Season’s Greetings from all the Trustees of Badger Farm & Oliver’s Battery Resident’s Community Association and all of us here at the Community Centre. Take a break from all your Christmas preparations with the Winter 2018 edition of Community News.

Our front page article celebrates our Toddler’s group which has run every term-time Thursday for many, many years.

Exciting news, we have now have a Facebook page dedicated to Community News. It’s new so stay with us while we get a handle on how best to run it. If you have any suggestions or feedback, feel free to message us on there.

Local announcements

Administrative Assistant

We are looking for an Administration Assistant for the Community Centre to assist the Booking Secretary. This post initially will be for four hours a week plus cover for holiday and sickness. Please apply by e-mail to Brian Laming at blaming@btinternet.com by Friday 14th December.

Post Box at Elder Close

There are some very happy residents now in the Elder Close/Ridgeway vicinity now that the missing post box has been reinstated. Now it is back, please use it, we do not want to lose it again.

News from our Local Schools

Oliver’s Battery Primary School report that the school is looking very smart after a major refurbishment; the builders have worked extremely hard during the last year improving the school. At an Active School Day, the whole school was encouraged to take part in a wide variety of physical activities including yoga, Bollywood dancing and Zumba – a new experience for a lot of the children.

The children at Oliver’s Battery Pre-School have a very exciting Christmas period to look forward to, including the nativity and a visit from Father Christmas at the annual Christmas party! The teachers have lots of exciting activities planned for the children, with topics including fireworks, Diwali, minibeasts and of course Christmas. The pre-school’s “home corner” changes every few weeks. So far this year it has already been a safari park with stuffed animals and binoculars and will also evolve into a fire engine and magical Christmas castle!

Parish and Government News

Badger Farm Parish Council draws our attention to matters of safety and security. They ask any residents to get in touch with concerns on speeding issues in the parish. If you are worried about bogus door-to-door sales, scam emails, distraction burglaries etc why not consider setting up a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme for yourstreet? If you are concerned about possible fraud you can contact Action Fraud.

Oliver’s Battery Parish Council report on improvements a the junction of Oliver’s Battery Road North and Badger Farm Road. Texas Drive field has been successfully accepted on to the WCC List of Assets of Community Value. The Parish Council remind us of our responsibility to ensure that our hedges and other edging plants do not intrude onto public footways. And finally, they will be recruiting for a new Clerk to the Parish Council.

Following the setback in their plans to develop a new Community Centre in the parish, Oliver’s Battery Community Centre’s Management Team is continuing to progress what future options are available to the charity. They feel that younger members of the parish should be involved in the charity’s future and so are looking for volunteers to take over.

Winchester City Council report on the status of problem properties in Harrow Down and Texas Drive. Our councillors are undertaking a traffic survey to understand people’s problems in the area. Please do help them by completing the relevant survey for Badger Farm or Oliver’s Battery. They will also shortly be consulting us on  possible solutions to the problem of  obstructive commuter parking.

MP Steve Brine reports that this year’s Budget contained good news for the NHS (and mental health in particular), schools, motorists, the military, taxpayers and the environment. He was particularly pleased with extra help for our local shops and businesses which is understandably the cause of concern in Winchester and here in Oliver’s Battery/Badger Farm.

In a Transport Update, Councillor Jan Warwick tells us that Southampton International Airport is consulting on a draft Masterplan for the next 20 years. Winchester City Council’s Environmental Team is drafting a formal technical response to the consultation on behalf of the residents of the Winchester District. For their Movement Strategy, Winchester City Council and Hampshire County Council are working on aiming to reduce congestion, improve air quality and enhance all forms of transport including walking and cycling.

News from Local Organisations and Clubs

Autumn has made a rather sudden arrival with bitterly cold winds from the Antarctic sweeping through and with it the start of the Oliver’s Battery WI’s (OBWI) lively programme of talks and social events. This year they are celebrating 100 years of the Women’s Institute. This amazing landmark has been acknowledged by many events throughout the year nationwide and indeed the legacy of the WI continues.

Badger Farm Community Chat Tea Café is a new initiative to be launched on the 28th January 2019 and thereafter once a month on a Monday. This is an open invitation to those older people, who might be alone, in the community who wish to join us for a free cup of tea and a slice of cake with no obligation other than a warm welcome. Should anyone be aware of someone in these circumstances who would benefit from this, please spread the word and tell them about the Chat Tea Café and/or contact the Community Centre.

In their meetings at the Community Centre this winter, Winchester Local Group Hampshire and IOW Wildlife Trust will be sharing share photos of a wildlife wonder or favourite place that has inspired a love of nature. They will enjoy talks about “A Very Local Nature Reserve!” and “Hampshire’s Chalk Rivers and Streams”.

Winchester Horticultural Society winter events include a light-hearted Christmas meeting with a musical interlude by the Owslebury Bell Ringers. In the new year, they will enjoy a talks on “Preparing the Hinton Ampner Gardens for Spring” and preparing for the spring season.

Badger Farm Art Group have shared some of their recent creations; do take a look!  They are currently designing Christmas cards to get professionally printed for the festive season.  If you are interested in joining the club, or know anyone else that might be, do come down on a Thursday afternoon, 1.30-4.00.

It’s been a very exciting and successful year for Winchester Tae Kwon-Do. This small club has seen some brilliant results at this year’s gradings. At the most recent coloured belt grading, their students achieved 3/4 of the total A-passes (the highest level of pass) at the grading. They have also had lots of success in numerous local and national tournaments this year.

General News for Winter 2018

Winchester Bereavement Support are a voluntary organisation offering a service to bereaved individuals in Winchester and the surrounding areas.  They plan to run a new Training Course from January to March 2019 and would be very glad to hear from anyone who might be interested in training for this very worthwhile service.

In Ann’s Computer Corner, Ann Jury shares how she used Trello to get more organised this year and gives you some help on how to start if you want to do the same.

Whiteshute Ridge has been a very busy place over the summer months of 2018. This edition features a long article with updates on all of the happenings on this wonderful local resource.

Simon Lever shares with us that “There is an increasing awareness that focusing on something positive, however seemingly insignificant can make a difference to an individual’s perspective and ultimate recognition that positivity is not just a fantasy but a reality.”

In her Nature Notes, Norma Goodwin (norma.goodwin@btinternet.com) reminds us that the end of autumn is the time to clean out the bird  feeders and keep them stocked to supplement the diminishing supply of food as winter approaches. She gets her supply from the diverse selection at Oliver’s Pet Centre. And do read her article to find out what Charles Darwin calls the most important animal in the history of the world. The answer may surprise you!

The featured image in this post is by douvelos from Pixabay.