.
And there are proposals for up to 25 new homes in Aston-on-Trent. London-based agents have earmarked agricultural land on Moor Lane for the project.
Full details on all the above plans are to be found in this month’s edition of your favourite local newspaper.

We also report on the many tributes that have been paid to John Harrison, who died in December aged 87.
The honorary alderman and former county councillor was well known in the community for his many years tirelessly representing local interests in many different ways. He will perhaps be best remembered for his work in bringing top class sports facilities to Melbourne with the setting up of the MSP.
His funeral will be on January 15 at 1pm at St Michael and St Mary Parish Church.

The Government is being urged to rethink the decision to cancel a long-awaited secondary school in South Derbyshire.
The school at Infinity Garden Village would have been run by Spencer Academies Trust and have served 1,200 pupils arising from thousands of new homes being built in the area. Families may now have to use existing secondary schools accommodating pupils in Melbourne, Aston, Weston and Barrow-upon-Trent among other local villages.

Our reporters and photographers take a look back at some of the Christmas activities from the area and how the snow enabled youngsters to get their sledges out for some fun in the white stuff.

Also, we have been hard at work to make available previous editions of Village Voice going back to 2010 - that is 193 editions including this month! There is a link on this page to select a year and then each edition. We hope this will be helpful to our readers - please let us know.

All this and plenty more in our January edition. What’s not to like?