This month was marked, from the residents' perspective, with a considerable "slowing down" of work in progress - even compared with February.
Various areas of the topsoil were marked off by the parks and gardens folk, with a bright yellow spray can of paint, so that they could work out what would be done and where, but unfortunately nothing has yet been planted to stop large quantities of sand being wind driven under front doors, into garages, and flushed down the stormwater drains into the holding tanks at the bottom of the hill.
Actually a considerable amount of individual fiddly work was done by a few trades, but by and large the main home rectification will be done, so we are advised, towards the end of the month, as the maintenance period of Homestead Homes contract runs out. Trevor and his gang did picture hanging, locksmiths did their stuff, and the inlet plumbing to all the rainwater tanks was fixed, including the strange outlet arrangement through the side fence into the park area under "the tree" for Number 13.
The laying of paths in front of numbers 2 and the side of 5 and 6 along the main roadway got under way 5th, 6th and 7th.
Capping of the front brick wall started around Monday the 10th, and here is what it is looking like...
more to come as it happens!
The Community Centre received further attention, this time inside, with wallpapering (7th), curtain hanging (4th), and carpet laying (3rd), with whatever lighting hadn't been mounted during late last month. It looks very effective too, as we can see from the photos below, taken inside.
The hall, looking east - then the chapel (without hall lights on), two views of the meeting room, and pool room on right
The meeting room's long table with spare leaves was on the floor, as was the station-master's clock to be fitted in there!
The preparation for planting of the front gardens got under way with a vengeance on Wednesday 12th, at the end of the road adjacent nos. 16 and 17. Here are some shots of post-hole digging the easy way, and the beaut new piece of equipment they have bought to service the Valley and the Grove.
Talking with Stephen, the parks and gardens supervisor, it appears that "Boché" will be allowed to be played on grassed areas providing that no throwing of the heavy steel bowls up into the air is allowed (as a local rule).
Previously, the decision had been made that the game would not be permitted at all, because of the potential to compact the soil under the target area of the bowls.
The lower row of photos shows the morning after - with interested neighbours, trees occuping holes, and parks and gardens workers planting them.
And then of course, Friday 14th started the roll-out of the reticulations system for watering the lawns, tress and bushes, in most cases through laying poly-pipes through large bore PVC pipes buried in the ground under drive-ways and paths.
Movement at last here too...
Starting Monday 10th or Tuesday 11th was the digging up of the kerb right across both the drives and in front of the sentry-box, and removal of much of the footpath. In similar fashion, the telephone draw pit to the south of the entry was dug up and moved to adjacent the water and fire main red painted pipe just inside the Cyclone fence.
Here we see this activity, and the results of the establishment of the mini parkland between houses 12 and 13.
Wednesday 12th March saw the closing off of the exit roadway and formwork for the kerbing round the northbound corner... and Friday saw the pouring of the kerbing, as well as the preparation of the surface of the three parking bays around the Community Centre - whose kerbing went in in the middle of February.
We welcomed Doris and Eric who joined us on Friday 14th, to take up residence at Number 21... welcome folks! Numbers 3 and 24 are expected to move in some time after Easter... and then it will be a "full house".
The following week they closed the entry roadway to do kerbing round the southbound corner, opening the exit road to bidirectional traffic... and Thursday 20th saw the pouring of the concrete. Friday we can see the park beautification is advancing - note the bollard lights starting to be installed on a number of paths, the reticulation in the front gardens is taking shape (the shot is outside house 13), the three parking bays along the "ring road" have now been bitumised, and the kerbing around the sentry-box "island" looks good. Contractors also managed to damage the big red water main at the front entrance again! :(
David Jack's landscaping team started the capping of the stone block retaining walls on Tuesday 18th. Also the northern "front fence" brickwork finally started to look good with some "tiddly work" done to the capping on the top.
