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Your Say...
It seems there is something very wrong with the system, when
I, a knowledgeable parish councillor who lives in the local community,
can, at a parish council meeting, state factually that the level
of proposed affordable housing provision for a major local housing
development, Hallam Fields, is only roughly half the amount Government
guidance states is required and should be provided to meet a
shortfall which is not being met, and suggest the council should
take some remedial action, only to be met by a barrage of misleading
and apparently ill informed opinions by two Borough councillors,
who are not part of the local community, one of whom is not a
Birstall parish councillor, insisting that nothing can be done
about it, effectively denying me the possibility of taking the
matter further by way of a competent working party to establish
the facts.
Borough councillors are required, in respect of planning matters,
which is what this was, to take the Borough Council’s strategic
view and thinking on such issues, which at the moment conflicts
with Government guidance which makes it quite clear that for
new housing development between 2001 and 2021, which includes
Hallam Fields, the average provision of affordable housing should
be 25% to meet an affordable housing requirement which is not
being met.
As far as I am concerned, this matter, where the proposed affordable
housing provision is only about half of what Government guidance
state is needed, is too serious a local issue to be fobbed off
in the way it has been.
What should be done, is to determine the facts and need of the
local community, determining how the local shortfall in affordable
housing can best be redressed, through an urgent meeting of a
competent and properly balanced working party.
C D Clarke
Having lived in Birstall for over 52 years, I have seen it
change from a pleasant attractive village to an urban sprawl
with eyesores at both ends. Worse is to come!
When Greengate Lane estate was constructed in the early fifties,
it was considered too dangerous to have access directly to/from
the A6. With the volume of traffic increased a hundredfold, how
is it now deemed to be safe and desirable?
Hallam Fields development ‘triggers’ concentrate on
traffic problems, mainly to ease the flow for the city. Why must
the residents of Birstall suffer for the inefficiency of successive
Leicester councils?
The most important triggers should be in relation to infrastructure.
The original 250 houses have increased to 900 (at the last count).
Services in the village are already overstretched. Highcliffe
School is crowded, Greengate Health Centre is full, and village
policing has been under established for years. Before the first
fifty houses are occupied these concerns should be tackled and
work well in hand, otherwise Birstall will be another Hamilton.
I am also concerned about bus services and flooding.
It would be reassuring to see a complete copy of the plans and
the provisos imposed.
P.H.
Having recently returned from a trip to Beijing I have joined
a course in Mandarin at Oadby Beauchamp College.
As I have a family member and friends living in Beijing I feel
it is important to be able to converse in Chinese as well as
English.
The educated middle class in China are capable of communicating
in English but, predictably, have problems with the cultural
differences entailed. I, therefore, too have a problem, to be
able to speak in Mandarin and I need to contact anyone in Birstall
who is able to help by practising speaking Mandarin at a basic
level. I would be available to discuss the need to improve my
understanding and conversing in this fascinating language. If
anyone can help please contact Bill Hill on 2205177.
Bill Hill, 21 Wanlip Ave, Birstall LE4 4JQ
May I once again thank the kind people of Birstall who bought
a poppy from me in the bad weather.
The total was £107.91 and this is a wonderful total, owing
to illness and was not able to do the full time allowed, but
you came up trumps and cannot thank you enough.
See you all next year along Sibson Road.
Mrs V A Joyce, Birstall Royal British Legion Women’s
Section
The refurbished frontages to the shops and the pavements along
Sibson Road are much better and with the new street furniture
enhance the appearance of the road; praise and thanks are due
to Birstall Parish Council and Charnwood Borough Council for
carrying out this work.
A pity that cars are still being parked on the frontage outside
the dentist’s premises, presumably when the paving bricks
there become loose and uneven the owners of the cars will be
prepared to pay the cost of these being relaid.
The junction of Sibson Road and the Wayne Way remains quite a
hazardous function. When driving out of the Wayne Way when cars
are parked along the whole length of the parking bay to the right,
it is difficult to see if any cars are coming along Sibson Road
from the direction of Loughborough Road. I think the last two
parking spaces at the Wayne Way end needed to be blocked off
in order to make that junction somewhat safer and easier to drive
out of.
More parking spaces could be created in the Wayne Way by removing,
on the side opposite the Greengate Hosiery building and the houses,
the pavement and the grass verge. This would allow cars to park
more easily, at right angles to the side of the road in marked
spaces.
