Improving Debdale Pond

Not sure I intended to be so 'hands on' but I really enjoyed it!

An exciting update for you.

Just over a year ago I wrote a blog entitled 'Watch These Spaces'. In the blog, I talked about the pond at Debdale in Orton Waterville and the parish council's plans to return it to a better state for the benefit of local wildlife.

This is how the pond looked then, in August 2016...

Fast forward to August 2017 and work has begun.

On the Sunday of the August bank holiday, I joined members of Peterborough Conservation Volunteers as they raked out the pond and cleared the scrub, using pieces of wood that might otherwise be discarded to reinforce the boundaries around this important site.

It was a very hot day and it was very hot work. Those of us working raking out the pond were given very long rakes and the conditions we very stinky and very muddy. I joked about falling over... and then slipped over, but no one avoided a good coating in mud.

Whatever your ability you can have a go!
I did my best and like to think I made a modest difference.

Roger Proudfoot, Orton Waterville Parish Councillor and
joint coordinator (with me!) of Peterborough Green Party

Inevitably I slipped over. Sadly no one filmed it - I might have raised £250 from You've Been Framed.

Posted by Julie Howell on Sunday, 27 August 2017

Making progress

The pond is a former agricultural pond. Most of Waterville parish was farmland a century ago. Peterborough Conservation volunteers told me that when working on the pond in the past they had retrieved a number of old cattle bones from it. We retrieved an animal bone on this occasion too, although it is more likely that this one was thrown into the pond by someone who had just eaten takeaway food.

At the start of the day the pond looked like this. The pond has good tree cover which means many dead branches had either fallen or been thrown into it. There was also a fair amount of rubbish in the pond, hurled in by passing humans.

Hard at work to clear the pond of branches and debris.

At the end of the day the pond looked like this! All of the harmful and potentially harmful debris has been removed and the pond is now a safer and more suitable environment for local wildlife, including great crested newts.

Wow. What a difference.

Fallen branches are used to make 'dead hedges' to improve protection of the site.

Peterborough Conservation Volunteers

They even make the tea!

PCV is a local nature conservation group who help manage wildlife sites in and around Peterborough. They meet every Sunday to carry our many varied activities. They practice traditional skills and over a period of time you will find yourself helping them with coppicing, hedge laying, fencing and dry stone walling. Over the years they have formed close working links with the local Wildlife Trust, Natural England, The Woodland Trust and the local council. Much of their work is closely linked with the protection of locally or nationally rare species.

To find out more, visit Peterborough Conservation Volunteers.


Get involved

The next pond clearance will be on Sunday 22nd October 2017 from 10am. This time, Cherry Orton Pond at the top of Cherry Orton Road will be getting attention. Residents are very welcome to come along. You can watch or you can get directly involved - just be sure to wear appropriate clothing for getting wet and dirty.

Don't worry that you don't have much ability when it comes to this kind of work. I have multiple sclerosis and another condition known as sjogrens syndrome (tennis player Venus Williams also has this one) that mean I have pain in my shoulders and very little upper body strength - although I have very strong legs as I walk everywhere! I generally feel a bit left out from physical activity, but the PCV volunteers made everyone feel very welcome and stressed that we could all so as much or as little as we wanted to do.

Although I really enjoyed raking the pond it made me tired very quickly, so I switched to clearing the forest path for a while. I am very proud to say that I cleared the little stretch of path that you see in this picture.

I cleared this section of path ALL ON MY OWN. Very proud. 

So don't be put off by lack of ability. Most of the volunteers are aged 50+ and it's your willingness to improve your local area that counts. If you can't join in as fully as you'd like to, that is no problem as the team is clearly very pleased that local people show an interest in conserving their local nature reserves.

FACT: The 'proper' name for Cherry Orton Pond is 'Top Town Pond'. Cherry Orton Road only got its name in 1950. Before this, the road leading up through Orton Waterville village was known as Town Street, although it seems local people tended to refer to it is 'the village road'. I'm told that some residents of Orton Goldhay know the pond as 'Black Pond' but no one seems to know how this name came into use. If you have any ideas, please let me know!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: I’m in Debdale pond in Orton Waterville this morning with some volunteers and people from the Wildlife Trusts to clear out this pond because there’s a lovely pond here that could be made into a feature for residents to enjoy to an extent but most importantly it’s a nature pond and we have great crested newts here. So I’m doing really sweaty work clearing out the pond. I’ve got my welly boots on even though it’s August. I’ll show you what we’re doing here. So I’ve got this great long rake to rake the muck out and we’re just removing branches, you see the branches, well some have fallen from the trees but a lot have been chucked in by human beings. We’re also clearing the paths around here so that people can easily get through to here so they can enjoy what nature provides. But we’re not turning it into a municipal type of pond. If you look up you’ll see there’s not an awful lot of daylight comes through because of the tree cover. There’s quite a lot of us here today. It’s lovely. It’s really hot actually. Sunday morning. Something I can’t get across to you. I’m using this rake in order to pull out all of the debris that’s in the pond. But it stinks. My goodness, does it stink. So it’s not the most pleasant. But it’s really, really worthwhile so I’m very pleased to do this. And it’s great to be out on a Sunday morning. It’s fantastic.

Farewell Waterville Ash

Waterville Ash Tree.
How we'll all miss it when it's gone.

