The 59 bus service will pick up and drop off from stand ‘G’ at Wolverhampton’s bus station as of today and will no longer call at stand ‘E’.

Stand ‘G’ is in the middle tier of the station and means that users of the 59 service won’t have to walk/run as far to catch their bus, bonus!

The residents of Ashmore Park are planning a family fun day to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June.

Tuesday 5th June 2012

The event will be held on Tuesday 5th June 2012 at St. Alban’s School and a programme of events is in the process of being arranged.

So far planned events include: a Bouncy castle, Children’s Fancy Dress Competition, Bands, Sports events (for all ages) and a Community Art Piece which all can be involved that will be displayed in Ashmore Park Library. There’s much, much more planned, including Ice Cream, Burger and Candy Floss vans on site.

Family Tea Party

During the afternoon we will be holding a family tea party (bring or purchase your own food), tables and chairs will be provided along with Tea, Coffee and soft drinks free of charge.

Entry will be free

The fun day will be free and everyone on the estate is invited, so please come along and join in the fun!

Get involved!

Residents are hoping to make it day to remember, so if you’d like to help with the planning, or can offer help on the day please contact any of the following:

Ashmore Park Community Centre – 01902 552490
St Alban’s School – 01902 558825
St Alban’s Church – 01902 732317
WV11.co.uk – 07855 409 319 / info@wv11.co.uk

We look forward to celebrating with you!

Pupils, staff and governors of Oak Meadow Primary School turned out in force to mark the opening of their new £7m accommodation.

Wolverhampton Mayor Councillor Bert Turner cut the ribbon to declare the school, in Ashmore Park, officially open at a ceremony yesterday (Tuesday November 8, 2011).

The event marked the completion of Oak Meadow’s state-of-the-art facilities, which have been developed by Midlands-based Thomas Vale Construction as part of Wolverhampton City Council’s £16.6m Primary Capital Programme, which is transforming educational facilities for primary age pupils in the city.

The new building will accommodate up to 420 pupils and is one of the first schools in the country to be built to ‘Passivhaus’ standards, meaning it has been designed to use up to 90% less energy to heat and cool it compared to standard buildings.

Oak Meadow’s new school hall has been designed so that it can be easily transformed into a performance area with state-of-the-art sound and lighting facilities.

It has received state-of-the-art ICT facilities, with digital displays in the entrance and learning areas enabling pupils to share their work, while the school is also planning to launch its own radio station to enable parents to keep up-to-date with pupils’ activities.

Pupils have designed the engravings which feature on the natural wood on show in the school, while the main staircase featured artwork created by the youngsters.

Councillor Phil Page, Wolverhampton City Council’s Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Learning, said: “I am delighted with the new school building; pupils at Oak Meadow now have wonderful learning environments that will inspire the young people at the school to go on and achieve great things in their education.

“Thomas Vale Construction worked with our architects, Architype, on this and Bushbury Hill Primary School, which is also undergoing a major transformation, and previously worked with us on the award-winning St Luke’s Primary School in Blakenhall. I hope that they have created another award-winning school for the young people in Wednesfield.”

Oak Meadow’s old building, which was erected in the 1960s, will now be demolished and the land re-developed as playing fields.

To find out more about Wolverhampton’s Primary Capital Programme, please visit www.wolverhamptonbsf.org.uk.

Dog & Partridge seeks new management

Marston’s Brewery are advertising a tenanted vacancy at The Dog & Partridge in Wednesfield.

Having had at least one change of management in recent years, it appears the brewery is  now looking for someone else to take over with the suggestion that serving food could increase the pub’s popularity/takings.

Skate Park improvements for Ashmore Park

Phase 2 of  the Ashmore Park Skate Park extension is under way.  Cas Simpson, Area Youth Manager for Wolverhampton City Council reported at last night’s PACT meeting that new skate ramps have been sourced and the service is seeking further funding and planning permission to progress with the project.

Community notice boards

Wednesfield’s neighbourhood Police team are looking for notice boards around the area to display advice and publicity, if you know of any notice boards they could use, please email Sgt Simon Causer.

Warning over Lottery Scam

A new postal scam seems to be targeting the area – residents have been receiving letters claiming to be from the ‘Euro Millions Lottery’ through their doors claiming they have won a large amount of cash.

These letters are asking for people to send an administration fee along with bank details to claim the prize and also include a phone number which is suspected to be a premium rate number.

Police confirmed this is a scam and encourage all residents to destroy any such letters that they receive.

Metal thefts on the rise

There has been a rise in metal-related thefts across Wednesfield, echoes the rise nationally and Police are encouraging residents to report all metal thefts.

A number of these thefts have taken place in the same streets, so it is important that Police are made aware of these in order to try and catch the offenders.

Vote for local charities!

The NatWest CommunityForce makes grants to support people, projects and charities in local communities – but unlike most grants, the decision is made by public vote! Voting is open from now until 24 October, and everyone has three votes.  The three projects with the most votes in each CommunityForce area will win the awards.

This year there are two projects in WV11 - St Thomas Centre and Wednesfield Football Club.  Please vote for both of our local causes!

Cake Fest a great success!

The recent Cake Fest at St Thomas’ Church in Wednesfield raised over £200 towards repairs for the Church roof – thanks to all who took part!

Work is well underway on the £17.5m transformation of Coppice Performing Arts School

The school is undergoing a major makeover as part of Wolverhampton City Council’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, which is transforming education for secondary age pupils in the city.

