ST PHILIP & ST JAMES (LECKHAMPTON)

AREA RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION

http://www.spjara.org.uk/index.html

NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2016

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*** AUTUMN WINE TASTING, THURSDAY 17th NOVEMBER ***

This autumn, SPJARA'S now traditional wine tasting will be at 7.30 p.m. on 17th
November, in Church House. This is a fantastic opportunity to taste and buy some great
value Christmas wines. Back by popular demand, as for the past couple of years we have
Tom IAnson, a knowledgeable and entertaining young Gloucestershire wine expert
specialising in good value wines - this year from the Iberian Peninsular. It will be an
enjoyable relaxed evening so come along and meet some of your neighbours (dont worry
if you are not an SPJARA member yet you can always join on the night).

Tickets are 15.00 each, to include delicious cheese nibbles as well as the wines.
We recommend early booking to secure your place, with payment in advance:
EITHER by cheque or cash in an envelope with your name on it to Jonathan Moffitt
(SP&JARA membership secretary and treasurer), 35 Gratton Road, GL50 2BT,
OR by BACS to the SP&JARA bank account at Lloyds Bank (sort code: 30-90-54, bank
account: 04684759). Please use reference WINETASTE16 so that it can be linked to the
wine tasting. Also, send an email to Jonathan (jonathan.moffitt@auditel.co.uk) so that he
knows that you have paid.

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*** WINTER CHARITY DINNER ***

We are planning a splendid Indian dinner at the Spice Lodge, in aid of the
Cheltenham ad Gloucestershire Hospitals Charity. This will most likely be on a Monday
evening in late February or early March keep an eye on the website
http://www.spjara.org.uk/index.html for the details.

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 FLOODING IN THE SPJARA AREA

At around 5pm on Sunday June 12th, flash floods caused havoc in Cheltenham. ITV
reported the following day:
Two schools in Cheltenham were forced to close this morning after a torrential downpour
led to flash flooding. The storm brought chaos to the town on Sunday after intense rain
flooded railway lines and blocked roads. Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form
Centre, and St James' Church of England primary school have been closed due to internal
flooding. Many homes were also affected, with water-logged drains unable to cope with the
high levels of rainfall.
Intense rainfall is getting more frequent - you will recall similar summer flooding in 2004
and 2007 causing chaos in parts of Cheltenham.

This time several homes in the SPJ area were flooded and local residents have been
working with Severn Trent Water to find out why storm drainage systems could not cope
and why, even in the same streets, certain homes were flooded but not all.

One problem was that street drains were not able to discharge the volume of water quickly
enough. These street drains may have already been silted-up or are not connected into
the main storm drains under the road, meaning that when the general water table rises to
a certain high level (as in the case this year after the significant rainfall in the first few
months) the soakaway drainage systems do not work and lakes and then rivers appear on
the roads, with the risk of resultant household flooding. Cheltenham Borough Council has
agreed to residents requests to examine and clear several silted-up street drains in our
area - at the time of writing we are waiting for this to be done.

Another cause of flooding may be the state of repair of the storm drainage systems. In
Painswick Road alone, as a result of requests from residents for resolution of the local
flooding problems, Severn Trent Water has found two serious defects in just 100 metres
length of storm drain. Since June 12th the surface of Painswick Road has been dug up
twice and repair work done to the storm drain.

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AUTUMN STREET CLEANING

SPJARA is once again in touch with Cheltenham Borough Council (or rather their
waste collection and cleaning contractors Ubico) on the late autumn cleaning of our streets
and gutters, and we are trying to make sure this happens between leaf fall and Christmas.
There will be notices posted to say when your street is due to be cleaned and you can help
by moving your car and placing the no parking bollards in the road to deter casual parkers.

WEEDS IN THE PAVEMENTS

If you need to clear the pavement of the summers growth of weeds in front to your
house SPJARA recommends doing this by pouring boiling water on them (or simple hand-
pulling, easier after rain) rather than using a herbicide as most of these contain the
carcinogenic glyphosate.

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 SPJARA ANNUAL REPORT 2016

Its been a busy year. This year's main activities were:

SPJARA events for members

Held a training event on widening community participation with the Barnwood Trust
Raised 570 at a charity dinner at the Spice Lodge
Organised a trip for members to Madresefield Court, near Malvern
Held a very successful AGM with a guest speaker from the Cheltenham Trust
Our July jazz garden party in the Owens garden was a great occasion, much enjoyed by
neighbours old and new
(And on 17 November we will have another of our pre-Christmas wine tasting evenings.)

SPJARA projects
- We have completed the Norwood Triangle scheme with help from Glos Highways,
and weeded and watered the box plants. We will be trimming the plants this coming
winter.
- We have tidied up the triangle on the corner of the Andover Road and Andover
Walk (planted bulbs and shrubs, and weeded and mulched the soil around)
- Lamp-posts painting We have now completed the repainting of 6 Victorian lamp-
posts in traditional Cheltenham colours
- New trees We have continued to water newly-planted trees and shrubs in the
Bath Road, Grafton Road etc.
We have worked with Glos Highways to get new or replacement trees planted in Andover
Road, Andover Walk, Norwood Road, Grafton Road and elsewhere
- Planning
We monitor the weekly list of planning applications and tree works to see whats going on
in our area. If we see the need to comment we consult neighbours and local interests
We objected to a proposal for two new houses in the lane off Ashford Road. The project
was rejected by CBC and by the inspector when the owner appealed against that decision
- Street cleaning, flooding etc.
We work closely with CBC to help them stop cars parking during the annual street cleaning
We have lobbied Severn Trent and CBC to address the problems of flooding in our area
- Bath Road Car Parks
We are represented on the Community Representatives Panel set up to monitor this
project, which we think could greatly improve the local environment.

Note :
We now produce two Newsletters a year. And you can always
keep up to date with SPJARAs activities by visiting the website:
http://www.spjara.org.uk/index.html