I gave information. . . but nothing was done. Do something, Bromsgrove Council! And to residents: Have your fires if you have to, but do it late evening.


TheVillageView . . . . . . why can’t people just take W Babs Tuohy, Alvechurch


rubbish to the tip? Dear Editor – Thank you for highlighting the per- sistent problem of bonfires. Why is it even necessary to burn rubbish on a summer’s day, when we have a garden waste collection or the use of the tip in Romsley? I don’t think during the summer months that


there is a good time to have a bonfire, either day or night, with people using their gardens and house windows open. Bonfire smoke is extremely unpleas- ant. Please be more considerate to your neighbours. Name and address supplied


. . . I blame austerity, but


there’s no need to moan Dear Editor – Bonfires can be annoying, and bless the children’s school uniforms having to be washed again. I’m not sure why the laundry identity was important. The Government has pulled local funding for


bulky rubbish collection and garden waste collec- tion in many counties around the UK, which has led to significant increases in fly tipping and garden


continues overleaf Where’s VINNy?


12-YEAR-old Hannah Gill, of Bromsgrove, was the latest winner of a Mini Vinny in our monthly competition. If you want to win one


for yourself, you’ll need to try to locate the little hedgehog hiding some- where in this magazine (the one shown above is just a guide!). Just tell us where he’s hiding via phone, email, post


or Facebook – please include your contact details, especially if leaving a voicemail message – and we’ll draw a winner at random. The closing date is midnight on the 18th of every


month. We’ll let you know if you’ve won and you can collect your Mini Vinny from our office – and pose for a photo with your prize!


e feel we should join in on bonfires, having wafted the flames ever so gently to start with by asking in the June issue what readers feel


about lighting up in their gardens. This is always a hot – and smoky – topic because


there are those who do and those who don’t burn waste in their gardens . . . and never the twain shall meet. One of our correspondents on these pages says it has been a problem ever since she moved to The Village area 20 years ago. Perhaps she came from an urban area, where bonfires are much more rare these days? We have noticed in the past that people who move


to our villages from, say, Birmingham, are the ones most surprised to find their neighbours happily burning garden rubbish just over the hedge. There is no doubt that it can be very annoying on that


lovely summer’s day when you open all the windows in your home to enjoy the cool air flowing through, only to sniff the tell-tale odour of burning debris. Windows have to be closed, the washing brought in, and if you had been planning to enjoy the afternoon or evening al fresco, forget it until the fire goes out. Inevitably, there are calls for “something to be done”, but this is not something the authorities are going to get involved with unless there is persistent burning of noxious materials. Bonfires are not illegal in any way and can be lit at


any time “so long as the smoke from them does not cause nuisance to another person’s premises”, according to Worcestershire Regulatory Services. As WRS appear not to have the resources to tackle some quite large environmental nuisances in this area, they are hardly likely to turn out when your neighbour is burning his hedge cuttings. So it is up to us all to think of others and behave


reasonably. Waiting until after dusk before lighting up, and perhaps avoiding doing it that evening if you know your neighbours are going to be outside, seems quite reasonable to us.


C


ongratulations to Kate Van Der Plank, who has shown that party politics is on the wane in local


government in this area. In winning the Alvechurch Village Ward by-election, Councillor Kate’s 893 votes put her a long way ahead of the Conservative candidate’s 583. The people of Alvechurch Village clearly decided that “just ticking Tory” was no longer the preferred option and elected the candidate with a track record of service to the village who pledged to put local interests first, rather than those of a political party that had controlled the selection of the candidate.


The Village July 2017 15


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