Esker Hills

Bicky

Good work this evening folks. I think we can make some progress with the upkeep of the estate.
Adser do you maintain the esker hills forum?
If so i think you should amalgamate the sub forums. Possibly have one forum for esker hills and one for everything else?
I plan on going around to the blossom court houses soon and i will tell them to log on.

adser53

Agree with Bicky, great work everyone and it was nice to meet yis Hopefully next time it'll be in the pub tho!

And originally Bicky I was an admin on the forum and did sweet-f-all except post and another lad did the rest but now I suppose I am the only admin. Good idea about amalgamating the subs.....are you a member on it?

Dya want to admin it? Same to you Bob? You both probably have a better idea about it than me. I only post in 2 forums overall (not inc esker hills) despite my computer literacy and willingness to tinker around, I use the internet for very little other than downloading (legally I assure you :cool:)

Bicky

Sure Adam. I will give it a shot anyway. I will pm you with my email address and you can send me the log in details.

elainee40

Hi Guys,

Ive only seen the new posts just now, if i had known you were going out i would have tired my best to get out and help, not easy with a 9 wk old and 2 year old but would have tried and brought the 2 year old out to help, she would have loved it.

Bodhan

Well guys, that was a great clean up. It was nice to meet some people from the estate. I'm sure if we all work together we can make it a better place to live.
Adam, sure I'll admin the site if you like. I've done it before for a few sites. Just let me know whats needed.

adser53

Great thanks lads, you're both set as admins now.

Remember, with great power, comes great responsibility

Feel free to do whatever you like to the forum, just keep the racey smut to a minimum lol

Bodhan

I have to say well done to everyone last night again. I went for my run this morning and the estate looked great, we gut have to work at keeping it like that now.

adser53

Just a quick update folks, I went around knocking on doors around the Laurel Drive (North) green on Saturday at 5pm with 2 local councillors (Brian Stanley & Alan Hand) and got a good response.

There are 36 houses around the green and although most of them were empty on Saturday (out watching the match I presume) the 10 people or so that answered their doors were very interested in getting something up and running. I subsequently got a call and a text in response to the flyer from another 2 residents that were keen!!! Not a bad result then, 30% of the area are really interested and I'm presuming a good portion of the remainder who I didn't get to meet will be interested too.

Thanks to everyone that had a chat with us, I'm looking forward to getting to meet yis again

Also a big huge thanks to Alan & Brian again for coming around with me and for helping out. Your' efforts are greatly appreciated lads!

Talk to you all soon, the next step is to try and find out how much it'll cost to look after the green and such, go knocking on doors again and maybe have a little meeting or something. As I said on Saturday, if anyone has ANY ideas or suggestions PLEASE post them here, email, txt or ring me

Also on our forum, there are new sub-forums set up for each area. If people decide to split areas like we've done on Laurel Drive, let me know and I'll split the sub-forums accordingly

Bodhan

Hi Guys,

I just got UPC in the house, changed over from Smart. There have been a good few issues with the connection, speed wise I mean.

During the day 15meg no problem, once 6pm comes down to 3meg and worse. But there's good news, Esker Hills is getting an upgrade, should be next Tuesday. Then we will all be up to the advertised speed. Do ya see the work I do for you lol

If you want to check your speed use http://www.speedtest.net/ and select Dublin, that will give you a good reading for what speed your really on. If it's a lot lower than your paying for, then get complaining, 1908 is the helpline number.

adser53

Ok folks Laois County Council are running the Laois Clean up week from April 12th to the 16th. Basically they'll provide us with bags, litter pickers, gloves etc like they did last year and then (if we want them too) they'll pick up the bags of litter we collect for disposal.

The problem with this is that they'll only collect the bags on weekdays so if we collect them over the weekend, they'll have to be left out until Monday for collection. Personally, I don't think there's THAT much rubbish around for this to be necessary. I'm sure a bag each would make a huge difference to the estate and will fit in our bins but if people want me to arrange a pick up date from the council. Please post it here or on our forum.

I'll collect the gear off the council over the coming days so, again, if anyone wants any of the gear, just let me know. I might pop around to the houses around me over the weekend to let them know about it, hopefully others do the same for their own areas.

