Fortuneswell PCP Group

We have some great news and some not-so-great news!

Portland Community Partnership has been supporting a group of residents in Fortuneswell who are working on improving their local community and environment with other agencies and local authorities to tackle some of the safety and infrastructure issues the location suffers.

Updates on the activities taking place include:

The great news is:

Safety Railings & Bollards

The Dorset Council Highways team has now completed stage 1 of the replacement of the railings opposite Wren Court. Stage 2 is currently being planned and likely will be undertaken in 2024, the group are waiting for an update on the dates of installation.

The new railings are a vast improvement on the previous ones and offer increased safety as well as enhancing the location.

The Highways team who installed the railings were excellent and kept the site clean and safe throughout the two-week period. 

Infestation of rats

Magna Housing has started to tackle the rat infestation and we are seeing vastly reduced numbers coming from the Wren Court area. Magna have removed the large bushes which the rats had burrowed under, set appropriate traps, introduced new refuse bins. 

Planters and Plants

The Group has received numerous positive responses from members of the community of how much the area has improved with the colourful plant displays in the new wooden planters we introduced earlier this year.

With the new railings being introduced we have removed the blue flower troughs. The group would like to sell the blue troughs and use the funds to purchase more plants, hanging baskets and soil in 2024. Details about the sale will be through the PCP Facebook page.

Christmas Tree

Portland Town Council has confirmed that a Christmas tree will be installed at Wren Court on 21 November which is extremely welcome and offers the community a focal point in Fortuneswell over the Festive period. Thank you, PTC.

Walls and Pavement

We have started to pressure wash the walls and pavement in the area to remove the dirt. However, it is taking time as we are using a battery powered pressure washer and buckets of water as we do not have direct access to water or electricity. We will continue to clean the walls and pavement throughout the winter so that it can be finished for spring time.

Fundraising Activities

The Fortuneswell Group intend to undertake fundraising activities in December and throughout 2024 to help fund the maintenance of the planters, flowers and improve the area. Details will be published on Facebook so please come along and try and donate to our fundraising efforts.

Next year there is likely to be some more community events at this location including art displays, tabletop sales, afternoon tea and cake sessions plus lots more.

In the early part of 2024, we intend to undertake a short community survey in Fortuneswell to ascertain what type of improvements residents would like to see in Fortuneswell. 

Funds raised by the group will go towards making improvements in Fortuneswell and be administered through the Portland Community Partnership.

Thank you for all the support that has been given to us and we hope that these improvements can really start making a positive difference to our locality and allow for our community to flourish.

The not-so-great news!

Dorset Waste Partnership

Unfortunately, the Dorset Waste Partnership have now used the area as a bin storage facility which is having a negative visual impact.

We have spent just over 12 months cleaning up and improving the Wren Court area in Fortuneswell for the community.

The residents in Wren Court requested a larger bin for their bin store as it is not large enough and contributed to the rat infestation.

The original bin has been left in the bin store and now in our community area are 2 large recycling industrial wheelie bins and 2 smaller bins which were delivered by the DWP, they look horrendous and have had a significant detrimental and visual impact to our community space.

With the number of people living in the six flats at Wren Court DWP have delivered over 3 times the amount of refuse bins (based on DWP per household information on their website) at this location which we find totally unacceptable.

We all understand that we all must play apart in recycling and Wren Court residents are happy to do so but come on this is outrageous and impacts our small community space that residents have taken their own time to clean up to improve the area and our locality.

When have since learnt that one of the large recycling industrial wheelie bins is not even for Wren Court but will be used once every two weeks to collect recycling from side streets and is only there for storage, this is not a bin storage facility.

The bin shed is large enough for their black bin plus 2 green recycling wheelie bins what are issued to larger households. One of the flats already has their own large green recycling bin which is kept up the top in front of their building, this is wheeled down and put close to the road on collection day. The other 2 smaller bins that were delivered for glass and food can go up there also. That would then leave the area as it was before we were invaded by bins.

Originally the bin store was introduced because Dorset Council stated that the bins looked unsightly and must be kept in a store. Obviously DWP did not bother with this or even consider it.

We are a small community group taking our own time volunteering to improve our community environment. We raise our own funds and put in a lot of effort only for DWP to totally ruin all this investment.

We want our community space back so please remove the bins and only install those bins using your own policy for per household.

We have attempted to contact the DWP on this matter.

