Castle Donington
FESTIVE CRAFTS. Handmade Christmas craft items that are ideal for festive gifts are being made by Donington District WI in Castle Donington.
Due to the lockdown it has not been possible organise the usual craft fair. Instead members of the local WI are making their craft items available for purchase via Facebook.
Various hand-made items, including soft toys, are available and members of the WI will be delivering in Castle Donington and the surrounding area in December.
LETTERS TO SANTA. Post Office staff at Castle Donington are reminding villagers that letters to Santa in Reindeer Land must be posted by early in December.
Friday, December 11 is the cut-off date for posting letters to ensure that children and adult Santa fans receive a reply before Christmas.
Letters should be addressed to Santa/Father Christmas at Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ.
Festive letter writers are asked to make sure that they include their name and return address on the back so that Santa can reply.
ILLEGAL PARKING. Action is being taken against drivers who park illegally, particularly along Red Routes, around the East Midlands Airport.
A scheme to improve the flow of traffic on the A453 near East Midlands Airport was introduced by Leicestershire County Council in 2019.
At the time the County Council was responding to complaints that drivers picking up passengers returning to the airport were stopping and waiting on the roads to wait for arrivals rather than pay for parking.
A new red route - where double red lines replace the more common double yellow lines on busy main roads - covered the A453 Ashby Road and Castle Donington relief road.
The red route was launched to stop drivers from parking dangerously on the road and verges, and prohibit any stopping, loading or unloading, and boarding or alighting from a vehicle.
The route was enforced by automatic number plate recognition technology, with penalty fines of £70 issued to road users found to have stopped or parked along the route.
Cars are continuing to park on the grass verges along the Red Route and a resolution to the issues has been jointly worked on with the County Council, neighbourhood and Airport Police and Castle Donington Parish Council.
The additional measures will see the red-line camera car visit the area more frequently and issue penalty notices.
Aeropark car park gates are to be opened during daylight hours. Notices displayed about the opening hours and the police will manage this arrangement.
A soil style bund (embankment) will be erected to deter cars from on roads along the Red Route.
Castle Donington Parish Council will apply for a grant to fund the erection of the bund.
The Parish Council will to continue to mow and maintain the area once the new bund is in place.
The Police will continue to carry out proactive patrols and deal with related issues caused by the car parking problem.
The no-stopping rules operates 24/7 and is applicable to all vehicles on the Red Routes.
The Red Route approach was first tried out in London more than 10 years ago with a zero tolerance approach to traffic violations.
FESTIVE LIGHTS. Displays of Christmas lights at houses along Kirkland Close in Castle Donington will raise funds for a local community first responders’ charity.
This year’s spectacular Christmas Lights display on Kirkland Close in Castle Donington will be switched on in early December.
The street is extravagantly light up for one month throughout December and money bags are located for visitors to donate their pennies.
There has been a long tradition of residents’ in the Close lighting up their houses to raise money for charity. The fund-raising started many years ago when some residents got together to support the Air Ambulance charity.
The Christmas Lights Extravaganza started slowly but eventually became a major event which continued successfully for a long time, raising much-needed funds for a worthwhile charity.
In 2014 it was resurrected again by two residents and it has slowly grown, raising money once again for the Air Ambulance.