Moreton Hall October Issue

LOCAL NEWS

Moreton Hall News...

from Cllr Peter Thompson

Email: peter.thompson@stedsbc.gov.uk Mobile: 07810 868986

Chequered Flag for ASB? Our councillor time has been massively spent this year on handling anti-social behaviour in our lovely area. In recent weeks, my colleagues and I have been applying all of the pressure we can to our law enforcement agencies to deal with the problems of boy racers, air rifles, petty vandalism, smoke bombs and bird scarers upsetting our estate and specifically our more vulnerable residents. I have used the media to try and get more resource to deal with the problems, including newspapers and appearing on BBC Radio and I was pleased to see the Police specifically put officer time into the area this month. In one of my many communications with them they report that they have issued 7 orders this month and there has been one arrest, so let’s hope they are now being proactive. At the Council, we are helping them by implementing Public Spaces Protection Order, which is effectively a byelaw restricting the gathering of groups of vehicles and which will give the Police a tool with which they can more easily enforce the peace. I hope specifically the boy racer group will find somewhere to exercise their perfectly valid hobby without impact on the wider public and without the subsequent conflict. Whilst it isn’t a comfort, I should also stress that we live in wonderful area with a very low crime rate, however that doesn’t excuse stupid behaviour.

Trade Off Following some reports of door to door sales recently, I have acquired a small stash of double-sided window stickers from Trading Standards. I you’d like one, we have some in the Town Council offices on Angel Hill or drop me a line on my contact details on this page and I’ll drop one through your letterbox (I won’t knock!).

Happy Halloween

This month sees our little ones doing some trick or treating. Please stay safe and have fun!

Peter.thompson@stedsbc.gov.uk - 07810 868986 14 | OCTOBER 2018

LOCAL NEWS

from

Do you know who your local councillors are?

Moreton Hall Ward has 1 County Councillor on Suffolk County Council: Councillor Trevor Beckwith Moreton Hall Ward has 3 Borough Councillors on St Edmundsbury Borough Council: Councillor Trevor Beckwith, Councillor Pete Thompson, Councillor Frank Warby.

Moreton Hall Ward has three Town Councillors on Bury St Edmunds Town Council: Councillor Clive Springett Councillor Pete Thompson Councillor Patsy Warby Our Annual General Meeting is on Wednesday 21st November 7pm at the Community Centre.

We have had a response from Suffolk County Council to our complaint about traffic around Sainsburys roundabout and HGVS and Orttewell Road and have a meeting with Councillor Beckwith (Highways is a County Council responsibility) and the relevant council officers coming up shortly and will update in the next issue.

The Boundary Commission final report on the ward boundaries for the West Suffolk Council is due out on the

23rd October so we will know then whether the new houses will form part of Moreton hall Ward or remain in Rougham.

At our last committee meeting a plea was made for more waste bins as the existing ones are spread out and there are none down Skyliner Way. We are investigating with Councillors help.

We are investigating the possibility of setting up a community project to redecorate and refresh the underpass by the Coffee House “The Cove “. Any ideas would be welcomed.

Report issues of antisocial behaviour on line https://www.suffolk.police.uk/contactus/report-something/report-antisocial-behaviour You can also down load dash cam footage and send that through on line. https://www.suffolk.police.uk/contactus/report-something/dashboardcamera-report-form Robert Houlton-Hart Secretary MHRA E Mail secretarymhra@gmail.com Web https://moretonhallresidents. wordpress.com/ OCTOBER 2018 | 15

HEALTH & BEAUTY

WEST SUFFOLK HEALTH AWARENESS Imagine for a moment, how someone so defining in your life can be there one minute and gone the next. It’s the kind of thing we can all relate to when watching television drama’s but never think that it could happen to us in real life.

Dr John Cannon & myself, Ben Lord

5½ years ago, my Grandad collapsed at home.

