Eastbury Residents Association Spring 2009 Page 1

www.eastbury-residents.org

Welcome to the Spring 2009 Newsletter. Your

Committee has been kept quite busy since last

Autumn.

Batchworth Lane. After much lobbying by the

Association and following delays caused by

unusually heavy snowfall in February, the long

awaited resurfacing of Batchworth Lane has

now almost been completed. Information is

awaited from National Grid about ducts running

across the road before resurfacing of the

section between Kewferry Road and Astons

Road can commence. The necessary road

closures seem to have been applied sensibly by

accommodating the needs of local residents

and at the same time diverting through traffic.

During the period of delay, residents were kept

informed by bulletins delivered door to door by

Hertfordshire Highways. Their communication

policy is to be applauded.

The Play Area, funded by the District Council, at

E a s t b u r y

r e c r e a t i o n

ground is now

a l m o s t

finished and

should be

open by early

April. Pupils

from Eastbury

Farm school

will be helping to plant flowers and shrubs

around the play area. The District Council has

agreed to install a bicycle rack alongside the

tennis courts and the car park and a Notice

Board is to be erected at the recreation ground.

Both of these were suggested by the

Association and we thank Cllr Amrit Mediratta

and Cllr Kemal Butt for supporting our requests.

The Membership and Neighbourhood Watch

Road stewards get together held in October

was attended by over half of our stewards and

we were joined by Cllr Amrit Mediratta and Col

Brazier. It was an enjoyable evening and

following the positive feedback received we

intend to make this a more regular event. A list

of our Road Stewards is included in this

newsletter. They carry out a very important role

and we think it helpful if residents know who

they are.

Committee. We welcome to the Committee

Mrs Nisa Patel, who has recently been co-opted

to take over Environment matters from Mrs

Sian Lim, who has resigned from the committee

for personal reasons. We thank Sian for the

work she has done.

Our Secretary Mrs Sarah Dey will not be

standing for re-election at the AGM in June

because of work commitments so if you have

some time to spare to take on this role please

get in touch with me.

Website. Hopefully warmer days are on their

way so that we shall soon be able to spend

more time out of doors and enjoy our leafy

surroundings. We are fortunate to live in an

area which, whilst conveniently near to

motorways and tube and train lines, is also near

green fields and open spaces. Such thoughts

are behind the Association’s new Logo and

Header for the newsletter. It will also appear -

in colour- on our soon to be launched new look

website.

Elizabeth Willetts

From the Chairman In this Issue

Page 2

• The Community

Voice

• Local

Involvement

Networks

• St Martins Pond

• Oxhey Woods

Car Park

Page 3

• Planning

• Eastbury Tennis

• Some Tips on

Reducing

Heating Bills

Page 4

• Mount Vernon

Hospital

• Be a Good

Neighbour!

• Pocklington

House

Page 5

• Road Stewards

• John Morris

• A is for

Amphometer

Page 6

• Michael Sobell

House

• Committee

Vacancy

• Eastbury

Horticultural

Society

• Committee

Spring 2009 Newsletter

Annual General Meeting - Monday 15th June 2009 Notice is given to members that the Annual General Meeting of Eastbury Residents’ Association will be held on Monday

15th June 2009 at 8pm at Eastbury Farm JMI School. Members are invited to put forward nominations for the Executive

Committee and to submit items for the Meeting Agenda. Nominations and Agenda items should be forwarded in writing to

the Secretary, Mrs Sarah Dey, 43, St Mary’s Avenue, Northwood, HA6 3AY no later than 8 weeks prior to the AGM ( i.e. by

20 April 2009) as laid down in the Rules. However nominations and items for discussion will be welcome up to 14 days prior

to the meeting.

Play Area almost finished

Eastbury Residents Association Spring 2009 Page 2

Local Involvement Networks (LINks) Local Involvement Networks (LINks) form part of a national network set up by Parliament from April

2008. They have statutory powers to obtain the views of local communities, groups and interested

individuals about their local NHS services and pass them on to service providers.

LINks are independent of Councils and the Health Service. Their aim is to provide a stronger voice

for local people in the planning, design, commissioning and provision of Health and Social Care

services, enabling them to influence key decisions about the services they use - and pay for. LINks

have power to enter Health and Social Care service premises, review services and require

information from service providers.

You can become a member of a LINk as an individual or voluntary group and membership is free.

The Association has joined Hillingdon LINk as many of our members will use care services within Hillingdon. We have also

joined the Hertfordshire LINk and will keep members informed of how the LINks are progressing.

