Village Management Committee and Community Partnership

Posted by Admin on 22 August 2007, 12:00 am

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP REPORT: (Colin Palmerton, Chairman Tel: 01983 282242).

Calor Village of the Year
We were extremely relieved that due to the dreadful weather on 25th June, we had decided judging would take place mainly in the W.I. Hall. Thankfully, the rain stopped shortly after the judges’ arrival. Members of the Community Partnership, Village Management Committee and Councillor were on hand to answer questions from judges who were then shown around the various stands and given an opportunity to chat to the many groups and individuals who gave up their time and made wonderful efforts in showing what Northwood was achieving within and for the community.

Children from Northwood School were very positive in outlining the school’s Healthy Eating ethos and Eco Status. Medham Pond Wardens were represented. Paul Fuller, Chairman of the Management Committee ran through Northwood’s Future Priorities within the ongoing Parish Plan. Chief Gnome, Ron Willis gave information on both the Village Produce Association and Northwood in Bloom. John Pullen informed the judges of the ‘No Cold Calling’ scheme and Neighbourhood Watch. PC Mark Thomas gave his time to be at the Hall, whilst The Northwood Needlers put on a fantastic display of their skills and explained how their craft work was appreciated by the Church. Pete Gallop was on hand to demonstrate to the judges the brilliant www.northwoodvillage.org.uk website. Medham W.I. showed examples of their work whilst Northwood W.I. presented a display on their history. A display stand promoted the Military Museum.

Judges were then treated to refreshments by courtesy of Northwood W.I.

The final part of the 90 minutes was a tour of the village ending at St John the Baptist Church where the judges, escorted by Revd Keith Adlam, were treated to the dazzling array that was the Flower Festival.
The results of our efforts were eventually revealed on the evening of 19th July at the Quay Arts Centre in Newport. Northwood had previously gained a ‘commended’ and been twice awarded overall second place in this competition.

The results were in six sections plus an overall Island winner, with our village going forward to the regional round.

Winner: Building Community Life – Northwood; Winner: Young People – Northwood; Winner: Environment – Northwood. Winner: Information Technology – Northwood.

Overall Winner for the Isle of Wight: NORTHWOOD.

In total Northwood won over £1000 which will be reinvested into local community projects. The two remaining sections of the competition were for Older People and Business, both won by Calbourne with Yarmouth receiving a Highly Commended award. As overall winners, we cannot enter in 2008 so that gives us two years to gain a clean sweep!

Congratulations to everyone who gave freely of their time and energy to produce such a fantastic result. Every resident of every age should be proud to live in our village of Northwood.

Unpaid work interventions.
A meeting has been held between the Community Partnership and Bob Nelson, the placement manager with the Probation Service. From this we now know this scheme can provide people to undertake tasks such as litter picking, graffiti removal and footpath clearing. Paul Fuller is providing a map of the village marking areas in need of work. If anyone has knowledge of any similar needs, please contact Paul. The Probation Service is also able to assist with renovation of the goal areas on the Venner Avenue Play Park.

Allotments.
Thanks to all those residents who made enquiries about the provision of allotments. There are now sufficient numbers to move to the next stage. The Northwood Village Management Committee have this responsibility until Emparishment. Please be patient. It may take some time to progress to completion. You have not and will not be forgotten.

Northwood in Bloom. (Colin Palmerton, Tel: 01983 282242 / Ron Willis Northwood In Bloom Co-ordinator, Tel: 01983 200452).
This must be one of the few competitions that requires no entry form and costs nothing to enter. Every garden in the village is entered and this year has been judged by Ron Willis and George Pimm. Obviously, both judges were excluded from the competition!

However the winners were not known at the time this article was written but they will have been announced at the annual produce show and acknowledged in the next edition.

Wight in Bloom. (Colin Palmerton, Tel:01983 282242/ Ron Willis, 01983 200452).
Congratulations to Northwood Primary School who were runners-up in the Best Initiative Involving Young People class and to Ron Willis as runner-up in Best Front Garden over 3 Metres. Success does seem to breed success. Thanks to the efforts of Cllr Roger Mazillius, Northwood was a recipient within this grant and now has two new planted areas for the One Million Blooms Project. They are located on either side of Uplands Road, close to its junction with Nodes Road. Needless to say, they did not miraculously appear, but were the result of the ever-willing and available ‘Northwood Gnomes’ under the leadership of Chief ‘Gnome’ Ron Willis. Over 150 ‘gnome’ hours were given to complete the scheme and the feedback received from villagers demonstrated their unanimous approval of everything being done to maintain and improve our village.
With regret however, there is a very small minority intent on destroying anything that makes Northwood a good place to live. This was evidenced by the criminal damage occurring within hours of the planting – see overleaf …

Neighbourhood Watch Report. (John Pullen, Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator Tel: 01983 281250)

Northwood Crime Report.
During July and August we witnessed an upsurge in vandalism around the Village.

It was reported in the County Press, the tremendous work done by the “Northwood Gnomes” in creating the two planted areas at the top of Uplands Road. Sadly, only hours after the first one was finished, plants were snapped off and uprooted. We believe this was done in the early hours of Saturday the 28th of July.