UPDATE Tuesday 1st May 2018

The end. The last of the ash tree was carefully and skilfully removed by the city council contractors today. Just look at the girth of that trunk. A young oak tree has been planted next to it which will watch over the people of Waterville for centuries to come.

UPDATE Friday 1st December 2017

I appeared live on BBC Radio Cambs at the foot of the tree (at 7am!) to talk about why trees like the Waterville Ash are so important for Peterborough.





UPDATE Wednesday 11th October 2017

Some wonderful news and some sad news.

Let's deal with the sad news first. The branches have now been removed from the tree and it now looks like this. The gloomy sky says it all.

It's very hard to look at this without feeling emotional.

And now for the wonderful news.

Peterborough Green Party Chairman Roger Proudfoot's photograph has won the Peterborough Environment City Trust's (PECT) 'iconic trees' photography competition. Roger's wonderful photograph of the tree in all its magnificence will be framed and placed somewhere for the public to enjoy for years to come.

Award-winning photo by Roger Proudfoot

UPDATE Monday 9th October 2017

The tree will be felled today. The city council and the parish council acknowledge how much this iconic tree means to local people. After 4:30pm today (NO EARLIER) residents are welcome to visit the site to collect a piece of felled wood as a memento of this historic tree. Only the crown (the branches) will be removed. The trunk will be left as a monolith while the parish council decides what to do with is after consultation with local residents.

I nipped down there earlier and collected a piece of a branch that was taken down today.

I counted roughly 110 rings.

If the branch is 110 years old the whole tree must be at least 300 years old.

Residents are welcome to visit the site after 4:30pm daily and take a piece of wood away as a souvenir. 

It's something of an icon in Orton Waterville. So we were all really sad to be told that our beautiful, cherished ash tree, that is somewhere in the region of 300-650 years old, is due to be felled. Not only is the tree old, it has become diseased, and its close proximity to traffic on the corner of Oundle Road and Cherry Orton Road means it cannot be left to stand where it poses a risk to human life.

Everyone who lives in or passes through Orton Waterville will be familiar with this tree. Residents born here have known it all their lives, as did generations before them. It's possible the tree was here when Henry VIII was a lad.

The fungus that has destroyed the ash is plain for all to see.

Having listened very carefully to the opinion of Peterborough City Council's Tree Officer we understand that the tree is now in its last days and that nothing can be done to reverse its decline. Rotten branches could fall at any time, while the fungus at the tree's roots has caused enormous damage to its structure.

On Wednesday 23rd August 2017, a group of Peterborough Green Party members, parish councillors and local residents gathered to say farewell to this mighty ash tree.

Farewell Waterville Ash
Posted by Julie Howell on Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Like many of you, while we accept that the tree will be taken down, we are concerned that the wood is used in a way that benefits the local community and we also hope that a suitable, mature tree is planted in its place.

If you would like to add your voice to ours, let the city council know what you would like to happen to the wood (note that ash isn't suitable for outdoor furniture) by contacting the council at treespeterborough@amey.co.uk or call 01733 425 425.

Video transcript: Julie Howell: We're at the site of a beautiful tree in Orton Waterville in Peterborough with members of Peterborough Green Party and also other parish councillors and friends who love this tree. The reason we’re here is to support the Woodland Trust which has a fundraising initiative called Invite a Tree to Tea and it was very obvious to us which tree to choose because this beautiful ash tree in Orton Waterville is much loved and sadly it’s come to the end of its life. So we gather here today to celebrate it. We accept that it has to go but it’s a good opportunity to talk about the tree. If I just give you a glimpse of the tree you'll see it’s an absolute beauty. As you can see there are birds up in the tree. As you can also see it’s near a very busy main road which is one of the reasons why it’s deemed a problem now that it’s in trouble. It’s one of those things, isn’t it… it wouldn’t be the cultural icon that it is if it was in the middle of nowhere but because it’s by a road it poses dangers now that it’s in trouble. Local people were meant to be alerted to the problem by this tiny little sign that no one could read so now this new sign has been put up to warn everyone that the tree’s removal is imminent. I’m going to have a chat with a few people about what’s happening with the tree and what it means to them. Peterborough has ambitions to be an ‘environmental city’ and the Peterborough Environmental City Trust (PECT) has planted a ‘Forest of Peterborough’ and is just about to plant its 100,000^th tree in Peterborough and is asking for photos of iconic trees. What a shame this is one that is about to go. Local residents I’ve spoken to are concerned that it’s replaced with something just as iconic and beautiful. So now it’s come to the end of its life I’d like to talk to a couple of local residents about how they feel about the tree. The first person I’ll speak to is Neil Mitchell and Neil is a local historian in Peterborough. Neil, what do you know about this tree?

Neil Mitchell: It’s been here ever since I was a small boy coming to visit my relations in the village. It is an iconic tree. I’m sorry to hear that it’s going to come down due to diseases. It saddens me.

Julie Howell: Barry Warne is a local to the area as well. What are your thoughts about the loss of this great tree?

Barry Warne: It’s very sad. I often get a bus into town from the stop just up there and I would stand there admiring it. It’s beautiful the way it covers the road and seeing the snow and frost on it. It just looks marvellous. I’ve got an old friend who cycles to The Windmill (pub) every day up the hill and he’s noticed when they’ve made changes to it and lopped branches off it and such like and it’s a conversation piece in The Windmill. A lot of people do care about it around here.