I suppose there's not much else to say really....I guess another clean up day is on the cards. After the wind from the last few days the estate could really do with it!

moose112

A friend of mine who lives in esker hills and owns Kyle cleaning services is planning on a big clean up down there next week.
david@kylecleaning.ie might make some sense if ye all work together

adser53

Cheers Moose, I'll send him a mail

adser53

Just to confirm the details, we'll try for the clean up of the estate next Wednesday (the 14th). I'll be down on the green at the very entrance of the estate at 7pm to meet anyone who wants to give a hand. It won't take long, please just come along, grab a bag and pick up a bit of rubbish on your way home.

You all know how hard it is to get the word out around the estate about, well anything really, so please try and let people know about it. I've attached a copy of a leaflet that I'm hoping people might print off a few copies of (there' 2 leaflets per A4 page to save on your paper ) and stick them through their neighbours doors. It's the only way to get people to join in....

I hope to see you all next Wednesday, have a nice weekend.

Adam

Bodhan

Adser,

I'm printing off 20 A4, so that's 40 leaflets, I'll run around my side of the green tomorrow and try to rally some troops for the clean up

Bicky

Nice work Adam. I will be there. I do not have access to a printer, but i will tell people i see.

adser53

Thanks a million lads, i'll see yis on Wednesday so. And cheers again Bob for doing the leaflets around the green

Sonic_exyouth

Somebody appears to have stolen my blue wheelie bin

adser53

Did you get it back Sonic?

On a side note, Esker Hills is on Facebook now

Bodhan

My my we are getting all techy lol Facebook no less. Whats the link?

adser53

I sent you a friend request already Bob. Didn't ya get it?

And I've no credit to write back to you but thanks for doin that tomorrow and let me know what the lad quotes

I love it when a plan comes together

Bodhan

adser53 wrote: »

I sent you a friend request already Bob. Didn't ya get it?

And I've no credit to write back to you but thanks for doin that tomorrow and let me know what the lad quotes

I love it when a plan comes together

I see Esker Hills is live lol. Well I just got skype welcome to the 20th century lol

adser53

Tell you what, I'll make it easier.... I'll run a wire between both our houses, across the green, with a can either end so we can converse properly lol

adser53

Just a reminder, clean up is tonight at 7pm meeting on the green at the estate entrance. Hope to see yis there

adser53

Hi all,

I want to make a big shout out to all of you who helped with tonights clean up of the estate and in organising it. I really want to thank Alan Hand for bringing the whole Laois clean up week to my attention (and therfore getting the ball rolling on tonight in the first place) and for joining us this evening, to David Finn from Kyle Cleaning Services (and more importantly, from Esker Hills ) for supplying us with the bags and gloves, to all the residents that took the time to print off leaflets and spread the word about tonight and of course to all those that took part.

All in all at least 40 people took part but I reckon it was more as I saw a number of people around the estate cleaning up that I didn't meet at the estate entrance initially (plus a lot of kids joined in) and I have to say I think the place looks fantastic now! Well done everyone, you all did great work and it was great to get so many of you out. It was a pleasure to meet you all!

I hoped tonight would also be used as a platform for people to get to know eachother and their neighbours and I do think it was a step in the right direction towards getting a bit of a community going in the estate and to help people get to know eachother and maybe set up committees, neighbourhood watches and the like. If tonight helped that in any way then it was worth the work.

I'll talk to you all soon and as always I'm going to finish by encouraging people to join our mailng list on out website at http://sites.google.com/site/eskerhills/, or join our forum at http://eskerhills.myfreeforum.org/, or join our thread on boards.ie at http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055547327&page=15. At the very least join us on facebook (Esker Hills / esker.hills@gmail.com). It just makes getting the word out about future events / announcements so much easier for me so please sign up if you havn't already and tell your neighbours.

