The Parish Council have replaced the bench on Firs Rd opposite Maple Drive. The old bench was life expired with failed concrete supports and rotten timber. The new bench is made from fully recycled material.
The property behind the bench is unoccupied and vegetation from their boundary hedge was encroaching onto the public footpath. This has also been cut back to clear the footpath and the area around the bench and the rubbish bin.
This species of butterfly has declined significantly with less than 20 recorded sites left in southern England. It is a high priority for conservation. The butterfly lays its eggs on cowslip and primrose plants.
The Firsdown Conversation Group with the help of a local nature reserve, has obtained a quantity of wild primrose plants that will be transplanted to the wooded area at the top of Firs Rd with the aim to increase the habitat suitable for the Duke of Burgundy butterfly.
Last autumn the Parish Council planted another 400 wild daffodils bulbs of 2 different species on the byway. These are in addition to the 400 bulbs planted the previous year. Being wild species, the plants and flowers are smaller than the more common domestic varieties. Additionally newly planted bulbs may not flower in the first year. This is indeed the case for around half of those bulbs planted last autumn.
The Firsdown conservation group have also planted daffodils on the verge at the top of Firs Rd. As these get established, they are being transplanted further along the verge.
A number of local youth events and activities are planned in nearby villages over the Easter school holidays. Details are here.
The power cut that Firsdown experienced on the evening of 7th March was part of a larger outage along the route of the A30 from Laverstock to Lopcombe Corner affecting over 1500 properties including the Winterslows.
The fault was caused by on overhead line falling from a pole which caused the power to trip out. Power was restored to Firsdown after about 2 hours by re-routing supplies around the fault. SSEN completed repairs on the line around midnight which allowed the last remaining households to be reconnected.
The distribution supplier for Firsdown is SSEN, regardless of who you pay your bill with.
There is a power cut tracker available online. Zoom in on the map to Firsdown/Salisbury.
If your household contains any of the following:
You may wish to register with SSEN Priority Services or phone 0800 294 3259. Priority services will provide additional help, reassurance and updates during a power outage. In the event of a prolonged power outage, additional assistance will be provided such as gas heaters or generators to power medical equipment.
If you can provide assistance to elderly neighbours and residents during a power outage, then please do so. A simple knock on their door to check they are OK and to reassure them, or the loan of a high powered LED torch can reduce their anxiety and make them feel safer.
The Chairman of the Parish Council has cleared the footpath from 99 Firs Rd to the field gate, of overgrowing grass and soil along the edge of the path. The useable width of the path is now greatly increased, the surface has also been scraped back to the hardcore base to provide more grip and better drainage in wet weather.
The hedge at the edge of this section of the path had already been cut back at the end of last year.
In the next few weeks, the section of the path from the field gate to the A30 will be similarly treated and the hedge cut back.
If any residents would like to assist, then please get in touch with the Parish Council.
The Parish Council have repeatedly reported to Wiltshire Council the large potholes on Firs Rd near the corner of Great Croft and near 106 Firs Rd by the woods. The latest response is that “This issue has been assessed and remedial works are planned”. No date for these works has been provided.
The 2 large potholes at the Dunstable Crossroads and also those by the New Manor Farm entrance have also been reported to Wiltshire Council.