Northwood News Summary

Posted by Admin on 11 February 2007, 12:00 am

NORTHWOOD COMMUNITY PLAN

As most residents are aware by now, it has been necessary to redistribute the Community Plan Questionnaire. Although the returns during December were 'reasonable', we took the decision to circulate the survey again to ensure that we could not be challenged in the future by any critics who could argue that the consultation was not broad enough. At the end of the day, if any organisation in Northwood wishes to use the Plan as a tool to achieve funding, we wanted to ensure that our community’s response was robust, and that every resident felt included!

In the next month, Northwood School will be working towards a Planning For Real Exhibition, which we hope will take centre stage at our next stage of Consultation to be held from 11.00am, Saturday 24th March at Northwood W.I. Hall.
Also at the Exhibition we will be awarding prizes to the winners of last year’s Photograph Competition, and as always there will be loads of Free Goodies and Interaction. Please pick up a programme nearer the time.

At the moment we aim to launch the Parish Plan in July, but between now and then there is still plenty of work to do. If you are interested in getting stuck in with us, please give me a call!

Paul Fuller

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH REPORT

There have been no reported incidents of Burglary or Assaults in the village in the last thirty days. We have had several distressing incidents of Vandalism yet again. These incidents do badly affect the quality of life for the victims and need to be tackled. If you see acts of vandalism taking place, and are rather concerned for your safety, or the damage that may be done to your property, ring me, Roger Mazillius, or the Police. Another option is to ring Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. This is a free call system and completely confidential.

CRIMINAL DAMAGE:

Damage to boundary hedge in Greenways.

Reports of three windows smashed in the Scout Hut in Wyatts Lane. The third window broken sometime during Tuesday night (6th Feb) to Wednesday morning.

Report of a stone thrown at a conservatory in Venner Avenue causing a window to smash. This has happened on two separate occasions.

A bottom pane in a front door in Wyatts Lane was smashed with a stone at about 13.30 on Saturday 3rd February.

Car windows smashed by persons unknown in Wroxall Close.

DOMESTIC DISPUTES:

Two incidents in Wyatts Lane.

THEFT:

Theft of a bottle of wine from the Co-op, Newport Road.

Theft of a mobile phone from a courtesy car owned by Northwood Garage and parked on the forecourt.

ROWDY AND INCONSIDERATE BEHAVIOUR:

Reports of young people hanging around in groups at various locations, until late at night. This can be intimidating for elderly people, when these young people are swearing, shouting loudly, and in some cases jumping out into the road. Some of these appear to be very young and there are concerns about their safety.

COLD CALLING:

There have been few incidents of cold calling since the scheme was started. The street signs will be erected shortly; we hope to cover every entrance to the village.

This will not affect the genuine organisations that call on people, such as Avon, Kleeneze and Betterware. They have been informed and will continue to call.

NORTHWOOD BEAT POLICE:

P.C. Mark Thomas, who is the Beat Officer for Northwood and Gurnard, has had his beat extended to cover part of Cowes. He will still be around the area and coming to the meetings of the Northwood Management Committee.

To help him cover this large area, he has been joined by Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Steve Oatley. We welcome Steve to the Village and look forward to working with him.

RECYCLING BINS:

Following their popularity when advertised in the February issue of Northwood News, we have now run out of Black Recycling Bins for Paper (we still have a handful of Green Organics bins left over!!).

When they are made available again from Island Waste (who have also run out) in the next two or three months we hope to make these available to residents. These again will be advertised in Northwood News and distributed on a first come, first served basis if supplies are limited!

John Pullen (Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator) and P.C. Mark Thomas

PALLANCE ROAD TRAFFIC CALMING AND FOOTWAY CONSTRUCTION

Thank you to everyone who came along to the public consultation on Tuesday 6th February, especially those of you who were able to use your local knowledge to provide constructive feedback to the architects of these schemes.

It is anticipated that work on the footpath construction from the Post Office to Wyatts Lane (Southern side) should soon be underway, and that the traffic calming measures should follow shortly afterwards. The Northwood Village Management Committee are consulted from time to time on highways and transport issues. If you wish to raise any issues, then please attend one of our meetings to communicate your opinion.

Dave Miller

NORTHWOOD VILLAGE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REPORT

COMMUNITY SPEED WATCH:

Councillor Roger Mazillius reported on this initiative that was to be rolled out in three or four areas across the Island, whereby local residents are to be trained to use equipment that can be used to monitor excessive speeds of vehicles, where it is agreed by the Council there is a problem. The Committee supported this initiative being pursued for Newport Road, with further information being given to the Committee at its March meeting.

SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

All Committee Members have now been formally allocated Special Responsibilities; this will enable Committee members to deal directly on behalf of the Shadow Parish Council on a number of topic leads. Although 'Formal Decisions or Resolutions' will still need to be taken during meetings, members are now able to fast-track items by ensuring that information is readily available prior to making decisions. As Chairman, Paul Fuller will take on any responsibilities not taken up elsewhere. For further information on members’ Special Responsibilities, see the Village Notice Board or this website.

This will enable Maxine, our clerk, to focus more readily after April on developing Grants for Projects outlined by the Consultation Process for our new Community (Parish) Plan.

PROPOSED TRAFFIC CALMING, PALLANCE ROAD:

At last it seems that the dreams of residents of Pallance Road have been answered. This follows years of complaints from Councillors, Residents’ Associations and the many residents here who have campaigned doggedly for measures to tackle speeding traffic.
Although welcomed by the Management Committee, our members made additional suggestions within the consultation whereby we asked the Isle of Wight Council to give thought to reducing the distance between the speed cushions on the middle section of Pallance Road. Concerns were also raised regarding the proximity at the top of Pallance Road to the speed cushion to the east of the Wyatts Lane junction and felt this could lead to congestion near to the Post Office. Comments were also made concerning softening the impact of the scheme to reflect better the rural character of Pallance Road.

Many thanks to Roger and the team from the Isle of Wight Council's Highways Department for bringing this scheme to fruition!

GRANT FOR NORTHWOOD VILLAGE PRODUCE ASSOCIATION:

Following a request from the Northwood Village Produce Association for funding, the NVMC awarded this organisation a Grant of £25. This has left the Management Committee with £25 (!!) held in its balances. The Isle of Wight Council are likely to claw back any unspent funds which remain in the Committee's budget at the end of the financial year.

FUTURE PUBLIC MEETINGS:

Northwood Village Management Committee Meeting:
7.00pm, Tuesday 6th March, at Northwood School.

Northwood Community Plan Exhibition:
11.00am – 3.30pm, Saturday 24th March, at Northwood W.I. Hall.

NVMC Planning Committee (to be confirmed):
7.30pm, Tuesday 27th March, at Northwood School.

Paul Fuller