Caversham Globe

Caversham Globe’s Annual Report for the year 2009 has been published today and can now be found on the Downloads-Reports page.

Caversham GLOBE has arranged two practical events on Tuesday 9th March as part of our contribution to this year’s annual RESCUE (Rivers & Environmental Spaces Cleanup) event:

10am – BALMORE WALK – meet by Allotment Gate at the Surgery entrace, Hemdean Road, Caversham
2pm – HILL’S MEADOW – meet by the Recycling Bins, George St, Caversham.

All help welcome. Gloves, sacks and litter pickers will be provided. Please be sure to arrive by the above times.

As part of its planting programme this winter, Caversham Globe will be planting two new autumn flowering cherry trees by the footpath in Picton Way, Caversham. The trees have been funded by Globe and are being planted with the support of the local residents and Reading Borough Council. We will also be replacing two of the saplings along Peppard Road and Buckingham Drive, these were originally planted as part of our contribution to the millennium Trees For Our Future project. Caversham Globe has a number of small trees in our allotment which are available for planting around Caversham and Emmer Green and suggestions are always welcome for new planting locations to help improve the local environment.

Caversham GLOBE has now added a fourth location – AW Cycles in Henley Road – where used batteries can be taken for recycling.  The Battery Collection scheme is having great success, with more than 40
kilos of household batteries deposited by local residents in the first two months since it was set up. We are grateful to both residents and the retailers for supporting the scheme.

The full list of outlets is now:

* AW Cycles, 110 Henley Rd, Caversham
* Caversham Cobbler and Key Smith, 12 Bridge Street (Caversham Bridge).
* V & I Hardware, Emmer Green (Cavendish Rd – top of Milestone Way)
* Woodcote Way Post Office & Stores, Caversham Heights.

Caversham GLOBE has arranged with three local retailers to operate a used battery collection scheme. This will encourage residents to recycle household batteries, classified as hazardous waste, as well as reduce risks to landfill sites. Caversham GLOBE has provided containers and posters for the three sites at:

* Caversham Cobbler and Key Smith, 12 Bridge Street (Caversham Bridge).
* V & I Hardware, Emmer Green (Cavendish Rd – top of Milestone Way)
* Woodcote Way Post Office & Stores, Caversham Heights.

A volunteer from GLOBE will periodically empty the containers and take the batteries to Council recycling facilities. Residents are urged to use these new facilities. New sites are being sought.

Caversham GLOBE has arranged a public meeting at Church House, 59 Church street, Caversham. on Thursday 6 August 2009 at 7.15pm when Ben Stanesby, Head of Parks, Reading Borough Council (RBC), will give information on developments in our local parks & open spaces and also talk about the Council’s trees policy. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and discuss local concerns.  This will be followed by the regular monthly GLOBE meeting.

Melanie Orros, a student at the University of Reading is researching why hedgehogs are declining in the UK. As part of this survey, people living in and around Reading are asked to report sightings of any hedgehogs that they see dead on the roads. Please visit the website at www.reading.ac.uk/hedgehogs for more details of the scheme and for a map of the area from which reports are needed.

The Gallery page has been updated (click on each photo to see the caption and full description)

At our AGM on 2nd July, a new Constitution was approved – this has now been added to the Downloads page.

Our latest Annual Report has now been been published and can be found on the Downloads page.

Elected Key Members for 2009 are: Dave Kenny (Treasurer), Jennifer Millest, Isobel Ballsdon, Judith Barratt,  Peter Trout, Jean Newbery, Richard Denney.

Last year Caversham Globe sent a detailed response to Reading Borough Council’s Site Allocations – commenting on the many sites in and around Caversham within Reading borough which were put forward either for development or protection. A similar exercise is being carried out in South Oxfordshire: In the countryside immediately adjacent to Caversham, developers have put forward six sites for major building schemes – all Greenfield sites. In effect, large swathes of the rural area which surrounds Caversham to our north, east and west are under threat from major development proposals. One site is of particular concern being ancient woodland; the others are farmland, a paddock, part of Mapledurham Golf course and fields in the Lower Caversham flood plain. Details of all the proposed sites were available at our May meeting for commenting on. All of the proposals are speculative but It is essential that we make our views known at an early stage.

There are additional pressures on the rural areas to the north and east of Caversham from the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) application being heavily promoted by Reading Borough Council. Apart from the controversy over a third Thames bridge and its impact on traffic in Caversham, the TIF proposals appear to include plans to build Park & Ride facilities adjacent to the A4074 Woodcote Road and the A4155 Henley Rd. This could mean large swathes of countryside being lost to massive carparks (with their attendant light pollution and urbanisation). No specific details have been revealed yet as it is all subject to negotiation with  the neighbouring authorities, but it is something we need to keep a very close watch on.