Julie Howell: Notice how busy the road is. I think thousands and thousands of people must see this tree every day and I would imagine that when it’s lost people are going to notice. People may think oh it’s just a tree, just replace it, but when this is gone – as you can see it stretches right over the road – people are going to miss it. I’m going to turn now to Roger Proudfoot of Peterborough Green Party and also a parish councillor here. I know Roger has been speaking to the tree officer at the city council about why the tree has to go. What do you know, Roger?

Roger Proudfoot: Basically, it’s quite a sick tree. It’s got this fungi at the bottom of the tree that’s eating into the main buttress roots which is weakening the overall structure of the tree. Potentially in the next winds or gales there is a concern that the tree could come down. Obviously we’re on a busy junction, you can hear the vehicles going past. Obviously there are pedestrians going to and fro about their business. It’s a very sad occasion because we estimate the tree is about 20 feet in girth. We’ll try and measure it in a moment to get a better idea, which could put it anywhere between 300-500 years old. And when you think about the history that this tree has overseen it could even go back to Tudor times and Henry VIII. It’s quite amazing really. That’s why we’re here today, to acknowledge the contribution the tree has made to the wellbeing of all the residents who have lived here long before we all came around and we should note its passing. It’s very unfortunate. We’ve spoken to the tree specialist at the city council and he’s never seen as sick a tree as this with this particular fungus in all his experience. He’s as passionate about trees as we are and he’s very sad to see it go too. But the risk to the public outweighs the tree being left. If it was in a field or woodland it would probably last maybe 50-100 years longer.  But it is a sick tree, you can see some of the branches that have died. There could be other factors as well. It is a tree that’s coming to the end of its natural life. Sadly, even the mighty ash tree and oak trees do come to the end of their lives at a certain point.

Julie Howell: I got an email from a resident today saying that they hope the council will do something useful with the wood because this is a lot of wood that’s coming down. Maybe build something here that’s of use to local people here and also that they’ll plant something appropriate and not saplings.

Roger Proudfoot: There isn’t a plan at the moment so it’s something for discussion and if anybody’s got any views about that they should let the parish council and the city council know. There are contact details on the tree removal sign. Perhaps a more mature oak or another ash tree. I know that ash trees can be affected by ‘die back’ and young ash trees are particularly vulnerable so with this fungus thing here it may not be appropriate to plant another ash here. An older oak tree rather than a sapling might be something more appropriate. But let’s hear what the people would like to see.

Fiona Radic: If you wanted to you could cut straight across that tree and get a table top or twenty out of it. Also, with some timbers if you’ve got an infection it actually adds to the appeal of the wood for people who make ornamental things out of wood. It’s a great pity it’s an ash because ashes are getting ash die back so ashes are really important. If you can keep an ash alive that’s a good thing.

Julie Howell: What’s the measurement? 5.2 metres in girth! So how old is that, Roger? Can we do a calculation from that?

Roger Proudfoot: The average for a tree apparently, the growth rate throughout its life, bearing in mind a tree grows fairly fast when it’s young and then slows down when it’s older, is about 2.5cms per year so this tree is at least 208 years old (depending on the growing conditions). There has been some work done to try and estimate the age of trees and for an ash, if it’s a good site with shelter, which this is, a five metre tree would be up to about 300 years old. If we could class this as a woodland boundary it could be as much as 650 years old. Certainly over 300 years and possibly more. There’s obviously a lot of value in the wood. It’s obviously very expensive to take down. And it is going to be very hard to cut. It’s going to have to be cut in chunks, particularly when you get down to the main trunk. What we’re hoping is that some of the wood can be used to put to good purpose. Ash isn’t a very good outdoor wood but it’s one of the best woods for crafting and maybe some of the local crafters may be able to make something with the wood. That’s something we’re currently discussing with the city council as to whether or not some of the wood can be put to good use to pay tribute to the tree.

Julie Howell: To finish off with some moments of reflection I thought it would be quite nice if we thanked the tree and spent a few moments thinking about what the tree has meant to Orton Waterville. I’m going to ask Peterborough resident Ruth Fiddy to read out a poem in a moment that’s called The Old Ash Tree by a lady called Susanna Moodie, who was born in the UK then emigrated to Canada. It’s interesting to note that Susanna Moodie was born in 1805 and the tree was already here then! That’s how old this tree is. She died in 1883 but the tree has kept on going, which is quite something to contemplate. The Old Ash Tree by Susanna Moodie.  

Dog Poo: What's the Right Thing to Do?

Delightful

It's a fairly common sight in Orton, but I'd never caught someone in the act before. I'm writing this in August, with Christmas some four months away, so why are local residents hanging things from trees?

I'm afraid I'm talking about dog poo. More specifically, the bags of dog poo that dangle from trees around Orton.

Why do dog owners do this? Why bother to pick up after your dog and pop the mess into a bag only to then throw the bag into a tree?

As I'd had the misfortune of observing someone do it, I thought I'd ask them (to protect their identity, and because they promised me they wouldn't do it again, I'll keep the identity of the dog owner and the location to myself this time).

The answer didn't really surprise me: lack of dog bins and too much distance between dog bins.


Why are there so few dog bins in Orton?

This largely depends on where in Orton you are.

Residents have complained to me about the lack of dog bins across Orton for some time now (Orton Southgate in particular). Except Orton Northgate that is, where there are five dog bins in close proximity to one another. These red dog bins are infrequently emptied, having put there by the Northgate developer's managing agent. An overflowing dog bin is no pleasure to live by.

