Mappleborough Green News

IF YOU HAVE ANY ITEMS YOU THINK OF INTEREST TO THE RESIDENTS OF MAPPLEBOROUGH GREEN, PLEASE EMAIL OR POST TO THE PARISH CLERK AT

YEW TREE COTTAGE
THE SCHOOL HOUSE
BIRMINGHAM ROAD
MAPPLEBOROUGH GREEN
B80 7DJ

BE AWARE - PARCEL DELIVERY SCAM

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 £15 for the phone call.

If you do receive a card with these details, then please contact Royal Mail Fraud on 02072396655 or ICSTIS (the premium rate service regulator) at www.icstis.org.uk

NATWEST INTERNET BANKING SCAM - Beware of emails purporting to inform you of someone trying to access your account and suggesting you click for details. It looks genuine but remember banks do not ask for your personal details or contact you this way.

NEW POST BOX - HENLEY ROAD

New post box - Henley Road


A new post box is now in operation outside the School on the Henley Road. This has taken some considerable time on behalf of the Parish Council to get in place, so PLEASE use the facility when you can.

 

GREEN BIN SUSPENSION

REMINDER THAT THE GREEN BIN SERVICE WILL BE TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED UNTIL APRIL 2009.

AFTER THE NEXT COLLECTION WHICH WILL BE MONDAY, 20th OCTOBER NO COLLECTIONS OF GREEN WASTE WILL BE MADE UNTIL ADVISED BY STRATFORD DISTRICT COUNCIL IN APRIL NEXT YEAR.

THIS IS A "ONE OFF" BREAK UNTIL A NEW SERVICE COMES INTO OPERATION WHICH WILL TAKE BONES, MEAT, UNCOOKED VEGETABLES TOGETHER WITH GARDEN WASTE.

NEAREST HOUSEHOLD WASTE SITE Burton Farm, Nr. Stratford (off A46) 01789-292047

COMMUNITY FORUMS

On 10th September 2008 the inaugural meeting of the new Community Forum for the Henley & Studley area took place at Studley Village Hall.

These Community Forums are open to the public and the next meeting will take place on Wednesday, 26th November at 7.30pm at Henley Primary School. The Police will be holding a Safer Neighbourhood Team Surgery prior to this meeting at 6.00pm.

A copy of the Report on the first meeting which details the aims of the Forums is available to download.

Next meeting Wednesday 26th November 2008 at Henley Primary School, Arden Rd. More details ...

FREE COMMUNITY COMPUTERS

Wawickshire County Council are giving away 125 recycled computers FREE to community or voluntary organisations, including Town and Parish Councils within Warwickshire.

Description: The Computers are four years old and each computer package will consist of a Dell Gx260 desktop computer, with a Pentium 4 2.26 GHz processor and 256Mb Memory. It will include a monitor, keyboard and mouse, a starter package put together by Warwickshire County Council comprising of a number of license free programmes including Open Office 2.0 software. Modems are also available if required. There will also be an anti-virus software and a firewall or instruction as to how the user can get them free of charge from the internet. A 3-month warranty is offered with each computer, but ongoing support or maintenance will be available on a chargeable basis after that.

Who can apply?

  • Locally based community or voluntary organisations, including Town and Parish Councils.
  • Small-scale groups who have little or no IT equipment, and can show how it will be used to grow their organisation.

Application forms are available by contacting Partnership and Communities Team, Warwickshire County Council on 01926 412020 or email communitycomputers@warwickshire.gov.uk. Applications can also be downloaded from www.warwickshire.gov.uk/freecomputers.

Closing date for applications is Friday 14th November 2008

Why NOW is the Best Time to Compost at Home

Stratford-on-Avon District Council new recycling service, when fully implemented from April 2009, will include food composting service in your green bin. Until then, here are some useful facts and tips about composting at home and reducing biodegradable waste going to landfill.

A staggering 60% of the rubbish we generate is biodegradable!

Composting your bio-degradable waste at home means considerably less rubbish has to be collected and transported to disposal sites plus you have the compost to use on your own garden.

  • Compost bins and heaps - take garden waste and uncooked vegetable and fruit scraps from the kitchen and can produce a compost that is useful in the garden.
  • Wormeries - take cooked and uncooked vegetable and fruit scraps and some small amounts of meat scraps. They produce fine compost and a liquid plant feed that when diluted with water can be used to feed pot plants and hanging baskets.
  • Digesters - take all kitchen scraps and plate scraps, uncooked or cooked, including meat, fish, bones, dairy products and fruit and vegetable remains. Digesters do not produce any compost, they simply provide a way to dispose of kitchen scraps without putting them in the bin by turning them into water, carbon dioxide and nutrients.

These methods and practices contribute towards;

  • lower transportation costs
  • lower use of non renewable fuel
  • less pollution
  • fewer lorries on our roads
  • less pollution from landfill site and means that our requirements for these sites will be reduced

Autumn tips on composting:

  • Problem: too many autumn leaves
    Solution: Leaves take a long time to break-down and therefore add them sparingly to the compost bin or heaps. The smaller the leaves, the better they will break-down, so try to cut them up with the blades of your lawnmower before composting. Leaf mould is a fabulous, cheap and easy to create soil conditioner. Information about making leaf mould can be found on the BBC website
  • Problem: too much windfall fruit
    Solution: Squash the fruit to help it break-down and place it on your compost heap mixed in with dry materials such as cardboard, fallen leaves, wood chippings, lavatory rolls and tea bags to trap air and to increase decomposition in your heap.

Please note that Household waste recycling centres will still be accepting green waste. To find your nearest site click here.

For information on compost bins and purchasing, please click here.

For tips on composting, please click here.

FLOODING - Prevention and Advice

The Emergency Planning Unit of Warwickshire County Council have notified us of Guides available to give advice and help.

These can be downloaded from www.warwickshire.gov.uk/epu (click onto "flooding")

or hard copies ordered from Rachel Mullens, Environment Agency - 01454-624478

The Floodline number is 0845 988 1188

VACANCY FOR SCHOOL GOVERNOR

A vacancy has occurred for position of School Governor under the LA - Local Authority heading. This is not a political appointment. It is open to a local person with some experience and is not restricted to a Mappleborough Green resident.

Anyone interested, please contact Jean Judd, Clerk to the Governors:
mail@jeanjudd.freeserve.co.uk
or telephone the School Clerk, Linda Anderson on 01527-852240.

'MADS' AMATEUR DRAMATIC SOCIETY

The next performane by 'MADS' will be the Winter show on 5th & 6th December at the Village Hall - tickets available from September - details to follow.

Would you like to get involved with the Amateur Dramatic Society? You don't have to be an actor - plenty of help is needed back stage i.e. scenery painting and general behind the scenes assistance.

For more information ring Keith Young (Chairman of 'MADS') on 01564-826558.

The A.G.M. of 'MADS' takes place on 27th March at Ankcorn House (Church Hall) at 7.30pm.