MARCH 2013 BOWTHORPE Mr Fox Often seen exiting the fields and setting off for an exploration of the local houses. The great white egret Over the last few weeks a number of sightings have been made here of the rare UK-visiting Great White Egret. This is a large bird, the size of the familiar grey heron, but completely white with a big yellow beak. Only a handful are estimated to be in the UK at any one time. The bird was seen by the River Yare close to the bridge. Otters An otter was spotted a month or so back running across the iced up ponds. 2 More local wildlife on p.23. Contact [email protected] 9 3 1 4 Bowthorpe This is a building Conservation conservation area. Building conservation is Area hatched often confused with wildlife conservation. A conservation area designation does not mean that wildlife is protected, although by helping to preserve areas of landscaping and trees, wildlife may benefit. ! UPDATE ! ARTWORK PROJECT ON THE HISTORY AND CHARACTER OF BOWTHORPE CONSERVATION AREA An appraisal of the Conservation Area will take place in June as part of Norwich City Council’s public consultation exercise. The competition to capture some- thing of the area’s character is open to all ages and the time limit has been extended until the end of April. There are four categories: +History +Natural Landscape +Topography/ Urban Design and Streetscape, +Architecture Winners will be selected in terms of how best the art reflects that particular aspect of the character of the conservation area—this could be abstract and not literal. It will be chosen on what encapsulates the most information and generates the most 'thought'. Entries can include *Drawing/painting/photography *Sculpture/diorama/models *Poetry/craft An overall winner will see their entry feature alongside the Appraisal Introduction, and a number of other entries will be selected for display. Please send all entries via Editor 2a Saint Michaels Cottages, Bowthorpe Hall Rd.Norwich NR5 9AA 2 COUNCILLORS REPORT I hope by now many of you have Switched and Saved. The Norwich Switch and Save scheme is a City Council initiative . It is a collective switching scheme which negotiates a better deal for households who register to save money on their fuel. The Norwich City Council works with a partner organisation which participates in a one day auction where energy companies bid for business. The first tranche of the scheme ran from last October to December and many of those who signed up made significant savings. Dual fuel online customers saved on average £176 per year and electricity online customers saved on average £165 per year. Those with paper billing on dual fuel made average savings of £156 per year and electricity customers saved on average £182 per year. It is free and with no obligation. All that is needed to register is name, address and information from a recent energy bill to show usage. Although those with prepay meters did not benefit from any offers last time, we are hoping that by joining up with other authorities in this process, this group will also be helped this time. Registration can be done online at www.Norwichbigswitchandsave.co.uk. There is a freephone number to help you, 0800 098 8994. If you do not have access to a computer you can ring the City Council on 0344 980 3333. There are also a number of events where you can go to register. Two of these are in the library at the Forum on Saturday 16th March between 10.00AM and 5.00PM and on Sunday 17th March between 10.00AM and 4.00PM . There is also a chance to register on Saturday 23rd March opposite the information desk on level two in The Mall . Just remember to take a recent energy bill. The energy auction should take place on April 9th. Happy switching ! Cllr Jo Storie, e-mail: [email protected] 3 NOTICE BOARD Interested in Drawing and Painting Like me are you interested in Drawing or Painting for your own pleasure? Like to meet like minded people? Then this maybe is for you. I am trying to start an Informal Art Club in the Bowthorpe/Costessey area. If you are interested contact John, Email [email protected] Mobile 07769511855 Tel. 01603 477456 Lost Property Please can the owner of the dog waste deposits that have recently been left behind on the grass verges near the Heritage Community Garden come back and collect them as soon as possible. Thank you. (A nearby resident.) Bowthorpe WI started the new year with a challenge - to make a decorative paper gift bag. For some the challenge was greater than for others, but we all succeeded to a greater or lesser extent! In February we were given helpful advice on how to recognise when we are feeling stressed and how to help ourselves at that time. In March we are going to have a talk from Susan Lee who has worked with the poor in Calcutta for many years. She will tell us about her many & varied experiences. Wild Life in a Norfolk Garden is the subject for our speaker in April. The WI welcomes new members so if you are interested why don't you come along? You can be assured of a warm welcome! We meet on the first Monday of the month at 7.30 at the Chapel Break Hall. Jenny For more information contact Sue 746650 4 NORFOLK AT THE PICTURES Do you remember the days before the multi-screen cinemas we have today? We used to call it ‘going to the pictures’ and that is what the Lottery Funded project organised by CinemaPlus in Norwich called “Norfolk at the Pictures” is all about. Norwich had a number of ‘picture houses’ right from the early days of the silent cinema. Some of them were very grand, and some less so. Names like The Electric Theatre, Mayfair, Gaumont and Hippodrome have all gone, killed off largely by the rise in popularity of television. Many people speak fondly of the original Odeon which, with a capacity of 2054, was one of the largest cinemas outside London. Going to see the latest film was quite an event. People would queue around the block for the presentations. Inside the grand auditoriums, often decorated in palatial style, patrons would be fortified by cartons of Kia Ora and a choc ice. Film programmes included a newsreel and a second feature, and all for 1/9d! Do you recall the Saturday morning cinema clubs which were noisy affairs where children could follow the serialised adventures of Flash Gordon and Roy Rogers? If you visit the project website http://norfolkatthepictures.org.uk you will find photographs and a comprehensive map, together with information about upcoming events. Later this year there will be an event to revive the cinema experience of days gone by. If you, or any family members, have any memories you would be prepared to share as a ‘cinema goer’, or perhaps a member of cinema staff, we would be pleased to hear from you. Your memories will be recorded and be availa- ble to share with present and future generations. In 2014 a permanent exhi- bition is planned in a space at Cinema City. For that we would also like to see any memorabilia you might have, tickets, photos or posters etc. Please contact Marc Atkinson at Cinema City, or by email: [email protected]. Mike Hutchinson 5 Bowthorpe Police Station Norfolk Constabulary Wendene Norwich NR5 9HA non emergency Tel: 101 [email protected] [email protected] The Bowthorpe Neighbourhood Policing Team would like to extend an invitation to everyone. Over the next few months we will be holding a series of street briefings where we would like to hear your views on what our priorities should be. On the 13th April we will be in the Wendene Shopping Centre between 2.30pm and 4.30pm. Further dates can be found on our Constabulary website where you can look at the latest news in the community. Please come along and tell us what you think we should be doing to further help the neighbourhood. So what have we been doing? The last month has been a flurry of activity. I have listened to reports of anti-social behaviour on the estate. I have tailored patrols to ensure officer presence at the appropriate place at the appropriate time. And I have worked with local residents to ensure longer term resolutions of the reported problems. Three teenagers were identified as having thrown stones at vehicles and houses over a period of time. A man has been charged to court for breaking in to sheds and causing criminal damage to a vehicle on Peverell Road. And two people were identified for possessing controlled drugs near to Humbleyard. We have been able to achieve these results because of support given by you. Please continue to tell me of any concerns or information that you have on the estate. I have also led recent operations to identify unsafe or illegal vehicles on our roads. On the weekend of 16th Feb I worked with colleagues from Customs, Road Policing and the Vehicle and Operators Service Agency. Prohibition notices were issued to five un-roadworthy vehicles stopped on Dereham Road including endorsable penalty notices for a range of offences. With the pro-active unit from Customs I attended three addresses suspected of running vehicles on red diesel. Should your vehicle be untaxed, not fit for the road or running on illegal fuel, please be aware that this operation was a success and it will be repeated.