Thanks again everybody,

Adam

elainee40

Is anyone having problems with UPC this morning. We have no telly, broadband or phone working. I'm on iPhone typing this. Was gone since about five this morning

Bodhan

elainee40 wrote: »

Is anyone having problems with UPC this morning. We have no telly, broadband or phone working. I'm on iPhone typing this. Was gone since about five this morning

It was bad last night, broadband speed was rubbish but it seems back up now. The UPC speeds in the estate are crap in the evening, but its supposed to be sorted this week I think

elainee40

its shown connected on wireless but there is no signal gone through to comp or no signal to tv

Bodhan

elainee40 wrote: »

its shown connected on wireless but there is no signal gone through to comp or no signal to tv

The wireless connected means that the computer is connected to the modem, but the modem might not be connected to the outside world.

Open a command window on your computer, on XP it's Start - Run - CMD - OK. On Vista and Windows 7 it's Start - in the search box type CMD and open it.

In the command window type ping www.yahoo.com and see what the result is.

Also in the command window type ipconfig and enter.

Post your results here if you can

elainee40

how i do print screen

elainee40

other half just on to upc, 3 other people same, emgineer on way out to main cable
ty bohan

Bodhan

Hope you get it sorted now, mine still seems fine but I don't have UPC TV just broadband. It was messed up last night though, there's supposed to be an upgrade happening for this estate you might ask the engineer about that

elainee40

hey, all service came back about 5pm that evening, all primrose ave and buttercup ave were gone for some reason

thanks for ur help

adser53

Just a notice..

Anyone with a petrol lawnmower who is willing to help cut the grass at the entrance please meet at the main gates this friday (May 14th) at 6pm. Spread the word too folks

Shazanne

Saw the poster when coming home from work this evening - am planning on sending the hubby out to help:D:D:D I told him it said men only on the poster!
On a more serious note, something really needs to be done about the grass cutting and general tidiness of the estate at this stage. I hear the folk in Buttercup Ave have arranged for a guy to cut their grass on a regular basis - anyone know who this is and how to make contact with the grass cutter? Few people here in Bluebell Way are interested in doing the same thing.
Well done to the organiser of tomorrow evenings "Big Mow"!

adser53

Shazanne wrote: »

Saw the poster when coming home from work this evening - am planning on sending the hubby out to help:D:D:D I told him it said men only on the poster!
On a more serious note, something really needs to be done about the grass cutting and general tidiness of the estate at this stage. I hear the folk in Buttercup Ave have arranged for a guy to cut their grass on a regular basis - anyone know who this is and how to make contact with the grass cutter? Few people here in Bluebell Way are interested in doing the same thing.
Well done to the organiser of tomorrow evenings "Big Mow"!

Hey Shazanne, each green is the responsibilty of the houses around it as the council, ONS etc won't touch them.
The greens on Buttercup and Laurel Drive have been cut and everyone around them had to pay for the cutting.

I couldn't tell you what the story is for Buttercup as I don't live there but for Laurel Drive (North), 2 of us organised to whole thing by getting quotes and then going around collecting money from the houses to get our green cut and it's been cut 3 times so far. But the hilly green at the entrance was cut by one of the residents who lives beside it and he just went out and cut it. This same lad is the one organising the mowing for the other common green bits around the lake & entrance

If you're prepared to go around collecting money and such, we can give you the contact details of the lad doing our green who, I'm sure will gladly, give you a quote and you can take it from there. This means knocking on doors around you, chatting to the people, calling back to collect the contribution and managing the funds. It does take time and effort but someone has to do it. It'll be a lot less stress for you if you have a neighbour who's willing to help you.
Otherwise there's no other choice than convincing your neighbours to join you with their lawnmowers. :rolleyes:

Ads

TippTopp

Hi Shazanne,

The guy who is cutting grass at the top of Buttercup is Eamonn Flanagan (the residents grouped together and contacted him directly) As far as I know he cuts the grass in the common areas once a week which it really looks well. I don't have his contact number, but as Adser said on the earlier post contact your neighbours and club together and then to go to Eamonn. One way of contacting him would via the ONS Office with the proposal of cutting in order for quote etc. I forget how many houses in total are in the group for Buttercup but it seems to be working fine.