The reason we don't have more dog bins in other parts of Orton (and elsewhere in Peterborough) is the cost of emptying them. But should this really make a difference? What happened to 'take your litter home with you'? I wouldn't dream of throwing a bag of dog poo anywhere but in a bin, and I'm quite rebellious.

The city council says that all bins in Orton now double as dog waste bins so if you see any kind of bin you can put your bagged dog waste into it.

"If I hang it on the tree the council will collect it"

Err... not necessarily. Many of the bags are plucked from branches by volunteers like me who don't wish to live in a public dog toilet.

While you may believe that hanging your dog poo bags on trees sends a message to the city council it really doesn't. What it does is make our environment look nasty.

Across our city, Peterborough City Council is introducing PSPOs (public space protection orders) that forbid any kind of littering. If you are caught in breach of a PSPO you will be fined. It won't be a council worker who approaches you, but a member of the Kingdom team, a third party company the city council has contracted to watch us for any wrongdoing and which benefits financially when we do something 'wrong'. Personally, I think it will be a very sad day for Orton if a PSPO were to be introduced here to kerb something as basic as dog poo management.

Find a stick & flick it

So what are you supposed to do if your dog does a poo and there is no dog poo bin nearby?

1. Ideally, bag the poo and carry it with you to the nearest bin or take it home with you. This is the best thing to do. Dog poo is dangerous and not just to humans. It can cause harm to delicate ecosystems too. Taking it home and disposing of if with your household waste or placing it into a council public litter bin is the best thing to do. Please note that ANY public bin will do. It doesn't have to be a designated dog bin. If disposing of it at home, it should go in your black 'general waste' bin to be taken to landfill.

2. If you are unable to carry it to the nearest bin or to your home then, please, DO NOT BAG IT. When you throw bagged dog mess into a tree or hedgerow you introduce plastic to the natural environment that takes many years to biodegrade. It also looks horrible when, come autumn, the leaves fall from the trees. Instead of bagging it, find a stick and flick the poo it into the bushes. While this is not the ideal solution, it is infinitely better to do this than to throw a plastic bag into a tree.

3. If you have forgotten to bring dog poo bags on your walk, use the 'stick and flick' method to flick the dog poo away from places where people walk.

No dog poo bags?
Flick it into the undergrowth with a stick.
Suitable for keen golfers (put, don't pitch).

What about 'biodegradable bags'?

Biodegradable bags still look awful hanging from a tree or on the ground and they still take several months to biodegrade. The introduction of dog poo to the natural environment, whether in a biodegradable bag or not, is harmful. Dog poo contains many toxins that hurt the environment, and harmful bacteria found in dog poo can pass from other animals to people and can also pollute our waterways.

Do use biodegradable bags, but bin them so they will be disposed of in landfill sites where they will biodegrade, not in our trees or hedgerows.

If you can't find a public bin, it is better to leave the dog poo where it is than to bag it and throw it in a tree. Better still, bag it and take it home with you for disposal in your black bin. Failing that, find a stick and flick it away from the path. Please stop adding to the amount of plastics in our environment. Out of sight may be out of mind as far as you are concerned but the harm that plastics do to our wildlife and natural environment is far greater than you might imagine.

The bags often fall out of the trees onto the forest floor where they
suffocate the earth and take years to biodegrade

Reflections On A Potato

One potato.

A few years ago my world very rapidly fell apart. 

I had a good job that my boss assured me would always be safe, and a house with the steep mortgage which my dad told me was the best kind of house to buy.

Two years later, my dad was dead and I'd lost my job.

I had no mortgage insurance. It's very hard to get mortgage insurance if you have MS. The premiums are high and the chances you'll even get a payout when you actually need it are low. So said my financial adviser when he arranged my mortgage.

What followed were four years during which I tried every day to get a job or otherwise support myself with freelance work while desperately trying to keep up my mortgage payments. I couldn't afford to heat the house so I didn't and I couldn't afford to buy food very often either. On one occasion, I was in a meeting with a business associate who could hear my stomach rumbling. She asked me when I'd last eaten and I answered 'not today'. She very kindly went to the local convenience store and bought me some fruit and potatoes.

I took the picture you see above when I was down to the last potato.

Looking at it now it seems wretched. But at the time that potato was a meal and I was so grateful to have it.

After four years my circumstances changed. I lost the house (in the end I couldn't keep up the payments so was forced to sell it) but I came back to Peterborough to a roof over my head, no more crippling debt and food in the fridge.

I was very, very lucky.

Lucky because I was able to get out of that situation eventually, but also lucky to have experienced it.

I've never been particularly materialistic or wasteful, but I'd never had to think about whether I was materialist or wasteful either, until I lost my job. I now regard everything, housing, heating, food, money differently to how I did before. For a long time I was afraid of it. And when I was safe again I was afraid of it even more, the fear of loss being as scary as loss itself.

With the passage of time I've developed a respect for things again but I'm now far less wasteful that I was before. I now cook entire meals with food I'd have thrown out for scraps in the past. I regard people in debt or without an income with far greater compassion, because I know what it is to be stuck in the poverty trap. Fortunately, I had a house I could sell and I was able to sell it. Many people in my situation do not and face no realistic possibility of climbing out of poverty without a great deal of practical help and support. Being so poor that you can't feed yourself properly and so poor that you can't put the heating on in winter and so poor that you can't afford the roof over your head is exhausting. Every day, I had to find the strength to look for work when I had no strength. Some days, I would dread going to sleep as I dreaded waking up into the same misery.

