CARA Litterpick / The Big Tidy Up - Sept 2008

As per the lead story, a very successful event. Thank you to everyone who came along. First off everyone received a thorough briefing on what we intended to do, along with safety information.






CARA provided helpers with high visibility vests, gloves, rubbish bags and litter pickers and there were badges and Wall-E* stickers galore for the kids. The Safer Neighbourhood Team were around to provide support, meet some local residents and help in case we identified any sharp or dangerous items.





Trevor Willis and and a couple of willing volunteers manned a boat, pulling large amounts of tough to get at flotsam from the river and bankside.





...coping with the occasional bout of engine trouble!

At the end of the day we collected over 9 bin-bags of rubbish, one boot, two broken fishing rods, and two bins full of recyclables, which included an astonishing 63 vodka bottles!

Well done everyone!! Thank you to everyone who came along.

CARA litter-pick

Thank you to everyone who helped with the CARA litter-pick, part of the national Great Tidy-Up, today. We collected 9 bin-bags of rubbish, one boot, two broken fishing rods, and two bins full of recyclables, which included an astonishing 63 vodka bottles!

New waste / recycling system in the CARA area - update

Some answers I've just had from RBK to questions from the CARA committee about the new system:

When will it get here? The area between Lower Ham Road and Richmond Road will be in phase 4 of the change which is currently scheduled for delivery of containers at the beginning of November. You should start receiving more information from the end of September. And the Council will be holding "road shows" around the borough to explain the new system.

Who owns the new bins? The new bins and containers will be owned by the Council and as such if damaged or broken they will be replaced by the Council free of charge, although residents are expected to look after them and wash them occasionally if required. If a resident repeatedly asks for replacement bins the Council will follow up with a call from a member of staff. The average life for a wheeled bin is about 7 years, and repairs such as new wheels or lids can extend this even further.

What do we do with our old dustbins? The Council's experience of similar changes in Berrylands suggests that many residents find alternative uses for their bins, for instance in the garden, and there are some suggestions in the service information booklets that come with the new bins. Alternatively old bins can be taken to Villiers Road Household Re-Use and Recycling Centre - and some can be recycled. The Council understands that not everybody will be able to move their bins to Villiers Road so is planning a pick-up of old bins in the New Year.

CARA Annual General Meeting 2008

Notice is hereby given and all are cordially invited to attend:

Annual General Meeting of the Canbury & Riverside Association

Wednesday 17th September 2008 at 8pm

The Pavilion in Canbury Gardens

Guest speakers:

Metropolitan Police - Inspector Mick Mills will speak on local police matters.
The Boaters Inn - Mark Muir, the manager will discuss developments at the pub

The AGM Agenda will be as follows:

1. Chairman’s statement
2. Membership update
3. Finance report
4. Report on the 2008 CARA local grant programme
5. Proposals for those standing for committee

The following committee members are standing for election:

Bazil Arden, Claire Ferguson, Clare Francis, Marilyn Mason
Richard Mobbs, Hugh Scantlebury, Penny D'Souza, Trevor Willis

At the end of the meeting there will be an open forum for questions and answers.

Notice of resolutions of matters to be raised at the AGM must be submitted to the Chairman no later than Monday 15th September.

This is your chance to find out more about the work that CARA does on your behalf - and perhaps to be inspired to join the committee or the association (see the Chairman’s message below). The more members we have the stronger we are and the more we can achieve for all who live in this beautiful area of Kingston.

A personal message from the CARA Chairman:

As you can see from the notice above, we are very pleased to invite as many of the local residents as possible along to our 2008 Annual General Meeting. I am very pleased to report that the Committee have worked hard on a number of projects and run a number of events in the support of our aim of protecting and enhancing amenities within the area for residents and users alike.

Once again though, we would like to ask more people to be involved in the CARA Committee - despite being joined by some excellent new members last year, we still need more.

