Oakley Vale Community Association

The Oakley Vale Community Association and Oakley Vale Primary School Family Fun Day Event will take place on 7th July 2012

CAR BOOT SALE     9.00am – 11.00am

Pitches for car boot are £5. E-mail to secretary@yourovca.com for a booking form.

FUN DAY      12.30pm – 5.00pm

Including food, licensed bar, children’s fun and live entertainment with bands, dancers and other stage acts.

DISCO           6.00pm – 10.00pm

6.00pm – 7.00pm            Children’s Disco

(Prize for best fancy dress costume -Diamond Jubilee theme)

7.00pm – 10.00pm           Family Disco, including licensed bar.

Please come along with your family and support your estate!

If you would like to join the OVCA and completed a membership form, please return it to the following address:  25 Rochester Road, Corby, NN18 8PN

If you would like to become a member of the OVCA but do not have an application form or have a question about membership options please e-mail to secretary@yourovca.com and we will send you relevant information and a form by e-mail.

Thank you for your interest in our work – we are glad to have you on board!

Invitation to join arts and culture forum

RESIDENTS interested in the arts and cultural events are invited to take part in a forum.
Anyone who works in the arts, creative or cultural industries in Northamptomshire can take part in the event on Thursday.

It is being held in the council chamber in The Cube, Corby, starting at 5pm.

Business development advisor for Creative Northants, Morag Ballantyne, will be presenting information on future opportunities for training in the arts and cultural events.

She will also be giving a presentation on the current funding climate for the arts, creative and cultural industries.

After her talk there will be an opportunity for people to network and to suggest future agenda ideas.

The next meeting is to take place in December.

Creative Northants is encouraging people with views on the arts to go along and give their views.

Anyone who is interested in taking part is asked to book a place by emailing Arts.dev@corby.gov.uk, or by calling 01536 464044. People are asked to respond by Wednesday.

(Published on Sunday 4 September 2011 10:20 Evening telegraph.)

Public consultation: new primary school for Oakley Vale

Tuesday 20 September 2011, 7pm at the Grampian Club, Patrick Road, Corby

The County Council proposes to establish a new primary school for Oakley Vale on a reserved site in Butland Road.  The school will provide 420 places for children aged 4 – 11 and is planned to open in September 2013. 

This consultation event is being held to provide information about the development of the new school:

1)      The design, facilities and site layout – plans will be available and there will be representatives from GSS Architecture and the Council’s project managers, Lend Lease Consulting, available to answer questions.

2)      The statutory process for establishing a new school – the “Invitation to Bid” is being launched and there will be a four month period for proposals to be submitted by potential operators of the new school.

The evening will start at 7pm with a presentation from the County Council, followed by an opportunity to view the plans and ask questions.

For further details please contact:

Kay Ringwood, Capital Programme Manager

Tel: 01604-366892; Email: kringwood@northamptonshire.gov.uk

Corby’s new £38m Tresham College campus is just weeks away from opening its doors to its first batch of students from across the county.

Contractors BAM Construction will hand over the keys to the new owners of the building in Oakley Road on Monday, just weeks ahead of the first intake of 1,000 students.

It marks the end of work which started when BAM arrived on the site of the old Corby Community College at the end of 2009.

The project has remained on budget and on time throughout.

Inside, the main atrium features aesthetically-pleasing ‘learning pods’ and a steel-clad staircase in a nod to former occupants Corus.

And all of the first floor workshops are built with a view to all the departments working together.

They feature mock rooms and staircases for painting and decorating students, which at the end of the year will be taken down and rebuilt by carpentry and joinery students.

There are also mock bathrooms for plumbing students to practise on.

The ground floor will have a social area, refectory and cafe, computing rooms, information desk, a gym and the college’s health and beauty faculty.

Project manager Alan Bell said: “It is the technology college principle – the idea is to re-enact what it is like in the real world. With any construction site or new building, everyone has to work together and people will have to do that here.”

Mr Bell has also reflected on his time working on the site. He said: “Builders can be perceived as the enemy.

“Nobody really wants to have us around. We’d hardly arrived in Corby when the old school was vandalised and gutted.

“But it has really turned around in the two years we’ve spent here.

“One in four of us live here or nearby, and BAM’s approach is to bring as many local benefits from the work we do as we can. We’ve sourced a lot of materials locally, like concrete and tarmac.

