Fairfield Cafe will at 12 noon on Christmas Eve, reopening Monday 3rd January.

Due to the increased Covid transmission rates and as a precautionary measure, January’s Dining Group lunch has been cancelled. All being well, the next lunch will be on 21st February at The Gate at Bournheath

Mr. Kevin Nind, proprietor of Kev’s Coaches, has contacted the Community Association say that one of his drivers, Justin, has told been told by some passengers that they have been informed that the 318 bus service is ceasing after Christmas. Mr. Nind says that there is no truth in this rumour.

Earlier this year, Openreach announced that (almost) all of Bromsgrove will be cabled with Fibre To The Premises (FTTP), as part of the national plan to phase out copper wiring for landline telephones and internet connectivity. 

Fibre brings substantially higher speeds, better reliability, and future-proofs the properties.  (Apparently, the second most popular question that house buyers ask is – how fast is the internet).

As part of the roll-out, most of Fairfield village has been cabled.  Catshill is also being connected, including the properties immediately past the motorway bridge on Wildmoor Lane. 

Sadly, most of Wildmoor was NOT included in the Openreach plan for Bromsgrove.   

At the Sandy Lane end of Wildmoor, a Community Fibre Project (CFP) proposal was put forward last year, in conjunction with Superfast Worcestershire (part of the county council).   This proposal, which was successful, means that grants are being made available from central government and the county council, to fund the costs for Openreach to install FTTP to the properties connected to the Rubery telephone exchange. 

This leaves approximately 70 premises – a mix of commercial and residential – in Third Road, Mill Lane, Swan Lane and Wildmoor Lane, excluded from any scheme.  A CFP proposal for these ‘forgotten’ premises was submitted to Openreach in March, supported by Superfast Worcestershire and by Councillor Shirley Webb. 

The outline costing has now been received from Openreach, and it is now down to the occupiers of the premises to decide if they want FTTP.  This requires a simple commitment to take an FTTP Internet package from ANY Internet Service Provider which offers FTTP, for a 12 month period.  The additional costs (i.e. for FTTP rather than copper-based internet) could be as little as £10 per month.

To obtain the grants, and therefore incur no individual installation costs, requires a certain level of uptake to succeed.  This is the best opportunity for Wildmoor to avoid being left behind as technology evolves!

If you are one of the residents in this group, or have a commercial unit in Wildmoor Farm business park, or on Wildmoor Lane, please contact Peter Hunt (peterhunt988@outlook.com, or 07970745487) for more information.

Fairfield Post Office closes at the end of this week, Friday 22nd October.

Fairfield Cafe remains OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Relaxed, social gathering on Saturday 2nd October, residents were joined by PC Stone from Bromsgrove Police – our local police officer.

Whilst enjoying cake and coffee/tea, residents highlighted parking issues, were updated on community works, and agreed activities to mark Halloween and Christmas. Thanks to all who attended.

You are invited to a coffee morning at Bournheath Village Community Centre (Claypit Lane) between 10.30 and 12 on Wednesday 15th September. Catch up on news with the neighbours, enjoy coffee/tea and home-made cakes, or borrow a book from the Book Bank. Just drop in or stay for the whole time.

This is our first coffee morning since March 2020 so it would be great to see people developing a sense of a real community again. If you haven’t been before, please come along to say hello.

Also, between 7.30 and 8.30 on Wednesday 15th September, social table tennis will take place at the Community Centre. It’s free and all are welcome, regardless of standard. (We’re playing singles at the moment to help with social distancing).

Recently two more gully grids along Swan Lane have been unblocked, leaving one grid and one gully to go. A reminder has been sent to Worcestershire County Council.

After chasing, an update has been provided regarding the gully grid on Wood lane that has been blocked for far too many years, “have made a site visit and raised a 4 week work order to clear it.”

Are You Busy?  Do you get distracted?  If answered yes to one or both questions, then you are like many other people.  We live a rush, rush life.

Despite being in a hurry trying to get some where on time and juggling many things at the same time, can you take a few minutes to be:

• Considerate when parking your vehicle.  Please do not block driveways, park on a junction or double park.  
  • For school traffic, PLEASE utilise the Swan Inn carpark, it is only a few minutes’ walk away. 
  • For non-school event traffic, PLEASE consider parking remotely and walking into the village or use public transport. 
  • Our village is on main road, used by local people, commuters, agricultural vehicles, lorries etc.  Inconsiderate parking leads to increased congestion & pollution levels, restricts legitimate vehicle movements and irritates others.  Considerate parking helps alleviate these issues and provides a stretch of the legs, which is good for physical & mental health well-being, plus the likelihood of damage to your vehicle (e.g. wing mirror gets knocked off) is reduced. 

• Don’t drop litter.  We live in a village that many people like visiting because it is clean & tidy.  Often litter is dropped by accident or by a child that for a few moments was not thing of their consequences.  PLEASE think about the potential litter that you or your child could be creating.  If you give your child a bag of crisps, ask them to bring the empty bag to you.  If you see a bin that is full, take your rubbish home or to an empty bin.  Easy solutions that keep’s Fairfield a great place for you and others to visit.