The commitment required is not too arduous (otherwise none of us would do it). The Committee meets every six weeks or so for a very balanced and convivial couple of hours at which we discuss developments in the local community and agree follow up activities. Actions are shared amongst members and might typically involve putting a call in to a local councillor; writing a letter or getting involved with one of our key liaison groups which include the Police Safer neighbourhood team, the Thames Landscape Project, Kingston Town Centre Management or the RBK traffic and parks officers.

We have achieved a lot in the years that I have been involved. I get a lot back from my fellow committee members and local residents alike. It's a great way to find out what is going on and get to know people who live locally and who share a common interest in maintaining the special nature of our neighbourhood. I would obviously strongly recommend it.

The more people we have, the more we can achieve. Please help by joining us; even if you can't commit to come to every meeting, we would be very pleased to have you on board. You can join up at the AGM or if you want to find out more beforehand then please contact us via email to cara.kingston at gmail.com

Thanks to everyone to their continued interest in our activities. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the AGM next week.

Hugh Scantlebury (Chairman)

Next riverside litter-pick

The Big Tidy Up - litter-picking along the river-bank from Canbury Gardens to the boundary stone, Saturday September 13th 2008, meeting at 11.15am outside Leander Sea Scouts, Lower Ham Road.

CARA will provide litter pickers, plastic bags for rubbish, recycling bins for plastic bottles, some gloves and high-visibility vests, and refreshments. Please bring your own (rubber) gloves, and wear sturdy shoes and nettleproof clothing.

Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Please come and help, meet some of your neighbours, and enjoy the river-bank. And how about warming up with some gentle exercise in Canbury Gardens beforehand? Meet at the Pavilion at 10.00am, finish by 11.00 - see http://www.active-healthy-mind.co.uk/3.html.

This litter-pick is registered with Keep Britain Tidy as part of their“Big Tidy Up” campaign this September (see http://www.thebigtidyup.org/).

CARA Barbecue - Cancelled

Unfortunately due to various circumstances, the annual CARA barbecue scheduled for Sunday 13th July has had to be cancelled. Looking at the weather, it might not turn out to be such a bad thing!! The CARA Committee hope that people won't be too disappointed, and look forward to organising next years event instead.

Noise – don’t suffer in silence

An update on complaining about noise disturbance

At a meeting in July, RBK’s Principal Pollution Control Officer explained some of the difficulties of tackling occasional noise from a moving source such as Turk’s disco-boats, but was very willing to take action if there were well supported complaints. As a condition of its extended license Turks has fitted noise-limiting devices to its disco-boats, but the level has yet to be agreed.The Officer intends to monitor the noise level in the CARA area one night when Turks has a late booking.

Riverside residents who are disturbed need to collect and log the relevant information (see next section) including the name of the boat (easier said than done in the dark!). CARA Committee also needs to build up a file of complaints so that we can take action if necessary. Two riverside residents,have offered to gather up disco-boat noise complaints so please copy emails to Kingston Council to Rob Baldwin; Claire Ferguson (CARA Committee member).

RBK has recently changed or moved some of its web-pages on noise complaints, so here are some updated useful links:http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/environment/environmental_health/noise_nuisance.htm defines “statutary noise nuisance” and the kind of information the Council needs in order to take action: how often the noise occurs; its duration; how loud it is; the time of day/night; the character of the noise (whether it has any particularly annoying characteristics); the nature of the area. You can download RBK’s form for logging noise disturbance from http://www.kingston.gov.uk/logsheet_-_domestic_noise1.pdf.

http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/environment/environmental_health/noise_nuisance/noise_from_licensed_premises.htm explains the situation regarding licensed premises such as Turks disco-boats and Boaters (which can now sell alcohol and have music up to midnight on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays - a condition of their licence is that no doors or windows are left open when music is being played).

If you need to talk to a member of the Environmental Health Service you can phone 020 8547 5536 or email environmental.health@rbk.kingston.gov.uk.

To complain about noise on-line, go to http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/environment/environmental_health/noise_nuisance/noise_pollution_form.htm