URA.Ivybridge Blog

AGM

2009-07-03T12:30:00.002+01:00

The URA's AGM will be held on Thursday 23rd July at 7pm
in the BridgeLink Centre. All residents are welcome.
Come along and chat to other committee members and maybe
join our committee yourself. Tea, Coffee and biscuits will
be available. Hope to see you there.

Hounslow Street Athletics

2009-07-03T11:28:00.003+01:00

The Hounslow Street Athletics will be held at Ivybridge on
Tuesday 14th July. between approx 2pm and 8pm. During this
time a section of Summerwood Road will be closed to traffic.
Also the H20 bus route will be diverted. See Hounslow Homes
leaflets to be distributed nearer the date.
Linford Christie and Darren Campbell (Olympic Sprint Gold
Medallists) are due to attend the event

Ivybridge Fun Day 2009

2009-07-03T11:14:00.003+01:00

The Ivybridge 2009 Fun Day will be held at the BridgeLink on Sunday 12th July - from
12 midday til 4pm. Come along and join in the fun. Be sure to visit the URA stall.
See posters for more information.

A busy week............

2009-06-22T12:39:00.003+01:00

Last week proved to be another busy week.
Finalising the new newsletter, getting it to the printers,
folding and this week will be busy distributing it to over
1000 households.
Also on Tuesday we had our monthly committee meeting and on
Wednesday a meeting with Fiona King Ivybridge Team Leader and Jen Emeny of Positive Futures regarding the coming Street Athletics to be held on Ivybridge. Further
details of this event to follow.

The Weekend

2009-06-15T12:00:00.003+01:00

Well, most of the weekend was spent preparing the latest newsletter. This should be distributed in about the next couple of weeks.
Also preperations for our next committee meeting in the week ahead took up the rest of my time.
Time now for a well deserved rest.

In Memory of Margaret Kelly.

2009-06-13T17:20:00.002+01:00

On Friday the 5th June I attended Mortlake Crematorium (as the Residents Association Representitive) the Funeral of Margaret Kelly of Thirlmere House. Margaret died soon after being the victim of a fire in her flat. Many friends and family attended.
Our thoughts are with her partner John whome she spent many years with.

Back at long last.

2009-06-13T16:40:00.003+01:00

Well here we are back at long last.
Since the begining of the year I have been busy attending many meetings on behalf of the residents of Ivybridge.
Among these are meetings with the RFU and the Police with regard to the closure of Summerwood Road on major event days other than to Ivybridge Resisdents.
Meetings with Hounslow Council regarding the proposed 20 mph Zone on Ivybridge which
has recieved funding to go ahead with.
Also Ron Robinson has been sorting the final steps for our bids for 2 refurbished play areas for our younger members of the estate. One with the Rainbow Project and the other the Big Lottery Grant.Both of which are in the final stage.
I also attended an open meeting arranged by Hounslow Homes/Hounslow Council at the Treaty Centre regarding Cllr. Andrews Project Empower which is another project in which the tenantswill decide what they would like to see the £2.7m spent on. £1.3m will be spent on Aids andadaptions. Making in total £4m.
Also at the latest Central Forum meeting funding was agreed for Lighting in the Doggy Park,3 new external Notice Boards for the URA to inform residents whats happening on the estatea drying room for the residents of the Langdale Centre and a new security fence around the grounds of the cresh at the Bridgelink.
We have also started the re-introduction of the Block representitive scheme. If you are interested in becoming a Block Rep. please contact the URA.
Well thats just a few of the many things we have been involved in during the past few months.

Sorry for not keeping this Blog up to date

2009-05-28T12:42:00.002+01:00

I am sorry that I have not made any entries of late on this blog.
I have had problems signing in, but have now I hope resolved the problems.
Will update shortly what has happened since last entry.

A Happy New Year

2009-01-01T17:53:00.002Z

May I take this opportunity to wish all Ivybridge residents and readers of this blog A very Happy New Year.

URA Open Meeting

2008-12-14T13:21:00.002Z

The URA will be holding an open meeting on 16th December at 7pm . Venue the BridgeLink Centre. All Ivybridge residents welcome. Refreshments provided.
We hope to have representitives of Hounslow Homes and Hounslow Council to answer your questions.

