Newlarks Residents Association

Hello and welcome to the third issue of our newsletter. There is quite a bit to tell you so I will start with the best news!

Play area development - I can actually say ‘development’ now and mean it!  As you know Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) and Orwell Housing (OHA) have agreed to the land being used as a play area and the Council have leased the land to OHA.  A few months ago a tree was removed and November began with C & W Fencing coming in and installing a fence to make the football area.  We then have to level the land, sow some grass seed and once that has established install the goal posts.

I have been working with Suffolk Acre and an application has been submitted to the Local Network Fund for £7.702.13 to purchase the equipment for the under 7’s area, this amount covers the delivery and installation. UPDATED just before going to print: Time to celebrate ….. our application has been successful, so the play area will hopefully be up and in use very soon.

With your help of donations for our Newlarks stall at Lark in the park and the Maidenhall fun days, and £5.000 donation from Councillor Rawlingson’s locality budget we have successfully raised over £9.000, although unfortunately the majority of this has had to pay for the fencing and tree removal.

Needless to say we are desperately trying to raise more funds as we would still like some swings but at just over £2.000 there is quite a bit of fund raising left to do.  See future fundraising projects/events.

Fundraising activities over the summer - On the whole these went really well, although we had a slight disadvantage with ‘Lark in the park’ clashing with the Green Living event on Chantry Park and even though we had great attendance numbers (almost 2000) we do think that perhaps most people went to the Green Living event on the Saturday spent all their money there and then come to us on the Sunday, as takings were down for the whole event, however bearing this in mind we still raised £93.63.                  

I would especially like to thank Lou, Howard and Lewis for taking all the bits and pieces for the stall down to the park and my special thanks to Sam for setting it all up - when she turned up it was just a big muddled pile and she sorted it out brilliantly.  I would also like to thank Caroline, Jackie and Ron who came down and helped out during the day - thanks ever so much guys!

We also had a stall at the Maidenhall fun day where we raised £86.97 my sincere thanks go again to Lou and Ashley because without their help Newlarks could not have attended that event and raised this money.

The ‘Cool in the pool’ weekend at the Belstead Brook Hotel went very and we raised £39.50.  I would like to thank everyone who attended, I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.  It certainly gave me a well earned weekend of alternating between relaxing by the pool and relaxing in the spa, relaxing is not something I do easily so that was a new concept for me and half way through the weekend I was extremely chilled out, just in time for my 6,000+ mile flight to Malaysia!

Thanks also go to Zena Fisher who raised £5.25 by running a guess the keys competition at the Orwell offices.

Estate Matters

Condensation inside the double glazing - we recently carried out an door to door estate questionnaire for OHA if you have not informed us of any problems please contact OHA direct and ask to be added to the list.  NOTE: It must be condensation which is actually in-between the panes off glass and is there all the time.

Flooding - this is in the hands of Anglian Water and all I can do now is chase them up if I feel they are not doing enough.  We also have the Consumer Council of Water overseeing what AW are doing and if they are not satisfied with their progress they will also contact them.  We have been very fortunate that with all the recent flooding around the county we have not, fingers (and toes) crossed it stays that way.

Rubbish - recycling - this remains to be a problem, please please double check that what you are putting in your bin is right for that bin, especially if you have a communal bin, it is not fair on the tenants who do use the bins correctly that their rubbish does not get taken away just because someone in the block has not been careful.  Do not put your recyclable rubbish in a black bin bag or a carrier bag because even if the contents are OK the outer bag will stop the whole bin being taken.  If you have any problems please contact Abi Cox, IBC Waste Advisor on 433001 or email Abi.Cox@ipswich.gov.uk. As rubbish is the responsibility of IBC and not OHA please contact Abi  rather than OHA.  You can also contact Abi if you want clarification on what exactly goes into which bin she would be more than happy to advise you.

Amenity fund - We have already spent £724 of this years fund on security lights and installation because it was added to last years fund to enable us to install 3 lights, this leaves us with £526 to spend for this year.  As we have not received any suggestions from residents the committee agreed to use it as the majority part payment for the tree removal in the play area, this will then allow us to purchase the goal posts.

Works carried out this year - this last year parts of the estate have had new front doors fitted, water tanks replaced, electric consumer boxes replaced, kitchen refurbishments, to mention but a few.

Future fundraising project or events - We would like to hold a Christmas party at Vinnicombe Court on Thursday 21^st December - we will inform you of this as soon as details are confirmed, if you are interested in helping out with the organisation of this event or could help out on the day please contact us.

‘Newlarkx Factor’ - we would also like to arrange a Newlarks Factor based on the TV show X-Factor - again further details will given when this is confirmed, although it will be next year now, we would like to know now whether you would be interested in taking part either by singing, dancing, acting, stand up comedy - whatever your forte may be.  Just contact us to be added to our list. Caroline and myself would welcome any help you could give us on this event, in the organising and on the day/night.

Extra News - Newnham Court have decided to leave the umbrella of Newlarks Residents Association and as of September they started up the ‘Newnham Court Community Group’.  Since then the group and the residents have been working hard landscaping around the estate and the communal areas at the rear of their properties, fundraising to be able to hold Halloween and Christmas parties, and organising litter pick days with the children.  We hope to still come together for any children  activities, especially the holiday club.  We wish them all the very best for now and in the future.

Websites - do check out the Newlarks website.  I do updated it regularly so you can always visit it in-between newsletters for the latest news!

Other websites - 

Find out more about your community - www.one-ipswich.com/

Suffolk information portal - www.onesuffolk.co.uk

Suffolk County Council www.suffolk.gov.uk/     

Ipswich Borough Council www.ipswich.gov.uk/

Lark in the Park  - www.freewebs.com/larkinthepark

Chantry Youth Development Initiative - www.freewebs.com/cydi