Human experience is rich in lessons, but when it comes down to it some of us get lucky breaks and some of us do not and the luck is not evenly or fairly distributed. When I came back to Peterborough I decided that I'd like to take some time working in the community rather than earn a living because I haven't forgotten that feeling of hopelessness and nor do I want to. That feeling is the thread of humanity that connects me to other people who are struggling and reminds me that the bad things that can happen in our lives are sometimes through no fault of our own.

If you're lucky like me I urge you to spare a thought, some time, and a little bit of money for people who are down on theirs. I'm quite sure that there are many more people living in poverty and hardship than are accounted for by the Government. If someone you know has lost their job, even if you think they are probably alright, invite them for a hearty meal. If they say no they say no - sometimes it's hard to face other people when inside you are falling apart. But do offer. If you don't know a friend in need then Peterborough Food Bank will be grateful to receive your donation. My friend's bag of food fed me for nearly a month but the kindness continues to sustain me.

Food banks in Peterborough:

Peterborough Food Bank

Peterborough Salvation Army

Peterborough Soup Kitchen


(p.s. I know there is some difference of opinion about keeping potatoes in the fridge. According to one of my friends, potatoes should be kept 'in a sack cloth in a basket under a cupboard'. I have no words.)

Let's Go Outside: Safer Sex in Peterborough

It All Began Innocently Enough...

I take part in a couple of organised litter picks every month. One of these is always in the same location in Orton Waterville. It's always in the same location because no matter how much litter we clear the exact same amount always needs to be cleared again a month later.

The other litter pick is organised by Peterborough Green Party. We choose a different location each month. Sometimes we respond to residents' requests to pick a particular area, sometimes we clear an area spotted by one of our own team.

Picture of Milton Ferry Bridge taken during the litter pick.
If you think our litter picks are all about muck you're only half right.

Ferry Hill

This month, on a bright but bitterly cold Sunday morning we gathered at Ferry Hill. Technically, Ferry Hill is in Castor, but you'll know it as 'the road at the back of Ferry Meadows' by the stunning Milton Ferry Bridge under which flows the River Nene. On a freezing cold January morning, this area looks particularly beautiful. The lakes in Ferry Meadows were frozen and the Nene was also dotted with chunks of floating ice. I can't think of anywhere more lovely than this. Hold onto that thought.

Ferry Hill is situated between Ferry Meadows and the A47 and because of this it attracts a particular type of litter. Who, you might be wondering, would drop litter at a treasured beauty spot. Well, you'd be surprised (and possibly offended. I write this post to raise awareness and I fully expect you to feel as disgusted as I do).

I took another photograph, this time pointing my lens to the ground below me.

Your eyes do not deceive you. That is indeed a used condom.
I found four along one stretch of road.

Beer bottles and used condoms and their wrappers. I'm not here to preach about what people do in their spare time, but I am going to preach about the mess they leave behind. Using condoms is definitely GOOD. Dropping them on the floor after use, definitely NOT GOOD. Disgusting and unsightly, without a doubt. A health hazard, definitely. This was on the verge next to the road, in plain sight. Would you want to slip on the ice and fall face first onto that lot? No, neither would I. Would you want your toddler to pick that up? Or your dog? Discarded used condoms are a danger on so many levels. Please, if they are yours, dispose of them responsibly.

Disposing of them responsibly doesn't mean chucking them in a bush. Doing so may keep them away from humans but they will do untold harm to our precious local wildlife.

If you find a discarded condom, don't pick it up. Report it to the council immediately. The same goes for discarded needles. The number to call is 01733 747474 or use the My Peterborough app. This type of litter is very dangerous. It does need to be removed, but not by you. Never touch anything like that with your bare hands.

Posted by Julie Howell on Sunday, 22 January 2017

Team Effort

I can't say enough wonderful things about our team. Members of Peterborough Green Party and local residents spent two hours of their Sunday morning making an area of outstanding natural beauty beautiful again. You never hear us complain when we're on our litter picks, no matter how disgusting it gets. We dress appropriately and we just get on with it, come rain or shine. We appreciate all the people who stop to thank us, and we appreciate even more the residents who join us.

 

A Pile Of (Your) Crap

As well as the aftermath of the previous night's activities we found a lot of fly tipped waste on Ferry Hill. This included dumped cans of engine oil, a television, and a vacuum cleaner attachment. If you've ever paid someone you don't know to take things to the tip for you this stuff may well be yours. Because this is the reality of fly tipping. Rogue traders who don't care about our community will simply drive to an area like Ferry Hill, dump a load of rubbish into the woods, and drive off. Please don't pay people to do this. It's hurting wildlife and it looks awful.

We collected 30-40 bags of rubbish on this litter pick, which is more than average. Ferry Hill is on a hill (the clue is in the name), so we couldn't pile all the rubbish in one place as it was too heavy to carry. These pictures give you an idea of what we cleared from one road.

Seriously?

To be frank, it stank.

Mixed fly tip. A bit of this, a bit of that.

One careless owner.
We found its partner in another bush further up the hill.

