New Dogs must be on Lead Signs

Lots of new signs all around the park dogs must be on a lead mostly around the lake as if it doesnt matter in other areas the problem being no one takes any notice and with no wardens to enforce it what the point. Below the stroke club meeting last week and low and behold a dog off the lead

Looking at the islands the wildlife group spent ages clearing all the weeds last year but they were advised it would be a waste of time if you chop up a dock leaf roots you get half a dozen not one there were advised to use a safe weed killer but didnt listen. The few bush's they planted have disappeared under the weeds as it is its best for wildlife they can hide in the weeds

Its likely the paths will start in 2 months but first they must check the trees as digging the paths next to trees will cut roots and could kill the trees

Total Waste of Time

The park now has all sort of volunteer groups including ANTS, Wildlife, Fishing and Friends. The whole scheme is just chaos and these groups dont seem to understand what they are doing is a waste of time. The ANTS have turned up lots of times and done stuff which is a total waste of peoples time. Above they tidied the lodge garden and in the process removed some old rare plants as they have no knowledge. But time and time again they make the same mistakes they cleaned it and thats it as you can see above the weeds are back so all the time they spent cleaning is just a waste of time. They do the same in coronation walk    they tidy it up then never go back for a month or so in which time its its a wilderness again so their time is wasted, the gulf war they planted bushes and left them to die and the border full of weeds.

If they came in every time and just kept 3 areas clean it would stay clean and be improved not revert to a wilderness they could renovate one area and then they could come back and show we have done that as it is when they come back its just wild again as it was before they started. If they are not going to do it properly then leaving it rough for wildlife is a better option.

All these groups are getting out of hand and potentially dangerous along with people from Facebook groups they have resorted to threats and harassment of park users  with people threatening OAP’s not very brave of them if they need to pick on OAP this has been harassment in the internet and physical death threats in the park . There have been several allegation of the wildlife group harassing people in the park and these are women who have visited the park daily for over 6 years feeding the wildlife and now get harassed by  the group. There is still great concern by swan experts  that they are taming the swans and treating them like pets not wildlife hand feeding them with a dog present so they have no fear until one kills them. Even though people who have many years experience of swans  have said they may not survive as they are becoming humanised these people continue to put their lives in danger. All these groups seem to develop a Hitler complex refusing to listen to anyone and harassing them with new laws coming out these troll can get a 2 year prison sentance

A large tree felled by the band stand this week

A grebe back on site and has been around for a week

New Queens Park Wildlife Conservation Group

The first meeting of the new group took place today in the park soured by a heavy downpour of rain but still over 20 people turned up for the meeting. It was set up after the mysterious death of the female who had 7 cygnets one of which has gone missing. The aim of the group is to protect the wildlife in the park mostly from humans after there have been now 5 witness attacks of the cygnets none of which have been reported to the Police as they have been as its a criminal offence.

On objective is to make the islands a safe haven by providing suitable plants on them and building some sort of steps so wildlife can get to safety on the island. A few companies have shown interest it helping including Bentley, PET Hire and Cheshire work wear. The next meeting will be next Sunday at 2pm in the bowling hut. You can join the group on facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/1502881536594395/

One of the problem faced by wildlife is as you can see a very large dog off the lead there are many dogs off lead and they often attack wildlife despite there being a bylaw on the park that they must be on the lead

Some of the wildlife on the lake this week is the Coot back last year we had lots of them and they did very well but we have the only one now

A new set of baby duck with mum out today and the baby moorhen out on his own

Save the wildlife

There are still 6 signets left and we have lots of people watching out for them after the mysterious death of the mother. The controversy roles on with claims made by the press that the RSPCA no nothing about the death  even though the park made this statement on  Face book  Sadly Swan found dead on the lake this morning. RSCPA notified. All indications are eaten, possibly by a fox, no indication of being ravished by dog. Hence previous assumption removed off the web as unnecessary. However, mum may possibly find it difficult to look after all her young, so please all keep monitoring them and help. She has plenty of food thank you to all. Thank you Waynne also for your prompt call.

