Residents' Update:
Sunday 11th September 2016

Dear All,

This week’s update includes:- Anti-Social Behaviour at Quinton Pools; Styvechale Open Gardens - Air Ambulance Presentation; Cheylesmore Library Volunteers; Culvert Grill near Leaf Lane – Blocked; St James Church Arts & Craft Exhibition; Whitley - Gas Pipe Replacement Programme; ‘Big Friendly Read’ Awards Ceremony at Cheylesmore Library; Clarification of How our Local Police Team Operates; Monday Enterprise Café at CCC re-opens 19th September; Arundel Road Night-time 'racetrack'; Wooded Area by Whitley Common; Tollbar End Improvement; St. Mary's Guildhall - A Royal Comeback; “Your Rubbish” App; Fire Station Open Day; Coventry Older Voices Newsletter; Festival of Imagineers; Get Fit with British Military; Power Cut? New Number 105; Scams; Recalls; Diary; Useful Links. And Finally ..

Anti-Social Behaviour at Quinton Pools
In our 7th August update the question of whether Quinton Pools was an alcohol-free zone, was raised. Roger contacted council officers on a few occasions for confirmation but received nothing.

During this week’s 'Cuppa with a Copper', Pauline discovered that the whole of Coventry is an alcohol-free zone, which is why there are no signs in the park.

She searched the council website for clarification of this fact but found nothing. This lack of information has been reported to the council's web design team who, after checking, confirmed that the information was not on their site or the police site. They’ve now contacted the relevant department.

From Pauline's searches on this issues she found that a Coventry Telegraph article states:
In October 2006, Coventry was declared an alcohol-free zone, which means that police officers and community support officers have the powers to seize alcohol from those drinking in the streets and parks. Read more

The only way of stopping the anti-social behaviour drinking at Quinton Park is for residents to dial 101 when they see it. If enough people report it then a pattern will build up & hopefully the problem will be resolved.

Styvechale Open Gardens - Air Ambulance Presentation
From Graham Pountney, a local resident and Chair of Styvechale Open Gardens Group:
Please find attached a photo of Monday's presentation of a cheque for £3,208 for Air Ambulance raised from this year's Styvechale Open Gardens event held in June. A further £900 plus was given to ngs national caring charities.

In his letter of acknowledgement, Andy Williamson, Chief Executive of Air Ambulance thanked everyone who helped raise the money, our sponsors who cover the costs of the event, the gardeners and all our visitors. Mr Williamson remarked that last year the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance Service flew 800 missions across the two counties and yet receives no government funding and has to rely solely on voluntary donations.

Jo Payne, Air Ambulance Senior Fund Raiser for Warwickshire said everyone who supported Open Gardens should feel proud every time they see the 'yellow heli' fly overhead.

Cheylesmore Library Volunteers
We’ve now had 18 people express an interest in volunteering to work to keep the library open. At our meeting last week we came up with a long list of questions that require answering.

Cheylesmore Community Centre (CCC) & the council are in constructive discussions about the feasibility of the library ‘coming under the wing’ of CCC and the necessary building work that is required to achieve this. Grant applications and a lot of legal work needs to take place before we can proceed.

If you are interested in volunteering to help run the library then please email cheylesmore.ward@gmail.com or visit the community centre and leave your details.

Culvert Grill near Leaf Lane - Blocked
A resident informed us that the grill to the culvert behind Black Prince Avenue was blocked with rubbish and as a consequence their house was full of flies.

Roger contacted Tim Wetherhill, Urban Forestry Officer & received this:
Work is being undertaken to clear the “Trash screen” that prevents debris from entering the culvert.

St James Church Arts & Craft Exhibition on 17th September

Whitley - Gas Pipe Replacement Programme
Once the gas pipe replacement work in Ashington Grove & Rutherglen Avenue is complete then work will start on Abbey Road, later followed by Tonbridge Road & Burnham Road.
See the map of the works

‘Big Friendly Read’ Awards Ceremony at Cheylesmore Library

On Saturday, Roger attended the Cheylesmore Library to present the medals and certificates to those children who had completed the ‘Big Friendly Read’ Challenge. Over 100 children had registered with 50% completing the challenge. The children were aged from 4 to 11 and they had to read 6 books of their own choice during the summer, collecting special cards and rewards along the way.

The atmosphere and excitement in the library was electric and there were many proud parents.

These types of activities emphasize how important the library is to children. One mother explained that the only reason that her child was reading was thanks to the 'intimate' Cheylesmore Library.

Clarification of How our Local Police Team Operates
At the 'Cuppa with a Copper' it was explained that our local Police team consists of 12 officers: 6 Police officers & 6 PCSOs.

The whole team works the same shift pattern: 3 days of earlies, 3 days of lates & 3 days off.
When our Earlsdon & Cheylesmore team isn’t working then teams from the other areas will be covering the patch.

In an earlier update the number 07722 820 617 was given as a way of contacting our local Police team. This number should only be used when you want to discuss something, as it is only switched on when the team is working.

When reporting a crime always use 999 for emergencies & 101 for non-emergencies.

Monday Enterprise Café at Cheylesmore Community Centre re-opens 19th September

This café is run by adults with learning difficulties as part of their Adult Education learning programme.

Scrumptious, healthy food is on offer at a very reasonable price.

