The Caledonia Times

Newsletter of The Caledonia Residents Association

Representing Turner Drive, Grosvenor Way, Delph Drive, Winding Mill South, Winding Mill North, Morton Road, Caledonia and Mousehall Farm Road
www.CaledoniaResidents.Weebly.com

July 2015

From the Chairman

Many people have said to the various members of the Committee that they are extremely grateful for the
work we are doing. From our point of view, we are happy to do it, albeit on occasions, bureaucracy does
get in the way.
One of the successes of the association is our website. Statistical data from the administration of the site
shows that numerous people access it every day, which peaks when newsletters are delivered. The
website, whilst not accessible to everybody (ie, those without internet access) allows information to be
quickly passed to residents, at a time when they want to receive it. Equally, we now have over 100
residents (out of 305 homes) who regularly receive The Caledonia Times by email (as well as a copy which
is loaded to the web).
In order to give the Committee more time to concentrate on important issues, this edition of the newsletter
will be the penultimate edition which is delivered in a paper format unless you have specifically told us that
you do not have email/internet access.
Should you wish to continue receiving The Caledonia Times in a paper format after the next edition, you
will need to complete the tear off portion on the bottom of this newsletter and return it to us (obviously,
make sure you have read the rear first otherwise part of your newsletter will be missing).
If you have previously told us that you do not have internet access or an email account, you will continue to
receive this newsletter in paper form. If you are unsure, please complete the return slip any way.
To continue receiving future copies of The Caledonia Times in a paper format, please complete the below
slip and return to 6 Winding Mill South. No envelope is necessary.

Regards
David Adams
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The Committee have a strimmer which residents can now

borrow from us, for a small donation. Further details on the
website.

PACT Meeting Update

Committee members attended a PACT meeting on Wednesday, 24 June to hear from officers of West
Midlands Police that, compared to this time last year, crime is down slightly. Issues which concern us
were raised, including the recent car accident on Caledonia. In order to address this, officers plan to
do both a pro-laser session, whereby any speeding motorists will potentially be sent fixed penalty
tickets, in addition to a community speed watch, where residents can assist the police in zapping
motorists, to see what speeds they are getting up to.
Also raised were complaints that youths have been climbing over the gates protecting the alleys
between Winding Mill North and South. Officers will be keeping an eye out, although the Committee
are also to paint the top part of the fence with anti-climb paint. Essentially, this is a tar-type paint,
which once on a persons clothes cannot be removed, the idea being that nobody will attempt to climb
over for fear of being covered in this substance.

With the onset of the warm weather, many of us hope

to be enjoying our gardens, and usually being humid at
night, will probably have the bedroom windows open to
keep cool.
Nothing shatters a summers day more than noise...one
of the two biggest problems which leads to neighbour
disputes.
Residents have recently asked the Committee to ask
everybody to consider excessive noise to fellow
neighbours if you have either a burglar alarm or a
barking dog.
As with car alarms, we all know that burglar alarms
can be easily set off. However, legislation says that
alarms should automatically silence themselves after
20 minutes. If they dont, in extreme cases, the council
can obtain a warrant to force entry to a property to
silence the alarm. In order to avoid this, if you have a
burglar alarm you may wish to notify us in complete
confidence of a key-holder we may contact in the
event of your alarm activating whilst you are out.
Additionally, we all know dogs bark...its only their way
of speaking. Those who have dogs are probably
pretty used to them, although to those who dont have
a dog, please consider your neighbours if you notice
your dog barking continuously... Like humans, their
barking (similar to our speech) is usually to tell us
something (probably that the burglar alarm is going off
and will somebody please call the police!).

You wont have to walk the plank and wont find buried
treasure, but you could walk away with a Sainsburys
25 gift voucher, by winning a treasure hunt across the
estate.
The Committee have organised a Treasure Hunt,
which will see either individuals or teams setting off at
5 minute intervals to see who can gather the most
correct answers, based on cryptic clues from around
the estate.
The hunt will commence from 10am at The Raven, on
Sunday, 23 August, although Committee members
will soon be knocking on doors to sell allocated time
slots. Any unreserved time slots will be available on
the day and will also be shown on the website.
The Treasure Hunt has been specifically designed so
that people of all ages will have fun, searching for the
answers, none of which can be Googled!
The hunt should take about an hour, and will end up at
The Raven, where the winner will be the person/team
who has gathered the most correct answers (or in the
event of a draw, completed the hunt in the fastest
time).
Entrance is 1.00 per team.
No specialist knowledge is needed, just a sharp eye
and a puzzle solving mind.

Litter Pick
After the success of the last litter pick, we have arranged, in conjunction with Cllr
Hanif, to hold another session on Saturday, 12 September, from 1pm. As before,
snacks, drinks and all equipment will be provided, along with a free gift for children.
Those available to help are asked to meet at the Winding Mill South garages.