Queens Park wildlife conservation group

The group was setup after the death of a swan and other wildlife the aims and objectives are.

Urgent need for ramps onto all islands on the lake so wildlife can escape onto them away from human and natural predators

Islands to be planted with wildlife friendly plants to provide cover and suitable nesting

Lake plants need to be planted to provide to oxygenate the water and provide nesting for wildlife reed beds are needed in the middle of the lake for protected species that cant nest on land ie Grebe

Make the park more wildlife friendly by planting suitable bushes and plants to encourage wild life which fits in with the schools education programme

After a serious dog attack last year we were promised a dog control order which hasn’t been actioned dogs off the lead are a major problem as they attack wildlife and children the order is of no use unless dog wardens enforce it. The remaining swan was attacked last week by a dog off the lead.

Small water holes to be placed around park for wildlife to drink from as most can drink from the lake.

Log piles and bee hotel to get more insects in the park cost nothing and helpful for children’s education.

There will be a meeting in the park pavilion on Sunday 6th July 2pm all invited

There has been a lot of dead fish in the lake estimates between 50-100 and experts say this is down to failure of the CEC not providing plants for the lake or a fountain to oxygenate the lake. Its believed they all died due to lake of oxygen. This is all despite Cllr Jones promising last year to do all he could to protect the wildlife in the park they have failed to get the dog control order requested last year and no effort has been made to do anything for wildlife 

Signet Disappeared

After the death of the swan last week this week a signet has gone missing and its reported today that there are 100 dead fish in the lake. A member of swan watch witnessed a staffy type dog attack the remaining swan while it was off the lead. What is going on when will someone do something?

The Wagtails are about on the lake catching flies for their young and there is also baby moorhens on the lake they are very tiny and vulnerable

More illegal fishing below these came with big dogs and fished at the wrong end of the lake with bread which the ducks were trying to eat as it was floating make you wonder about these and the dogs?

Dead Swan

This is an upsetting image of the dead swan but it is evidence of what has happened. It is claimed on Facbook that it was found on the lake headless and a carcass on Tuesday am. But this photo was taken at 7:45 on Monday by 5 witness to its death. Its claimed its a fox. But the facts are its very rare for a fox to come out in the day when people are about and this happened in broad day light between 4-7 o'clock.    Foxes and swans have lived in the park for years and its never happened before. Why would a fox take on a swan when there is easy picking with other wildlife special lots of rabbits which would not put up a fight?

Foxes normally only kill for food and take the head straight away as its the most nourishing part. If it was a fox in daylight doing this are children safe? We know this was in the bushes the swans have never ever gone in the bushes.

But look at the swan it has a single hole in  the neck a bite from a fox or a dog would look like the above with the two canine teeth 25mm apart and a dog similar but wider so if there isnt the two bite marks it suggest it wasnt done by a dog or fox everyone who has seen the picture agrees with this. So what has killed it? As the body has disappeared we may never know and cant find out but a single hole suggests a shot or a arrow or something like that we will never know. If anyone saw the swans on monday let us know we know it was ok up till 4 oclock so if you saw it after then alive we can narrow down the time if you saw anything else or heard anything let us know. We have sent the images to experts to see if they can provide any more evidence as to what did this

Swan Watch After Dog Attack

The island were they put the boats at night is suffering damage from the boats smashing into the stone work with a lot of the top slabs destroyed by the boats. So this will be another restoration of restoration.

More babies in the park this time Canada Geese there is now a lot of ducks and geese with babies.

Every day this week the Herron has popped in for his dinner he doesn't know its closed season for fishing until June

members of the parks wildlife group are keeping a close eye on the swans and babies. A witness saw a man on a bike with  a grey hound type of dog off the lead attack the signets this week luckily they were close to mum and water and escaped but the dog followed them into the water. Being in the water the swan was able to defend her young. Last year the baby swans disappeared in mysterious circumstances  so we are trying to keep watch over them this year. If anyone sees any thing happening to a swan call the Police straight away

The plaque on the clock tower has now been renovated

Seven Baby Swans Born

The Mayor Cllr Dorothy Flude  came for a ride on the boats in the park this week. We are having major problems with the boats not being supervised. The first incident were people using the boats to run over baby ducks and chase them around the lake while staff did nothing. There were then two separate incidents reported by the fishing bailiff and seen by others. These are serious problems that rowers got near the far side of the island and messed with eggs on a gooses nest. On the second occasion they threw the eggs and smashed them. If it had been the swans eggs they could face prosecution. Again on all these occasions staff did nothing they must supervise these boats and walk round to see none of this type of behaviour happens. They are making lots of money from the boats so they must protect wildlife and stop vandalism.  

Its a major wildlife week this week with 7 baby swans being born. Last year was the first year we had young but none survived so this year is a bumper year. There are baby ducks one has 12 babies another with 5 and one with 4 but these tend to loose a lot to gulls and dogs. There have been idiots with a black dog letting it chase duck on Sunday.

The Mandarin everyone's favourite is back again this week

Mum out with her babies keeping them close while dad chases of the bad geese

The jay down by the lake which is strange they tend to be hidden and stay out of site

£7m spent but, years after, Queens Park still not finished

 

Willaston and Rope Ward UKIP Councillor Brian Silvester is calling on the Cheshire East Council to get their act together over Queens Park Crewe.

He said," It is beyond belief that over £7m has been spent but, several years after, Queens Park is still not finished.(See below and attached) Basic requirements, like accessible footpaths to allow people to walk around the park, have not been provided. Many of the footpaths have not been finished off and the west end of the lake has had no footpaths for over two years. It is incredible that almost four times as much has been spent on consultants compared to the amount spent on footpaths.(See below)On one of the pavilions (which cost a total of £1.6m) there still isn't any downspout so the water wets you as you walk under the veranda.(See attached photo)

Since the ill conceived redundancy of the Park Wardens, there has been an increased level of lawlessness in the park. Kids on bikes, copious levels of litter, repeated criminal damage, motorbikes being ridden across the lake bridge and dog owners encouraging their dogs to attack waterfowl.

The park needs to be finished off properly and it needs to be policed efficiently. The original intention was to return the park to its former glory but urgent action is now needed if that is to be achieved."

Cllr Brian Silvester BA (Hons)

Willaston and Rope Ward UKIP Councillor

Cheshire East Council

Tel/fax 01270 567757

Twitter @CllrBSilvester

Interesting facts

From: BROUGHTON, George
Sent: 14 November 2013 15:59
To: SILVESTER, Brian (Councillor)
Cc: HARTWELL, Peter; MELLING, Kevin; EDWARDS, Gareth; DODD, Elaine
Subject: Queens Park

Dear Cllr Silvester,

Actual Expenditure to date on the Queens Park Project is £7,312,304.96.

two weeks later the cost from a FOI request are £7,599,277.00

From the Friends of QP mins Chris Lawton has re-measured the pathways and received some budget costing's – the value to complete works is around £500K, which is a big improvement on the £2mill figure quoted elsewhere. The cost via FOI is now £382,000.00 that's a few weeks later. So one may well ask why the discrepancy in these figures so the latest is £7.5 million with other things still want doing like coronation walk Burma Island

 

Above the bowls hut now has CCTV but if you look at the photo you can see that the water still falls on your head as there are no down spots. It was supposed to be a posh chain but years later its still not finished.

The tree cut down from startling damage are having there stumps removed but they seem to be struggling with it as they have tried for a couple of days without much progress.

The dangerous path at the bottom of the lake has been closed. It is deadly to walk on as there is water either side and its just a mud bath and this weather if it freezes your going in the lake and there is no life belts any more as they were removed not a good idea given they have allowed fishing should have been risk assessed.

ANTS Volunteers Day

40-50 people turned up to find out exactly what ANTS are all about. Very simple. If you care about your beautiful park, lend a minute amount of your time to help beautify and maintain it. On 31st August and 1st September there will be a chance for Crewe residents to show potential sponsors that there is a collective will to do something positive. There will be identified tasks to be carried out - the repairing of benches, the tidying of paths and the weeding of borders - and, almost imperceptibly at first, there will be a blossoming of community spirit. There will be families enjoying themselves and there will be stuff getting done in an atmosphere of happiness and quiet determination. It is just the start and we all have a chance to say 'I was there'.

If you want to get involved you can contact the blog here   or via email to jan@janwright.co.uk

As a step forward the tree stumps around the park have been sawn into little bits so ANTS can then tidy the areas up and make it nice again.

One area for volunteers is a park wardens one of the big problems is illegal fishing at the moment they tend to break the fence on Burma Island and fish under the bridge. As people come onto the bridge to feed wildlife the kids still cast in the middle of them and its only a matter of time until they are hurt not only that they dont watch were they cast and it is only a matter of time before someone is hooked up.The other alleged problem is we have heard from some kids that being under the bridge its great fun to try and look up skirts. Even if people could only give an odd hour to be wardens and stop fishing and dogs off the lead. Often women will be better at this as most of the problems is with young children and mothers know how to deal with kids.

One of the baby swans has now been missing for over a week so we fear we have lost it. It could be a fox or a dog off the lead or it could have been caught by fishing line.

Welcome to the Wild West

The vandals have been at it again smashing the fence over Burma Island bridge and throwing the wood into the lake.

The baby swans are doing well considering idiots with fishing line and dogs etc

A new brood of chicks just born with their mum we havent had many young this year and those we have had few are surviving. 

The dog menace has been in full swing this week with 2 collie dogs in the lake this week chasing ducks a lot of this has gone on while the wardens are sitting in the office. But the one above happened on Sunday the dog went in the lake after a ball and chasing the ducks. The idiot owner came to the lake edge and the swans were getting ready to attack as their babies were there. The man took his dog right next to a young couple with a baby and very young child and sent it in the lake again putting the baby and child in danger.

The Queens Park is like the Wild West

Lots of complaints this week and people are saying the park is now like the Wild West as things get out of control and the council do nothing about it. Its illegal to fish in the lake and there are signs everywhere but people sit under the signs and fish. Some describe it as being like a fishing match as you can see above its not just the fact they are fishing but they block the path so people cant walk around and more importantly they cast the line with out a thought for anyone walking by.We have had people nearly hooked up by people casting the line as they walk past. Fishing near Tipkinder is the area were all the wildlife swim and they are in danger from fishing lines as well.

Dogs have been high on the agenda as complaints pour in ne man counted 15 off the lead in one short afternoon with one chasing all the wildlife and when the  owner was approached he only responded with verbal abuse. Under new laws the chasing of wildlife makes it a dangerous dog and it can be shot. Even old people come with dogs off the lead and they get as abusive as others often when the park is packed with young children. Loose dogs and children dont mix they may be friendly but they  can chase in fun of knock children over. Nothing will be done until a child is hurt then we will see some action. We often have school children come to use the park as young as 7 and now they have insisted that wardens patrol as loose dogs were around last time they visited and they cant take the chance of a child being hurt.

It was discussed at the friends meeting about obtaining a dog control order the suggestion being that no dogs would be allowed around the childs play area as you often see loose German Shepherds in that area and this is clearly unsafe. other suggestion are for zoning dogs  were they must be on leads etc and a fine would be introduced for those failing to comply.