Hope this is of help to you

Tipptopp

Shazanne

Thank's TippTop! We will get on to that asap. Hubby couldn't go to the clean-up this evening - his Mum was taken into hospital last night so things went a bit astray as regards any plans we had. I really hope it went well - I'm not long in from work and it looked quiet enough down there. But it's a positive start and it will catch on once the word spreads.
Am I right in assuming that you're from Tipp? If so, I'm blue and gold as well:D I'll always be a Tipp woman!

TippTopp

Spot on!! as from the premier county as well. Will be shouting for Munster this evening hee hee
Didn't make the "Big Mow" as had a work gig last night. But noticed on my way home last night that a huge effort was made mowing and tidying along the front of estate - well done to all!

Shazanne

TippTopp wrote: »

Spot on!! as from the premier county as well. Will be shouting for Munster this evening hee hee
Didn't make the "Big Mow" as had a work gig last night. But noticed on my way home last night that a huge effort was made mowing and tidying along the front of estate - well done to all!

I'll second that! And I hope that the next time out there'll be more on board. Even if there was a drive to get everyone out in their own areas at the same time?? Well done again to the organisers of yesterday evening - they should take a bow!

adser53

It's been a while folks but here's a quick update. The reason the pond is in bits is because the power has been knocked off to the pumps. My understanding is that Laois CC never took over/started an account with the ESB for it after Owenass left the site. The town manager hasn't responded to my letter sent almost 5 or 6 weeks ago but thats probably because half of them are on a months holidays. They're trying to wash their hands of it at this stage cos they havn't got the money for it. It's doubtful anything is going to happen soon unfortunatly, all we can do is keep the pressure on. I'll send them another letter but I won't hold my breath for a reply.
Also, the Hawthorn Way committee is organising a clean up at the entrance tonight at 6pm. Unfortunatly I cant make it but if you've an hour to spare and a strimmers or mower itching to cut some grass, please go along and give them a hand.
Finally, check out page 18 of this weeks Leinster express as theres an article about the lake, the clean up and the Hawthorn commitee.

Shazanne

Hi. Great to see the clean-up taking place again! My hubby is down there at the moment mowing away!
We in Bluebell Way are in the early stages of trying to set up our own committee. We are having an informal get together on Wednesday next (August 4th) on the green area here in B.W. and, if the interest is good enough, we will be holding our first meeting the following Wednesday!!
If there are any Bluebells on here at the moment I'd love to hear from you!

adser53

Well done to all who took part last night, the place looks a hell of a lot better! Sorry again that I couldn't join yis.

And best of luck Shazanne setting up a committee on BW. If you want me to send an email or anything about it out to the mailing list just let me know

Shazanne

Thanks Adser. I have a note printed out to drop into each house on Monday. Really hope people come along.
The front of the estate looks really great now - well worth the effort. Well done and thanks to all turned out to help.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Shazanne

A nice bit. The biggest problem we have here really are the gates that used to lead into the builders compound. There were horses in the field there for quite a while, which attracted the younger kids and I was a bog of nerves that one of them would fall off the wall and be badly hurt. The horses are gone now so that problem is not as bad but, once it gets dark, the older ones congregate there with cans and God knows what! They get in over the way and "party" in the field. Or else they sit on the wall (which is high) and can be very intimidating. Also, on several occasions there have been strange cars meeting up there which groups of lads in them and I feel they are up to no good.
We are planning on installing CCTV cameras that cover the back of the house and take in that area and we hope to solve the problems that way. What do you think or have you any suggestions?
Do you have anti-social stuff where you are?

adser53

Obaraten wrote: »

How much anti-social behaviour goes on in your neck of the woods?

literally none around me. like shazanne said there does sometimes be cars meeting up but its really rare down my end. and once or twice a gang of youngfellas hopped over the boundary fence at the end of the road into the neighbouring field but that's it. I hope it stays like that!

adser53

theres a meeting at 8pm tonight for the residents of buttercup avenue in the leisure centre. alan hand and brian stanley will also be there

Bicky

Finally they have started work on the shop. Open for mid September apparently.

Shazanne

Really? That's great news! What's it to be? A convenience store I hope!

Bicky

Yes. An independent grocery store. This could be good or bad for prices so we will just have to wait and see.
I was told back in may that a store would be open in sept. At the time i took that information with a grain of salt, after so many lies about the retail unit.