News .. August & September 2011
No time doesn't go backwards; due to a publishing malfunction our article in last month's edition was in fact last year's! Please accept our apologies.
The summer is always a quiet time for the Residents' Association meetings, but this is not the case for outside activities. Whilst our residents have been taking advantage of the "warmer" weather, light evenings and holidays away a lot of work has been carried out in the surrounding woodlands.
I should like to mention the work recently completed in the Clough Hall area as the result of a Community Payback project. We have benefited from pathways being cleared around the Park Avenue / Kinnersley Avenue Lake, a litter pick in the lane from Beech Drive to the Talke Road and undergrowth cleared from paths in other woodland areas. I understand work is still to be done in Puzzle Wood and the area around The Leg of Mutton ... by the time you read this article the project might have been completed. Kidsgrove Athletic Football Club is also receiving help with maintenance of the ground (not the pitch) and surrounding fences, which will be of benefit both to Clough Hall and to the whole of Kidsgrove.
Community Payback schemes are run by the Staffordshire and West Midlands Probation Trust and result in over 680,000 hours of Community Payback being completed every year by over 5,000 offenders on a community sentence. This equates to over four million pounds' worth of free labour provided to local communities as offenders pay back for the crimes they have committed.
Community Payback covers a wide variety of community projects and if you think your organisation would benefit from their help contact Chris Lowdnes Tel. 01782 213324 or go to http://www.swmprobation.gov.uk/ .
We would like to thank PCSO Colin Stepney (Kidsgrove Police), Chris Lowdnes (Probation Service) and the Community Payback workers for their help in improving the area in which we live.
The guest speaker at our July meeting was Ged Ryan from the Cheshire Bat Society whose subject was The Life Cycle of Bats. We learnt there are 1,137 species of bats, of which there are 17 in Britain, the largest having a wing span of 15 inches. Ged explained how they navigate in the dark and what they can hear, their mating habits and how they rear their young, where they roost and the protection they are given by European Law. It is hoped there will be a Bat walk held in Bathpool Park later in the year where there will be the opportunity to identify the species living in the area.
Cheshire Bat Society.
The meeting concluded with an update from our chairman detailing events being held in our area over the summer months and on issues within the Clough Hall area.
I would like to remind you about our WEB site, and in particular the pages for Neighbourhood Watch and Scam Alerts, where lots of good advice can be found.
Meetings are held at Hollinwood Sheltered Housing, Hollinwood Close starting at 7.15pm.
Date for the next meeting is Tuesday October 11th 2011; this will be an ‘OPEN MEETING' giving the opportunity to raise and discuss problems in the Clough Hall area. This will be preceded with a talk given by a local Guinea Pig Charity.