LARA
The Leomansley Area Residents Association exists to support the local residents of the Leomansley and Darwin Park areas of Lichfield.
LARA aims to support the local people by representing their cares and concerns to the appropriate governing officials. LARA further aims to support the local area and local initiatives, and to encourage a sense of community and pride in that community.
Help LARA to help you by making your views known to us. We cannot represent you, the people, until we know what your views are. If you have concerns about the Leomansley area that affect you or others then we want to hear from you!
Support LARA
Join us and help us to take a more active role in supporting the community.
What's New?
The LARA AGM is a public meeting that gives you the opportunity to make your views known. Everyone is welcome.
Saturday 29th January 2022, 11:00am – 12:30pm
at Martin Heath Hall, Christchurch Lane
This meeting will be a more administrative meeting than usual. The current chairman is stepping down and LARA members will need to address the future of LARA, either by offering up a new chair, or by agreeing to continue the association for a period without one, or by suspending or closing the association.
This meeting has been delayed from Nov/Dec 2021 due to Covid and room non-availability.
As part of the Great British Spring Clean, we are organising a litter pick for the Leomansley area this Saturday the 5th of June.
Anyone is welcome to join us. We are meeting at 10:30am at the Darwin Hall car park.
Please bring your own gardening gloves. Litter pickers and bags will be provided by Lichfield District Council.
The LARA executive committee have been unable to meet for most of the year due to lockdown and meeting restrictions, and LARA has effectively had to suspend its activities.
November is the time of year when we would normally have an AGM, however that is not currently possible. The executive committee have discussed the options and decided to postpone the AGM until next year.
It is not possible to predict when next year that will be – it depends on how the pandemic progresses, and on what restrictions are placed on us all.
In the meanwhile, LARA will obviously not be asking for subscriptions for the forthcoming year, and will extend all paid-up membership for a further twelve months.
Our best wishes to all members and friends. Stay safe.
The LARA AGM is a public meeting that gives you the opportunity to make your views known and hear what we have been doing in the last year. Everyone is welcome.
Saturday 30th November 2019, 10:00am – 12:00pm
at Martin Heath Hall, Christchurch Lane
Local councillors will also be present to address you and answer questions, so come along and find out what's happening in your local area.
On Thursday 31st October, we will be returning to undertake further work to improve Trunkfield Brook. This is a continuation of the work that we did in September, and we will be clearing debris from the water and surrounding areas, and cutting back any overhanging branches.
If you would like to join us and assist, you would be most welcome. Please wear suitable footwear (walking or Wellington boots) and safety/gardening gloves, and bring along a rake and/or some secateurs if you have them. Please be advised that you will be working at your own risk.
We will be meeting initially at the top pool, near Waitrose at 10:00am for a safety briefing.
We are organising another litter pick on the morning of Saturday 26th October 2019. We will be starting from Darwin Hall (on Darwin Park, near Waitrose) at 10:00am.
Please come along and join us and help us to keep the Leomansley area clean and tidy!
We had a very successful morning clearing Trunkfield Brook with 20 volunteeres working all morning. Our efforts have made a significant improvement to the way the brook looks, and our volunteers were keen to return for a second day to finish the job. We are therefore proposing further work be done on Thursday 31st October.
On Thursday 19th September, we will be undertaking work to help restore the water flow to Trunkfield Brook, where it flows through Darwin Park. This is the replacement date for the event that was rained off earlier in the year, so let's hope the weather is a little kinder this time!
We will be working alongside volunteers from South Staffs Water, and will be clearing debris from the water and surrounding areas, and cutting back any overhanging branches. We've made every effort to ensure that the ecology in the area won't be affected by the work and will be advising our teams to cease activity should they have any concerns. We are also being supported by Lichfield District Council who will be assisting in clearing the rubbish and debris away.
If any of you would like to join us and assist, you would be most welcome. You will need to wear suitable footwear (walking or Wellington boots) and safety/gardening gloves. If you have a hi-viz vest, a rake and/or some secateurs, please bring them along. Please be advised that you will be doing so fully at your own risk. Neither LARA nor South Staffs Water can be held responsible for any injuries or incidents.
We are meeting initially at the top pool, near Waitrose at 9:30am for a safety briefing from South Staffs Water.
More about the community work done by South Staffs Water is on their web site at south-staffs-water.co.uk/community/corporate-social-responsibility.
We are grateful to Cllr Iain Eadie for the following update on the status of Darwin Park:
Officers from LDC along with District Councillor Iain Eadie met with Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon on 2nd September and walked the main paths around Darwin Park.
They have taken away a list of items to attend to in terms of remedial action, such as looking at the footpaths that are bumpy due to tree roots; broken gates; benches that need cleaning and some general TLC such as clearing blocked drains that cause the footpaths by the ponds to flood in heavy rain. LDC officers had already given them a list of items to attend to previously.
Given LARA's Pools Project and the upcoming brook clearance they also discussed the situation regarding the reeds and the various pools related issues. Taylor Wimpey are going to liaise with LDC over work to remove a proportion of the reeds clogging the top pool and also to look into dredging the brook to get rid of the silt build up that has happened over the last near 20 years that Darwin Park has been up.
We don't have a timescale on that but suspect it will be later this year as they may want to get advice regarding removal over fear it will damage any pond liners.
With regards to adoption, Taylor Wimpey are going to seek out an indemnity to allow the parcel of land it cannot prove ownership on to be resolved, given this is what has held up adoption for many years. We are hopeful this will see renewed effort that will allow transfer to LDC of phase 1 of Darwin Park; rapidly followed by the remainder, given that has less issues needing remedial attention. (Phase 1 is from Waitrose round to the play area). They do acknowledge this has passed through many hands on their side of things but want to make a renewed effort to get to the point of putting LDC in a position to take on the public open space.
We are pleased to announce that following discussions with Staffordshire County Council, new bus stops have now been sited on Falkland Road and Sainte Foy Avenue for the National Express Service X3.
The X3 gives new links both into Lichfield City Centre as well as to Shenstone, Mere Green, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington and Birmingham City Centre seven days a week.
Contactless payments are accepted with a daily cap at the price of a day ticket - £4.50 - no matter how many trips you make. Further information is at networkwestmidlands.com.
No driving - No parking - Give it a try!
We had a successful litter pick on the 2nd June with 25 attendees, including one of our District Councillors (Cllr Jamie Checkland), 9 LARA Committee members, 9 residents and a team of 6 staff from Waitrose. Thanks to all those who participated.
We picked up over a dozen bags of litter and rubbish from the Darwin Park and Christchurch areas, and also recovered a shopping trolley from Morrisons and a wallet containing bank and travel cards belonging to a gentleman in Burntwood. Both the shopping trolley and the wallet have been re-united with their owners.
We are organising a litter pick
on Sunday 2nd June 2019, 10:00 – 12:00
starting from Darwin Hall (on Darwin Park, near Waitrose)
Please feel free to join us and help us to keep the area clean and tidy!
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