EXECUTIVE MEMBER REPORT TO COUNCIL
13 January 2010
Events at Parks and Countryside Sites
The following events took place during the autumn half term school holidays:
 Autumn seed collecting with school children at Stainton, Fairy Dell, Berwick Hills
and Newham Grange Country Farm
 Feeding Tour, Witch Mirror Balls, Beeswax Candles, Halloween Horrors and
Halloween Party at Newham Grange Country Farm
 Scary Mask Making, Face Painting and Pumpkin Carving at Stewart Park
 Playscheme, Fright Night Disco and Tour at Pallister Park
 Advent Calendar Making on 21 November at Pallister Park
 Pumpkin Party at Hemlington Recreation Centre in conjunction with the Children’s
Centre
 Ongoing weekly task days with the Friends of Dairy Dell
 Work with pupils from Kings Manor School planting bulbs and installing bat boxes
on the Avenue of Trees in Acklam.
Albert Park
 Spook night attracted over 120 adults and children, in connection with Boro Buzz
Party In The Park
 Diwali Festival of Lights also took place with 48 children and 22 adults sailing light
boats on the lake. Entertainment was provided by Daksha Asher who arranged
eight Asian dancers to perform traditional dance.
 Gleneagles Fireworks Party, along with Eid al-Adhaa Prayer
Thorntree Park Improvements - Thorntree Park has been successful in receiving
£15,000 from the Members Small Capital Fund. Consultation with the Friends of
Thorntree Park and local ward councillors will begin shortly in order to draw up a list of
priorities for work to be carried out in the Park. Ideas so far have included drainage,
seating, waste bins, signage and various landscape enhancements.
Newham Grange Country Farm - The Countryside Staff who were based at Lingfield
Countryside Centre have now relocated to Newham Grange Country Farm. Over the
coming months a new schools programme will be developed. The use of Lingfield
Countryside Centre has now transferred to CFL, with a complementary Education Unit
being based on the site.
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Allotments - The probation service (Community Payback Team) has carried out a range
of site improvement works at Town Farm during November, work has included the
demolition of derelict structures, new fencing and general site tidy ups.
The Council’s Countryside Action Team aided by the capital programme has undertaken
site clearance and the installation of several car-parking areas. Similar work has been
carried out at a number of other allotment sites. A good response has been received from
allotment tenants.
Several new starter plots have recently been introduced at Berwick Hills. These are plots
which are approximately half the size of a standard 1/16 th acre plot and should appeal to
those people who wish to grow their own produce but don’t necessarily have sufficient
time available to manage a full sized plot. A steel container has been provided as a place
to store tools and take shelter from the elements.
In addition further funds from the Council’s Healthy Towns initiative have recently been
made available to develop new allotments at Hemlington, on a small site adjacent to the
Recreation Centre, the emphasis will be on producing a quality scheme. Our aim is to
achieve 100% occupancy by March / April 2010.
Stewart Park Walled Garden Project - On 17 November the first group of trainees with
learning disabilities came to Stewart Park with their support workers, parents, care
workers and others to the Walled Garden for a full day of horticultural activities. The day
was well attended with 12 trainees attending.
An indoor plant propagation session in the 'bothy' was arranged. The trainees produced a
number of hardwood ornamental shrub cuttings ably assisted by the two community
support workers. The practical session was finished off with a question and answers
session and the trainees were able to take home their cuttings and paper exercises.
A digging task was also arranged. It was explained that if digging is done correctly often
it is not necessary to dig that same piece of land again for many years. Trenches were
dug, the bottom of which were broken up thoroughly with a fork and compost was
generously added.
At the end of the day everyone said that they had enjoyed the tasks and were keen to
come back. When asked which task they most enjoyed; taking cuttings or digging – we
were surprised that the majority of the group said they most enjoyed the digging!
Prissick Plaza – Review of Safety - The Council, with expert advice from Safety
Officers and ROSPA, have recently reviewed the current safety systems at the Plaza with
the intention of reducing the likelihood of serious injury occurring. A membership scheme
has now been introduced and a series of site improvement works have been carried out.
Some of the more salient points are shown below:
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Youngsters must be of a minimum age of eight years to use the facility and must
be closely supervised by a parent or guardian.
Re-arranged opening times to ensure two staff are always present whilst the site is
open.
No one below the age of 10 will be permitted to use the bowl.
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Helmets conforming to BS EN 1078 MUST be worn at all times. These will be
provided on site subject to availability with a £2 refundable deposit.
Users are strongly advised to wear other safety equipment such as knee, elbow,
and wrist protection.
Subject to interest, a user forum is to be introduced shortly to enable users of the
facility to express their views and suggest improvements
Recycling Team
North Ormesby Resident Event –18 November. The Recycling Team attended a one
day event providing information and advice about recycling and waste minimisation to
residents.
Plastic Bottle Recycling Collections. We have successfully rolled out kerbside collections
of plastic bottles to the majority of homes in the borough. The leaflets and collection
sacks were distributed in the first two weeks of November with collections starting on 17
November. We have had a very good response from residents after their first collection
with useful tonnages of material collected.
Schools Plastic Recycling. The following schools have joined the collection scheme:
 Green Lane Primary, Acklam
 The Avenue Primary, Nunthorpe
 Sunnyside Primary, Coulby Newham
 Viewley Hill Primary, Hemlington
 St. Augustine's Primary, Marton
Schools Eco Council, Eco Schools and Community Groups Workshops. The Recycling
Team have organised and undertaken the following workshops:
 Rosewood Primary - 17 November. Yr3 classroom session and Eco schools
meeting.
 Teesside Barnardo’s People’s Park Project –19 November.
Group consultation to work with their gardening group, delivering home
composting workshops and supplying compost bins.
 Newham Bridge Primary, Acklam - 23 November. Eco schools environmental
review and Eco Council inaugural meeting.
Kerbside Recycling Contract - Bids for the new contract which is scheduled to
commence in April 2010 are currently being evaluated by officers. It is anticipated that
the new contract will bring further improvements to the service, in terms of the range of
materials which can be recycled at the kerbside, and advanced publicity and promotion of
the new arrangements is expected to commence early in the new year.
Reminder - Green waste collections have now ended. There will be collections of real
Christmas trees in early January 2010, the trees will be taken for composting. Details are
on the Council's web pages where residents can enter their address and find out which
day their collection will be made, or they can find out through the Council's Contact
Centre 0800 013 6001.
Councillor Paul Thompson
Executive Member for Streetscene
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