Gateford Residents Association

The Gateford Park Primary School hall was almost full for the November 12th community meeting. 17 people came from the Gateford South because of their interest in the flooding issue. However Taylor Wimpey failed to show up with any new proposals. At the last meeting anger had been expressed at the proposal to put two large deep ponds (with a pathway between them)on the existing green open space off Fulmar Way. However, some of the residents present felt that they wanted to get a solution as soon as possible as they had been living in alternative property for months because their own were still flood damaged. The Chairman reported on the latest developments. His statement is under the September minutes on this website (About GRA.)

Bassetlaw district Council, he said ,had agreed to the removal of the underground weir in the existing holding chamber underneath the green area. Previously the weir had slowed down the rate of discharge of flood water. This removal could improve the flow by 50%.
The two ponds solution from Taylor Wimpey were , it was said to be a cheaper option than the building chambers underground. Again there were expressions of concern about how children would lose their playing area and there may be danger to them from the construction of theponds. One resident stated that she had been in contact withthe developerwho had said that the water table level was too high to build effectively underground. A planning permission application will probably go to Bassetlaw District Council in the next few weeks. It will be up to the residents of Gateford South to raise objections if they have any. On the Forum page of this website there is a vote for a YES or NO to the two large ponds for a soakaway solution.

There was also a discussion of the Safer Neighbourhoods project which the Chairman and Secretary had attended. These related to North and South Gateford. The police had said that other areas showed less antisocial behaviour. Main concerns however ,were speedingcars ,cycling by children in the road as they played and the breaking of bollards.

Councillor Sibyl Fielding said that she had submitted a letter of objection to the closure of the Reins Road Post Office.The Chairmanalso stated that he had requested for some considerable time for the roundabouts on Ashes Park Avenue to be cleaned up and all missing signs to be replaced .

The company must have the approval of the local authority before to their proposalsfor the disposal ofsurface water and sewage.The chairman of GRA Mr Larry Read objectedat the hearing to the development and produced photographs of the summer flooding. The houses must be built within three years . The land was originally set aside for community use buildings.

Bassetlaw District Council has requested the Gateshead Residents Association to come up with a name for a roadwhich was unnamed. It is off the second roundin Ashes Park Avenue and leads to Greenwood Close and Holme Way. The Road extendsto a spurinto the next field. Your suggestions can be put on the Forum under this news topic. Please do this by the end of November.

LETTERS WORKSOP GUARDIAN 9.11.07
See this week's letter page in the Worksop Guardian.There have been a number of letters to and fro with our Communications Officer, David Larder, responding to statements by a Gateford resident, Mr Lambert of Lindrick Close. The last distorted statement by Mr Lambert concerned a resolution (passed by one vote) at a small Community Meeting on 13th Nov. 2006. He inferred that the GRA was "undemocratic" in not observing this resolution that the green areas on Ashes Park Ave be kept untouched, without children's play equipment.

Before this motion was taken for debate, the Chairman made it clear that whatever its outcome, the GRA would be conducting a referendum on the playground issue (supervised and counted by bassetlaw District Council) at the request of BDC.This was to allow all families to vote. The referendum then returned a 3 to one majority in favour of having play facilities and out of the two options provided by the BDC,the majority favoured the end of Ashes Park Avenue, where the house of Mr Lambert overlooks the current goal posts that he and some people near him opposed.

After the referendum a group of residents, which did not include Mr Lambert, collected signatures on a petition against the use of the land opposite their houses. The petition did not achieve the voting numbers in the referendum.Mr Larder was told that there was pressure to sign in some cases, but this cannot now be substantiated with people prepared to come forward. He therefore has withdrawn all of these remarks and states that it was not correct that Mr Lambert was involved , other than in his personal signing of the petition. It was not the intention tomisrepresent him or his colleagues.

GATEFORD FRIENDS RACE 9.11.07
Two former Valley School friend who love running fulfilled a dream to race last weekend in the New York Marathon.47-year-old Shirley Gascoyne and Jill Davies, both of Gateford were raising money for four charities. They were watched by 90,000., and a TV audience of over 300 million. They joined some 36000 other runners.They have already raced in the London Marathon and raised considerable sums for charity.

MP JOHN MANN REPORTS START OF FLOODS LEGAL ACTION 02.11.07
John Mann MP has advised that test cases which will have national implications if successessful have begun against developers regarding flooding on the "Birds" estate.

CYCLE DANGER 01.11.07
Around the time when motorists are coming home through the estates, children,without cycle lights are riding in the dark in the middle of roads. Some have lights but will not put them on, endangering themselves and car drivers. Take a moment to tell them. If they refuse to cycle on the path and put lights on ring 500999.

BANG! BANG!BANG! 29.10.07
Yes-it's that time of year again! Just to remind you about the law and FIREWORKS.
It is illegal to sell them to Under-18 year olds. It is illegal to let them off in any publicplace, like a park (unless a supervised activity) or on a street. FINE UP TO £1000 It is illegal for anyone to be carrying fireworks unless over 18 years old. It is illegal to set off fireworks after 11pm until 7am , except on Bonfire Night 5th.Nov.when the explosions can go on until midnight. The same laws apply to New Year, Diwali, but Chinese New Year can blow up until 1am.

