Loose
Leaves
The
newsletter of Loose Amenities Association
September
2009
We
start off this newsletter by thanking everyone for their continued support.
Without the army of volunteers we wouldn't be able to stage events that
Loose residents enjoy so much. This year's events so far have been a great
success. The Easter Egg hunt enjoyed many participants eagerly hunting
for their chocolate eggs. The Duck Race saw more ducks than ever floating
their way down the stream. So thank you to all those that came along to
support the events, to those who sponsored events, and those that gave
help along the way, however large or small the contribution.
CHAIRMAN
Many changes have happened within the Association during the last few
months. Roy Hood will officially retire as Chairman at our Annual General
Meeting in October. His valuable contribution to the charity in regard
to the amount of hours he has volunteered over a long span of years, and
his expertise in his knowledge of the Loose Valley area is very unlikely
to be matched by anyone now, or in the future. We greatly appreciate his
efforts and recognise him also for being a founding member of LAA way
back in the 1950's.
COMMITTEE
& NEW PRESIDENT
We are delighted to announce that Rita Hood is to be our President from
the AGM. We would like to give many thanks to Elly Nelson for having been
our President for the previous few years. Elly isn't leaving us, as she
is to become a committee member of the LAA. We would also like to give
our thanks to David Scrivener who has been our Treasurer for a number
of years now, but due to much more demanding work commitments is to step
down at the AGM. David will still be seen around at events and is still
committed to the LAA successfully moving forward. He has done an amazing
amount of work both as Treasurer and with our footpath project and will
be greatly missed.
We
have had some past members of the committee rejoin us along with some
new faces. Thank you all for your support and for volunteering your valuable
time. If anyone else would like to join us on the committee, we would
be glad to welcome you along. We meet just once a month. There is no pressure
to undertake any job or to be at a specific event. We are a friendly team
who have one thing in common - a desire to keep Loose a beautiful place
to live, with events that bring our community together.
The new committee will be duly elected at the AGM.
The
official address for the Loose Amenities Association Charity and any correspondence
is now:-
4 Walnut Tree Avenue, Loose, Maidstone, Kent. ME15 9RN
We
are contactable by email at:
LooseAmenities@aol.com.
It
is hoped to get a new website up and running during next year, in order
that residents can keep up to date with our news and events.
EVENTS
The main project the committee has currently running is the Footpath,
for which we were granted £57,000 from the Lottery Fund run by Meridian
Television. The Countryside Act allows us to continue with the work already
commenced at the start of the year, in compliance with the planning permission
we received from Maidstone Borough Council.
A project manager has been appointed to oversee all the works being carried
out in conjunction with this undertaking.
A new gas pipe will be laid by Transco to one side of the route of the
footpath. This work is scheduled by the gas company to take approximately
six weeks at considerable cost to them. The old pipe has so many leaks
along it that we are sure residents, along with the committee members
will feel this will be of considerable relief to finally, after so many
years, have this sorted out, if only from a safety point of view.
We aim to open up the valley with the removal of some of the trees and
scrub, allowing more light in to enable the flora and fauna that once
frequented the lime stone meadow, to again establish them, along with
some new species. We have to keep in mind the effects of global warming
as we go through the next years in a bid to protect the species of wildlife
and plants that we have in our area. By opening up the space in the valley
we make it a lot easier also for the management and care of the land,
which in turn means we preserve it for future generations to enjoy.
We have appointed a project manager, Terry Davis, to oversee the new footpath
work. He resides in the village and has vast knowledge and expertise in
this field of work, which is of great value to everyone connected to this
work being undertaken.
This project is large and time consuming for those volunteers involved.
Changes within the Committee means that due to the amount of work Roy
Hood used to contribute, that it is with
regret that we will not be able to carry out some of the events towards
the end of this year.
The firework display on 5th November this year unfortunately will not
be going ahead. Strict health and safety regulations covering ages of
firework lighters, along with the training courses for those involved
in storing and lighting fireworks, means that we simply do not have the
qualified people or the manpower this year to do the display.
We
apologise to the senior citizens of Loose that we will have to postpone
the OAP's party. This will be re-scheduled to be held at a later date
in the New Year.
COWS
The nine cattle grazing in the valley are reaching 30 months old and are
due to leave us very shortly The first three will leave in November and
then the others in Feb/March 2010.
Boxes of mixed meat, joints, steaks, mince etc will be available to purchase.
The boxes weigh approximately 15 to 17 kilograms and prices vary to over
£100 per box.
Anyone interested in buying a box may contact Rita Hood on 01622 743126.
Members will have priority.This was extremely popular last time the meat
became available so please do not wait to place your orders. The beef
must be collected on the day specified to you as we cannot hang on to
orders for customers.
With the new footpath project being undertaken to provide a beautiful
safe area for walkers to experience, we aren't going to buy replacement
cows in the foreseeable future.
The cows did a great job in keeping the grass down in the fields where
mowing by tractor was almost impossible. Great thanks go to the amazing
dedication of Roy Hood in making sure the cows were always well cared
for. I'm sure you will agree that hardly any of us, especially people
of his advanced years, would trek across fields with bales of straw, especially
in all the snow we had during last winter, to feed cows and check on their
wellbeing four times a day. He personally undertook all their vaccinations
to keep them happy healthy cows.
CAROLS
AROUND THE TREE
We are delighted to say that the Carols around the Tree on Thursday 17th
December 2009 will still go ahead. The Christmas Tree has in recent years
stood in Mr & Mrs Dawes garden and has been admired by so many villagers,
who delighted in the magical feeling that lights on a Christmas tree give
during the dark, cold winter nights. Sadly Ted Dawes passed away this
year, so the Carols will be sung around the tree as a memorial to Ted.
Come along and sing carols whilst enjoying minced pies and hot punch.
CHRISTMAS
TREE ERECTING HELP PLEASE!!
If any resident has the knowledge or skill, or knows someone else that
would be willing to undertake erecting a Christmas tree for us this year,
we would be extremely grateful for the help. We have a 25/30ft tree that
will be cut down on our land and used. We just need someone to erect it
for us.
WORKING
PARTIES
In the very near future we will start to put together working parties.
If you wish to volunteer a few hours of your valuable time to help us
with projects that require attention in the area around us, then we would
like to hear from you. We will need people to erect the Christmas tree,
repair the shed, clear the footpaths, cut the grass and many many other
jobs. If you're interested please phone Andrea on 01622 749954 or email
us at LooseAmenities@aol.com
MEMBERSHIP FORM
There is a membership form for Loose Amenities Association on the back
of this newsletter. Please lend your support to us if possible. We are
a registered charity and all funds raised are used to make Loose a beautiful
place for everyone. All the members of the committee are volunteers and
take no remuneration for the work they undertake.
OUR
PLANS
We would like to see the footpath project completed and enjoyed by all
by the Summer of 2010. The annual events that residents have come to enjoy
will be undertaken once we can provide manpower and the hours needed to
give them our full attention. Our aim is to make LAA more involved and
open within the local community. We have a new committee with fresh ideas
and a willingness to give of their own time to see events come to fruition.
So please try to support us where possible. If you have ideas or concerns
then please let us know and we will try our best to work through them
with you.
ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
Is to be held at the Pavilion at King George V Playing Field, Walnut Tree
Lane, Loose on Wednesday 14th October 2009 at 8.00pm. Tea and Coffee will
be served.
All residents of Loose are invited to attend and we look forward to seeing
you there.
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