Kingsway Villagers

Has anyone any news on the accident halfway down Thatcham Avenue last night (03-12-08)? I just hope the young motorclist was not too badly injured.

What I could see was the Police and Ambulance were in attendance with all the traffic backed up on Thatcham Avenue, which makes me think back to the old question about the illegally parked cars blocking the road in Thatcham Avenue; if those cars had not been there, traffic could have still got through.

This has been an accident waiting to happen. I have seen these young lads going past our house at very high speeds. It’s about time we had a 20mph speed limit on Thatcham or what about a few speed humps on the road to stop Mr Barry Sheen and his friends going so fast.

The National Childbirth Trust are holding a Christmas Fayre at Quedgeley Community centre.

7 December 2008
11am-4pm

This will be a great event for those expecting new arrivals, those who have kids and those who may just want to pick up a cool christmas present. In short, There is something for everyone and you are all welcome

Adults £1, Children free

Contact Alex 01452 721255 for more information

The stands include:
Phoenix cards, Usborne Books, Dinky Prints, Barefoot Books, handmade jewellery, Raffle, refreshments, cake stall and much, much more. Plus a visit from Father Christmas!

Minutes for the 10th October meeting are now available (via the Residents Association Home Page).

We are still awaiting information about the minutes from the 8th August meeting… Unfortunately Ian (our Secretary) was unexpectedly sent abroad immediately after that meeting and returned only just in time for the next one (in October) so he’s really been struggling to get them done.
And – as if that isn’t bad enough – he’s had Pneumonia for the past few weeks!

As Barry – our chairman – reported (see here) – problems with the UK economy and the housing market in particular, have taken a big toll on the developers (QUVL), with massive effect on things like resources available to deal with residents issues etc.

The resulting fallout has meant that we (the RA) are spending an inordinate amount of time trying to progress even the simplest of issues.

Whilst we are determined to make progress and to follow up on ALL issues raised, we have – obviously – had far less time to spend on other matters.

We are actively involved in other issues dealing with the Quedgeley Parish Council, the Police and numerous local youth groups and organisations etc.

We also have other important issues in the pipeline (eg: information about claiming a reduction in water rates, etc) that will – sadly – have to wait until we can get to them.

We (the commitee) were all very sorry to have to cancel the planned Christmas event, particularly in the light of subsequent events (see here)!

We would like to thank you all for your patience and wish all Kingsway Villagers a very merry Christmas and a happy new year…

Let’s hope we can catch up early in 2009!

Kingsway Village was featured in Yesterdays news from BBC Points West.

BBC video journalist Tom Burridge contacted me to talk about the Residents Association and this website and asked if I would be willing to show him around Kingsway and introduce him to some of the local residents.

Following a recent study showing that "traditional community life is under threat", the BBC national news did a feature about the breakdown in community spirit in the UK as a whole, and BBC Points West were keen to feature Kingsway as an example of a new west country community with a difference, bucking the national trend by the formation of a (new) Residents Association and our willingness to create a sense of community in the area.

Tom accompanied me as I walked over to pick Phoenix up from school, interviewing several parents at the School itself, and we then spent some time in the small park as Tom interviewed me whilst Phoenix enjoyed herself.

As is typical in these situations, the 15 minute interview resulted in approximately 5 seconds of actual footage following the BBC News and – just my luck – they had to pick my most tongue-tied moment

You can see the full broadcast – here.

(Note to self: "bunches"??? idiot! "waves" isn’t that difficult of a word)