Members can attend meetings and become involved in activities such as representing the LINk on local boards and

committees, training to become a LINk visitor and taking part in consultation exercises on services in the area.

If you want to find out more about how you can get involved and give your views about health and social services in

Hillingdon or Hertfordshire please telephone 0845 0949497 or visit the website at www.hillingdonlink.org. or

www.communityvoicesonline.org.

Community Voices Online Community Voices Online is a web-based system, tailor made to support LINk. You can use the system to register to join

your local LINk and to keep up to date with what the LINks are doing. In addition there are a number of online discussion

boards which enable the LINks to obtain people’s views and opinions.

The Community Voice The Community Voice was set up in 1990 by local people to provide a link between themselves and Mount Vernon Hospital.

Over the years its activities have widened and the Community Voice now also monitors Hillingdon, Harefield, Northwick

Park and Watford General hospitals and surrounding community health services.

In addition Community Voice campaigns and has been extremely active in raising petitions to keep cancer services at Mount

Vernon. Members now include over 50 local organisations, patient and community groups plus individual members.

Monthly meetings, held at Mount Vernon, offer members a unique opportunity for direct contact with senior decision

makers in the NHS. Recent speakers include:-

• Buzz Coster from the Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre for Cancer Support and Information at Mount Vernon Hospital

who spoke about the centre’s excellent role in providing cancer support. She also spoke about the services it offers

including counselling and complementary therapies. To find out more visit the website www.ljmc.org.

• Margaret Sullivan from the Paul Strickland Scanner Centre at Mount Vernon who gave an update about the latest

developments of this charity which is independent and self-funding. The Centre covers both NHS and private

patients. To find out more visit the website www.stricklandscanner.org.uk

• Jan Filochowski, West Herts Hospitals Trust CEO, who explained about the successful turnaround of the West Herts

Health Trust, which includes Watford General, and its application for Foundation Trust status. To find out how to

become a Foundation Trust member visit the website www.westhertshospitals.nhs.uk/ft

For further information visit www.communityvoicehealth.org.uk. To become a member please contact the Secretary,

Margaret Ross, on 020 8868 8429 or the Chairman, Joan Davis on 01895 636095 or e-mail joandavis@onetel.com.

St Martins Pond The condition of Batchworth Lane prior

to the resurfacing work was seriously

worsened by the flooding outside St

Martins. We understand that

discussions are taking place between

Hertfordshire Highways and the local

residents to determine who has the

responsibility for ensuring that such

flooding does not reoccur. However

Hertfordshire Highways has now jetted

and cleared a drain running across Batchworth Lane which may prevent

future occurrences.

Oxhey Woods Car Park The Association and individual residents

have for some time been expressing strong

objections about extended parking in the

Oxhey Woods Nature Reserve by contractors

working at Northwood Headquarters. We

are pleased to report that Three Rivers

District Council is now working on setting up

a restriction of two hours maximum parking

which will apply from Monday to Saturday.

This is intended to take place along with the

resurfacing of the car park itself.

Batchworth Lane in February

Eastbury Residents Association Spring 2009 Page 3

Planning Debbie Morris is the committee member looking after planning matters and explains her role below.

I have been responsible for the planning portfolio within Eastbury since last summer and it has become apparent that there

is some confusion amongst residents as to the role of the ERA in planning applications. Our role is as follows:-

• To monitor planning applications submitted to Three Rivers District Council (TRDC)

• To listen to any residents’ concerns about those applications

• To provide support and informal advice to concerned residents

• To make representations to TRDC on behalf of the ERA where applications contravene planning policies and

guidelines and/or are detrimental to the existing character of the neighbourhood.

We cannot act for individual neighbours of properties the subject of planning applications as we cannot take sides in

situations where parties don’t agree on what constitutes unneighbourly development. However, if a number of local

residents share a view on a proposal, please contact me and also write as a group to the designated planning officer and to

Amrit Mediratta, our District Councillor, who sits on the Development Control Committee. He may be able to get the

application referred to the Committee where someone will be able to speak against the application.

Generally planning applications have, not surprisingly, been running at a low level. We are still seeing a number of

proposals to demolish sizeable family homes and to replace them with houses that are considerably larger in every

dimension from that previously existing. In most of these cases objections will be lodged because the proposed new

dwelling will be so out of character with the rest of the street scene by reason of its bulk, footprint and roof ridge height.

Notable recent developments are taking place at Valency House on the corner of Batchworth Lane and Sandy Lane, where

the existing building is being converted in to flats and new houses are to be constructed and at the White House on

Watford Road where it is proposed that three new houses be erected in the extensive grounds. The local authority is acting

cautiously with this latter scheme because of the new designation of Conservation Area status to the land around Frith

Wood.

