Updated: Councillor Surgeries – Aldridge North & Walsall Wood
As mentioned previously, local councillors have decided to add an extra venue to our advice surgery rota. Therefore Cllrs Mike Flower, Keith Sears and Anthony Harris plan to have the following surgeries for the remainder of this year:
Walsall Wood Library, corner of High Street, Walsall Wood
1st, 3rd & 5th Saturdays of every month—10am-11am
St Thomas’ Church, St Thomas Close, Aldridge
1st Saturday of every month—10am-11am
* If you would like a copy of the poster in A3/A4 format to put up in your community hall, church, or other communal space then please do contact me via email. *
We also deal with emails and phone calls as quickly as we can. Unfortunately I no longer have access to my Council emails on the move, due to additional security restrictions, so emails are dealt with as soon as possible. You can also tweet me: @mikeflower273 – although email is my preferred method of contact.
Vigo Landfill Site Restoration – Current Situation
Following a query from a local resident I can provide the following updates from Walsall Council and Cory regarding the Vigo site:
Email from Walsall Council planning:
Further to our meeting, I am please to set out details of the current position at the former Vigo Utopia Quarry site. Infilling of the void was completed in August 2010. The planning permission requires that the site should be restored by 31st December 2011 in accordance with a landscape master plan which was approved prior to the start of tipping in 1995. This master plan established the broad principles of the final restoration land form, which includes woodland and grassland planting. The finer details of the landscaping specification need to be agreed by the Council before planting can take place.
The site operators, Cory Environmental, have submitted the details for the landscape restoration and aftercare of the site. Officers are assessing the submission to ensure that the best possible scheme for the long-term integrity of the site is secured. Amendments to the scheme have been sought following consultations with Natural England and the Environment Agency. Officers have recently met with Cory Environmental who are undertaking work to ensure that the requirements are included in revised documents to be submitted in September (further sampling and hydrological testing is required). Assuming these documents overcome the previous concerns the restoration and aftercare schemes can be agreed for planting to take place sometime in October. While it is not yet clear whether all planting and other landscaping work will be completed by 31st December, it is anticipated that significant progress will be made.
The site will become publicly accessible, however to ensure that the landscaping is established sufficiently in the interests of its long-term use (the operators are required to maintain the site for 5 years) it wont be accessible until the end of year 3 (subject to the annual review with the Council).
We will pass onto Cory your suggestion that they do a mail shot to local residents, copied to local councillors, to explain the current status and what happens now to deliver the restored landform.
Here is the following mail shot from Cory Environmental following on from the note above:
Consultation: Plans to expand Leighwood Primary School, Aldridge
Just to highlight to residents that Walsall Council-Serco are currently consulting on the enlargement of Leighswood Primary School in Aldridge which is popular with many families in our ward.
To date I have only had one representation – from a parent who opposes this. In the meantime I will wait to hear from other residents and interested parties before I form my own view to submit to the consultation. It closes at the end of the month.
Here are the consultation documents:
Pothole repairs for Friezland Lane
Pothole complaints are top of the issues residents are raising with me at the moment – Friezland Lane this time the area needing attention. A lady came to see me at my surgery a couple of weeks ago concerned that Friezland Lane hadn’t been repaired despite the problem being reported. I made some enquiries and have been assured that they’ll be filled in the next few weeks – subject to cars not blocking the road. We shall see…
Here is the response in full:
Seventeen trees saved from destruction
A constituent recently visited my surgery to complain that a planning application had been submitted to cut down 17 trees on Coppice Road/Barrow Close in Walsall Wood.
Upon studying the application form (below) it became clear that there was no logical grounds for cutting down 17 healthy trees, when a bit of pruing would suffice.
We made representations to the Council and i’m pleased to say we got the application turned down:
A good result for the residents of Walsall Wood.
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