Haverhill News

New planting for Haverhill Cemetery

Work is taking place to plant 48 new trees at Haverhill Cemetery to replace planting which has come to the end of its natural lifespan.

Over the years, small trees in the central avenue have died back and gradually been felled. Similar slow-growing species, which will not get too tall, will be used to replant the avenue in the original Victorian style. The work, which will improve the entire area, should be complete by the end of March.

Meanwhile, work is also taking place to repollard willows along Ehringshausen Way in the town. The pollarding work must take place to keep the trees in a safe condition, and will encourage quick growth of up to two metres during the next year. The trees will have to be repollarded every four or five years.

Do you have any spare time ? Want to get out and see places ? Enjoy meeting and helping people ? Then why not become a volunteer driver? Thousands of people in Suffolk rely on community transport schemes to get out and about but the shortage of drivers is threatening many services. Volunteer driving is very flexible and rewarding. You could drive a minibus or a wheelchair accessible car. You could even use your own car and receive a mileage allowance. If you can help we want to hear from you! Please call the Suffolk Volunteering Helpline on: 08452 235335 (local call rates apply) where an adviser will help you find a suitable opportunity in your area. www.drivesuffolk.org.uk This campaign is funded by YOUR Local Strategic Partnership.

Unique recycling scheme launched

Residents living in St Edmundsbury will soon be able to recycle old batteries alongside their blue bin waste as part of a unique scheme to be trialled in the borough.

From April, people who live in St Edmundsbury will be given a container which can be filled with old batteries and hung from the handle of their blue bin on collection day. The trial, which was approved last night by the council’s Cabinet, is the first of its kind in the country and will run until March 2008.

The borough council was approached to take part in the experiment by the Waste Resource Action Programme (WRAP) after the UK, along with other EU member states, was set a target to recycle 25% of portable batteries by September 2012. The cost of the scheme will be met by WRAP.

Preparations start on cinema site

Work to create a new car park, pollard trees and remove a hedge on the site of Haverhill’s proposed multiplex cinema is about to begin.

The trees, most of which are on land to the east of the leisure centre in Ehringshausen Way, will be pollarded to prevent birds from nesting in them prior to their removal in mid-March under a Forestry Commission licence. The felled trees will then be recycled into chippings and fire wood. The work must be carried out before the bird nesting season to ensure that plans for the town’s five-screen cinema remain on track. New tree planting, landscaping and environmental enhancements will be added to the area as part of the overall cinema and restaurant scheme to replace the trees which are lost. The work will not affect the elms.

Contractors are also set to begin work to create a new 96-space car park on land to the rear of the fire station. Initial preparations, known as enabling works, will take place over the next few weeks and the old tennis courts and floodlights will be removed before drainage work is carried out and a new surface laid using recycled materials. The car park will then be used to provide car parking for leisure centre customers when work begins to develop the cinema.

Cllr Jeff Stevens, Chairman of the Haverhill Area Working Party, said:

“These initial works are an essential part of the overall scheme and will clear the way for the much-anticipated multiplex cinema. Building the car park will ensure people using the leisure centre will enjoy convenient parking close by as work on the multiplex progresses, while the landscaping work will be part of an enhanced environment in the future. Extensive planting has been included as part of the overall scheme and ultimately the area will end up looking even better than ever.”

Pollarding the trees will take around two weeks and should begin on Monday 19 February. Work on the car park is due to begin on Monday 12 and is expected to take around 16-weeks.

Preparations start on cinema site

Work to create a new car park, pollard trees and remove a hedge on the site of Haverhill’s proposed multiplex cinema is about to begin.

The trees, most of which are on land to the east of the leisure centre in Ehringshausen Way, will be pollarded to prevent birds from nesting in them prior to their removal in mid-March under a Forestry Commission licence. The felled trees will then be recycled into chippings and fire wood. The work must be carried out before the bird nesting season to ensure that plans for the town’s five-screen cinema remain on track. New tree planting, landscaping and environmental enhancements will be added to the area as part of the overall cinema and restaurant scheme to replace the trees which are lost. The work will not affect the elms.

Contractors are also set to begin work to create a new 96-space car park on land to the rear of the fire station. Initial preparations, known as enabling works, will take place over the next few weeks and the old tennis courts and floodlights will be removed before drainage work is carried out and a new surface laid using recycled materials. The car park will then be used to provide car parking for leisure centre customers when work begins to develop the cinema.

Cllr Jeff Stevens, Chairman of the Haverhill Area Working Party, said:

“These initial works are an essential part of the overall scheme and will clear the way for the much-anticipated multiplex cinema. Building the car park will ensure people using the leisure centre will enjoy convenient parking close by as work on the multiplex progresses, while the landscaping work will be part of an enhanced environment in the future. Extensive planting has been included as part of the overall scheme and ultimately the area will end up looking even better than ever.”

Pollarding the trees will take around two weeks and should begin on Monday 19 February. Work on the car park is due to begin on Monday 12 and is expected to take around 16-weeks.