- We as a community group have gone formal and have set up a Management Committee with a Chair (Lynne), Treasurer (Jane), and Secretary (Sylke), and we have got a proper Constitution. There are still lots of things to be discussed about how the group should be organised but this is a start.
- With the help of many people in the neighbourhood we have distributed a leaflet about the group and our summer events around Abbotts Barton. If you are living in Abbotts Barton and haven't received one or if you are living nearby and are interested, you can view/download it here (the PDF file has an empty page in the middle, make sure to continue to the last page to see everything). A big thank you to everybody who helped! And also welcome to all the new blog subscribers, Facebook likers, and Twitter followers that we got over the last days!
- On our website we now have have a dedicated section to allow you to find ongoing consultations quickly: Have Your Say!
Local issues
Grass cutting
This year the mowing schedule for our big greens (at Chaundler Road and Dyson Drive) seems to have been changed to nine times per year only (enquired with the WCC Twitter people and one of our local councillors) - in the past this used to happen every single week!We have already had reports of people finding it difficult to walk across after a couple of weeks of growing, especially with a pushchair, and even after the recent cutting session it's still difficult to cross as the grass in many areas has been flattened rather than cut (probably due to its length before cutting). The long grass is also a trip hazard because you can see the uneven ground with its hidden holes even less well than normally. It's also becoming difficult to play football or other games on the greens. On top of that ticks love long grass and it's easy to pick them up in there.
We have always had issues with the cut grass just being left on the greens but the longer intervals between mowing sessions are just not acceptable in our opinion - especially knowing that in other areas (park at the bottom of Teg Down for example) the grass is immaculate. If you agree, could you please let you know our local councillors if you think the grass needs cutting more often, and report to WCC when the grass is getting too long again?
Footpath along the allotments
Even though the councillors were told a while ago by HCC that some emergency repairs would be done soon to the footpath before more would happen, no action has been taken yet. This is because all resources are concentrating on fixing flood damaged roads. If you think the footpath could do with some faster attention please report it to HCC.Consultations / Have Your Say
Most important to us, the consultation about our park is still on until 31 May. If you haven't done so yet, please fill out the online survey and submit it to the City Council. We would so love to get some picnic benches, possibly some additional normal benches (so that elderly and disabled people can also enjoy the park without the fear of not being able to get up again from the grass), and a second goal for our football playing children. Please specify to the Council what you would like. And if you are against all of this, you can say that too obviously.
The Scouts will come round soon with their leaflet to ask for your support for a new Scout Hut in Abbotts Barton. Please let us know what you think about this proposal.
The bus route consultation is still open until 31 May. WinACC has published an article that might help you along with your answers.
Don't forget, on Thursday 22 May we will have elections for Winchester City Council and members of the European parliament! Hampshire Chronicle published a list of the Candidates for the City Council and Daily Echo told us that ten European Parliament seats are up for grabs. If you are wondering who to vote for, have a look at 30 statements via votematch.eu. Before you do that, you might want to make sure your perceptions are right, here's a test to take and an article on how wrong the British public is about nearly everything when it comes to facts. Oops.
The next Councillor's Surgery will be Thursday 5 June from 7:30 to 8:30pm at Hyde Parish Hall.
General news
You don't need to be green to find it annoying that a walking shortcut to the station has been blocked off!
Station Approach development on track for early 2015
Slower speed limit for Winchester city centre
Environment
From a Greenpeace mail I received in April: 'It looks like David Cameron is planning to sneakily change the law to let fracking companies drill under our homes for gas, without our permission. [...] Until yesterday, this change in the law was just a rumour. But now the Financial Times has run a front page story (free to read but registration needed) reporting that "the coalition will... change trespass laws, allowing companies to drill without permission..." The report says that David Cameron could include these outrageous plans to strip away our rights in the Queen’s Speech in just a few weeks time.' If you disagree with that, here is the Greenpeace petition to sign.
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Finally a couple of photos from the Grand Day Out as organised by Save The Rec:
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