Enough interest has been received, so Fairfield Dining Group (OPEN TO EVERYONE) will resume next month, 18th October, with a lunchtime meal at the Swan, 12 noon. A different pub for November (TBC) and a full schedule for 2022 will be included in the Association’s Winter newsletter and online.

If you would like to join us on the 18th October please contact Pat on 01527 832360, or email patricia@steward7.plus.com

On Wednesday (1st September) our new Interim Priest (Belbroughton with Fairfield) the Revd Canon Wyn Beynon was licenced at a service that was held at Holy Trinity, Belbroughton, led by Rt Revd Bishop Martin Gorick, Bishop of Dudley.

Pictured, Revd Canon Wyn Jones with the Bishop of Dudley and the Archdeacon of Dudley, Venerable Nikki Groarke.

The Autumn 2021 Edition of the Community Newsletter has arrived from the printers, volunteers will be delivering copies to properties across Fairfield, Wildmoor & Stoneybridge over the coming weeks. Copies will also be available from The Fairfield Cafe, Fairfield Village Hall and other establishments. If you can’t wait for your hard copy magazine you can download from http://fvca.org.uk/documents/fvca-newsletters/

The broken Swan Lane gully grid has (finally) been replaced. Fingers crossed work to unblock the other grids plus the ditch at the bottom of the lane will follow.

Part-Time Job Opportunity – Fairfield Post Office is looking for someone to join the team.

For further information pop into the Post Office and speak to Sunny or Kam.

Paul Jarczewski, Woodland Trust Site Manger (Central England) has provided the Community Association with the following update:

The online consultation was very successful.  We had 79 responses, which indicated very obvious support for our plans to establish the new wood.  I’m sure this interest was in no small part due to the Community Association championing the project locally, so many thanks for that.

We are just about to submit our final design plans to The Forestry Commission for their approval.  The consultation response is an important appendix to this, as it provides evidence to the Commission that the new wood is something that local people will value.

One of the things we wish to do is set up some monitoring as the new land develops (hoping of course that our fundraising is successful and we acquire the land).  The monitoring will look at how well trees establish on different areas of the site, but also look at how the biodiversity changes/improves with time.  It is very interesting to know we already have some potentially rare species.

We are still fundraising to buy the land, so any opportunity you have to let people know would be greatly appreciated.

If you would like to know more about the proposed Pepper Wood Expansion visit http://fvca.org.uk/directory/pepper-wood/

Another balloon found next to pasture land, near Pepper Wood. This balloon, in the shape of a bottle with the word ‘Cheers’ on it, was made out of plastic. In addition to being unsightly, spoiling our beautiful countryside, balloons can kill livestock – cattle have been known to eat balloons that end up stuck in their throat, choking them to death.

The Woodland Trust have released the design plans for the proposed Pepper Wood extension and they would like to hear your views. The proposed design plan is below.

To have your say, please complete a 5-minute survey, to access CLICK HERE

At last we have contractors due to carry out works to improve the drainage at the footpath end of the Recreation Ground.

The work by Kelbec Civils Ltd is due to commence Monday 17th May with initial marking out of the areas. The works will take circa 5 to 7 days.

The access will be via the carpark and with no traffic using the lane to the school. 2 bays will be out of commission on the car park for the duration.

All works will be suitably ‘Harass fenced’ off.

Sandy Lane was closed Wednesday 12th May following a collision at the junction of Money Lane.

A spokesperson from West Mercia Police said: “The road is currently closed and will be for sometime.

“Officers are currently dealing with a collision on Money Lane.”

A spokesperson from West Midlands Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 3:11pm to reports of a two car RTC at the junction of Sandy Lane and the B4551.

“We currently have one ambulance at the scene assessing two patients. “

The Woodland Trust have organised a public consultation event planned on 19th May regarding their proposed plans to extend Pepper Wood.  The provisional design for the new woodland is ready to be viewed and the Woodland Trust would like to share these plans with you and invite your opinion.

The event itself will be quite informal.  Paul Jarczewski (Woodland Trust Central England Site Manager) and a design consultant will lead 2 short walks over the new land, one leaving at 2 pm and another at 6 pm.  Maps and layouts of the design will be available for people to view.

To join the walk and/or view the design, meet Paul in the Swan Inn car park.  Each will last about an hour.

For more information regarding the Pepper Wood Appeal and to make a donation visit http://fvca.org.uk/directory/pepper-wood/

This year’s Village Spring Clean will take place on Saturday 12th June. 

Please donate an hour to help clear the grot from our community and to wash street signs.  Meet outside the Village Hall at 10.00 am, wear suitable clothing & footwear, litter picking equipment will be provided.   

If you would like to help wash the street signs, please bring a bucket, sponge and some mild detergent.  If you have step ladders, they will come in very hand.

Interested? Email chair@fvca.org.uk

Message from the current FVCA Chair: