Tallest sunflower competition

Young people in Oakridge are going sunflower crazy in a bid to win our tallest sunflower competition. Lotus Landscapes kindly donated 100 packets of sunflower seeds and we’ve been overwhelmed with entries.

Juliet from Oakridge Village told us “The children in Oakridge Village are delighted to be growing sunflowers for Sentinel’s sunflower competition, thank you for re-introducing it. Because they all want to win, they’ve suggested that maybe next year there could be two prizes one for the tallest sunflower and one for the widest sunflower head.”

Safer streets

You may have heard about crack house closures in the news and noticed that some flats in Pear Tree Way have been shuttered up. This is the result of months of work by the police to gather evidence of anti-social behaviour and disorder in Pear Tree Way, including undercover officers buying drugs. We worked closely with them on this case and once they’d arrested the dealers, we started our legal process to evict them and regain possession of the homes. The court issued a Closure Order which lasts for three months, so we shuttered the houses to stop anyone returning to them while the eviction goes through the courts. If you suspect any drug-dealing in your neighbourhood, you can report this in confidence to us or the police.

Bin it skip it

Residents in Taverner and Mullins Close in Oakridge had an early spring clean in February. We hired skips to help get rid of any post Christmas waste and clear up the communal areas ready for use when the better weather arrives. It’s worth remembering that the council have a Green Garden Waste scheme, you can fill your green bag and they collect it for you. They also have a bulky waste collection service and if you want to get rid of unwanted electrical goods, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) will come and collect things such as TV’s and printers free of charge. Telephone 01252 338 414 or email collect@weeecollect.it

New eco project

The international programme helps schools assess their eco friendliness against nine topics, water, biodiversity, energy, global perspectives, healthy living, litter, school grounds, transport and waste. They can then submit their assessment for a bronze or silver award. The nine Eco Rangers from South View School carried out their assessment in January and used the results to develop an eco-code for the school. We're hoping to roll this project out to other schools in the area, and we'll lkeep you posted on our progress.

A big welcome to the families and couples who have moved into our latest new homes at Limes Park – formerly Park Prewett. Eleven families moved into Harness Court on the site of former NHS offices, in April, and a further 13 in July.

This development has already been in the spotlight, after young mum Jenny Lewis took part in BBC programme Property Watch. The programme, aired in May, showed how cramped Jenny’s life was living in a one-bedroom private rented flat. Jenny is now in one of the three-bedroom houses, which we bought from a big-name developer last year.

To mark the formal completion of this phase of the development, we organised a Halloween themed communty event with prizes for the best childrens fancy dress costume. See more photos.

We can also report brisk interest in the 24 part-buy part-rent properties at Harness Court. If you know someone who would be interested in shared ownership, contact our Homescope team on 01256 338 800.

Back of the net

Residents in Taverner Close, Oakridge went football mad in August, when Sentinel and the Community Wardens organised a friendly football match. We had so many players all the rules of football were broken as a huge 19 a-side football match was played. Congratulations to the Yellow Team who won 7-3. A very welcome barbeque of burgers and sausages – expertly cooked by the Community Wardens – went down a treat.

Weed did it

At a recent Sentinel on the Road, Old Basing residents said that nearby garage areas were overgrown with weeds. We checked it out, and decided to tackle the job ourselves. So, six of us set out armed with garden tools and binbags. After a hard days’ work, and numerous trips to the dump, the areas were cleared. Thank you to the lovely lady who told us the car park area in Loyalty Lane had never looked better and she’s lived there for 16 years. In future these areas will be maintained by our grounds maintenance contractor.

Garages to let

We often have waiting lists for our garages but at the moment we do have some available to rent in Gregory and Coleman Close, Oakridge. Prices start from £7.78 per week if you rent your home from us and £8.94 per week if you don’t or if you already rent another garage from us. Give us a call on 0800 195 5515 to check availability.