John O’Gaunt stretches from the Cathedral to the top of Bowerham and round to Williamson Park, including the Moorlands and Primrose areas, St Martins College and Newlands.
The new play area in Greaves Park has been so popular that the paths to and through it became very muddy over the winter. The City Council has now installed some properly-surfaced paths to address this problem.
An enterprising junior member of the Friends of Scotch Quarry group organised a table top sale and with the proceeds bought a number of bird and bat boxes for the woodland area at the bottom of the quarry. On a very windy Saturday in January, the group were delighted to welcome Gail Armstrong from the North Lancashire Bat Group, who gave a wonderful talk and brought some captive bats along for us to see before helping the group put up the boxes in the best spots in the woodland.
Everyone is welcome to come along and get involved in the group. Get in touch; 846328
Canal corridor developers Centros Miller have admitted that their plans had hit the buffers in Lancaster. In an interview in Property Week they admitted “‘The job of development is hard enough, but Lancaster is particularly sensitive and has a very vociferous Green Party.’
Seeds for Change have got 500 beech and hawthorn trees that need planting at Animal Care on Saturday 9th Feb 9am -3pm.So if you want to do something positive then get on down there and get your hands mucky. Even half an hour of your time would be much appreciated.
You will need to bring a packed lunch, some good footwear (preferably wellies) and a spade if possible, although there should be enough to go around. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. The day will begin at 9am and run until 3pm. Everyone will be welcome! Please contact Vanessa or Faye on 01524 65495 or Gary on 01524 542762 for more details.
A fantastic new children’s play area has now been completed at Greaves Park, between the Greaves Park hotel and the A6. Funding for the play area, which replaces the worn-out swings and seesaw at Parkfield, was raised by Friends of Greaves Park Community group FoGP was set up by local residents including Abi Mills and Green councillor for Scotforth West, Emily Heath. Abi Mills said: “I am delighted the play area is now in place. The new facility has been warmly welcomed by local families who I am sure will make good use of it.”
A controversial phone mast proposal in Golgotha Road was withdrawn this week by Mobile phone company 3G who said that their phone mast rollout had been put on hold for the “foreseeable future” and the mast would not be progressed further at this stage.Green Councillor Jude Towers said “Local residents are relieved that this 40ft mast will now not be installed on the pavement outside their homes.” The climb down by the phone company comes after a 10-month campaign by committed homeowners and councillors in the area.
The unsurfaced path that runs between Gressingham Road and Bowerham Road alongside Moorside school is to be upgraded to a shared use cycle path with funding from the City Councils Cycle Demonstration Town Project. The route will provide safe access to both Moorside and St Bernadette’s schools from the Hala estate and provide additional access to the bus stops and shops on Bowerham Road.
A new climate change and energy advice project called ‘LESS’ launched itself in Lancaster at the end of September.LESS is a new project set up to help people in Lancaster, Morecambe and surrounding areas live more sustainably, and save energy and money. The project will give free energy-saving advice to the public at markets and community events around the district. Advice is also available online via the group’s website (www.lessuk.org) and phoneline.
Members of the Council Tenants Forum recently took a tour of the services on offer from the succesful furniture recycling enterprise Furntiture Matters. The event was part of the regular training events organised by Council housing . Green group leader Cllr Chris Coates, who accompanied the group said ” I am really impressed by the way Furniture Matters has grown over the years and the range of services it now offers.”
The City Council has voted overwhelmingly to support the Andrew Stunell Telecommunication Masts Planning Control Private Members Bill. The motion proposed by Green Cllr Jude Towers supports the introduction of the ‘precautionary principle’ into the phone mast application procedure, requiring a statement detailing intensity and direction of a proposed mast signal, particularly whether the strongest beam of radiation falls on school or other educational buildings or land, or medical facilities, or homes and bringing all telecommunication masts back within Local Authority Planning control.