In order to use two of the parking spaces at the side of Barclays
Bank it is necessary to drive over a length of kerbing which
is still raised. No doubt a lot of drivers besides myself, who
use these spaces at times. find this annoying and unacceptable.
I have complained about this situation and I have been told at
last, that the length of kerbing will be lowered in the near
future.
Some elderly residents and indeed some younger people with impaired
mobility have anxiety about walking across Sibson Road, particularly
at times when traffic is heavy. Two pedestrian crossings are
needed: one say between Beechfield Road and Firfield Road and
one further along towards the Loughborough Road end.
J Woods
I would be most grateful if you would publish this letter
thanking the unknown person or persons who recently returned
my mobile telephone which was found near Orchard Road. I eventually
received the phone back from ‘Orange’ and have no idea
who sent it to them.
In the times we live in, it makes a very pleasant change to be
able to comment on the good side of human nature and not the
bad.
Whoever you may be, thank you very much.
Now, if we can just sort out the climate, arrive at world peace,
discover a free, limitless supply of energy and cure all disease
and illness things would be just great!
N G Black
Well! What a lovely magical weekend was held at Birstall Methodist
Church, from the German Market to the Christmas Tree Festival,
this past weekend.
It all added up to a glorious occasion for everyone to remember.
Well done to all concerned.
D Pearce, Birstall
Thank you so much to the staff, parents and children for all
your kindness shown to me during my time at Birstall Methodist
Pre-school. It was always a pleasure to come to work. The staff
and all the children will always be very special to me.
Also, thank you for the wonderful gifts. What a lovely surprise.
I will treasure them always.
With my love and best wishes to you all
from Christine Tilford
Birstall Royal British Legion Women’s Section would like
to thank everyone who made our Christmas Fair a great success
at which we raised £424. Thank you all once again.
Angela Parkin, Treasurer
As usual this time of year brings all the hustle & bustle
of the festive season and I had the very happy experience of
attending a performance of Highcliffe Junior School’s production
of ‘The Emperor and his Clothes’.
This year, however, I just had to write in to commend the staff
and children for a wonderful performance. A lot of very hard
work had been done by everyone concerned and the children obviously
enjoyed every minute. What brilliant little performers. Well
done Highcliffe!
Valerie Hollis
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Nature notes
After every gale in autumn I dread to look at my garden as
my sycamore will have shed its leaves all over my lawn. If I
am lucky I will be able to get out of my back door with the lawn
rake and remove the offending leaves; if unlucky, the back door
will have swollen and jammed, and I will either have to climb
out through the window - a feat more difficult as my age advances
- or just let them lie and risk bald patches in the lawn next
year.
Why, one may ask, is my sycamore so keen to shed its leaves?
It is not personal; every sycamore does it. However, its neighbouring
conifer does not shed its leaves. So why does the sycamore do
it? In fact, why do all ‘deciduous’ trees shed all
their leaves whilst most conifers do not?
Part of the answer is to be found in the structure of water and
ice molecules. Most schoolchildren will tell you that one cubic
centimetre of water weighs one gram, a ‘density’ of
1 gram/cubic centimetre. Anything with a lower density (say 0.9)
will float on water, and anything with a higher density will
sink. Sadly, water has a density of 1 only at about 25 degrees
centigrade. As it cools it becomes more dense, until at 4 degrees
it reaches its maximum. Thereafter it becomes less dense, and
ice is relatively lightweight. This results in water warmer than
4 degrees, or colder than 4 degrees, ‘floating’ on
water at 4 degrees. Ice will also float, which is very convenient
for fish, unless the oxygen dissolved in the water runs out,
there being no way fresh oxygen can get in.
The reason for this change is the way in which neighbouring water
molecules arrange themselves. At high temperatures single molecules
are rather spread out, as befits anything from A to B in a hurry
and banging into things. As the temperature falls, so the molecules
move more sedately, and can exist closer to each other. At 4
degrees a new phenomenon takes over - molecules start to stick
to each other forming little cages which take up more room than
single molecules. As the temperature falls further these cages
grow, and finally, as water freezes, they form huge and elaborate
structures. Because they take up more room ice occupies a larger
volume than the water from which it is formed, and so is less
dense: thus ice floats.