Please contact me if you wish to discuss any planning issues, tel: 821000 or e-mail at committee@eastbury-residents.org.

The 2009/2010 tennis year starts on 1st April. Most existing members should have received

details of membership renewal by e-mail together with dates and arrangements for

changing keys. Details are also available on the ERA website www.eastbury-residents.org.

A Membership Application /Renewal form is included at the back of this Newsletter. New

Tennis members are most welcome. The annual subscription is £20 plus a £5 key deposit.

Please telephone or e-mail François Neckar to arrange a convenient time to take round

your Application Form and pick up a key. You may contact François by phone on 821510 or

by e-mail at tennis@eastbury-residents.org.

Some Tips on Reducing Heating Bills Want to reduce your heating bills following the recent very cold spell?

Diana Rustam, ERA member, provides some, perhaps surprising, facts about keeping heating bills down - but the comfort up.

Strangely enough changing your windows is one of the least cost effective ways of reducing your heating bill as the pay back

time is several decades! (longer than the life of the windows!). The most cost effective things you can do are :-

• Move furniture and long curtains away from the front of radiators as they block the actual amount of radiated heat.

Avoid fitting radiator covers for the same reason. Radiated heat warms with a lower thermostatic setting than

convected heat, for example 19°C setting instead of 24°C for the same warmth.

• Fit individual radiator thermostats, especially in rooms you use less often; you can still keep them aired.

• Check heating timer settings and see if you can’t reduce them a little.

• Consider the new types of cavity wall filling as they do not “set” permanently - should there be problems later. There

is mashed up wool-rock now as well as insulating beads. Costs can be recovered in just a couple of winters.

• Check your loft insulation conforms to today’s standard of 8inches (200ml) - it may only be 2inches (50 ml).

• Fit thicker curtains in winter, wear a jumper and turn the thermostat down… just a degree or two makes a surprising

difference to the bills.

• Consider line drying washing in spring, summer and autumn – the sun sterilises and whitens and takes out turmeric

stains - and the line needn’t be as obvious as you might think in our leafy gardens.

If you wish to discuss any of the above you are welcome to contact Diana on 835854 or 823105.

Note:- Grants for loft or cavity wall insulation, of around 50% and above, are available for all home owners and private

tenants - whatever your income! Visit www.government-grants.co.uk to find out more about the grants available for

upgrading heating and insulation in your home.

Eastbury Residents Association Spring 2009 Page 4

Mount Vernon Hospital Treatment Centre

A new two-storey £13 million treatment centre has opened alongside the Princess Christian Unit to form a major new

development with operating theatres and consulting rooms. The four new theatres will cover both orthopaedic and general

surgery. Patients will be able to book their operations on a date that suits them and because there will be no emergency

operations, patients should not find their treatment cancelled at the last minute. There will be screening before admission

to ensure a low risk of infection.

Cancer Services

As reported in the Autumn 2008 newsletter the Mount Vernon Cancer Services Development Project was begun in June

2008 and is due to be completed before the end of 2009. An interim report published in March 2009 states that the

Steering Group has concluded that the Cancer Centre should remain at Mount Vernon for the long term. It is recognised

that there can be difficulties for people travelling to Mount Vernon and therefore a feasibility study for the development of

a satellite unit within north Hertfordshire or south Bedfordshire is to be carried out.

Planning for the upgrade and/or redevelopment of parts of the Mount Vernon site will now progress to ensure that the

Centre is poised to deliver high quality radiotherapy and chemotherapy services now and in the future.

If you require further information about the Project please contact Barbara Gill, Project Director, at Barbara.Gill@NHS.net.

Be a Good Neighbour! Please remember to :-

• Cut back any of your garden shrubs and trees which overhang the pavement.

• Put your waste bins and recycling boxes out of sight once emptied.

• Park with care and consideration for neighbours entering and exiting their driveways.

• Keep the verge outside your house free of litter.

• Make sure you clear up after your dog if it fouls the pavement or road.

• Not leave your dog alone to bark continuously.

Note: all the above comments have been received from residents in the past few months.

• Report any broken slabs or uneven pavements to Herts CC before someone trips up by telephoning 01923 471320 or by

logging onto www.hertsdirect.org/highwayfaults.

Pocklington House Pocklington House in Eastbury Avenue is a specialist residential care home for older people who have sight loss. It is one of

a number of centres run by Thomas Pocklington Trust which offer a range of sheltered and supported housing, residential

and respite care, day services and volunteer-based community support. Pocklington also has a well respected research and

development department working to understand and alleviate the effects of sight loss.

