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Month: November 2024

Rail Line Closure Lancaster to Barrow: 3rd to 5th December 2024

There will be no trains between Lancaster and Barrow-In-Furness next week between Tuesday, 3rd and Thursday, 5th December inclusive while essential repairs are carried out in Ulverston.

Network Rail engineers have been working around the clock this week to repair damage to caused by flooding during Storm Bert which came through our region last weekend (23th – 24th November) bringing strong winds, snow, and extreme rainfall to Cumbria. With a rise in temperature on Saturday morning, the snow melted and overwhelmed a watercourse which broke its bank and damaged the earth of the nearby railway cutting. The earth from the cutting collapsed onto the tracks, and about 300 tonnes of spoil had to be removed from the railway.

Engineers reopened the line on Tuesday morning, and began work to carry out a permanent fix to the site. In recent days, the team have built an 130 metre long “water slide” to divert the watercourse’s journey around the cutting. With the water flowing nicely through its new channel, work to repair the cutting can now begin.

The revised timetable is on the Northern website – the train services have been temporarily replaced to show as replacement buses.

Ulverston Flooding – A3inddDownload

Waste & Recycling Community Consultation

Help to Shape the Future of your Waste and Recycling Collections

Residents are being invited to help shape the future of waste and recycling collections in Westmorland and Furness.

A ‘Community Conversation’ has been launched by Westmorland and Furness Council to gather people’s thoughts on current services in their area – what they like, what they would like to change and what they’d like to see in the future. The feedback received will help inform the council’s emerging options for creating consistent waste and recycling services across the whole of Westmorland and Furness.

These options will be considered early next year and a vision for the revised service will be completed by mid-2025. This will be subject to further engagement and agreement and residents can expect to see the first changes being implemented from late 2025, with the majority of service revisions in place by the end of 2027.

Councillor Giles Archibald, Westmorland and Furness Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate, Biodiversity and Environmental Services, said: “Our aim is to reduce waste, increase recycling, and provide services for our residents that are consistent across the whole of the Westmorland and Furness area. We also want to make it easier and more convenient for people to recycle and minimise their waste. We want to involve our communities in helping us to plan what future services will look like, and have launched our Community Conversation on waste and recycling collections. This includes a survey that residents can complete to tell us what they think about current services in their area, how they use those services and what they’d like to see in the future.”

“We will also be holding some in-person events, where people can come along to learn more about what we are looking to achieve, ask questions and take part in workshops. We will be holding these events in each of the former district areas and there will also be an on-line event for anyone unable to attend the in-person sessions. The feedback from these events and the online survey will provide us with valuable information that will help us to develop our vision for consistent waste and recycling services, so every household is receiving the same level of service wherever they are in Westmorland and Furness. We want to see services that are better performing, more efficient and that make it easier for people to recycle more and waste less.’’

Currently, Westmorland and Furness Council delivers 7.5 million collections annually to 115,000 households in one of the largest and most rural unitary local authority areas in the country, covering a geographic area of 3,750 square kilometres.

Councillor Archibald continued: “It’s vitally important to us that we reflect the views of our communities when we are planning the future of such important services that affect every household in Westmorland and Furness. I would encourage as many people as possible to complete our survey or attend one of the in-person events to share your views.’’

To be part of the Community Conversation on the future of waste and recycling services in Westmorland and Furness, you can share your thoughts on current services in your area by completing our Waste and Recycling Community Conversation Survey.

The survey will close on 20th December 2024.

Paper copies of the survey will be available in the receptions of the council’s main public buildings at Barrow Town Hall, Kendal Town Hall and Voreda House, Penrith, as well as council libraries.

In-person events where you can learn more about the waste and recycling harmonisation programme and the council’s ambitions, share your thoughts and take part in workshops on recycling and waste minimisation, will take place on the following dates:

  • Tuesday, 26 November 2024, Penrith Library, 6pm – 7.30pm
  • Wednesday, 27 November 2024, The Forum, Barrow, 6pm – 7.30pm
  • Thursday, 28 November 2024, Kendal Town Hall, 6pm – 7.30pm
  • Monday, 2 December 2024, Online event, 6pm-7pm

To register for these events (including for the online event on 2 December) you can Book Your Place.

If registering for the online event, a link to the meeting will be emailed to you in advance of 2 December.

12 Days of Christmas Raffle

The Arnside 12 Days of Christmas Raffle

Following the success of last year’s 12 Days of Christmas Raffle, its back for 2024! Helping raise funds for the Arnside Playground Project – last year it raised a wonderful £1500. This year, its back – bigger & better, as we try to beat that total.

There are already some fantastic prizes to be won & more are being added every day. Tickets cost £10 – this enters you into all 12 draws, and are on sale NOW at Arnside House Gift Shop and JJ Crossfield’s Cafe & Wine Bar – if you’re not local, you can pay via PayPal. You can find out what prizes are on offer on the Arnside House Gift Shop FaceBook page.

The draw starts on 13th December through to Christmas Eve. Please spread the word – and if you have a raffle prize you would like to donate (big or small) please get in touch.

Temporary Road Closure: C5097 Leighton Beck Road, Beetham – 26th November 2024

A temporary road closure has been put in place to allow Electricity North West Ltd. to carry out utility works which are expected to commence 26th November 2024 and anticipated to take 1 day to complete.

Please see below details of the extents of the restriction and any alternative routes which may be in place, the relevant legal notice can be viewed here and a location plan clearly showing these extents can be found on one.network via link https://one.network/?tm=140586494

Location: C5097 Leighton Beck Road, Beetham, from its junction with the C5099, extending in a north easterly direction for a distance of approx. 70m.

Alternative Route: via the unrestricted section of the C5097, A6, C5098 and C5099 and a way for pedestrians and dismounted cyclists will be maintained at all times.

