Your Homeowners' Membership Helps Build The Community

Last year's progress at Wendy's Meadow Park

How does a $10 membership fee become a new park?

The $10 annual BCHA membership is utilized as leverage to secure additional public and private funding that is then used to help us to complete existing projects and host community events.  Every dollar of your BCHA membership goes directly back into your community.

The BCHA has used the last of its membership holdings to secure the ongoing development at Wendy's Meadow Park on Melanson Lane.  This summer, excavation and landscaping work will continue toward making the park functional for all sorts of outdoor activities!

It's time to replenish our funds with this year's membership drive.  Although we have kept a relatively low profile when advertising our successes, your Homeowners Association volunteers work diligently throughout the year and meet monthly on your behalf to:

• coordinate community events (we're ready for the indoor yard sale Saturday, May 28, 2016!)
• help keep the community informed and involved (1461 Facebook members and growing!)
• support local businesses with free advertising (Markting Mondays on our Facebook group)
• develop and maintain 6 local parks (2016 updates at the AGM Wed. Apr. 13, 7pm, PRCC!)
• act as advocates for our community (e.g. park funding, road clearing, school bus safety, etc.)

Whether you live inside or outside of Brookside, we appreciate your support!  It's a new year and we are now collecting $10 membership dues per household for 2016 (of course, larger donations are welcome!). If you live outside of the Brookside boundaries, you will receive an honorary membership for showing your support.

You can support us by obtaining your membership using any of the following methods:

• send an email money transfer for $10 to our treasurer
• mail a cheque for $10 to our treasurer
• drop off a cheque for $10 to our treasurer

If sending an email transfer:

• use your own bank's email money transfer system
• send the $10 transfer to our account at info@bcha.ca
• in the note section, include your name and indicate that these funds are for your BCHA membership for 2016
• send a separate email with the security word that we will need to accept your transfer
• you must include your name, address, email address and phone number in this message so that we can process your membership and issue an email receipt

If sending a cheque in the mail:

• make the cheque payable to Brookside Community Homeowner's Association
• use the memo field to note that these funds are for your BCHA membership for 2016
• ensure that your name, address, email address and phone number are with your cheque so that we can process your membership and issue an email receipt
• mail the cheque to:
• Brookside Community Homeowner's Association
  c/o Treasurer
  177 Irisweg Drive
  Brookside, NS
  B3T 2L1

If dropping off a cheque:

• make the cheque payable to Brookside Community Homeowner's Association
• use the memo field to note that these funds are for your BCHA membership for 2016
• ensure that your name, address, email address and phone number are with your cheque so that we can process your membership and issue an email receipt
• drop off the cheque at:
• 30 Cathy Road, Brookside (Wendy or Greg MacDonald)
  - or -
• PRCC at the BCHA AGM, Wednesday, April 13, 2016

We welcome any questions and look forward to serving you in 2016!

The BCHA Board of Directors

Spotlight on Brookside Parks: Yeadon Green

Hello Fellow Brooksiders!

We’ve had a very successful year with the Brookside Community Homeowner's Association Facebook Group this year.  It’s grown so quickly!!  Don’t forget to invite your neighbors if they aren’t on here yet!

With so many new residents to the area and Spring finally approaching, we thought it would be a great time to let you know what our community has to offer to your families!

Over the next month, we’ll be posting a series of information/photo packages to promote our beautiful parks, playgrounds and open spaces in Brookside. For over 20 years, the BCHA has worked hard to develop park lands that offer a variety of uses. We’re excited to share!

Yeadon Green Park, #20 Northcliffe Drive
Playground, Bicycle/Walking Trail and Picnic Park
(View Map)
Nestled in the woods at #20 Northcliffe Drive, Yeadon Green Park is best known for it’s gorgeous new playground and walking trail loop to McGrath’s Lake. The brand new playground was installed in December of 2011 and is kid-tested and approved! It is rated for 18 months-12 year olds.  There are some benches and picnic tables to relax and watch your kids play.

We’re working on improving signage at the park this summer because we discovered that most people didn’t realize there is a walking/biking loop from the playground that leads down to the lake front!  It includes a boardwalk and an extra large picnic table to enjoy the lake view! The kids sure love the little trail walk to the lake, be sure to explore this park, it has something for everybody! Important side note: Strollers with larger wheels can make it around this entire trail!