Having been checked over by our GP in Ixworth, he came home and rested and within a short time, was back to his old self. Two months later, the same thing happened again and this time, after a short stay at the West Suffolk Hospital, he was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation (AF), an irregular heartbeat which meant he required medication for the rest of his life. Besides being medicated, he suffered no reoccurring symptoms and was soon back to leading an independent life of caring for my Nan whilst enjoying his weekly indulgence of carpet bowls. As his immediate family, we relied upon the fact he had been medicated following his diagnosis and had no real concept of what the ultimate worst-case scenario could be with this condition.

That was until one Sunday evening almost a year ago. Having drifted off to sleep in front of the television, Grandad suffered a massive 32 | OCTOBER 2018

stroke. He was rapidly responded to by a team of outstanding paramedics before being swiftly transferred to the West Suffolk. I was two hours away when I got the call and it kick-started a chain of events that will remain indelibly marked in my memory forever. The stroke was so dense that he lost all ability to speak and was paralysed down his right side.

He knew who we were but had no means of communicating to us at all. As he was treated by the amazing clinical staff that evening, whilst his condition was serious, any threat to his life had not even been considered let alone mentioned. However, upon leaving him in hospital at midnight that night, both my Mum and I knew that life was never going to be the same again. Just before 4am, the call any next-of-kin dreads came through. Grandad had suffered a cardiac arrest and despite every best effort to save him, he passed away. Whilst the death of a loved one is always a harrowingly traumatic life-changing experience, in our

FOOD & DRINK

s

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General Maintenance n With weeks of leaf fall to come use your mower to hoover up leaves from your lawn. The leaves make a great addition to your compost heap. n Take advantage of any dry days to paint fences, sheds etc with a preservative n Cover ponds with netting to keep out falling leaves. n Rough dig over vegetable patches and leave it in lumps or ridges to be broken down gradually by the winter frosts and rain. n Clean down garden furniture and store it for the winter or buy a furniture cover if it is to stay outside.

Flower Garden n Plant a layered bulb pot. Fill the base of a large pot with potting compost up to around 10 inches from the top. Put in daffodils and cover with compost. Then plant a layer of tulip bulbs and again cover with compost. Finally add a layer of crocus bulbs and fill to the top of your pot. Hopefully you should get a succession of colour firstly from the crocus followed by the daffodils and then the tulips. n Cut back all of the tall shrubs such as lavatera and buddleia.

Pauls

n Now is the time to take hardwood cuttings from buddleia, flowering currants and forsythia n Good time to plant bare root trees n Dahlias should be lifted at the end of the month. Cut down the stems to a few inches. Dig up the tubers and remove any loose soil and store upside down for a couple of weeks to dry. Remove more soil and store in dark cool frost free trays with a little dry compost if you wish. n Prune climbing roses n Clear any fallen rose leaves to prevent black spot from over wintering n Clear old leaves from hostas

Vegetable & Fruit Garden n Harvest any pumpkins and squashes before the first frost n Plant garlic n Lift any remaining potatoes before slug damage occurs n In the vegetable plot you can now plant spring cabbage and overwintering onion sets. n Plant new fruit trees and bushes.

Choose ‘bare root’ plants, they usually cost less than pot grown ones.

GARDEN SERVICES

n Good time to divide your rhubarb crowns n Continue to harvest your apples and pears

Lawn Maintenance n By the end of the month you will probably have given your lawn its final cut of the year.

After this it is a good time to give the grass a good scarifying with a lawn rake to pull out dead grass and moss.

This months poem...

“The harvest moon hangs round and high It dodges clouds high in the sky, The stars wink down their love and mirth The Autumn season is giving birth.

Oh, it must be October The leaves of red bright gold and brown, To Mother Earth come tumbling down, The breezy nights the ghostly sights, The eerie spooky far off sounds Are signs that it’s October.

The pumpkins yellow, big and round Are carried by costumed clumsy clowns It’s Halloween - let’s celebrate.”

- Pearl N. Sorrels, It Must be October

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OCTOBER 2018 | 63