People drop this stuff on Ferry Hill and it's ruining it. If you're reading this and feeling pangs of guilt please resolve to take your litter home with you. We don't mind clearing litter that blows into the woods from the bins or litter that has been dropped accidentally. But this is deliberate and it is dropped and dumped at a rate that overwhelming council street cleaner services. Please take personal responsibility for your own litter and take it home.

Solution?

I've said it before, I'll say it again and I'll keep on saying it: fly tip amnesties. Choose a day, advertise it well, and put a skip in the community so residents can drop off their larger items without fear of fines of fees. Until we have workable fly tip amnesties in place this problem is likely to grow rather than get better. If you think I'm wrong, tell me, and join me on our next litter pick and judge for yourself.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Good morning. We are in an area of Peterborough today called Ferry Hill, which is just on the border between Peterborough and Castor. It’s on the Milton Ferry Bridge side of Ferry Meadows. It’s very cold. I don’t know how that’s affecting the camera. We’re doing litter pick. This is quite an active area in the night time, so I’m told. There’s a lot of rubbish as a consequence and the council doesn’t pick up a lot of it. But we’re also, as you can probably hear, by a very main road (my glasses are steaming up). Let me show you. Let me turn it around. There’s the road there, the A47. And you can see I’m standing in woodland and the sort of rubbish we’ve got in here has just been dumped. It’s been fly tipped. And there’s a lot of rubbish that’s been thrown from cars. I’m on my second rubbish bag now. Rubbish bags fill up very quickly here. It’s a beautiful area but unfortunately where you get people parking up you get rubbish. We’ll do a good clear up today but it’ll need clearing again very soon. It’s quite a difficult place to litter pick because there’s a lot of thorny branches. I’ve already cut my hand. I cut my hand pretty soon after I started but that’s okay. We just have to be very careful because they’re biohazardous waste here. It would be great if people took their rubbish home with them. Whatever you’re doing in this beautiful area let’s all just try and keep it beautiful.

Mini Motorbikes & the Accidents Waiting to Happen

If your mini motorbike doesn't have a light you're invisible

Everyone saw an accident coming.

Everyone, except the lad on the bike and the poor driver whose car unavoidably hit him.

Just before 9pm on Thursday night (1st December 2016), a lady driving a Chevrolet Spark along London Road in Fletton Hempstead, Peterborough collided with a man in his 20s who was riding a mini motorbike. The biker wasn't wearing a helmet, there were no lights on his bike and, according to some unverified witness accounts that I read on social media, he jumped a red traffic light. The lady driving the car had no opportunity to take evasive action and the motorcycle and its rider ended their journey under that car. Our treasured MAGPAS air ambulance took the young man to hospital and it is reported that he has sustained 'life-changing injuries' including a broken pelvis. The driver of the car is, mercifully, unharmed.

The motorcyclist (and his friends and family) have learned a very hard lesson in the worst way possible. These bikes are not road legal for a reason. Even if they were, riding without a helmet is foolhardy. Riding without lights could kill someone. If you ride in the dark on public roads without lights on your bike you're invisible. No matter how carefully you think you're riding, if you cannot be seen then you're putting everyone in range of you at risk of great harm.



Yesterday, I gave an interview to the BBC Radio Cambs Breakfast Show expressing my concern about these mini motorbikes. Although the request for an interview was triggered by this incident, I have long voiced concerns about anti-social behaviour involving these bikes in many areas of Peterborough, including Dogsthorpe, Werrington and Orton.

Many residents of Orton have spoken to me about their anxieties regarding these bikes and the aggressive and anti-social attitude of the young people who ride them on the pavement, often narrowly missing pedestrians and certainly terrorising them.

Where Are The Police?

Residents also complain very bitterly that the police rarely respond to their reports about the mini motorbikes, despite it supposedly being a priority for police in Orton. Calls to 101 are frequently dismissed and if they attend at all, the police tend to arrive long after the rider has left the area.

Evidence of the problem is difficult to capture as the bikes travel so fast, with no licence plates to identify them, and the riders usually cover their faces with scarves to hide their identity.

Unsurprisingly, this has led some residents to describe parts of Orton as 'lawless', with many believing that neither the police nor the council cares about them.

What Should Be Done?

Education

If you're riding a bike you and your bike should always be safe, road legal and visible. Venturing out without lights on your bike at any time of day is risky and at night it is extremely dangerous. 'Life changing injuries' generally means 'will never walk again'. This is a terrible life sentence for a person in their 20s. Put lights on your bike, even if you don't agree that you need them. They will one day save your life and probably someone else's life too.

Policing

While some riders mean no harm, a considerable number of mini motorbike riders in Orton deliberately ride anti-socially, terrorising families, older people and pets. Putting people's lives at risk. Where those riders are concerned the police must intervene.

On 5 June 2016, Community Inspector Kate Firman of Safer Peterborough Partnership wrote in the Peterborough Telegraph about seizing bikes and issuing warnings to anti-social riders, and yet the problem seems to be worse than ever. I don't know whether the 101 operators are failing to handle the calls correctly (we know this happens sometimes when 'drifting' is reported) or whether the police are simply overwhelmed. However, it's very clear that residents feel a more visible police presence in the community and a faster response when crimes involving mini motorbikes occur would make a difference.

Somewhere to go

Peterborough is a property paradox. We have a desperate housing shortage (depending on whose 'facts' you choose to believe). At the same time, our newer housing estates are cramped. Planning that probably made very good sense on paper has led to narrow streets and areas of very dense housing. People in some areas feel that they are living on top of each other. And as new estates are built, where is the infrastructure needed to create communities? Is it any wonder that young people are using residential streets for recreation? If you are interested in mini motorbikes, where can you go in Orton to ride them safely and legally?