Experimental road closure on Rugby Days.

2008-11-09T12:35:00.003Z

The experimental road closure of Summerwood road on rugby days during November proved a success yesterday. There was no chauffeur driven cars on the estate or coaches parked up. However although we were assured that parking wardens would not be on the estate, they were.
We urge any residents that received parking tickets not to pay these straight away, but to appeal on grounds that wardens should not have been there. We hope to get this hitch resolved by the next match on 15th November. Watch this blog for latest updates.

Wednesdays Firework Display

2008-11-07T01:44:00.003Z

A number of residents complained to me that they missed the Firework display because they did not know it was being held on Wednesday. No advertising around the estate by the Bridgelink meant that only those who use the Bridgelink was aware it was on.
Apart from that the evening was a success for those who were present.

Fireworks at the Bridgelink

2008-11-02T21:48:00.003Z

The Bridgelink annual firework display will be held in the Bridgelink grounds on Wednesday 5th November from 7pm. The URA donated to the Bridgelink towards this event and donations from those attending the event will be welcome.

URA Newsletter

2008-11-01T13:19:00.004Z

During the past week I have been busy preparing the latest issue of the URA Newsletter.
This is now with the printers and should be printed and delivered to most of the households by next weekend.
Please take the time to read your newsletter which includes useful contact numbers and details of surgeries held on your estate.
It also includes latest updates of what is happening on your estate.
We should like to know what you would like to read about in your newsletter, if you have any ideas please leave a comment here.

Event Day Parking.

2008-10-22T18:58:00.008+01:00

Today I attended a meeting at the Rugby ground regarding illegal parking of taxis, limousines and coaches in summerwood road on Rugby days.
Also present was Nigel Cox from the RFU, Cllr Paul Fisher, Chris Smith - Richmond highways and transport, Fiona King of Hounslow Homes, Tina Howe ex URA chair and Simon Earle from Hounslow Police.
Thanks to negotiations on behalf of the URA and Ivybridge residents, Cllr Fisher was able to put into place an experimental scheme which involves restricting entry for vehicles to Summerwood road from both of its junctions with Mogden Lane unless gaining access to premises in Summerwood Road. Both entries will be manned by snt officers during Rugby events in November. The scheme would operate between 10am and 5.30pm and only residents with permits and genuine visitors would be able to gain entry.
This should mean no need for parking wardens on the estate to ticket residents.
I will let residents know more, nearer the time of the first match.
Depending on the experimental schemes success this may be put into place on a more permanent basis. Look out for posters and flyers for more info.

URA Committee meeting

2008-10-21T23:22:00.008+01:00

Tonight the URA held their monthly committee meeting which i attended as chair.
Jen from positive futures gave a presentation of what they were doing on ivybridge which was very interesting. I was very surprised at the number of Ivybridge youths involved in activities organised by them. To help them continue their work she asked that together with bridgelink and themselves we apply for another chunk of the Rainbow money, as some of their funding is about to end. Ron is meeting up with her to sort something out along these lines.
Although George and myself were not in favour, the committee decided to give the Bridgelink
£100 towards the Halloween Party, firework display, childrens xmas party and the senior citizens christmas lunch. The reason given was it was done in previous years. A decision to give a further £25 towards these events was deferred until the next meeting, after our treasurer Mary has had time to check our bank balance. I was under the impression that the Rugby Ground funded the senior citizens lunch, but was told only part of it.
Two Hounslow Homes officers invited to the meeting did not turn up. One stated that he could not make it and the other did not reply.
Arrangements were made for me to meet up with Fiona King tomorrow for a meeting at the Rugby Ground relating to traffic issues on rugby days. I will expand on this after the meeting.

It was decided that our next Open Meeting will be held on Tuesday 16th December at 7pm at the bridgelink. All residents of Ivybridge are welcome to attend.

Tower Block Lift Alarms

2008-10-18T20:56:00.000+01:00

Within 24hours of reporting to a Hounslow Homes Officer on Wednesday that the present arrangements in place, for residents stuck in a broken down lift was not satisfactory - a visitor to a block was stuck in a lift for over one hour.

