Chairman’s Report

As I am writing this in mid February, the rain is bucketing down again and seems not to have stopped since Christmas. When I watch the news though, I have to offer thanks that we here at Turners Hill are not being affected as badly as others, although the park and surrounding roads are drenched. But, then I look out of the window and see snowdrops and crocus popping their heads up and flowering and has anyone else noticed the enormous numbers of birds currently at home on the park? We have at times counted double numbers at our feeders; there are many different species here as well. Nature really is wonderful.

We have just had our one day planned power cut and, fortunately, the electricity was switched on by early afternoon. How we do miss having this utility. It was good to see so many residents joining in for lunch at The Peacock and many thanks go to Florrie for organising the lunch and to those residents who gave lifts to others in their cars.

The new legislation concerning park rules became law on the 4th February 2014. This means that the park owners now have to consult with all residents, as well as qualified residents associations, on the park rules. Following consultation, new rules have to be lodged with the local authority. Many rules are now prescribed and cannot be included in park rules. I have recently contacted the Director to ask when Berkeley Parks intend to start their consultations. There is a time limit, however, by which time all has to be completed but, as Berkeley Parks have 46 parks in total, this is a massive undertaking so will obviously take some time. The present rules stay in place until new rules are agreed and lodged with the local authority. More news on this at the AGM, which we are currently planning for Monday 7th April 2014. The feedback on the 'tea break' instead of a speaker was positive, so we will have the same arrangement this year. Please all do come; this is your chance to let us know your thoughts.

Our next coffee morning is planned for the 24th March 2014, followed by the 2nd 'evening 'surgery' on the 26th March. These Surgeries are being held for any of you who have a problem and to give you the opportunity to come and talk to a committee member about it.

 There are several new residents who have come to live on the park since Christmas; we offer them a warm welcome and a special invitation to come to the coffee morning and our AGM. These are great occasions to meet your neighbours and find out about the Residents Association.

Best wishes to you all, and I hope to see you at the AGM.

Messages from the Office
The Director has asked that we remind all residents that park staff are not employed 24/7. As previously advised, in emergencies you can call the office number which will be diverted to the park manager. However, we have to remember that, in some cases, specialist help will be needed, so your patience will, at times, be required. The park staff will, over the next few weeks, be attempting to clear the Ivy which is growing on a large number of our trees. They will deal with those that are on park or communal land, but the park manager requests residents to check trees in their gardens and if they have a tree in such a condition to please tell the office and they will be happy to advise you.

The Park Shop
We have again been asked by Vee to put this article in the Newsletter in an effort to persuade residents to use the Park Shop as he is finding it difficult to maintain the service. Our main thought is that, if you don't use it, we will lose it and it is a very good selling point, when homes are put up for sale, that we have a shop on the Park. Please do try to use the shop as much as you can. Many thanks.

Visit by Refuse Freighters
The Refuse freighters will be visiting the Park again on Sunday 13th April 2014. On their previous visit, they were not used as much as they had been in the past, the reason being that residents were not aware of the date despite the fact that it had been on our Notice Board for some weeks beforehand. Further dates have been arranged for Sunday 27th July, Sunday 2nd November 2014 and Sunday 8th February 2015. Please make a note of these dates on your calendar or diary and make sure that you use the service as we did work hard to have it and would not like to lose it.

Website
Have you visited our new website yet at www.THPRA.co.uk? Whether you have or not, it would be worthwhile looking again as the site is constantly updated with new entries and links which should be of interest.

Computer Survey
Whilst we are collecting our Annual Subscriptions this year, we will be delivering a Survey Form which will cover the use of computers by our residents. We are doing this to evaluate whether or not it will be worthwhile distributing information via e-mail and asking you if there are any items you would like added to our new website. When you receive the form, please complete it and return it to any of the Committee Members. No information provided by you will be passed to any third party so you do not need to worry about spam or viruses.

Speedwatch
The very poor recent weather has meant that your Speedwatch team has only undertaken a couple of sessions. Hopefully we will be able to increase our presence with some better weather, and as ever we could use some more volunteers. If you feel like joining us for a trial session, then please either email Geoff.gant@yahoo.co.uk or call him on 01342 713581. On the morning of Friday May 16th, you will be able to meet SID. He is a Speed Indication device that will be near our Park entrance and displaying the speed of passing vehicles together with a smiling face, or else a frown if they are speeding. We hope to deploy this device on an irregular basis to support our speedwatch activity.

Traffic Survey.
Four years ago on Monday March 1st 2010, a traffic survey was undertaken to analyse how many movements there were in and out of the Park between 7 am and 9 pm. The result was 840 movements. On Monday 3rd March 2014, seven committee members covered the same fourteen hours. Have a guess on what the figure was this year. The answer is printed at the bottom of the last page of this newsletter. To see the full analysis, and how it compares with four years ago, go to our website www.THPRA.co.uk.

Neighbourhood Watch
We have just received a Neighbourhood watch sign, which should soon be attached to a lamppost near the entrance to the Park.

If you are interested in being an active member of the scheme, then please either email Geoff.gant@yahoo.co.uk or call him on 01342 713581. It will not involve a lot of work, but the scope of our own Neighbourhood Watch scheme will depend on the number of volunteers we have. Further details will be provided later, dependant on your response

At long last, we have received the photographs of the Committee being presented with a cheque for being runners-up in the National Residents Association of the Year Competition. Don't we look happy?

This is the Committee who were involved in the Competition. However, one of the members was on holiday and is absent and one has now retired. The cheque is being presented to our Chairman, Mrs. Jennie Forbes by Cathi Foale of Park Home Chassis Services. Behind the Chairman is Mr. Paul Baker of Towergate Baker.

Large Print Copies
If you find you are having difficulty in reading our paper Newsletter, a Large Print copy can be made available to you. All you need do is contact one of the Committee Members and one will be slipped through your letterbox. Those who have already requested a copy need do nothing as they are on our list.

Traffic Analysis Answer

There were only 776 movements this year. Down by 7.62%.

Did you get close with your guess?