On Sunday the 29th July white powder was thrown over cars in Wyatts Lane.

Two youths were seen in Wyatts Lane carrying car number plates. The plates were thrown in the kerb farther along the lane. These have been collected by the police and returned to owners.

During the early hours of Saturday the 4th of August, one of the wooden benches on the Recreation Ground was ripped off its footings and so badly damaged, we are unsure whether it can be repaired. This was a facility paid for by us from our taxes, was enjoyed by many, and attacked by a mindless few.

Anyone having information about these incidents, please contact the police or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. This is a confidential service, no one will know you have phoned.

Police Contact Details.
0845 045 45 45: to speak to a Police Officer / Staff member or report a crime.

101: to report Vandalism and Graffiti; Noise Nuisance; Threatening & Abusive behaviour; Abandoned vehicles; Dumping & Fly Tipping; Drunk and Rowdy groups; Broken Street lighting; Drug related Anti-Social behaviour.

999: to report Emergencies only.

Northwood Safer Communities Forum Update.
A follow-up meeting of the Safer Communities Partnership will be called at 7.30pm, Monday 3rd September at Northwood W.I. Hall, to see what strategies the Isle of Wight Police and Isle of Wight Council will put in place to combat Northwood’s three priorities of Speeding, Vandalism and Anti-Social Behaviour from young people.

Home Security.
I make no apology for again reminding you about this. Home Security is the best way to reduce your chances of being burgled. A lot of burglaries are spur of the moment, as a burglar may see an open window or other easy point of entry and take their chance. Do not forget to secure Garages and Garden Sheds.

Incident Reports.
Our Village Police officers, PC Mark Thomas and PCSO Steve Oatley have reported very low incidents of serious crime during July. The figures were:

Assaults: 5; Burglary (Non Dwelling): 1; Burglary: 0; Child Abuse: 0; Criminal Damage: 4; Domestic Disputes: 2; Deception: 0; Drugs and Drunkenness: 0; Firearms: 0; Harassment: 0; Indecency: 0; Missing Persons: 0; Neighbour Dispute: 1; Public Order: 0.

N.B. The figure for Assaults looks alarming, but they were all of a minor nature.

Recycling Bins.
Green Organic Waste bins and black boxes for paper and glass are still readily available, please contact me on 01983 281250 if you require any.

Northwood Village Management Committee Report (Paul Fuller, Chairman Tel: 01983 289595).
I would like to reiterate the congratulations to all involved in the Village of the Year Competition and thank Colin Palmerton for sticking with it, when so many others became so frustrated with last year’s only ’Highly Commended’ Award. Well done and thank you Colin for helping to co-ordinate this on our community’s behalf!

Parish Plan Launch.
It seems more than likely the Parish Plan will be launched officially in October. More details in next month’s Northwood News! If you can’t wait that long, see the plan featured on the www.northwoodvillage.org.uk website.

Consumer Information: Penalty Charges for Customers not paying by Direct Debit.
BBC Watchdog recently lodged a campaign against those Companies making concessions for consumers who pay bills by Direct Debit. Watchdog are of the view that this very much discriminates against those without bank accounts particularly the elderly and those on low incomes. Watchdog are urging consumers to write directly to these companies which include BT, Virgin Media, Talk Talk Mobile, 3, O2, T Mobile, Vodaphone, Orange, British Gas, Powergen, N-Power, EDF Energy and Sky Television.

You can contact me for a copy of the letter; alternatively you can download this from the BBC Watchdog Website (with the above provider’s contact info).

Horses.
Following a number of complaints, I have been asked to draw to residents’ attention that horses and riders do not have any right to access on the Venner Avenue to Horseshoe footpath and the Venner Avenue to Greenways footpath.

Horse riders have access to roads, roads used as a public path and bridleways; therefore horse riders also have no right to use Church Lane, the Cowes to Newport cycleway, (this being a public footpath with access for cycles) or the cycle link to and from Medham. Residents horse-riding on any public footpaths can be charged with Trespass.

Pallance Road Pinch Point. (Dave Miller Tel: 01983 241016).
At the time of going to press, Northwood Village Management Committee understand that temporary parking restrictions will be implemented either side of the Pallance Road traffic calming feature ('pinch point') in order to reduce congestion and improve safety. A permanent order is anticipated to be formally advertised.

Pedal 4 Parkinson’s Event.
Are you at a loose end between 10.30am and Noon on Sunday 23rd September? This year an event is being held by the Isle of Wight Branch of the Parkinson’s Disease Society where residents are asked to literally ‘get on their bikes’ to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease. There are three cycle routes between 8 and 26 miles and the person raising the most money will win a Mountain Bike. For further information contact Mr Ron Tweedie on 01983 884913.

Future Meetings of the Northwood Village Management Committee and Northwood Community Partnership:

Full Committee of the NVMC:
7pm, Tuesday 4th September to be held at Northwood School Hall.

Northwood Community Partnership:
6pm, Tuesday 18th September to be held at Northwood School Staff Room

Planning Committee of the NVMC:
7.30pm, Tuesday 18th September to be held at Northwood School Hall.
(To Be Confirmed) – Contact Maxine Yule for details. All meetings are open to the Public.