Author: FVCA

Due to the current situation, the annual Retro Run is gonna try something a little different this year.  With your help, Retro Run 2020 will span the Midlands and beyond!!

Over the coming weeks post a picture of you and yours on a ride, try to make it interesting with fancy dress, funky bikes and for a bonus point why not fish out a vintage Retro Run t-shirt!

Post your pics on the Retro Run Facebook page & hashtag #retrorun2020 Get them posted by the 4th July..

Best entry picture wins a prize!!!  The winner will be revealed on the 4th July via a live stream.

To help raise funds for this year’s chosen charity, please make a donation to the JustGiving page for Dodford Children’s Holiday Farm https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/retrorun2020 .

So come on, join in and let’s have some fun!

*Please remember social distancing

Fairfield Villa have announced, with regret, that that they have decided to withdraw their reserve team from the MFL reserve league for the season 20/21.

Dave Smith, the Reserve’s Tea Manager, has decided to step down, to be spend more time with his family, and the Club has made the difficult decision to discontinue the Reserve team.  Dave will still stay on as a committee member.

Dave said “I have enjoyed my time at a wonderful club however family commitment are such I needed to step away and concentrate on home life.”  “I’ll look to recharge the batteries and who knows what will happen.”

Fairfield Villa Football Club would like to place on record their thanks to Dave Smith, his staff and the players for their hard work and effort over the last 2 seasons.

The Club Chairman said “It has been a pleasure to have Dave at the club he has been a model reserve team manager who understands his role and does it very well. Let’s hope it’s not the last we see of him at our club”

Keith Draper, Manager of the First Team, has extended a welcome to the reserve team players to continue at the Club pre-season as they prepare for the new season.

Following a column strength testing, a Stourbridge Road street light column near the north planter is deemed to be a ‘category 5 status’  and thus in a potentially dangerous condition and as such Worcestershire County Council will be arranging for its removal.    It’s not a given that a new column will go in the same day but that should occur shortly afterwards.

The Community Association reported to the County Council that there is a blocked drain at the Stourbridge Road – Fairfield Court service road junction.

A response has been received by the Council saying that the gully “is under investigation, but may involve other utilities so wont be a quick fix.”

Due to Coronavirus and that many household have not been able to prepare for Floral Fairfield there will be no judging of front gardens, tubs and baskets.

Instead, why not take up our Blooming Wildlife Challenge? 

Many residents took part in No Mow May, so why not take up our new challenge and give your grass a Mohican hair-cut (or should that be MOW-hican?) and see what wildflowers grow and wildlife it attracts, then take photos and send to admin@fvca.org.uk, so that we can share with the rest of our community.  

If you feel really wild, add a bug box and some other wildlife friendly features to your garden.

Here’s some mowing tips:

• Long-grass. Leave some areas of your lawn completely unmown to allow a wide diversity of short and tall plants – such as knapweed, scabious, Lady’s-bedstraw, wild carrot and orchids – to flower. These areas should be cut with a strimmer or scythe in late summer or early autumn (ideally August, September or early October) and the grass removed. Cut again with a lawn mower on its highest setting once or twice before February, again removing the cuttings, and then leave the grass to grow from March onwards.
• Short-grass. For other areas of lawn, and for paths in and around the long-grass, cut to a height of 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) once a month to allow small plants like white clover, daisies and selfheal to flower. You’ll cut off some flowers when you do mow, but they’ll come back quickly. You can even rotate cut areas around your lawn so you always have some in flower.

The proportion of long and short grass doesn’t really matter – it’s up to you and what works best into your garden. What’s important is to have two different heights of grass, as this creates very different flower-rich habitats that will be used by a whole range of wildlife – it’s particularly beneficial for insects and also provides both cover and open spaces for birds and small mammals.

Due to there being no dropped kerb, the elderly and people with mobility aids have found it difficult to cross Yew Tree Lane at the junction with Stourbridge Road, requiring these pedestrians to cross Stourbridge Road, twice if they wish to get back onto the original side of the road.  The Community Association and the Parish Council, over several years, have asked for a dropped kerb to be installed.

In the County Councillor report of May 2020, Cllr. Webb writes:  “There is very limited visibility when crossing Yew Tree Lane from the direction of number 25 Stourbridge Road. The whole idea of a dropped kerb would be to accommodate the likes of a mobility buggy, bearing in mind that the occupant would be seated up to 800mm from the front of the buggy they would have to drive onto the road before they could see around the corner, which could result in them being hit by an oncoming vehicle. For this reason the specialist team have drawn up a scheme that crosses the Stourbridge Road. The cost of such a scheme will be in the region of £10,000.”

The Community Association in a response dated 15th May wrote “Considering that traffic surveys in 2016, 2017 & 2018, taken adjacent to 24 Stourbridge Road, record vehicles driving in excess of 40mph, between the hours of 7am and 7pm, with some vehicles driving at speeds in excess of 50 & 60mph, such a proposal does raise eyebrows. We would not want to put someone at unnecessary risk crossing such a fast road.”.  The Community Association asked for sight of the proposal and requested “sight of the proposals and that a consultation takes place with the community and local equality access groups.”.  The Community Association are “very concerned that any proposal to make individuals cross the Stourbridge Road will means that they will have to cross Stourbridge Road twice to get back to the side of the road for the Post Office etc instead of just crossing Yew Tree Lane once. We are quite certain that it would be very much safer for a mobility scooter to cross Yew Tree Lane once than cross Stourbridge Road twice. We are happy to discuss local proposals, which would need local consultation.”

The Community Association have now received a copy of the proposal plans, below, that will require pedestrians – the elderly and those with mobility aids – to cross the busy and at times fast Stourbridge Road twice.  The pavement at the points of crossing will be tactile.

The Community Association welcomes your feedback on the proposals, email admin@fvca.org.uk.  You can also contact our Divisional County Councillor, Cllr. Shirley Webb, by emailing SWebb2@worcestershire.gov.uk

Please do not release rubber or foil balloons, they can land in fields & get eaten by livestock or bale wrapped with silage or hay. Livestock don’t know that eating the balloon is bad, but if ingested they choke to death.

Fairfield Village Community Association would like to make available to residents recent communication between the Association and our County Councillor regarding local traffic issues.

At the beginning of May 2020, Cllr. Webb circulated her Fairfield Report:

The Community Association, having considered the message received from residents at the Association’s AGM on 7th March, responded to the report raising ongoing issues, challenging some of the report’s content and seeking answers:

On the 22nd May 2020, The Community Association received a response from Cllr. Webb, which will be considered by the FVCA Committee.

As always, the Association seeks the views of residents to help formulate any further responses and actions. Please email admin@fvca.org.uk or message via Facebook.