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YACWAG announce a new nature reserve in Congresbury

Yatton and Congresbury Wildlife Action Group are creating a new reserve in Congresbury. ‘Cobthorn Reserve’ is at the end of Cobthorn Way, bordering the new Furnace Way housing development.

Planning permission for Furnace Way was granted by North Somerset Council (NSC) with a proviso that an area of the procured land was set aside for the benefit of Greater Horseshoe Bats – a protected species that use this land for foraging. The area is only small part of the original habitat available to the bats in this location – much has been lost to the housing and its associated amenity area.

The original developers, Sunley, did not want to undertake the maintenance of this mitigation area which would involve planned grazing and careful management. NSC suggested they contact YACWAG to see if they would be interested in taking over the land in perpetuity for the benefit of bats. Following discussions between Sunley, NSC and YACWAG an outline agreement was reached. Sunley subsequently passed the development over to Strongvox, who continued with the agreement and YACWAG are hoping that the legal transfer of the land will happen later this summer.

With the support and help of Strongvox, the reserve is being adapted ahead of the legal transfer. Separate sections have been fenced off to allow for flexible grazing by cattle and sheep and new hedgerows have been planted. Further hedgerow and larger tree planting is planned, which will help transform the reserve. Information lecterns will be installed within the next couple of weeks and it is hoped Dexter cows will soon be grazing there.

For more information about the bats, a plan of the site location and how to contact YACWAG if you would like to help with the project, click here.

Charities, Environment & Public Safety, Local News, Noticeboard, Strongvox, Sunley, Uncategorized

Singers return – please note the change of venue

Congresbury Singers will be meeting again, with a new Musical Director, Graham Coatman, on Tuesday 7th September 2021 at 8pm. We have had to change our venue – due to Covid rules & our choir insurance – to St Andrews Church Congresbury. We would be pleased to welcome new members.  The choir is a friendly group, no audition required. For more information contact Carol Bacon on 07803 040175

Entertainment, Noticeboard

Bluey is back!

BLUEY  free shopping trips 

  Every  Tuesday in the month

  Re-starting Tuesday 20th July

Also re-starting: “Lunch Club” Thursday 5thAugust (Pick up’s from home address)

To book a seat or for information please ring 01934 257247 or email: bookingmanagerbluey@gmail.com

(leave a message if no reply, we will get back to you)

Congresbury Community Transport – here for you!

Local News, Noticeboard, Uncategorized

Job vacancies at St Andrew’s school

Would you like to join the fantastic St Andrew’s crew? We are currently recruiting for two Learning Support Assistants to join our friendly team in the new academic year. Please see full details on our website via the link below:https://www.standrewscongresbury.co.uk/job-vacancies/

Job Vacancies | St Andrew’s Primary School Welcome to our Job Vacancies page. Applications must be made via the relevant application form listed below. CVs are not accepted. Once complete, applications should be emailed to office@standrewsprimary.org.uk marked for the attention of Mrs J Beavan. www.standrewscongresbury.co.uk
Noticeboard

Country market needs honey supplier

Wrington Country Market is looking for a honey supplier. The market operates Fridays 9.30-11.00 at the Memorial Hall, Wrington. Baked goods, preserves, Cheddar strawberries, veg, flowers, plants and craft are for sale and there is good parking. The organisers say they cannot offer refreshments at the moment as they are not allowed to use the kitchen. 

Noticeboard

Bluey AGM

The Annual General Meeting of Bluey – Congresbury Community Transport – will be held at Congresbury Methodist Hall, on Monday 2nd August at 7.00pm.  After the formal meeting, there will be an opportunity to hear more about the work of CCT, to discuss and ask questions as appropriate. Tea and coffee will be served at the end of the meeting.

Bluey-AGM_Aug-2021

Noticeboard

Warning on gov.uk scam email

A new scam email claiming to come from gov.uk has been reported. It advises that a number of National Insurance numbers have been disabled following reports of fraudulent activity. The email states that if you are the recipient of such an email then your NIN, as they state, has been disabled and you must reactivate on the Red (Start Now) button shown on the attached document. 

If you receive one of these emails, please do not follow the instructions and do not click on the red (Start Now) button, simply delete it immediately. 

Please click on this link to familiarise yourself with the scam.

Noticeboard, Uncategorized

Refill shop offers plastic-free alternative

Welcome to Re:Store Congresbury! Based in Congars Cafe, we’re open Thursday, Friday (08:40-16:00) and Saturday (09:00-16:00) and are stocked to the rafters with everything for your sustainable shopping needs. We have a wide range of refill foods across cereals, pasta, rices, pulses, flours, sugars, herbs, spices, sweet treats, oils, teas and much more. Plus eco-friendly and refillable household cleaning products and lots of plastic-free toiletries, handmade gifts, locally made skincare and lots more!

You can bring your own containers or we supply in paper bags. And the best bit is you can buy as little or as much as you need 👍 You can shop in-store or online at www.restorecongresbury.co.uk

Business & Services, Noticeboard

Vistry visionaries?

CRAG’s John Mills sends us the action group’s latest thoughts:

“More signs of peripheral activity at the Wrington Lane site, recently transferred from Bovis Homes to Vistry Group.

