Grange Manor

Despite the bad weather on Saturday, a number of residents turned up to help out with the Spring Clean. Many refuse sacks were filled with rubbish that had been scattered around the estate. An alarming number of bottles, once containing alcoholic beverages, were also collected. In addition to the rubbish collection, residents also pruned some trees and removed two large broken trees on the green at Rocwood Mews that were obstructing grass cutting and causing the area to look  little below par. However, with no less than a 6-man effort with multiple saws, an ill-fated garden spade, 3 levering poles, and lots of sweat, the dead tree stumps were removed and the area has now been restored to former glory.

A huge thanks to everyone who showed up, to help out. We did ourselves, and the estate, very proud. Also a big thanks to An Taisce who supplied the refuse sacks and the gloves to help with the clean-up. Here’s hoping that we can keep the estate looking so well for the months ahead.

The Grange Manor Residents Association has organised a Spring Clean, to take place on Saturday April 24th 2010 at 1500h. Spring Clean is an iniative run by An Taisce in conjunction with local councils – it encourages communities to get together and keep their areas clean and litter free. A number of waste disposal sacks and protective gloves are given by An Taisce to the residents association and the City Council will also collect the waste collected, for free, after the event. This is a great opportunity to help tidy up the estate and remove annoyances such as litter that has been blowing around green areas for some time now or snagging the plants in your garden.

Help the volunteers by tidying up your front garden and immediate area outside your home so that rubbish can be easily packed into waste sacks. A little effort by everyone will make this event a huge success! Bags, gloves, etc will be handed out at 1500h sharp, on the green at Rocwood Walk.

We’d like to say thank you to all those who have so far contributed the €40 Estate Maintenance Contribution. If you have not already paid, a representative from the Grange Manor Residents Association will be calling to collect your contribution in the next few weeks. GMRA members will carry ID when collecting. All funds raised will be singularly reserved for maintaining the shared green areas in the estate that we all enjoy, and improving the appearance of our community.

2009 is well under way and with Spring fast approaching we all need to make sure that we get on top of the estate management issues. The most pressing matter to tackle is that of keeping the shared grassy areas of the estate cut and not to let them get out of hand. We have been lucky so far with the weather being cold and little growth in the grass. However, the weather is getting warmer now and we need to put in place, a contract with a landscaper to cut the grass on a regular basis. As such members of the resident’s committee will soon be doing a door to door collection to gather funds for this important task. We ask all residents to be understanding and that maintenance of the estate is a shared problem that we will all tackle together. If everyone agrees to help out then the cost per home will be very small indeed. Let’s keep our estate looking at its best!

On Monday September 15th 2008, an emergency general meeting of the Grange Manor Residents Association was held in the community hall of the Sacred Heart Church. The meeting was attended by a large number of residents who responded to the flyer circulated to all houses in the estate, the previous week.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the handover of the estate by the builder to the city council and the responsibilities that now lie with the residents of the estate. The biggest issue associated with the handover is that grass cutting and weed control within the estate will soon stop and become the responsibility of the residents. Various options were suggested at the meeting as to how funds can be raised for this task and a decision will be made in the near future. However, it was noted that all residents have a responsibility to contribute towards the upkeep of the estate and the amount of money required to hire a landscaping company to take care of the grass cutting equates to very little per house if everyone contributes.

The meeting also saw the election of a new committee for the Residents Association and the departure of some long-serving members. Appreciation is due to those who have contributed time and effort throughout the years and helped to keep the association active. Also, new members of the committee were welcomed and a very positive show of interest was noted for the future upkeep of the estate.