British Telecommunications Telephone Kiosk

The Fortuneswell Group made an approach to BT to adopt the public telephone kiosk, but the request was later turned down. However, we spoke with them about the state of the kiosk, and they confirmed the kiosk would be totally refurbished between April and September 2023. BT have still not refurbished the kiosk and have then stated they will try but not whilst it is raining! We have followed up with a request for the works to be complete as soon as possible. They stated that they would improve the kiosk as quickly as possible. Watch this space!

March 2023 Update

Portland Community Partnership have been supporting a group of residents in Fortuneswell who are working on improving their local community and environment.

The Fortuneswell PCP volunteer group have been active since last year working with other agencies and local authorities to tackle some of the safety and infrastructure issues the location suffers from before undertaking further improvements to enhance the locality.

Some of the current activities taking place include:

Safety Railings & Bollards

The Fortuneswell PCP Group approached Dorset Council Highways to discuss the significantly damage to the rail sections opposite Wren Court that either having rails missing, post damage or loose rails. The concern is that if anyone learns against these rails/posts, they are likely to fall straight into the highway or the rails/posts may end up in the highway and create a significant hazard.

Dorset Council Highways have been responsive and placed temporary safety barriers at the location and have confirmed they have submitted a request to the DC Asset Management Team to completely replace the railings (which has been confirmed) rather than try and repair as this would not last as other sections have worsened in recent months. 

Dorset Council are now waiting for an external provider to quote for the replacement railings and are treating the works as urgent.

Once the arrangements have been confirmed Dorset Council Highways will then be able to give a start date for the works which we hope will be soon.

British Telecommunications Telephone Kiosk

The Fortuneswell PCP Group made an approach to BT to adopt the public telephone kiosk opposite the Star Inn, but the request was later turned down following an assessment by BT that the telephone kiosk was still required in the area due to the lack of reception on 3g and some people not having access to another form of telecommunication (reinforces the deprived area status Fortuneswell has). However, the Fortuneswell Group spoke with BT about the state of the kiosk and the damage to the facility and requested that if people are to use this kiosk, then improvements are needed. BT have confirmed the kiosk has been included in their works programme and the kiosk will be totally refurbished between April and September 2023.

Infestation of rats

There has been an infestation of rats that have accumulated around the public space opposite Wren Court using both the flower planters and bin storage areas. The Fortuneswell PCP Group contacted Magna Housing and the Dorset Council Environmental Health about the issue and both parties acted swiftly to address the issue. Magna Housing have done a great job in tidying and improving the location enabling other projects to recommence at this location in the near future.

Planters and Plants

The Fortuneswell PCP Group have replanted the blue planters ready for the Spring and Summer and have been supporting Pam Haskins and her friends who have been maintaining the wooden planters since they were introduced as part of the 2012 Olympic Legacy. The community led Portland Revive project installed the wooden planters in 2010 with Pam and her colleagues maintaining the flowers and plants since.

Work has stopped in recent months due to the rat issue and the wooden planters have rotted and the soil has fallen through the bases. The Fortuneswell PCP Group recommended that the wooden planters be replaced so Pam and her friends can continue the planting and maintenance with the support of the Fortuneswell PCP Group.

The Portland Town Clerk and Town Council have been very supportive and have arranged for the old wooden planters and soil to be removed after Easter 2023.

The Fortuneswell PCP Group have also met with Paul West of the Portland Shed project who, after hearing about the issues on social media contacted the group and offered to make the new flower planters which is fantastic news.

The Fortuneswell PCP Group are now aiming to secure the funding for the labour, wood and materials (approximately £800) so the new planters can be made and installed well before the summer.

Next Steps

Fortuneswell Survey

After the Easter holidays a short community survey will be undertaken by the group in Fortuneswell to ascertain the improvements our residents would like to see in Fortuneswell. Some initial general feedback suggested that some nice lighting through Fortuneswell would improve the general look of the area, more colour through flags, bunting etc. improvements to the toilets, cake sales and local crafts, community engagement activities, improved road crossing, a Fortuneswell location stone or sign (like Easton and other villages have on the Island) and stopping dog fouling.

The survey outcome will help the Fortuneswell PCP Group to formulate and submit a grant funding application to action the priorities of the residents.

The survey will be online after Easter and the Group will also be in Fortuneswell on some days during May to collect feedback from residents.

The Group

The Fortuneswell PCP volunteer group will be looking to expand its small group of volunteers and aim to set out the details of joining in its activities in May as part of the survey rollout.