News .. June and July
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.
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. A recent spate of thefts from parked up vehicles in the Kidsgrove area is mainly due to items of value being left in view ... remember to remove or hide handbags, sat/navs and mobile phones (don't forget that a carrier frame stuck to the windscreen is a dead giveaway !).
For up-to-date information check out our WEB site http://www.cloughhall.co.uk/.
The inaugural meeting of 'Friends of Clough Hall Park' will be held in the pavilion/cafe in Clough Hall Park on Wednesday 17th August at 7pm. Residents from around the local areas of Kidsgrove and Butt Lane are welcome to attend. The meeting will be seeking residents' opinions about making better use of the park and making it a valuable asset to the community. Currently and for the duration of the summer season, the tennis courts and the bowling green are open to the public free of charge!
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 and will be preceded with a talk given by a local Guinea Pig Charity.