As always, we’d love to hear your feedback on our parks!

Stay tuned later this week for our next spotlight!

Yeadon Green Path Work: Friday, September 14

Hi everyone!

The BCHA has arranged a load of crusher run to start surfacing the bicycle/walking trail at Yeadon Green Park on Northcliffe Avenue (it won't be enough to finish the whole trail at once).

The gravel is in a pile there now and will be being spread tomorrow morning starting around 10am.

Watching the machine work could be a fun field trip for a little tyke who likes to watch machinery; however, we would like to urge caution for anyone planning an adventure at the park tomorrow morning!!

BCHA Survey For 2012

Wishing you a Happy New Year and all the best in 2012 as Brookside welcomes its new citizens, new members of your family (the executive has seen two recent arrivals - baby Isaac and baby Lauryn) as well as our new arrival at Yeadon Green - a new playground!

After several years of lobbying, the direct efforts by many executive members of BCHA these past years, and the goodwill and partnerships with HRM Parks and Rec and our Councillor, Reg Rankin, BCHA managed to get this playground brought back to its former level of play for our children. We hope you enjoy the renewed playground at Yeadon Green on Northcliffe Drive as it looks great even on a snowy day.

We have also completed the Lover's Cove Park picnic shelter and gardens on Cathy Road and the parking area at Wendy's Meadow Park on Melanson Lane…so we have had a great 2011!!

We invite you to further give us your feedback with a few minutes of your time to complete the community survey we have prepared to launch us forward in 2012. The results will be discussed and decisions taken at the Annual General meeting to be held on March 28^th at the Prospect Road Community Centre.  Mark your new 2012 calendars to attend - your input shapes our community!

  

New Yeadon Green Playground
located on Northcliffe Drive

Work At Yeadon Green Continues

Yeadon Green - Phase I Complete

The final stages of Phase II will begin tomorrow.  The grading work and culvert improvements will be made by G & R Kelly.

Phase III includes installing new play equipment complete with swings, a climbing apparatus, slides and new cribbing and gravel around it all. HRM has awarded the Phase III contract to Timbertech. The equipment will be installed when Timbertec has the unit ready - hopefully in a few weeks!

We are currently growing our team of volunteers!  If you would like to be involved in making positive changes like this one in our community, please contact info@bcha.ca - you can make a difference.

Work at Wendy's Meadow Park

Our dedicated volunteer BBQ chefs!

Last summer, the BCHA hosted a community BBQ on the park land at Melanson Lane to gather your input about what kind of park you would like to see at this location.  Since then, we have been working to make your dreams a reality.  Today, the visible work began!

Wendy's Meadow Park - before

This year, the funds allotted for our community work are a just fraction of past years so we struggled with what could be accomplished with our minimal budget.  

After researching the physical composition of the land as well as reviewing the cost of the plans for the space, it was determined that the best starting point was to prepare the entry way and the parking area leading into the park. 

Work begins on the entry way

The plans for play equipment, a picnic area, seating and an alternate entrance are all part of work to be done at this park over the following seasons/years as time and funds permit.  

If you have any great ideas where we might be able to secure additional funding, please be sure to let us know.  

Widening the gap a bit!

There are currently only 6 of us working to complete the BHCA projects in Brookside.  Many hands make light work.  If you feel that you could help in any way, your input would be most welcome.

Kind regards,

Valerie

Yeadon Green Gets A Facelift!

Everyone who walks the bicycle trail at Yeadon Green will have noticed that the old playground equipment has been removed in preparation for a facelift!  BCHA has been working with HRM for the past 3 summers to improve the playground at this park and we're excited that it's underway!  Special thanks to Councillor Reg Rankin for his support of this project.

Phase I began last fall with improvements to the drainage pathways behind the old play equipment.  That work helped divert water away from the play area.  The weather this summer has helped us identify other areas where drainage can be improved.

Phase II begins this fall with the removal of the old equipment (pics below) and will continue with raising the play area and improving the grading so that water will drain off into the existing waterways.

Phase III includes installing new play equipment complete with swings, a climbing apparatus, slides and new cribbing and gravel around it all.  HRM currently has this work out to tender.  If all goes well, the new playground will be ready for use in the Spring!

If you would like to be involved in making positive changes like this one in our community, please contact info@bcha.ca - we are always in need of volunteers who wish to make a difference.