“A CRAG informant spotted two Bovis men on the field with a clip board and when asked what they were doing replied: “Just having a look.”

“As Bovis has had several years in which the whole company could have visited the site, it is reasonable to think that they were doing more than just having a look. In the absence of concrete information, we are free to speculate.

“Maybe it was a couple of managers saying a fond farewell to the site that had now passed to Vistry? Much more likely, the new owners had discovered The Mound.

“Some objectors had already indicated that to squeeze 50 houses onto the site, developers would have to build on Mansbury Mound, a limestone outcrop that dominates the centre of the site.

“The historical significance of the Mound was referenced on this page several weeks ago, along with a question of how they might remove the outcrop whilst maintaining Vistry Group values of ‘integrity, caring and quality.’

“And in their latest Design Compliance Statement, Vistry states that one of the opportunities of the development is “to retain and enhance existing landscape features……within the site, where possible.“

“With those reassuring words, the good citizens of Congresbury should be able to look forward to Mansbury Mound surviving for another few hundred years . . .”

Housing Proposals, Noticeboard, Planning

Congresbury Village Hall Ltd

The following statement was issued today (April 30th) by Ian Sheppard on behalf of the Congresbury new village hall project team.

“Since we announced the project for a new village hall would not be proceeding we have been taking a break after the years of effort spent on trying to progress the project. Additionally I have moved house, into an old cottage which is taking up a lot of my time. 

“Over the next few months we will be liaising with the relevant authorities to look at:

·        The legal structure for the community café and 

·        Possible options for the remaining funds that have been raised. Approximately £25,000 was allocated to the new building and the rest approximately £4,000 is ring fenced for the community café.

“If Congresbury Village Hall Ltd (a community benefit society) has to be dissolved the society’s rules state funds can only be transferred to another charitable body or charitable bodies having objectives similar to or compatible with those of Congresbury Village Hall Limited. 

“Whilst any decision on the use of the funds would be the responsibility of the society’s members we will ask our volunteers for their views as without them we would not have been able to raise the funds.”

Noticeboard, Village Hall

Warning on new text message scam

Avon & Somerset police have issued a warning over a new text message scam called Flubot. This is a malicious piece of spyware that is installed on Android devices once you receive a text message asking you to install a Tracking App due to a ‘missed package delivery’. The ‘Tracking App’ will actually steal passwords and other sensitive data, while sending messages to your contacts to do the same.

The text message asks the user to click on a link (PLEASE DON’T), doing so will take you to a website where you will be prompted to download the App (DEFINITELY DON’T).

Please forward any scam messages to 7726 (SPAM on your keypad), which is a free reporting service.

Although this scam only appears on Android phones at the moment, Apple IOS users should remain alert as this could apply to these handsets at some point.

Please see the link below for information on the National Cyber Security Website.

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/flubot-guidance-for-text-message-scam

Noticeboard

Brilliant Birds of Yatton and Congresbury

Trevor Riddle is a YACWAG member and keen bird enthusiast. He has written this illustrated book of over 80 birds that you can expect to see or hear in Yatton and Congresbury, and where to go to see them.

Click here for an example of it’s contents.

The cost is just £5 (cheques payable to T. Riddle or cash please), with all profits going to YACWAG, and obtainable from the following, or delivered locally:

Congresbury – Sue & Graham Lovesey (Tel 838916)

Yatton – Yatton Post Office, Yatton News or from Trevor (Tel 835208)

Noticeboard

Youth Partnership plans for post-lockdown future

Congresbury Youth Partnership are gearing up for a post-lockdown summer and looking forward to welcoming old and new members aged 8 – 14 back to our base at Congresbury Youth Club next to the ball court and the river, writes Alex Ballard. 

We have a pool table, table tennis table, games consoles, Raspberry Pi’s and computers, and access to the adjacent ball court for games and the mobile skateboard ramps and jumps.

We have a couple of part-time youth workers, but the majority of our activities are supported by adult volunteers.  Covid has rather knocked the stuffing out of many of our 70+ year-old longstanding volunteers, who don’t feel confident to come back, at least for the moment. 

Some of us have been doing it for close on 18 years, and maybe don’t feel it’s our job any more anyway . I would hate to see things close down, but we’ve reached a point where some younger ones do have to step up. Are you reassessing your work opportunities and patterns post Covid, and thinking you could find time for us? 

There are loads of fun things for you to do and share with young people including after school sessions, a Code Club, plus weekend and school holiday activities.   Contact Alex on 07894338995 for more information and to let me know how you could help us.

Children's & Youth's Services, Noticeboard

Your views wanted on Churchill Sports Centre

As many of you may know our nearest sports centre at Churchill Academy has closed and is not set to reopen. A group called Mendip Villages Fitness has been formed to try to look at options for the Centre and is in discussions with North Somerset council to try to find a way forward. 
As part of our plans for opening a revitalised and much-needed sports facility on the site, we are sending out a survey to gauge opinions on the closure and asking local communities what they would like to see provided if and when the sports centre reopens. 

News-Release-Final-Mendip-Villages-Fitness

If you want to take the survey click on this link

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MendipVillagesFitness

Or use the attached PDF

CSC-Survey-Hard-copy

Health & Fitness, Noticeboard