The Green Fair will be held in Canbury Gardens on Bank Holiday Monday 31^st May, from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. The organisers have met with CARA committee members as well as the council and emergency services and are keen to ensure there is minimum disruption to residents. (After last year’s Green Fair, the CARA committee received about four times more positive feedback than negative from our residents.)

You may find the following information helpful:

The organisers are legally entitled to charge admission to the fair (£5 per adult, £2 per child or £10 for a family ticket). You will however still be able to access the children’s playground and the tennis courts without paying, and Boaters.

A number of complementary tickets are available to CARA residents. Contact Penny D’Souza tel 8549 5331 or email pennydsouza@blueyonder.co.uk before 27^th May if you would like some (limited to one family ticket per household).

Please note that admission will only be by ticket – please don’t try to enter without one, last year there were a number of unpleasant gatecrashers who claimed to be CARA members (they weren’t) which only gives CARA a bad name.

There is a Green Fair website with more information: www.kingstongreenfair.org.uk

If you would like to work as a steward at the Green Fair, application can be made via the website or by phoning 0208 974 8608

No dogs will be admitted to the fair and no alcohol will be sold within the fair.

Any bollards removed to allow access to the Green Fair will be put back and the site will be cleared of rubbish and inspected by the Council afterwards. At least 50% of the rubbish will be recycled.

Should you encounter any problems caused by the Green Fair, there will be a helpline set up by the organisers: tel 07718196764.

Whatever you are planning to do, or wherever you are planning to be, have a very happy Bank Holiday weekend!

We have a new website where we will be posting all the newsletters and upcoming dates, contact details and summaries of key issues affecting our members. You can access the site at www.CARAKingston.org. We are interested in any help or suggestions you may have on the information or design of the site – please contact Bazil Arden at bazil@ripplemedia.co.uk

Sunday 6^th June will be a busy day on the river, when the annual Dragon Boat Race will be held. On the same day, at Teddington Lock, Thames Landscape Strategy will be launching its consultation for its Teddington Gateway Project which aims to improve the river area around Teddington Lock. For more details on this, visit www.thames-landscape-strategy.org.uk.

A number of residents have requested the planting of trees in their roads, sometimes to replace those that have died or to request additions.

For £150 the Council will provide and plant a tree at the request of a resident.

The alternative is to request tree planting from a discretionary budget allocated each year by Councillors. There is no cost involved for residents for these plantings but requests are dealt with on a first-come first-served basis for those on the wish list and it may take some considerable time to reach the top of the list. The planting season is from November to March each year.

Stuart Devall – tel 0208 546 5778 (email: stuart@devallj.fsnet.co.uk) - is happy to co-ordinate requests for extra or replacement trees. However, before making a request, please ensure the house owner adjacent to the preferred location is in agreement.

The London Fire Brigade are offering a service to any elderly or vulnerable people that live in the Borough of Kingston. If you do not currently have a smoke alarm or would have difficulties in installing one, they will come to your home and fit one for you free of charge. If you are interested in this service, or you know someone who might be, please contact the London Fire Brigade on 08000 28 44 28.

Canbury Gardens Pavilion – for bookings or offers of help please ring 07708 667590

In previous years, members have been able to subscribe for up to three years in advance. At the AGM, a resolution was passed to only allow one year’s subscription to be paid at a time (clearly all existing advance payments will be honoured). This will facilitate the administration of our accounts and avoid misleading views of our finances. Thank you for bearing this in mind when subscribing to CARA and also thank you for your continuing support. A subscription slip is conveniently included in this newsletter!

To: Huw Rees Membership Secretary CARA, 12 Woodside Road

I enclose my CARA membership subscription of £5 per household valid to 1^st November 2004.

I do/do not require a receipt.

Name:

Signed and dated:

Address, phone and email: