Streetlights

Westmeath Co. Co. has been notified about the streetlight outside houses 207-208 that needs a bulb replacement. Airtricity has recently taken over the public lighting maintenance contract from ESB and there is a delay in getting these fixed at the moment throughout the county. Unfortunately, the darkness can attract opportunistic illegal dumpers. Please do report any such rubbish dumping to Westmeath County Council (more information) to help keep our estate tidy.

Update (24/02/10): Westmeath Co. Council has informed us that Airtricity has carried out the repair.

Tips for dealing with the freezing weather conditions

frozen pipeA number of houses in Ashefield are experiencing problems with frozen water pipes.  If you are one of the unfortunate people, a standpipe has been made available outside house #35 – toward the Ashe road entrance to the estate (10am – 4pm). Update: this water should be available until 8pm.

Here are some tips for dealing with, and preventing frozen water supplies:

  1. If the stopcock is frozen, open the stopcock chamber in front of your house.
  2. Pour warm (not boiling) water onto the stopcock. This water may freeze quickly so try to use as little as possible.
  3. Fill the chamber with fibreglass, rock wool or other non-absorbent insulation. Don’t use an absorbent material e.g. old rags.

More tips for dealing with the freezing weather:

  1. In your attic, make sure that there is no insulation underneath the cold water tank. It can get extremely cold in the attic at night so allowing heat from below to rise up will help prevent the water tank from freezing.
  2. If you have a 60W or 100W incandescent light in your attic, you might consider leaving it switched on. The heat from it may be enough to keep the temperature above freezing point.
  3. Opening the attic trapdoor will allow heat from the main part of the house to enter and raise the attic temperature.
  4. Set your heating to come on for a short time during the night e.g. at 4am.
  5. For driveways, liberal use of dishwasher salt is proving to be a very effective solution. Driveways under snow and thick ice will need a lot of it though.  Tesco own brand dishwasher salt is currently €1.25 for 3kg. Normal table salt is too fine for this job; coarse granules are required.
  6. Don’t leave running cars unlocked or unattended while waiting for them to heat up.
  7. Don’t use boiling water to defrost car windows; it may causing cracking or even worse, destroy the window.
  8. If you have any elderly neighbours, please do check in on them to make sure they have heating and essentials.

Bin tag offers

Latest Offer Update (Jan ’10): Allied Waste Management is offering two tags for the price of one. These are available at all the usual tag outlets.

2 waste tags for €7.50
2 recycling tags for €4

Expired Offers (Dec ’09):

Allied Waste Management is offering four bin tags for €20 as part of their Christmas gift pack promotion.

Given the 10% saving claims, it appears that this offer is for two green bin (refuse) and two blue bin (recycling) tags for €20. It’s not clear on their website but this will be confirmed soon.

The cost of buying two green and two blue tags together from Wallace Recycling is €22.  Allied Waste’s €20 promotion beats this by €2; enough for a Santa candle on the mantelpiece perhaps.

Home heating oil prices

It may be a good time to fill up your home heating oil tank before the possible introduction of carbon tax in the forthcoming budget. Here are some quotes from companies that will serve the Ashefield area. All quotes were requested on Saturday Dec. 05, 2009 and are for an order of 550 litres of home heating kerosene.

Supplier Price Phone number
Flynn Fuels €308 1800 359667
Whelans Oil €310 044 9340693
Hamills €319 044 9348682
Kinnegad Oil €319 044 9375653
Lakeland/TOP Fuels €325 044 9343632
Rustic Oil €330 044 9340502
Leinster Petroleum No answer 044 9348544

Littering and signage

Unfortunately, there has been an increase in the number of cases of illegal dumping in Ashefield recently. If you spot someone leaving rubbish bags or other litter in the estate, please contact Westmeath County Council’s litter control and report it either by email to environment@westmeathcoco.ie or using the low cost number 1890 320 005 . Don’t assume someone else will. It’s not fair on the local residents who do spend the time and money on clearing up after the illegal dumpers.