If you or any of your pets are troubled by illegal fires or fireworks or rowdy behaviour, ring the RSPCA(0870 5555 999) or 500999 for the POLICE. Insist on a patrol car if you see an illegal act or possession by young or old.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS NEEDED 29.10.07
Maxine Coates and her family are leaving Gateford for New Zealand from their home in Lancaster Walk. She designed our letter head. George Boggie is also leaving the "Birds" Estate and the area. They both will be greatly missed from our Committee.
Our Chairman is urging anyone with community spirit who is interested in improving Gateford to come forward to fill these vacancies.
He says "Committee Meetings are once every six weeks and last two hours so it is not arduous."Meetings are friendly and informal at his home. More reps from the Birds estate are needed , particularly now that Taylor Wimpey are bringing new proposals forward for flood control. Please contact Larry via his e-mail on the CONTACTS page of our website with your interest and contact details.

CAN YOU HELP? 29.10.07
We have some dedicated volunteers who don't mind a pleasant walk near where they live.They drop off a GRA Newsletter to their neighbours and in some cases to more. This happens about every three months. Currently , we need more distributors to lighten the load ,as we aim to cover the 1981 households in our area. Please- if you go for a walk and like it,- get in touch today with our Chairman

Larry Read by e-mailing him your e-mail address or phone no. Use the CONTACTS Page on this website. We would much appreciate your help. Thank you.

LATEST CRIME STATISTICS 24.10.07
The latest crime statistics have been made available to us for North & South Gateford. Please visit the forum news page to show the graphs and figures:-
http://www.gateford-residents.org.uk/graforum/viewtopic.php?p=874#874

POSTAL DELIVERY SCAM 20.10.07
The Gateford estates could be an easy target for this scam Can you circulate this around especially as Xmas is fast approaching ? It has been confirmed by Royal Mail. The Trading Standards Office are making people aware of the following scam:
A card is posted through your door from a company called PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel and that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911 (a premium rate number). DO NOT call this number, as this is a mail scam originating from Belize. If you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will already have been billed 5 for the phone call.
If you do receive a card with these details, then please contact Royal Mail Fraud on 0207 239 6655 or ICSTIS (the premium rate service regulator) at www.icstis.org.uk

"AMAZING" FLOOD RELIEF PROPOSALS.18.10.07
Next Monday the GRA Committee hopes to hear of new proposals from Taylor-Wimpey(the amalgamated builder)who are responsible for the "Birds" estate, where severe flooding appeared again this year. At the September Community Meeting people were "amazed" at the proposals for flood relief put forward by the Chief Engineer.He put a sketch drawing before the meeting that showed a plan for the large grassland recreational area off Fulmar Way. On it would be two large lake ponds with a path between them which he said would soak up excess water.

David Larder(Communications Officer for GRA) asked how deep the ponds would be and was told that in the middle each one would go down one and a half metres."How many children do you think they will drown ?"he asked. They would be unfenced. Even fences would be broken. In any case , residents objected to the loss of the only recreational space on the estate. Mr Read (Chair) said that such a scheme would be opposed. Mr Larder suggested that even with light rain, the ponds would be a "mudbath" for cyclists riding down their banks. He asked the company to spend some of the large profits they had made by building houses on roads that led into "a pudding basin" He thought that, although costly, a large under ground resevoir with a re-inforced roof that could have the grass put back on it for play space, could be the answer.

GRA CHAIRMAN FIGHTS FOR COMMUNITY LAND
Our Chair, Larry Read, attended on the 11th and 12th September a Planning Appeal Hearing at the Worksop Town Hall. Hazelwood Developments were wanting to build 13 houses on the small parcel of land off Kingfisher Walk. The Bassetlaw District Council's case was that Planning Permission on the Gateford South site was to have included setting aside half a hectare for community use. This had been reduced to 0.4 of a hectare. Their Barrister said the PP should keep this condition until 2014. Mr. Read ( Chair) showed the Hearing photos of the flooding on the estate,saying that the sewers were inadequate already in that area, without adding more housing.He also pointed to the lack of community space overall. The result of the Hearing is expected on October 24th.

OUR WEBPAGE IS A ROARING SUCCESS ! 31/08/07
Considering that this website has only been active for two months,it has been very successful and well appreciated. That is the report that the Communications Officer will give to the COMMUNITY MEETING at 7pm NEXT MONDAY 10th September. David Larder says, "As websites go, we have a relatively small population of some 3,200 houses to draw upon.Not eveyone on our 3 estates will have a a link to the web.Yet our figures are amazing"

Since July 1st until end of Aug, 1,371 unique visitors have visited www.gateford-residents.org.uk on 3,426 separate occasions. The total number of "hits" in that short period and 48,030 pages have been viewed "The Forum has been regularly used and it has brought together many residents who have posted their opinions on a wide range of topics.", said David. Neighbourhood Watch issues are popular, but comparative views on the sevice at local pubs also features as does car sharing or appeals for lost cats.

The site contains Minutes and Agendas for meetings and the Business pages have attracted local advertising.