The Centre provides high quality care and support through a team of trained staff in an

environment designed to meet the needs of people with sight loss. Pocklington recognises

that people with a visual impairment have particular needs which make daily living more

difficult than for fully sighted older people.

Care is provided according to individually assessed needs. The Centre has achieved

consistently excellent reports from the Commission for Social Care Inspection and has

achieved RNIB’s ‘Visibly Better’ accreditation.

There are currently over 40 volunteers at Pocklington House who regularly give up their time

to help the residents. Volunteers take part in a variety of activities from reading the

newspaper and books to running quizzes and keep fit sessions.

Pocklington House is currently looking for a Volunteer Driver who would be able to drive the Centre car, taking residents on

all sorts of trips out and about in the community. They would also really love to find a volunteer who is able to drive a

minibus, as they regularly hire one to take groups of residents on trips and need a dependable driver. If you’re interested in

either role and have a clean driving licence which you’ve held for more than five years please get in touch with Urvashi

Kapur, Volunteer Co-ordinator on 01923 824585.

The home is also looking for people who would like to become volunteers at the Centre helping to deliver a variety of

activities. Pocklington House has a very warm and welcoming feel. Its residents may be getting on in years, but their

approach to life is youthful and for the people who live there it is their home, with friends and relatives dropping in

frequently. If you have some spare time that you’d like to fill by meeting some interesting people, why not give them a ring

or drop by to find out more about volunteering opportunities?

Deborah Brown, Pocklington Trust

Eastbury Residents Association Spring 2009 Page 5

Area Covered Steward Address

Ardross Avenue Mrs Cooper 20 Ardross Avenue

Batchworth Lane 1 - 44 Mike Mullins 42a Batchworth Lane

Batchworth Lane 47 - 63, 46 - 86 Martin Higginson 7 The Fairway

Bishops Ave, The Roughs Richard Laycock 10 Bishops Avenue

Bourne End Road Andrew Dawrant 27 Bourne End Road

Crofters Road Clare Ray 3 Bishops Avenue

Davenham Ave, Shelley Close John Lloyd 27 Davenham Avenue

Eastbury Avenue (odd nos) Vacancy

Eastbury Avenue (even nos) Geoffrey Taylor 42 Davenham Avenue

Eastbury Road Sheila Wheeler 67 Eastbury Road

East Glade, Holbein Gate, Little Stream Fiona Denman 4 Holbein Gate

Fairway 1 -20, Woodfield Avenue Chetan Mehta 38 Davenham Avenue

Fairway 21 - 44 Mike Perrot 32 The Fairway

Farm Way Keith Clement 27 Farm Way

Grosvenor Rd, Parkside Rd, Wellesley Ave Anne van den Berg 28 Davenham Avenue

Grove Farm Park 1 - 31 Phyl Gallagher Grove Farm Park

Grove Farm Park 32 - 64 John Jones Grove Farm Park

Kewferry Road Brian Snow 72 Kewferry Road

Mount View Vacancy

Oxhey Drives + Ridge + The Woods Nisa Patel Pentyr, Watford Road

Ross Way Harry Marriot 5 Ross Way

Sandy Lane South Shirley Douglas Frith Cottage, Sandy Lane

Sandy Lane North Steve Watson Valency Lodge, Sandy Lane

Sandy Lodge Way Ian & Margaret Carr 23 Sandy Lodge Way

St Mary’s Avenue (odd nos) Margaret Redding 12 St Mary’s Avenue

St Mary’s Avenue (even nos) Alison Cameron 16 St Mary’s Avenue

Seven Acres, Tree Tops, Bel Air Nora Ryan 6 Seven Acres

Watford Road Colin & Jay Roberts Lansdowne, Watford Road

Westbury Road 1 - 30 David Willetts 31 Farm Way

Westbury Road 32 - 50, 31 - 65 John Lazarus 63 Westbury Road

Westbury Road 52 - 76, 67 - 109 Doris Short 66 Westbury Road

Woodhouse Eaves Bob Hurran 42 Woodhouse Eaves

Road Stewards Our Newsletters are delivered by over 30 Road Stewards to whom we are most grateful; in addition they collect

membership subscriptions .We also want Road Stewards to have the time to talk to members as it is important to know of

the concerns and wishes of our members. Some of our current Road Stewards wish to retire and we have vacancies in

some roads as can be seen from the list below. If you can spare a few hours each year and would like to become a Road

Steward please call Geoffrey Taylor, Membership Secretary on 822773 or e-mail committee@eastbury-residents .org.