From Westmeath County Council: The emails will be checked daily by environment staff and all reports will be investigated. Alternatively incidences of littering/llegal dumping can be reported to Lo-call 1890 320 005   It is hoped that members of the public will be prepared to give evidence which will lead to conviction in the courts.

The road numbering signs have also been vandalised recently. Thanks to another local resident, repairs are being made.  If you spot any vandalism or other anti-social behavour, please do inform Mullingar Gardaí at 044 934 8915. Sometimes all it takes is the presence of  a Garda car to deter the vandals.

Short back and sides

Some time back we asked Westmeath County Council about trimming trees near street lights in the estate. This was in response to safety concerns raised by some residents where Summer foliage was blocking the light. The problem was most apparent in the vicinity of houses #190-210.

After contacting them again last week, Council staff carried out this work almost immediately afterwards. Thanks again for your prompt action!

I’m sure you’ll agree that the trimmed trees are looking a lot better now:
Ashefield

Bogus door-to-door collections

We’re approaching that time of year where there’s a rise in the number of door-to-door collections in Ashefield for various purposes. How can you tell a legitimate collection from a bogus collector looking to make some quick cash?

A person you don’t know will identify themselves first. A legitimate collector working on behalf of a charity will have an ID card and a document with the charity’s address and contact phone number.

If they don’t and/or you’re unsure,

  1. Ask for identification and the registered charity number.
  2. Call the charity that they are claiming to represent.
  3. If you’re still not satisfied, call the Mullingar Gardai at 044 934 8915. Don’t assume someone else will.

Composting workshop

For the gardeners in Ashefield and those who just simply want to cut down on the amount of waste being left out for bin collection, not to mention the expense of bin tags, composting is a handy option.  Westmeath Co. Co. is organising a free composting workshop on Thursday September 17 in the Arts Centre, Mullingar at 7pm.

The Irish Peatland Conservation Council will be on hand to show you how to recycle household organic waste and turn it into compost.

compost

Booking is required and places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you’d like to go, contact Bernie Ginnell, environmental awareness officer, Westmeath County Council.

Telephone: 044 9332125

Email: bernadette.ginnell [at] westmeathcoco.ie (replace [at] with @)

Keeping drains clear and streetlamps lit

Westmeath Co. Co. was notified about a blocked gulley outside #130 and a non-functioning street light beside the pedestrian walkway into Abbeylands.  Regarding the gulley, the request was passed on to the  General Services Supervisor to have it unblocked as soon as possible.  As for the streetlight, Westmeath Co. Co. notified the ESB to carry out the necessary repairs. Hopefully both issues will be resolved shortly.

streetlamp

If you notice any problems regarding blocked gulleys, broken streetlights, or some other issue that needs council attention, the easiest thing to do is to send an email to:

mullingararea [at] westmeathcoco.ie (replace ‘[at]’ with @)

It only takes a couple of minutes and you should get a response within a day or so.

Make sure to include the nearest house number(s) to help them locate the problem area.  For streetlight problems, each light has a number located on the pole about 10ft off the ground and it’s useful to include this number too.

Contributing to the upkeep of the estate

Over the last few weeks, contributions for the voluntary upkeep of the estate by the residents are being collected from houses towards the end of the estate.  The bulk of the contributions goes towards the maintenance of the four green areas. However these contributions also help with buying petrol, weedkiller, bin bags & tags, and replacement capstones for public boundary walls where they are missing. We are planning a clean-up afternoon for the near future where all these items will be put to good use.

Sincere thanks to all those who have contributed so far.  For those unable to contribute the yearly contribution of €30, all amounts and multiple installments are most appreciated. In addition to monetary contributions, offers to lend a hand and borrow tools are just as important.

Please do say Hi to two of your neighbours, Martin and Keith who will be dropping by. They are also collecting email addresses to help keep everyone updated too.  Bearing in mind that not everyone has the same block of spare time to help with this, a quick email may be a faster way to assemble a cleanup team willing to help at possibly short notice.