“And we’ve given around £2.5million of work to local firms. Northamptonshire has done well from this project.

“I’m very excited for Tresham and for Corby. The regeneration of the town is a big opportunity and these new facilities will give the right environment to encourage learning for young people and the community.

“If builders can sometimes seem like the enemy, then I hope BAM has been a friend to Corby.

“We’ve shown we can make a positive difference. I’m very proud of what we’ll be leaving behind us, and we hope to be back before long.”

For more information on courses on offer at the new campus, visit the website at www.tresham.ac.uk

(Article puplished – Evening Telegraph 18 August 2011)

Rain failed to dampen the spirits of revellers enjoying a family fun day.

Saturday’s downpour had threatened to call a halt to festivities at the event on the Oakley Vale estate.

But dedicated organisers put on their waterproofs and the sun eventually came out to make sure the day was a success.

Oakley Vale Community Association secretary Caroline Stuart said: “The weather broke in the end and it was a fantastic day.

“We saw more and more people turning up after the sun came out.

“I was there from 8am in the pouring rain but despite that we did the car boot sale and had about 14 cars taking part.

“We are raising money to pay for an outside electricity supply for Oakley Vale Primary School so it’s easier for them to run equipment outside.”

It was the first time the fun day, formerly called the Oki Doki Day, had been held at the school. Oakley Vale is one of the country’s fastest growing estates and organisers were keen to hold the fun day to help build more of a community spirit.

Stacey Spiteri, of Rochester Road, Corby, attended.

She said: “It’s been a good day – the weather picking up has been the main thing.

“We saw the dancers earlier and they were good.”

At the event Erika Browne, of Carlise Close, Corby, said: “It’s disappointing that there aren’t as many people here as usual because of the rain.

“The big bouncy castle got cancelled too but my kids are still really enjoying themselves.

“We’re looking forward to the karate display.”

Please see our Gallery for more images !!

A youth group leader says the closure of the Connaughty Centre would be an “absolute disaster” for young people in Corby.

Paul Balmer runs the Oakley Rangers group, offering free music tuition to young people in exchange for carrying out community work.

He teaches guitar, bass, drums, saxophone, keyboards and singing at the centre in Cottingham Road, and says Northamptonshire County Council’s proposal to close it is short-sighted.

The club currently has about 15 members aged between 11 and 17.

Members’ musical prowess has seen the group nominated for Corby’s Got Talent, the Spirit of Corby awards and Wicksteed’s Got Talent.

Mr Balmer said: “It has given us a home away from licensed premises. It is designed for young people, it is clean, it is quiet and it has work space.

“It is brilliant for Oakley Rangers. It has an area where you can do tuition and a main room where you can hold performances. You can’t do that anywhere else in Corby.

“We need places where young people can engage in positive, constructive activities and there are very few of these places in Corby.

“We also have close links with Corby Radio and the kids have broadcast on there a lot.

“If we don’t support our young people then we are building a disaster for the future.”

The Youth Offending Trust, Corby Radio, The Prince’s Trust and Corby MP Louise Mensch all use the centre as a base.

The county council says it has to consider the cost of keeping the centre open.

Litterbugs no longer have an excuse for dropping their crisp packets, papers or cans on a Corby estate.

Seven new multi-purpose bins have been installed around the Oakley Vale development. They were paid for by cash from a Section 106 agreement, which is funding provided by house-builders for community facilities.

Chairman of Oakley Vale Community Association, Adrian Smith, said: “These have been a long time coming but are of good quality and built to last.

“It’s these small things that can make a big difference and there is no excuse now for litter being discarded randomly and making the estate unsightly. The landscaping on Oakley Vale is a delight and should be enjoyed without food refuse attracting rats and other vermin.”

Corby Council’s lead member for environment, Cllr Peter McEwan, said: “Since the adoption of Oakley Vale, we have been able to allocate money through Section 106 for the provision of new bins on the estate. We have been working in consultation with the Oakley Vale Community Association on where they should be sited.

“The new bins can be used for dog waste that has been bagged and tied, as well as general waste so we hope they will be well-used and will help keep the area clean and tidy.”

Oakley Vale councillor Judy Caine said: “I’m proud to continue the work started by previous councillors and to work with the community association on any project that improves the area.

“Seven new rubbish bins is a good start.”