Bonfire Night legal and safety advice from Bromley Council

If you are having a bonfire to celebrate Guy Fawkes night remember safety around fire is especially important when you are looking after young children. Laws about the use of fireworks have been made to help keep people safe.


You can get detailed advice on firework and bonfire safety from the home and community section of Directgov. Follow the simple tips at the Government link below to make sure you, and others, are safe and acting lawfully.


http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/InYourHome/Escapingandrecoveringfromafire/DG_180786

Stay safe at Halloween

Halloween and trick or treating advice from Bromley Council

Keeping children safe while trick or treating is very important:

• children going trick or treating should always be accompanied by a responsible adult
• don't let children enter strange houses while trick or treating
• stick to familiar, well-lit areas

Tricks

Take care that your children: 

• respect 'no trick or treating' signs 
• do not get carried away with tricks

Treats

Ensure that children:

• don't eat any treats offered until they're checked by a responsible adult
• throw away any suspicious, unwrapped or tampered-with treats

Costumes

Take care to ensure that Halloween costumes are fire resistant, have proper eye holes,
and are not so long that they could cause trips and falls. Ideally they should include
reflective tape or glow-in-the-dark jewellery for visibility. And naturally they should
not include any item that could be dangerous, such as a real knife or sword used as a
dressing-up prop.

For more information click on the link below.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_181992

Find out more about your family history

Uncover more about your family history at a drop in session next week at Bromley Central Library.

Experts in family ancestry from the North West Kent Family History Society will be on hand on Saturday 29 October to answer questions about tracing your past.  Free access to computers and online resources will be available from 10am to 12pm and from 1pm to 4pm.  There's no need to book, just turn up and the advice is free. 

"This is a great opportunity to get help if you're stuck with your family history research and don't know where to look next. Our friendly experts will be on hand to show you the next steps and the online resources will open up new access to your ancestry" said Simon Finch, Local Studies and Archives Manager at Bromley Central Library. 

Saturday 29 October is also the start of the trial service of 'Find My Past', the popular family history database. The trial service will be accessible free, alongside our 'Ancestry' subscription in all Bromley Libraries, until Saturday 26 November. 

 For more information click on http://www.bromley.gov.uk/press/article/368/find_out_more_about_your_family_history

London Low Emission Zone

If you have a van, minibus or motor caravan with a diesel engine you may be affected by the tougher London Low Emission Regulations coming into force in January 2012. If your vehicle does not comply you would be fined £100 per day that the vehicle is used in the Low Emission Zone. An article in the Guardian for Saturday 22nd October gives more information. Transport for London also has a link for checking whether a vehicle is affected.

Click on the links below to see more details.

Article in the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/oct/21/london-low-emissions-zone-vans

Transport for London page http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/lez/default.aspx

Bromley public meetings about cuts

Bromley is holding public meetings as shown below. Click on the blue text for more details.

Tough choices - we want your views

With over £30 million to save in the next three years due to cuts in government funding, we are making tough choices about our council and our borough.

Join us at one of our public meetings so we can hear your views as we make these tough decisions.

• Tough choices - Bromley daytime public meeting 8 November 2011
• Tough choices - Orpington public meeting 17 November 2011
• Tough choices - Bromley public meeting 23 November 2011
• Tough choices - Beckenham public meeting 28 November 2011

 If you cannot attend our public meetings you can give us your views by:

• Writing to us
• email to Leader@bromley.gov.uk
• use our online complaints, compliments or suggestions form 
• on our facebook page or at twitter@LBofBromley  
• contact your ward councillor
• attending council meetings

Pages in Tough choices - we want your views:

1. Council Leader's letter
2. Summary

Changes to Layout

The link to maps of Links Estate has now been moved to the main page from other pages


Posted by Clive

Saturday cold but sunny

This has been a sunny day although cold. With clear skies there should be another frost

Garden Competition

We are pleased to announce the winners of our Garden Competition to mark the 20th anniversary of LERA. We formed a judging panel comprising Lucia Parnell, Margaret Hearn and Peter Skipp. We devised a list of criteria against which to judge the entries and have since re-visited each of the winning gardens to present the prizes. The winner in each category received a gift token to the value of £50 for Coolings Nursery in Knockholt and the runners-up received a bottle of bubbly.

Best Front Garden -

Margaret and Bob Housie from Ridgway Drive.

Bob has a fabulous selection of potted plants in his front garden which he tends with love and care. He has an irrigation system which helps to keep all his Fuschias and Hydrangaes in tip top condition. Although Bob's garden is largely paved with attractive briquette paving, it is an example of how a paved garden can be tastefully adapted, yet not sacrificing the essential plant life that all our gardens need. The judges felt that this garden had real colour and kerb appeal. Bob is out there in all weathers dead heading, pruning, and re­potting and that's what keeps his garden looking so good and that is why the judges awarded it First Prize.