Fostering in Coventry

The Council’s Fostering Team is running a New Year campaign to highlight the urgent need for more people to open their hearts and homes to Coventry children in 2017. Fostering means that you care for a child or children in your home, providing a safe, nurturing and positive environment. No specific qualifications or experiences are required but you do need to have a spare room and the time and motivation to care for children. It takes around four months to be approved as a foster carer and details of the support, training and payments made to carers are all available at www.coventry.gov.uk/fostering
Around 350 Coventry children are currently living in fostering households and the Council needs around 100 more placements for children.

If you are interested in finding out more, there are a number of informal ‘drop-ins’ and ‘meet the team’ information events happening across the city or you can call the recruitment hotline on 024 7683 2828.

Drop-ins will be held at Central Library in Smithford Way between 10am and 2pm on:
– Friday 3 February
– Friday 3 March

Meet the Fostering Team information sessions will be held at:
Thursday 26 January, 6pm-7.30pm, Christ The King Parish Centre, 14 Westhill Road, Coundon CV6 2AA
Wednesday 15 February, 6pm-7.30pm, Cheylesmore Community Centre, Poitiers Road, Cheylesmore, CV3 5L

Road Resurfacing – Poplar Road

Resurfacing in Poplar Road between number 19 and number 97 will shortly begin. This is phase 3 of the works.

This work is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 24 January and will take approximately one working day to complete. To enable the work to be carried out safely and quickly the council need to close Poplar Road full length from Earlsdon Street to number 97 between 7.30 am and 4.30pm. Sometimes they have to delay the road resurfacing work for reasons they cannot control i.e. bad weather but, if this does happen, they will let you know by clearly displaying notices on information boards at each end of the road.

Access to the closed road will be restricted to residents, businesses and essential users only (e.g. emergency vehicles, refuse collection). Pedestrian access will not be affected. The working hours are 7.30am to 4.30pm. Any vehicles left on Poplar Road during the working hours will be removed. If you have any problems with access, there will be traffic management operatives to assist you.

Residents living in Poplar Road will shortly receive a letter from the council advising of the above and providing relevant contact details.

Bus Lane Suspension

The council’s plan to suspend a number of bus lanes in the city as part of a trial will be phased in from Monday 16 January, with yellow and black signs being placed to inform motorists which bus lanes are suspended. Bus lanes that do not have a black and yellow sign near them have not been suspended and are still being used as bus lanes.

The bus lanes that will be suspended in our area are:

– Tile Hill gyratory – on Tile Hill Lane inbound between Beech Tree Ave and the rugby club entrance. After the rugby club entrance there is a bus gate and no access for cars.

– Tile Hill gyratory – outbound between Renown Ave and Vanguard Ave and on-going between Vanguard Ave and the left turn toward London on the A45. Note the right turn bus lane towards Birmingham remains in operation.

The works to the lines and signs along the routes that are being suspended in this first phase will be complete by the end of February. The bus lanes will be suspended for nine months under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order. After six months, Council officers will report their findings back to Council so further decisions can be made.

Another Earlsdon HIMO?

Five households in the residential area below St Barbara’s Church received an unwelcome Christmas letter informing them of a planning application which if approved would significantly change the nature of that local community.

The application is to change a residential elderly care home to a house of multiple occupation for 21 students.  Conversation between neighbours has shown a groundswell of opinion concerned about the impact on the local community caused by a significant, concentrated number of short-term residents in an area of family homes, these two communities naturally having differing interests. Again, there is little vehicle traffic, parking problems or noise associated with the care home at present; these aspects will inevitably increase substantially.

The wider concern is seeing a slow but sure change to the Earlsdon community. If every larger residential dwelling in our area goes this way, the community of Earlsdon will suffer loss in its character. This ambition to protect the community resonates with the SENA news article in the latest issue of ECHO (p10), seeking ‘to make Earlsdon a Conservation Area.’

Residents of this part of Earlsdon are looking for support from others who care about this change in the character of local neighbourhoods. Response may be via your local councillors, or by commenting on planning application number FUL/2016/2994 for 71-73 Rochester Road: http://planning.coventry.gov.uk/portal/servlets/PlanningComments?REFNO=FUL/2016/2994

While the deadline for public consultation on this plan is 11 January it is possible this may be extended in view of controversial nature of the application and the level of local opposition.

Earlsdon Residents’ Community Farm Success

farm-photo-nov-2016Five Acre Community Farm is celebrating 5 years of producing organic, seasonal veg grown on Coventry’s doorstep at Ryton Gardens. The project founded in 2011 by Transition Coventry has grown from strength to strength with the help of Earlsdon residents Jo Rathbone and Rachel Ward who form part of the committee. Jo says “Earlsdon has, from the outset of our project, bought into the ethos of the farm. A large number of our members live in Earlsdon and contribute to the farm in a number of different ways from buying our delicious veg to being a part of the steering committee or taking a work-share.”

The farm, which is certified organic by the Soil Association employs a full time grower to manage the growing programme which has seen the farm produce vegetables as varied as mooli and pak choi along with traditional staples such as carrots, onions and potatoes. In total the farm boasts producing over 60 different types of vegetables through the seasons and adds new varieties each year. Recently, an additional polytunnel has ensured plentiful salad crops throughout last winter and the early arrival of veg such as spinach, carrots and cucumbers.

Operating on a not-for-profit basis means Five Acres can plough back any surplus income in to producing top quality organic vegetables which are carefully grown and great value for money. This year the farm has hosted open days for the national Community Supported Agriculture Network, and regularly advises new community farm projects on how to start up and be financially sustainable. Gareth Davis, the farm manager says “We are enormously proud of our achievements. To be celebrating 5 years of success at the farm is a reflection of the dedication and hard work of all those on the ground. We are looking forward to the next 5 years and planning how to take our project even further forward.”

Five Acres would like to celebrate their 5th anniversary by offering Earlsdon residents an opportunity to taste our success with a special offer; 5 weeks for the price of 4. For more information about the farm or to take advantage of this special offer please ring Esther on 02476 441613 or email info@fiveacrefarm.org.uk quoting ECHO-VEG-5FOR4.

Albany Theatre Trust

A message from David Meredith, Chair, Albany Theatre Trust to supporters:

I am thrilled to report that the threat to the Albany Theatre’s future has been lifted thanks to a pledge of critically important support from Coventry City Council for our exciting development plans.

As you probably know, our long-term future has been in doubt because of a threat to demolish the back of the theatre. The only way to save the theatre was to secure additional space on the ground floor of the former college building to provide essential facilities and expand the range of activities we can offer. Councillors will be asked to approve our development plans at a meeting of Cabinet on 3 January 2017.

I have been involved with the Albany Theatre for six years, and whilst no deal has yet been signed with the site owners I am confident that the Trust is on the brink of securing the future of this well-loved theatre for generations to come.

You can read more on our website here