Kingsway Villagers

Once again, Halloween 2010 was a very busy night in Kingsway Village, with hundreds of local children dressed in a selection of fantastic and scary costumes, terrorising the village in search of treats and sweets.

Phoenix (my daughter) had a great time out & about with her mother and came back with a bag filled with sweets… Our thanks to everybody who contributed

Halloween Event & Photo’ Competition

The Residents Association were out in force at the small park, where the social committee had set up a super-scary tent, filled with spooky decorations and some fabulous carved pumpkins, for our first Halloween Event & Photo’ Competition.

Competition Winners

3 winners were selected (from the 150-ish entries) as follows:

Baby/Toddler: Logan Age: 1yr 10months	Girl: Kaya, Age 8 Boy: Quinn, Age 6

Picture Galleries

I have created 2 picture galleries including photographs of all the competition entrants, pumpkins, decorations and some members of the Residents Association (looking considerably better-dressed than normal):

Gallery 1             Gallery 2

It only remains for me – on behalf of the Residents Association Committee – to thank everybody who took part, including the many volunteers who helped out at the event, and the chap who very kindly donated a fresh set of batteries for my camera when they expired (I did start off with a new set… I guess the ghosts & ghouls must have frightened the life out of them)
 

On Sunday 31st October 2010, the Residents Association committee invite all children to come and enter a competition for the best Halloween costume at the (little) park on Valley Gardens.

A prize for all who enter and an even bigger prize for 2 winners!

Photographs will be taken, so all children must be accompanied by an adult who can give consent.

Come and find us at the little park from 5pm until 7pm

For older children, the youth pod will be open that night too, down by the school.

If you would prefer children to still have fun, but not knock on your door, please click on this link to download a police notice, and display it clearly on the night.

Hi All,

The Police are keen to put a SARA plan together for Kingsway which will provide a resident-directed policing effort. PCSO Debbie Brimfield has put the groundwork in to work with us to determine what needs to be done and has suggested the Residents Association as a suitable organisation to work with to develop it.

In essence, the SARA plan is a short term goal-based plan, which is agreed through a resident panel. This goal is time constrained too, normally around 3 months. The Police will then work towards these goals with the aim to significantly reduce the problem.

The example of a potential goal for us could be "To reduce, by 60% the amount of Anti Social behaviour in the Big Park". They have to be realistic, therefore it’s not realistic to put "completely eliminate anti-social behaviour".

Debbie Brimfield and Beat Manager PC Sam Jones will be at the AGM to give a much better description than I have and hopefully to give us the benefit of their experience in running them.

So this planning will need our input. As previously said, the Police will be giving a presentation at the AGM to kick it all off, but I want to use the time up to the AGM to get as much input as possible to "hit the ground running". Therefore can you either comment below, or email me (mrbpkirby@hotmail.com) with specific areas of Crime that you think should form part of this plan. To be most effective, I need to know what the specific problem is, where it is (more specific than Kingsway please), when it occurs (such as late evening etc) and how often.

Cheers
Barry
Chair – Kingsway Residents Association

The Kingsway Residents Association will be holding it’s AGM in November. During this meeting elections will take place for the Kingsway Residents’ Association Committee.

You can put yourself up for nomination either by e-mailing mrbpkirby@hotmail.com or by posting a note through Barry Kirby’s door – 70, Thatcham Avenue – by 5th November.

The elections will take place on Tuesday 23rd November at 7.30pm during the AGM at the Kingsway Community Centre.
Local Kingsway Councillor Jackie Hall will be attending this meeting.

Hi Barry & Clive

Back at the Residents meeting before last we had a gentleman (sorry can’t remember his name) from QUVL talking to us.

We were told that the pavements along Thatcham Ave were being resurfaced, and true to his word they were done and if I’m not mistaken we were told that the roads would not be surfaced until the roads were to be adopted. I understand this, but we also told that all of the pot-holes in this road were to be filled in.

I’m not sure that with the somewhat heated debate that followed if this pot hole problem had been forgotten, but the pot holes seem to be getting worse as the months pass by! Especially as we are now on our way to the time of year that we all begin to dread with the frosts and icy mornings coming our way, which will only make a bad job even worse. It must be hell with the noise of  all those pot holes and traffic travelling over them for people living on Thatcham Ave.

Barry would it be possible for us to get in touch with QUVL, and ask if and when these pot holes will get filled in or our vehicles start to suffer from damage caused from constantly driving over these holes?

kevgee

The Kingsway Residents Association Public Meeting was attended by around 40 people and chaired by Barry Kirby (RA Chairman).

The official minutes will be added to the site (on the RA Home Page) as soon as possible (Note 07/09/’10: Meeting Minutes – 20/08/’10 now added); meanwhile these are my notes:

Apologies were received from Andy Smith (QUVL) who was away on holiday.

Barry gave details of a proposal to reduce accidents on the A38 junction with Kingsway by adding speed cameras and a imposing a 40MPH speed limit on the A38 itself, 300 yards either side of the junction.

Re: The Woodvale Blockades: The QUVL had previously proposed removing the earthworks and adding gates to be opened when the A38 is blocked but have now decided to pursue early adoption by The Council (following adoption they could opened permanently).

Barry circulated the proposed Residents Association Constitution (now adopted and available here) and we discussed the forthcoming Residents Association Committee Elections (November ’10); all residents are encouraged to consider volunteering for a post. I don’t have an electronic copy of the document available right now but will add it to the RA Home Page shortly.

Our guest speaker this month was Cllr Fred Wood.
Cllr Wood started with a potted personal history outlining his extensive military career, his connections with Gloucester and Quedgeley and his interest in Kingsway Village.

Cllr Wood touched on the subject of Adoption, stating that all concerned parties are pursuing adoption ASAP.
Regarding problems in the park(s), the complaints procedure is via the QUVL, and Cllr Wood recommends that you should also approach the City Council and should let him know too; he will pursue on your behalf.

On the topic of Amenities Cllr Wood said that construction is (once again) scheduled to commence in September this year and is expected to take 12 months. Tesco Express will be opening a shop and there will be several other shops and – of course – the Pub’.

Cllr Wood also raised the subject of Behaviour of Local Constructors, stating that the Council have (successfully) prosecuted one company and are using that example to “encourage” others to obey the rules.
He also mentioned a “HereToHelp Website” but I am unable to find any such website related to local issues (I probably made an error in my notes)

On the subject of ASB Cllr Woods mentioned that Glos’ City Homes are commencing a local anti-ASB initiative nicknamed Project Solace and that Kingsway will be one of the first areas to benefit from the initiative.
Kingsway has an ASB taskforce which began it’s activities today – 20/08 (hence the large Police presence on Woodvale this evening), will involve Police and Social Housing Agencies (plus other “Key Players”) and will include a “Have Your Say” event to gather information and distribute help and advice to local residents on September 11th… (See linked post for details).

Cllr Wood concluded his contribution by quoting his contact details:
Telephone: 07939 760140
Email: frederick.wood@gloucester.gov.uk

The meeting wound up shortly after 2110 hrs.