John Morris It is with sadness that we report the death, in October last year, of a former committee member John Morris. Many

residents will have known John who was a dentist in Farm Way and Road Steward for many years. John also looked after

the Tennis Section for ten years. Although John retired from the Committee in 2006 he continued to assist with Tennis

affairs. Our sympathies go to his family. A donation was sent on behalf of the Association to Cancer Research UK.

A is for Amphometer You may have noticed the recent appearance of pairs of parallel cables across many of our local roads. These cables are

linked to a device called an amphometer which measures the speed and volume of the traffic. The amphometers have been

installed by Hertfordshire Highways to check on local traffic patterns before, during, and after the resurfacing work on

Batchworth Lane. The results of this survey are presented to a body known as the Joint Members Highways Panel. Traffic-

related issues are a hot topic among our residents, so we will be following this initiative with great interest. We have

already asked for the Association to be included in any discussions that follow the results of the survey.

Eastbury Residents Association Spring 2009 Page 6

ERA Executive Committee

Chairman Elizabeth Willetts 820940

chairman@eastbury-residents.org

Treasurer &

Tennis Sec

François Neckar 821510

Secretary Sarah Dey 835854

secretary@eastbury-residents.org

Membership

Secretary

Geoffrey Taylor 822773

Roads Andrew Dawrant 822660

Chetan Mehta 823731

Community

Voice / Health

Adrienne Glicher 826569

Environment Nisa Patel 828805

Planning Debbie Morris 821000

Neighbourhood

Watch

Bob Cockerell 822797

Ken Mills OBE 821370

Alan Short 824192

Richard Crook 823325

Webmaster Martin Schultz 827082

E-mail :- committee@eastbury-residents.org The newsletter is delivered to over 1100 households in the

Eastbury area of Northwood.

Fundraising events @ Michael Sobell House Michael Sobell House, the hospice at Mount Vernon Hospital, has arranged the following events:-

April Tuesday 28th Pampered Chef Over Lunch - 11.00am - 1.00pm. An expert will show off

culinary skills and demonstrate equipment.

May Saturday 9th Annual Plant Sale - Bedding and exotic plants, vegetable and fruit patch

favourites at very reasonable prices. 10.00am—12.30pm

May Sunday 31st On Your Bike For Care - 12 and 23 mile bike ride round the locality.

June Saturday 20th Jazz on the Lawn and Afternoon Tea

June Thursday 25th Annual Golf Day @ Sandy Lodge Golf Club

July Sunday 12th The British London 10K Run

September Sunday 20th Annual Sponsored Walk - 3, 7 and 12 mile scenic walk.

If you are interested in any of these events and require further information please contact Ophelia Chambers-Henry on

01923 844 829 or e-mail ochambers@michaelsobellhouse.co.uk or visit www.michaelsobellhouse.co.uk.

Eastbury Horticultural Society If you are interested in gardening, whether a beginner or

an experienced gardener, we invite you to join your local

society, which currently has around 160 members.

Throughout the winter we hold evening meetings each

month at Eastbury Farm School with talks on gardening by

professional speakers followed by coffee. We enjoy a

cheese and wine party at our A.G.M. in April and at other

times run trips by coach to famous gardens, including a

visit this year to the Belgium Ardennes. We host bring-and-

buy plant sales and an Annual Show - the highlight of our

year. You don’t need to be an expert to give it a try and

enter flowers, fruit and veg or cakes for fun and some lively

competition.

For an annual subscription, which runs until 31st

March

2010, of just £3 per household members may attend all

evening meetings, our Annual Show and cheese and wine

party with no additional charge. Coach trips and holidays

cost extra and our organizers make every effort to ensure

that they are very reasonably priced. All members receive

regular newsletters with full programme details.

We’re a sociable and active society and are always pleased

to welcome new members. We do hope you will join us.

To join, please send £3 cash or cheque (payable to Eastbury

Horticultural Society) to:-

The Membership Secretary, 28 Crofters Road, HA6 3ED.

Alternatively, print the Application Form from the link to

the society on www.eastbury-residents.org where you

will also see our Programme for 2009.

For more information ring Jenny Duncan on 824537.

Committee Vacancy A member is required to join the committee and take over

the role of secretary as our current secretary is not

standing for re-election in June. If you are interested in

taking on this role and would like to know what is involved

then please call Elizabeth Willetts on 820940 or e-mail

chairman@eastbury-residents.org.