The present system involves anyone stuck in a lift pressing the alarm button. This connects them to the HH's call centre where one is told you are waiting in a queue - once connected and your details taken the call centre calls the lift engineers. The engineers in this case took 1.1/2 hours to arrive and if someone had not phoned the Fire Brigade who was there in 10 mins the chap in question could have been stuck for much longer.

I tried phoning the call centre and received no reply. Also a call to Easdale House concierge was not answered as it was their lunch break.

However if you get stuck in the lift between 8pm - 8am first you are connected to the call centre where a recorded message tells you that the call centre is closed and will open between 8am - 8pm and to phone the out of hours number which of course you are unable to do. You are then told if you do not get a response to press the alarm again. This time you should be connected to the Lift contractor.

Both daytime and night time after this you are told that the number you have called is not recognised at which time the system then takes 15mins to reset - so if something goes wrong and your details are not recorded the first time you have to wait a further 15mins before you can begin the above procedures once more.

In the days prior to Hounslow Homes the council had these alarms directed to Link Line who immediately contacted not the lift engineers but the Fire Brigade. Anyone stuck in the lift was freed within 10 - 15 mins Linkline also talked anyone that appeared to panic through their ordeal until the Fire Brigade got there.

Firemen i spoke to at the scene agreed that they should be the ones called out in the first instant to release anyone. The lift engineers afterwards to fix the lift.

However Hounslow Homes for reasons beyond logical thinking do not agree with the alarm going to linkline and then the Fire Brigade. They would rather residents have to suffer this ordeal.

Hounslow Homes AGM

2008-10-12T19:45:00.000+01:00

On Thursday evening Hounslow Homes held their AGM .
I went along to see what they had to say and to sample the food they provided in the form of a buffet.
The food was excellent and in Hounslow Homes view the service they provide to tenants also excellent. I hope in the next few months to put them right on some matters, as i find it far from excellent.
Anyway the next few months is going to be a busy time for the URA trying to wade through some of HH's red tape.
May i remind tenants and leaseholders on Ivybridge that the URA is there for them, so please report to us any problems you have regarding repairs, caretaking, cleaners, concierge, communial lighting, neighbours and any other problems you may have that involves Hounslow Homes that you are not satisfied with. You can telephone/text us 24/7 on 07983772558. or email us at ura.ivybridge@yahoo.com
I should like to point out that as far as the estate management team headed by Fiona King as team leader is concerned they are most helpful and work closely with the URA to the best of their ability.

The Rainbow Project.

2008-10-04T22:56:00.000+01:00

Together with Tina Howe and Ron Robinson (URA Secretary) I went along to the Rainbow Project Launch Event, held at the Civic Centre on Wednesday 1st October. For those who do not
know what this is all about, Cllr. Phil Andrews and the LBH have released £1.5 million of reserve funding for community, enviromental and regeneration projects around the borough.
Residents associations have the chance to bid for part of this money for a project they are
keen to get underway for its residents. The event which marked the beginning of round 1 of the
application process prooved a great success with entertainment, demonstrations, refreshments and information stalls to answer any questions regarding the Rainbow Project.
Ron completed an expression of interest form in the hope that we may get a slice of this
money to carry out the long awaited refurbishment of the childrens play area near Easdale.
So lets hope our bid is successful.

A Great loss for Ivybridge.

2008-10-03T03:40:00.000+01:00

Tuesday 31st October saw the resignation of our previous Chair Tina.

Tina and Bryan are moving off the estate to pastures new. We would like to thank Tina for all the hard work and hours spent serving our community and we wish them all the best in their new home.

However, the new executive committee together with the full URA committee will continue to fight on behalf of the residents of Ivybridge with vigour and determination.

At an EGM to announce Tina's resignation, a vote was taken to elect

a new chair and subsequently a new vice chair. The revised executive committee is now as follows.

Chair: Tony Smith, Vice Chair: George Burrell, Secretary: Ron Robinson and the Treasurer is Mary Laidlaw.

Welcome to our blog

2008-10-03T02:36:00.000+01:00

Welcome to our blog.
Here you will find what we have been up to and what is happening within your residents association.