Carillion, the Wolverhampton-based support services and construction company which is the lead contractor for the BSF programme, has completed the first phase of the work, with more than 120 people busy on site at any one time.

As a result, students are already able to enjoy a new Discovery Zone which includes state-of-the-art Science labs and Maths classrooms and which opened for the first time at the start of term.

Brickwork and cladding has been completed on the school’s new sports hall with work now underway to fit out the interior, including the changing rooms. It should be ready for use this autumn.

The next phase of the build includes the creation of a new Performance Zone to include an iconic elliptical theatre block and a three-storey Communications Zone which will bring together Business, English, Humanities, Modern Foreign Languages and Social Sciences.

Headteacher Janice Fletcher said: “Coppice Performing Arts School is already benefitting from an amazing Discovery Zone which is providing the state-of-the-art learning environments we were promised.

“The new learning environments truly enhance the educational experiences of our students, and the brand new Coppice Theatre will also significantly enhance the school and community performance opportunities that will be available in the future.”

The complete refurbishment is due to be completed by February 2013. Overall, Wolverhampton’s £270m BSF programme will see the rebuilding or refurbishment of 25 schools and academies in four phases between now and 2014.

Members of Wolverhampton City Council’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel inspected the work at Coppice Performing Arts School yesterday. Pictured in the new facilities are pupils Ryan Downing and Alyce Russell with (standing, left to right): Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel Councillor Julie Hodgkiss, Headteacher Janice Fletcher, Vice Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel Councillor Pat Patten, Building Schools for the Future Programme Director Gerard Stone and Carillion Project Manager Sam Hudson.

After a recent spate of suspicious cat deaths in the WV11 area we are issuing a warning to all cat owners about the dangers of anti freeze to cats. It is important to be aware of how lethal this can be and what the symptoms are especially with the colder weather fast approaching.

Molly, the latest cat to fall victim died on Thursday last week and blood tests came back  positive for anti freeze poisoning that causes kidney failure in felines.

Pet owner Sarah Bould from Ashmore Park was devastated to hear the news, she said “It’s a horrible way for a family pet to die, made even worse to think someone could have done this deliberately.”

Senior Nurse Jody from Cavan Vets said; “There is a chemical in antifreeze that tastes very sweet to cats which is why they are attracted to it.  It is vitally important to act quickly is you suspect you cat has ingested antifreeze as immediate treatment is needed”

- You can contact Cavan on 01902 784 555 and if it is out of hours their answer machine will give you all the details for their emergency service supplied by St Georges Vets in the city.

There are several indicators that you pet may have been poisoned and these include;

• The cat will appear intoxicated, stumbling, lack of coordination, dizziness & vomiting.
• Excessive thirst.
• Excessive urination.
• Seizures
• Vomiting

These symptoms last for approximately 12 hours after ingestion. After this, the cat may appear to recover. Approximately 12 – 24 hours after ingestion the following symptoms appear:

• Rapid Breathing
• Rapid heart beat
• Lethargy
• Anorexia

The cat in the picture has not fallen victim to anti freeze
image: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

*UPDATE*

After this mornings appeal by West Midlands Police we are very happy to report that missing person Iris Allcock has been found safe and well.

——–

West Midlands Police have today release an appeal for us to help find a missing person Iris Allcock.

Iris, a 72 year-old from Whitehouse Crescent, was reported missing by her family at around 10pm on Monday 5 September.

She is described as a white female, around five feet tall, with a slim build and collar length wavey grey hair.

When last seen she was wearing a royal blue fleece, jeans and red shoes.

Her family are concerned for her welfare due to her age and ill health.

Anybody who has seen Iris or a person matching her description is asked to contact police in Wolverhampton on 0345 113 5000.

Original Post: visit the West Midlands Police incident page.

As we mentioned during our live updates from Tuesday 16th August PACT meeting, Steve Male (who we incorrectly named as Steve Hale at the meeting) from Wolverhampton City Council Parks department was there to talk about the use of the parks in Wednesfield and asked if anyone would be willing to fill in an on-line survey.

We now have all the details and if you have 2 minutes to fill in this short (very short) 5 question survey I’m sure Wilf  the Park Ranger would be grateful.

The park survey can be found here.

You can read updates from Wilf and find out more about the work the park rangers do on the Wolves Parks blog “Wilf’s World”

Wolverhampton Parks and Green Spaces are running Sensational Summer Snaps photography competition.

The competition is open to anyone with an eye for capturing a moment in time, amateur and professional photographers alike of any age, background and experience level are invited to enter .

This year the theme for the competition is that of ‘Sensational Summer Snaps’, representing Wolverhampton’s Great Outdoors and we have some beautiful parks and green spaces around Wednesfield aside from the obvious Wednesfield and Ashmore Parks there are also many other parks and open spaces.

Find out how to enter here and please make sure you take time to read the Parks departments competition terms and conditions before you submit your entry/entries.

Closing Date:  30 September 2011

If you’re thinking of entering, read on, grab your camera and give it a go ….

Last night’s Wednesfield North PACT meeting was well attended and many local issues were discussed.

We were live tweeting from the meeting, so if you’d like to read a minute-by-minute account of what was covered you can do so below…

*If you are reading this post via email or RSS you may need to click here in order to read the minute-by-minute coverage of the meeting.