NENA kicked off the New Year with a good turnout at its January residents meeting. NENA residents meet every two months to hear from invited guests. 46 people welcomed Graham Partridge from ECHO Community Newspaper and Nigel Lee from the Earlsdon Festival Organising Committee.
NENA residents were treated to a potted history of ECHO from its 70s roots, to become one of Britain’s longest running independent community newspapers. From its small beginnings it has become a well established and recognised part of Earlsdon life. Graham explained how ECHO is put together each month and that it is a newspaper with a definite emphasis on not only local stories but also local advertisers. NENA will continue to support ECHO in whatever way it can and promote it to its membership.
As well as Graham the meeting was also addressed by Nigel Lee of the Earlsdon Festival. This year’s Festival will run from 26 April to 5 May and Nigel gave an insight into the organisation of this popular local event. Again the emphasis is on a festival organised by Earlsdon people, for Earlsdon people. As well as the widely known street festival on May Day there are a variety of other activities taking place through the week from musical events to talks and history walks. This year there is also a plan to introduce a food festival for the first time.
There were a number of items of business including a report on the Earlsdon Avenue Drinking Fountain. Peter Walters said that a similar water fountain has been restored in Essex and dated back to the 1860s. This is now a listed monument. The group had raised over £800 and a contractor in Glossop, Derbyshire, had quoted to undertake the work. Severn Trent Water has offered to restore the water supply free of charge. This would mean the installation of a modern cistern inside the fountain. The group was looking for other sources of funds. This included the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain Fund for £1,500 and the Heritage Lottery Fund for the balance. They had also been given assurances by Coventry City Council about wider improvements to the area around the fountain.
The meeting heard from residents in the streets close to Hearsall Common who were forming a group called HERA (Hearsall Earlsdon Residents Association). Paul Riess from HERA had been invited to the NENA meeting and both NENA and SENA were providing help and support to the new group.
An update was given on the cable laying due to take place in Spencer Avenue, although a start date was still not forthcoming. Residents heard that this will cause considerable disruption in Spencer Avenue and parking pressures are likely to spill over into neighbouring streets. Spencer Avenue residents will be notified by the contractor once a date has been agreed and NENA will keep members in all surrounding streets informed of what is happening.
Finally there were ongoing concerns from residents about the newly installed street lighting which is still causing problems in some parts of the NENA area. Residents heard from Mickleton Road where lights are directed into the properties opposite and from Spencer Avenue where there are dark spots. It was also reported that Anarchy Bridge is also now poorly lit as a result of the lighting replacement. Residents asked that NENA collect and collate all such reports and work with Councillors to resolve issues. If you live in the NENA area and you are experiencing problems with your street lighting please tell NENA about it at nena.earlsdon@gmail.com.
You can also follow many of these issues on the NENA Facebook page. Their Facebook site will also keep you informed of their calendar of events this year, including the traditional NENA Summer Street Sale.