Access for Emergency Vehicles will be maintained where required for the duration of these works.

Should you have any queries in relation to this temporary Order please contact the Highways Hotline by calling 0300 373 3306 or via the Westmorland & Furness Council website, quoting the reference TTROW/12423

Temporary Road Closure: Church Hill, Arnside – 23rd November 2024

A temporary road closure has been put in place to allow BT Openreach to carry out utility works which are expected to commence 23rd November 2024 and anticipated to take 1 day to complete.

Please see below details of the extents of the restriction, the relevant legal notice can be viewed here and a location plan clearly showing these extents can be found on one.network here.

Location: Church Hill, Arnside, from its junction with Oakroyd Close, extending in a south easterly direction to its junction with Colesberg Court.

A way for pedestrians and dismounted cyclists will be maintained at all times.

There is no suitable alternative route available.

Access for Emergency Vehicles will be maintained where required for the duration of these works.

Should you have any queries in relation to this temporary Order please contact the Highways Hotline by calling 0300 373 3306 or via the Westmorland & Furness Council website, quoting the reference TTROW/12150

Clock Repairs at Arnside Repair Cafe

Successful First Session of Arnside Repair Cafe

The first Arnside Repair Cafe on the 28th October at the Arnside Educational Institute was a great success and very busy thanks to all the volunteers, repairers and the local residents who brought their items in to seek advice and repair!

  • A range of electrical items were repaired, including hedge-cutters, lamps, hoovers and an iron lead.
  • The textile people offered advice and help to a number of people on the best way to mend their clothing, bags and soft toys.
  • AbilityNet guided people through ways to solve their tech problems such as backing up photos and speeding up slow computers.
  • KingSharp was parked outside sharpening blunt knives, tools and scissors. This is a paid service that proved very popular – so we are planning to get the van back for a regular spot every 3 months.

Tea, coffee and biscuits were kindly provided to people waiting to be seen by the established Arnside Community Cafe that runs every Monday morning.

If you have something you would like to bring to the next repair cafe on Monday, 25th November, you can put a message on the new Arnside Repair Cafe Facebook page or send a picture and message to Alison Sandford on ali@thesandfords.plus.com to check that we have a repairer who can look at your item. Please make sure that all items, particularly clothing, are in a clean condition.

The Arnside Repair Cafe helps to stop waste going to landfill and reduces Arnside residents’ carbon footprint. Cash donations are taken to help towards the running costs of the repair cafe.

Come along, have a cup of tea at Arnside Community Cafe and find out a bit more about what we do!

North West Ambulance Service Ready For Winter

With winter fast approaching, North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) has announced plans to deal with the anticipated rise in demand for NHS and ambulance services, and ensure it continues to deliver high-quality care while supporting patients and staff during this peak period.
Over the past year, the service has recruited over 280 new staff members to the Paramedic Emergency Service, Patient Transport Service, and NHS 111 service. These additional recruits strengthen NWAS’s capacity to provide timely and appropriate care to those who need it. In addition, since February 2024, 32 new emergency vehicles have been added to the fleet, bringing the total up to 553 ambulances. All these vehicles will be available to respond to patients across the North West this winter.
Frontline staff are also being supported. To help them manage the increased demand, volunteers will be deployed to assist with staff welfare – offering refreshments at hospitals during peak times and helping to move equipment, staff, and vehicles around the region.
Over the last 12 months, NWAS has remained one of the top-performing ambulance trusts in the country. Fewer patients have experienced long delays, and they continue to work closely with local hospitals to reduce handover times, freeing up crews and ambulances to respond to new emergencies.
Dan Ainsworth, Director of Operations, emphasised: “We’re here for you this winter, as always, and our comprehensive plans will help us to maintain the high-quality care you expect. Winter brings unique challenges and increased demand, but we’re as prepared as possible.

To help us help you, consider getting your flu and COVID-19 vaccines if you haven’t already, keep your medicines cabinets stocked up, order repeat prescriptions in advance, make use of local pharmacies, and visit 111.nhs.uk for advice on non-urgent conditions.”

Arnside Sailing Club

End of the Water Sports Season at Arnside Sailing Club

After a very successful season, water sports at the Sailing Club have come to an end for this year,

Highlights of the Season include:
70 people took part in the ‘Try Out Day’ in May.
51 children/teenagers and 20 adults gained RYA Sailing Certificates
3 Club members received RYA powerboat certificates and 6 RYA Safety Boat
Dinghy Cruises in Windermere, Coniston Water and at Arnside
Paddlebroad trips on the upper estuary and on the River Derwent near Keswick
18 Club Nights at Killington
16 Races at Arnside
We ran taster sessions for 4 schools and two youth groups, with 157 young people taking part.

During the winter there are monthly theory workshops. The aim is to make the sessions fun, suitable for both adults and children, with lots of interactive activity. They are also a chance to socialise with other club members. The sessions are followed by an optional soup lunch.

This month theme is a boat build challenge, l

Saturday, 16th November 2024 – Boat Build Challenge: looking at different types of craft, parts of boats and knots followed by building boats.

Saturday, 7th December 2024 – Christmas Related Boating Challenges: An interactive quiz to challenge different boating skills. Who will be crowned the Christmas winner?

Saturday, 11th January 2025 – Board Game Challenge: Investigating different board games – who has right of way on the water.

Saturday, 8th February 2025 – Pirate Adventure: the basics of using charts and maps with a pirate theme.

Saturday 8th March 2025 – Preparation for returning to the water safely: Quizes and challenges.

Workshops are 11am to 1 pm followed by lunch. The sessions are free to club members and their children. For non members there is a £5 charge. Soup lunches are available at a cost £4 (members and non-members)

To book https://widget.eola.co/1222/activities/theory-training-session-indoors