The cafe is open Mondays 12:15pm -1:30pm during term time, starting Monday 19th September.

This is a great opportunity for learners to develop their hospitality skills.

However more customers are need! All welcome

Directions to cafe: From the community centre entrance walk straight ahead past the drinks machines and through the gym

Arundel Road Night-time 'racetrack'
Last week Roger received this:
Cllr Bailey,
My road appears to be turning into a racetrack late at night (usually around Midnight to 2.30am).
Over the last couple of months various machines (motorbikes/ Quad-bikes - of dubious legality) are raced up and down my road, waking my family up (and my neighbours). It gets extremely loud and the perpetrators clearly have no interest in people trying to sleep before work the next day. The rider appears to cover his face and last night there were other youths hanging around.

This has been reported to the police and we’re awaiting a reply.

Wooded Area by Whitley Common
Last week we reported that the piled up material in the wooded area between Whitley Common and Black Prince Avenue had been set alight, as predicted.

Thankfully this time Roger received a more positive response to his request for it to be cleared up.

From Tim Wetherhill, Urban Forestry Officer
After discussion with our Ranger team and the Parks Development Team, our Rangers will be removing the accumulated debris.

A45/A46 Tollbar End Improvement
Monday 12th September:
9.30am to 3.30pm - A45 London Road Eastbound – Lane closures •A45 Stonebridge Highway Eastbound - Lane closures •Rowley Road - Lane closures • Siskin Drive - Lane closures.
8pm to 6am - Tollbar roundabout - Lane closures •A45 London Road Eastbound - Lane closures •Rowley Road - Lane closures •Siskin Drive - Lane closures

Tuesday 13th September
9.30am to 3.30pm - A45 London Road Eastbound – Lane closures •A45 Stonebridge Highway Eastbound - Lane closures •A45 Stonebridge Highways Westbound - Lane closures •Rowley Road - Lane closures • Siskin Drive - Lane closures.
8pm to 6am - Tollbar roundabout - Lane closures •A45 London Road Eastbound - Lane closures •Rowley Road - Lane closures •Siskin Drive - Lane closures.

Wednesday 14th September
9.30am to 3.30pm - A45 London Road Westbound - Lane closures • A45 Stonebridge Highway Eastbound - Lane closures •Rowley Road - Lane closures •Siskin Drive - Lane closures
8pm to 6am - Tollbar roundabout - Lane closures •A45 London Road Eastbound - Lane closures •Rowley Road - Lane closures •Siskin Drive - Lane closures..

Thursday 15th September
9.30am to 3.30pm - A45 London Road Westbound - Lane closures • A45 Stonebridge Highway Eastbound - Lane closures •Rowley Road - Lane closures •Siskin Drive - Lane closures.
8pm to 6am - Tollbar roundabout - Lane closures •A45 London Road Eastbound - Lane closures •Rowley Road - Lane closures •Siskin Drive - Lane closures..

Friday 16th September
9.30am to 3.30pm - A45 London Road Westbound - Lane closures • A45 Stonebridge Highway Eastbound - Lane closures •Rowley Road - Lane closures •Siskin Drive - Lane closures
8pm to 6am - Tollbar roundabout - Lane closures •A45 London Road Eastbound - Lane closures •Rowley Road - Lane closures •Siskin Drive - Lane closures..

St. Mary's Guildhall - A Royal Comeback

In March it was fantastic to see the return of our portrait of King James I after an extensive programme of conservation.
Thought to have been purchased by the corporation in 1626 along with the portrait of King Charles I, the painting is largely based on a 1621 portrait of the King by Daniel Mytens, now in the National Portrait Gallery. It fell into gradual disrepair, and then long term storage, and had not been on public view in more than 50 years.
Following work by specialist conservator Jill Irving, funded through kind visitor donations and merchandise sales, the portrait was brought back for display in the Drapers’ Room (Old Mayoress’s Parlour) where it was hanging for much of its history

St. Mary's Guildhall is open Sunday to Thursday (until Sunday 2 October), from10am to 4pm. Visit their website

“Your Rubbish” App
Do you ever forget to put your bins out? Maybe you're sometimes unsure whether to put out the blue-lidded recycling bin or the brown-lidded garden waste bin?
Or are you ever unsure whether you can recycle certain items of rubbish?

“Your Rubbish”, a new smartphone app has been developed by Coventry University in partnership with the Council to help all residents living in Coventry know what, when and how to recycle and how to dispose of their waste.

Collection reminders - you can set up reminders so you'll receive a notification every week to remind you of which bins to put out, and when to bring them back in
What goes where? - an alphabetical list of common household wastes, with information about how to recycle or dispose of them
How to dispose or recycle other wastes
What items to put in each type of bin
Cancelled collections - if bin collections are cancelled for any reason, such as heavy snow, the app will let you know not to put your bins out

“Your Rubbish” (Serious Games International Ltd) can be downloaded for free from the iTunes app store for iPhone and iPad or the Google Play store for Android.

Thanks to the app, Pauline now knows that egg boxes, shredded paper & drinking glasses can't be recycled and the reasons why.

Fire Station Open Day

Read more

Coventry Older Voices Newsletter

Residents' Update: Sunday 11th September 2016

Residents' Update:
Sunday 11th September 2016