Vandalism in the park has now cost more than £25,000 a lot of which could be saved if we had wardens the council are failing in their duty of care and not compiling with Health and Safety to make the are safe.s that parks in other Cheshire  towns  are looked after a lot better than our park and all the money seems to be going to there.

COLLEGE STUDENT GIVES PARK PLAQUE NEW LICK OF PAINT

 

A South Cheshire College Painting and Decorating student has helped to restore a plaque in Queen’s Park to its former glory.

Brad Hughes has completely stripped and repainted the metal plinth in memory of Councillor Charles Welch who played a key role in the park’s history and heritage in the late 1800s.

The plaque commemorates a tree planted by Councillor Welch in the centre of the park but it went missing after being ripped up by vandals.

It was retrieved from another part of the park but was in a bad state of repair before Brad stepped in to help out.

The sign now looks sparkling after being painted black and white and will be put back in position alongside the tree.

Four generations of Councillor Welch’s family joined Cllr Brian Silvester and Queen’s Park Manager Elaine Dodd to unveil the newly restored version at the West Lodge in Queen’s Park.

They included Councillor Welch’s granddaughter June Kershaw, great granddaughter Anne Shaw and her husband Chris, great great granddaughter Charlotte Shaw and great great great granddaughter Lilly Massey.

Brad Hughes and South Cheshire College Painting and Decorating tutor also met the family in Queen’s Park.

Brad, 17, of Crewe, who is studying a Painting and Decorating Level One Diploma, said: “The plaque was in a bad state when I first saw it and it was very rusty but I stripped it down and repainted it.

“I think it looks a lot better now and I’m glad the family and the park staff are pleased with it.”

The plaque reads ‘This Tree was planted in memory of the late Councillor Welch in recognition of his valuable services as a member of the Park Committee. October 9th 1895.

Cllr Brian Silvester said: “The family contacted me when they realised that the plaque was missing.

“I contacted the Council, the plaque was found and the College agreed to refurbish it.

“We are extremely grateful to South Cheshire College for helping us to restore this plaque which has always held a prominent position at the heart of the park.

“This is a great example of partnership working and the newly restored version looks fantastic.”

For further information about Painting and Decorating courses at South Cheshire College, please call 01270 654654 or visit www.scc.ac.uk

A new notice about dogs has gone up in the main gate notice board lets hope people take notice of it

Dog Menace yet Again

Start of another year in the park Happy New year to all our readers

I had complaints about this women letting her dog loose in the park frightening people and chasing ducks. Stopped her and explained there is a bylaw that dogs must be on the lead and signs all over the park. her reply was it doesnt apply to her and go and catch some yobs instead. She seems to think being posh means she is above the law and she doesnt appear to care that she upsets commoners. It doesnt matter how nice the dog is some people dont like dogs and if you have small children you dont want them running near your children even if its friendly it can knock children over. even after being told she continues to let it off the lead. She is actual the second person who has said the law doesnt apply to them. If you see her tell her to get it on the lead if enough people tell her she may take notice. People only have to go a few feet to Tipkinder or the playing fields if they want to let dogs loose

You may notice when you enter the park that its 12 oclock as the clock has stopped and needs repairing even though it was restored a few months ago.

These stupid children walking on the outside of the big Broadwalk bridge this week and then doing the old Harry Worth (who remembers him) trick of standing on one foot and holding on with one hand. The problem is you cant shout in case you make them jump and they fall. But they are an accident waiting to happen

Bonfire Night

The park has been busy this week with preparation for bonfire night with the bonfire being built out of pallets on the main grass area. Fireworks have been placed on the south side of the lake ready.

Walking around the park this caught my eye on the wall outside over the bridge by the gold club anyone know what its all about let us know

Jax the Alaskan Malamute has decided he owns a bench in the park now. He is now 6 months old and is over 5st and expected to make 6-8 st when full grown as he has a long way to go yet. He loves everyone so its a penny a stroke LOL