So what? Well, large thin flat leaves have a very large surface
area, and are very efficient at photosynthesis, but are easily
damaged by frost, the frozen sap expanding and rupturing the
leaf cells. Needle-shaped leaves are good at containing frozen
water, but are less efficient at photosynthesis. Thereafter it
is a matter of balance; deciduous trees photosynthesise like
mad in the summer, but have to shed those vulnerable leaves in
the autumn. Conifers can photosynthesise all the year round,
but are not very good at it. If summers are too short, only conifers
can survive; too long, and the deciduous trees shade out the
conifers.
Pity about my lawn....
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Age Concern Info
NATIONAL PAINTING COMPETITION FOR AMATEUR
ARTISTS OVER 60
The EAC (Elderly Accommodation Counsel) Awards 2003 are open
to all amateur artists over 60 with over £4500 to be won
in six categories.
Artists are invited to send, in the first instance a photograph
or laser print, of work which can be on any subject, in the medium
of the competitor’s own choice (ie oils, water colours,
charcoal, pastels, acrylics etc) in one of the following three
categories.
Portrait, Landscape/Seascape, Still Life/Flora/Fauna
These subjects can all be interpreted in an abstract way. The
judges are looking for original and creative ideas and copies
of commercial images are not acceptable. Entrants are not advised
to copy pictures from magazines or from other artists’ paintings.
Work from a person’s own photographs are acceptable and
welcomed.
Prizes: There will be a prize of £500 for the winner of
each of the three categories mentioned and, in addition, a prize
of a painting weekend for two at Earnley Concourse, Chichester,
which will be awarded to the picture considered by the judges
to show exceptional imagination and creativity.
Winners will also receive boxes of paint from Daler-Rowney. Runners-up
will receive a voucher to purchase artists’ materials from
the SAA. Winners will receive a year’s subscription to Artists
and Illustrators magazine. Finalists will receive two free tickets
to the Exhibition.
Entry Fees: Competitors may submit more than one entry. The fee
for the first entry is £6 and £5 for each subsequent
entry. The fees will be used to help with administration and
the costs of the exhibition.
Judging: Initial judging will take place during May 2003, after
which the short-listed artists will be asked to submit their
original work for the final judging. The short-listed pictures
will be exhibited on EAC’s stand at the Artists and Illustrators
Exhibition at the Business Design Centre from July 24-27, 2003,
where the final judging will take place. The judges are Ken Howard
RA, Susan Ryder NEAC, Vice-President of the Royal Society of
Portrait Painters, and Nuala Henry, Public Relations Manager,
Daler-Rowney.
Angela Farnell Memorial Prizes
The following additional prizes will be awarded in memory of
the founder of EAC:
£500 for the best work from an amateur artist who is living
in a residential or nursing home
£500 for the best work from an amateur artist who is living
in sheltered housing
£500 for the best work from an amateur artist who attends
a day centre
Plus, in each case, a further £500 will be donated to the
home/sheltered housing complex/day centre.
The entry fee for these prizes is £5 for the first entry
and £4 for each subsequent entry.
All finalists’ pictures in this category will also be shown
at the Artists and Illustrators Exhibition.
Artists entering for these prizes may also enter for the main
prizes, with appropriate entry fee and a different picture.
For entry forms and details of rules, please send a stamped,
addressed envelope to: EAC Art Awards, The Old House, Rotherwick,
Hook, Hampshire RG27 9BB or Mr J Woods, 105 Greengate Lane, Birstall
LE4 3JH
Closing date for entries : April 30, 2003.
INFORMATION AND ADVICE SERVICE
The Information and Advice Service of Age Concern Leicestershire
and Rutland moved into the new resource centre at Lansdowne House
during December. They hope to expand the service to help more
older people and their carers with information about services
and money benefits.
There are now three information and advice workers, Maggie Wright,
Kate Grealey and Shirley Stokes, working with Barbara Dearing
(Residential/Nursing Care Homes Advisor).
For information contact the Information and Advice Team at Lansdowne
House between 1.30-4.30pm, Mondays, Tuesdays & Thursdays
and 1.30-4pm Fridays Tel: 0116 2992233
Jex Woods
Chairperson, Age Concern Birstall & Wanlip
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Members
of Bradgate Sewing Circle present 40 lap quilts to Age Concern’s
Pat Wilson.
