A Newsletter for the Residents of the Newton Farm Estate

In this issue of your newsletter:
1. Future open meetings
2. Those damn pigeons your thoughts
3. The new bus service
4. A new service at your centre
5. Kerbside refuse collections

NEWTON FARM COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

OPEN MEETINGS

Open meetings will now be held at St Francis Community Centre (change of venue) Belmont on the second Wednesday of the month. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday May 14th starting at 7.30pm. These meetings are open to all residents living on the Newton Farm Estate. Whether you are Herefordshire Housing, private, or housing association tenants you are welcome to attend. Dates for other meetings are listed below.

Wednesday May 14th
Wednesday August 13th (AGM)
Wednesday November 12th

THOSE DAMN PIGEONS

At the last open meeting the assembled people were asked if we should fund to place netting under the Belmont Road bridge to solve the problems of those damn pigeons. The answer was an emphatic NO! Well done folks your comments and participation were very much appreciated. We received comments like.
"We should not be responsible for this"
"The monies we have are for other projects, and our funders would object to us spending money on this"
"No way"
"No community should have to pay"
The residents association on Redhill were approached and they replied with a resounding NO!

The question was asked that,"lf we pay for this, 'What else would we be expected to pay for?'
The final comment was that more attention should be paid to the fact
that young children were throwing stones off the bridge on to the road below. This was happening from 4.30pm until about 6.30pm. However at the end of the day folks the engineering services have agreed to fund 50%. This will match that of Hereford Community Services. Mike Higgins from Animal Health and Welfare is now getting quotes for the job.

At the next open meeting on February 12 the agenda will be something like this:
1) Apologies
2) Minutes of the last meeting
3) Matters arising
4) Chairs report
5) Latest news from the Advice Centre c
6) The new bus service an up-date by Glenda Powell
7) Open discussion on a subject of your choice
8) A 0 B

The meeting will close by 9.30pm with a short break about halfway
through the evening for refreshments The Jubilee Centre is situated off Stanberrow Road. Don't forget the meeting starts at 7.30pm

INTER-ESTATE BUS SERVICE

We shall be shortly enjoying an inter-estate bus service. This service will link all five estates in the South Wye with one another and serve the supermarket and Medical Centre at Belmont.
Included in this is:
. A direct service from the above areas to Rotherwas Industrial Estate
. An improved link between Rotherwas and the City Centre including the railway station and the County Hospital.
. A dial a ride type evening service in the South Wye area.
Three new low floor fully accessible buses will operate this service and there will be enhanced waiting facilities at twenty bus stops in the area. To enable this service to take place the Public Transport Section made a successful bid on behalf of The South Wye Accessible Transport Group to the Department of Transports Urban Bus Challenge Bus Competition for £774,000. The bid was two of 34 successful bids out of 109 to be submitted and was the only successful bid in the West Midlands apart from two submitted by CENTRO (West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive).

Some of the improvements we see in our local services would not be possible if it was not for the efforts of your committee members attending meetings. This is done purely on a voluntary basis and sometimes after working during the day.

The five schools in the South Wye area will be invited to design a logo
for the buses. This service is due to start in May/June 2003.

YOUR CENTRE

A new service is now available at your Advice Centre. The West Midlands Post Adoption Service has chosen the centre facilities as their new outreach centre in Hereford. Anyone whose lives have been affected by adoption, this group are able to offer counselling, support and advice.
The groups nearest point of contact until now was in Birmingham, but they can be contacted every third Tuesday of the month at The Oval Advice Centre from 12 noon until 4pm. For further details you can contact them on telephoning Birmingham 0121 666 6014 or of course at the Advice Centre on 01432 279116 between the hours of 10am until 4pm.

Last year your centre dealt with a total of 5,480 enquires. This is an increase of 708 on last year when 4,772 enquires were dealt with. In the three years that the centre has been running there have been 13,379 enquires either by phone or people visiting. To be able to cope with the demands placed on the centre and the volunteers an extension has had to be added, and this is now used regularly.

RECYCLING

In March we should see the council providing a kerb side collection of recyclable waste in the more urban parts of the county. Now that the Materials Reclamation Facility at Rotherwas has now been completed the council will be able to provide residents with this extra service. Different coloured sacks will be issued for the various recyclable materials.

FIRST AID COURSES

Red Cross First Aid training courses is available to all. For further details ring Linda White at Pool Farm on Mondays or Wednesdays telephone 01432 383233, or contact Linda at the Advice Centre on Tuesdays on 01432 279116. Course dates are listed below.

Thursday February 27th
Tuesday March 4th
Tuesday April 1st
Monday ApriI 14th
Friday May 16th
Monday June 2nd
Monday July 4th
Monday August 18th
Wednesday September 3rd
Monday September 15th
Wednesday October 1st
Friday November 28th
Friday December 12th

CITIZENS ADVICE

Citizen's Advice is offering a South Wye Home Visiting Service.
To make an appointment telephone 01432 379390

NEWTON FARM COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
23 THE OVAL
NEWTON FARM ESTATE
HEREFORD HR2 7HG
TELEPHONE 01432 279116
FAX 01432 279114