If you listen to the BBC Radio Cambs interview on the link above, you'll also hear from Wayne Arbon of the Gauntlet Auto Project. This business operating in Ramsey provides a place for mini motorbike enthusiasts to ride safely and teaches them how to maintain their bikes to keep them in good working order. Wouldn't it be great if we had such a facility in Peterborough?

What do you think is the answer the problems caused by young people riding mini motorbikes illegally and unsafely in Orton?

UPDATE: Read about my visit to the Gauntlet Auto Project in Ramsey where they are giving young people the opportunity to learn how to ride mini motorbikes safely and responsibly 


Audio transcript: Dotty: Now the use of mini motorbikes in Peterborough has reached epidemic proportions, that’s according to a member of the city’s Green Party. Julie Howell says people riding them without lights and helmets are a hazard to residents as well as themselves. Last night in the city, a rider on a mini motorbike was reported to have sustained life-changing injuries after a collision with a car on London Road. Julie Howell joins me now. Good morning. I mean epidemic proportions Julie, what do you really mean by that?

Julie: Good morning, Dotty. Well the first thing that I’d like to say is how terribly sorry I am for everyone involved in that accident on Thursday, particularly the driver of the car. It sounds absolutely horrific. Now, we call this epidemic proportions because we have been complaining about this for over two years now. It’s a problem in Werrington, in Dogsthorpe, in Orton, various places across Peterborough. We’ve told the police time and time again we’ve got a real problem with people driving these off-road bikes, these illegal bikes. They’re not wearing helmets, well, that’s their risk, isn’t it? But they’ve got no lights on their bikes and this is a huge risk to everybody.

Dotty: And you said that you feel particularly sorry following this accident on Thursday night for the person who was driving the car that was involved. I mean it was the rider of the motorbike that has suffered such serious injuries.

Julie: And it sounds like it was a miracle the person behind the wheel of the car wasn’t injured or indeed any pedestrians passing by because I believe this was round about 9pm, a very busy time. I know that location well. It’s quite a built-up residential area and if you’re riding a bike with no lights on then you are responsible for any accident that happens, absolutely right. I’m sorry someone’s hurt themselves but this was bound to happen if you ride in the dark with no lights on.

Dotty: So what really is the problem, especially if these kids are, you know, just knocking about, if they’re just having a bit of fun, I mean, is it really a big deal?

Julie: They’re not just knocking about though. I’ve spoken to many residents about this over the weekend and certainly what we find in Orton is that there’s a lot of very anti-social behaviour there with these bikes. The kids who are riding the bikes, I say kids but it’s also young people in their 20s, are riding them with their faces masked by scarves so they know they’re doing wrong and they don’t want to be identified and they’re driving along pavements, they’re putting children at risk. It’s something we’ve raised with the police many, many times and it’s just a matter of time before a pedestrian is really badly injured or killed.

Dotty: Yeah, I mean in the last six months we’ve spoken to you Julie about concerns over fly tipping, over drifting and now mini motorbikes. You say you’ve complained about all of these things to the relevant authorities for months at a time. Do you feel that Peterborough is being effectively policed?

Julie: Some parts of it you have to wonder, don’t you? I don’t think this is entirely a policing issue. Clearly, we need to tell our young people to put lights on their bikes. That’s really important. And I know that some residents feel, as I do, that we need some place for people to be. Peterborough’s becoming so built up with new housing, it doesn’t have great transport infrastructure, and people will always as they have since motorbikes were invented, wanted to muck about on them. So they need somewhere safe to be able to do that. But for years residents have been complaining to police about this sort of thing and they’re feeling terrorised now by these young people and I doubt hearing about this accident on Thursday is going to make any of the residents feel any better about it. Where are the police? Where’s the presence? Where are the police telling these riders if you don’t have lights on your bike it’s not just your own life you’re putting at risk it’s the life of anybody who is unfortunate enough to get in your way.

Dotty: What do you think should be done about this?

Julie: Education about how important lights are. I can’t believe that we’re saying this. Isn’t it obvious? If you choose not to wear a helmet it’s on you. If you choose not to have lights on your bike that could affect all of us. And somewhere for people to be so that they can do this and they’re not doing it out on our streets.

Dotty: Okay Julie, thank you very much. Julie Howell there from Peterborough Green Party, concerned about the number of mini motorbikes being ridden illegally around Peterborough.

Beautiful Bushfield Blighted By Bottles

I wish I could tell you this was a day's work.
I picked this lot up in just 20 minutes.

I try very hard not to let it get to me.

We live in a very beautiful area. So can anyone tell me WHY the littering around Bushfield playing fields is so bad?

Yesterday, I joined a local litter picking group run by resident Barrie Tulloch to clear the area from the top of Cherry Orton Road in Waterville and along the paths past Bushfield playing fields. The amount of rubbish we collected was quite disgraceful.


Stop Dropping Bottles!

There are two main categories of litter in this area.

The first is dropped by people who use the fields for sport and the paths to get to and from the school. So it's sweet wrappers and crisp packets.

But the main offender is plastic drinks bottles. Many of them are still half full of liquid. They are routinely dropped at the sides of the playing fields, presumably because the people who leave them there believe the 'bottle fairies' will spirit them away (I know I'm sounding like your mother now, but perhaps that's what it takes!)

Newsflash: If you leave bottles on the grass they don't disappear by magic. Either the council or volunteers come and get them. If we don't, they will eventually cause great harm to the area, including the wildlife. Check out my exchange with local wildlife charity Froglife on this very problem...

Newts may be difficult to spot but they are here and our littering is putting them in danger.

Awful. But moaning does nothing. Only action on the part of residents will make a difference. The message is really simple: please take your litter home with you. If you're fit enough for sport, you're fit enough to carry your drinks bottle to the nearest bin (even if that's at your house).

Here's another idea. Why not fill your own bottle with your favourite drink and take it back home with you to use again?! I make it sound so simple. That's because it is simple.


Join Our Litter Picking Group!

If you'd like to join us on this litter pick you will be very, very welcome. We supply all the equipment, just bring yourself in suitable clothing (waterproof, ideally!). It can be a nice way to meet other people who care about our area and there is satisfaction in doing something that helps our community and our environment and local wildlife.

Drop a line to me or to resident Barrie Tulloch (barrie.tullock@btinternet.com) and we'll let you know when we'll next be picking.

Lovely litter-free field, cleared by volunteers, not by magic!

Traffic Fears at Lynch Wood and Wistow Way

Xs mark the spots where crossing the road at Lynch Wood is dangerous.

This morning I accompanied a local Orton Southgate resident to the roundabout where Lynch Wood meets Wistow Way, Oundle Road and Orton Parkway to see for myself why local people are growing increasingly concerned about the volume and speed of traffic in the area.

Lynch Wood is a thriving business park. The businesses there employ many people from our local area and further afield and long may this continue. However, the recent arrival of a new business has resulted in a huge surge in traffic to the area, particularly at morning and evening peak times.

Posted by Julie Howell on Tuesday, 25 October 2016

Traffic from the Lynch Wood roundabout along Wistow Way is often heavy and fast moving. Although there is a bridge for pedestrians to use if they want to get from Orton Brimbles to Orton Wistow, residents trying to access Wistow Primary School on foot from Orton Southgate and Orton Northgate are more like to use a crossing that has no facility to make it safe for pedestrians. People I've spoken to fear it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed.

Eventually, I was able to cross the road when a car slowed and waved me across. However, this is only safe when traffic coming the other way is also willing to stop. One can easily imagine why a pedestrian in a hurry might take their chances and dart through the traffic, but it really isn't safe to do so.

Another Orton Southgate resident says, "As one who walks to Wistow Primary School most days, it's very tricky crossing the road at Lynch Wood as cars are normally non-stop. Nine times out of ten it's a case of waiting for a car to slow and flash its headlights. We always cross at the spot with the traffic island so at least we can wait safely in the middle of the road. Making it an official pedestrian crossing would be a huge help."

Posted by Julie Howell on Tuesday, 25 October 2016

It's half term at the moment, so traffic is much lighter that normal and I will take another look next week to see how bad it is when parents as well as employees are trying to use these roads. I'm told it's quite normal now for traffic to be backed up along Orton Parkway all the way to the roundabout at Newcombe Way, making it very difficult to exit Orton Southgate residences by car.

It's very clear that the roads in this area can be dangerous for pedestrians and very congested for motorists too.

Are you affected by the traffic at Lynch Wood in the mornings? Do you feel safe negotiating these roads in the morning and afternoon at peak times? How do you think safety or congestion could be improved?

Transcript of video one: Good morning. So I’m at Lynch Wood this morning which is the main business park in Orton Waterville. We’ve got a real probably with traffic as you can probably see behind me. So, the roundabout behind me here is the one that feeds into Lynch Wood and it also has other roads off it such as Wistow Way, Oundle Road and Orton Parkway. It’s actually relatively quiet this morning because it’s half term, but still it doesn’t look quiet. Now as you can see it’s very, very difficult for pedestrians to get across here. Children need to get across to get to school and if you just about look behind me you can see that that’s the pathway across there and how am I ever supposed to get across this road. It’s very dangerous. So this morning I’ve come here with a resident and she’s going to show me the problems here and I don’t think this is the worst of it. I think if we go round the corner in a second we’ll find it's even more of a problem so I'll catch up with you there.

Transcript of video two: Good morning. So I’m now at Oundle Road where it feeds into Lynch Wood and it’s about 8:45am. This is actually half term at the moment so it’s not as busy as it might otherwise be but as you can see behind me there is a lot of traffic. It’s moving in, well the queue is not that slow is it? It’s very, very hard to cross here. I’ve actually been waiting to cross here for a while. So you can see there’s the crossing just behind me but I’m not able to use it unless a car slows down and lets me across. And then the problem that you have – I’ve got a big truck coming past now, very big truck – the problem that you have if someone says to you okay you can cross now you’re dependent on the people in the other cars realising that otherwise you might be stepping out in front of traffic. So it’s very, very dangerous here and me and someone who’s opposite me on the other side of the road right now have been trying to cross here for minutes and no one’s stopped to let us cross and there’s been no gap in the traffic. Imagine if you’re a young child with not too much road sense or you’re pushing a pushchair or you’re disabled. It is possible to walk a bit further down. You can see in the distance a footbridge there but people don’t always use footbridges do they, and one can't help but think we need some kind of measure here to make it safer for pedestrians.