Holiday

I’m going on holiday for a short break this week and shall be back in time for Easter. If you need to contact a local councillor urgently please ring 01922 650000 and they will advise you how to contact Cllr Keith Sears or Cllr Anthony Harris. If not drop me an email and i’ll get back to you after the Easter bank holiday.

Election 2007: Make sure your vote counts

Make sure your voice counts!

Enroll on the electoral register

If you are not currently on the electoral register (but are elligible to vote), you may fill out forms to return to the Council here. Please return them to Walsall Council. Being registered gives you the right to vote.

Postal votes

Political parties do not deal with postal votes. If you will be away on holiday or cannot get to the polling station why not get a postal vote? You can apply for one through the Council here.

Election 2007: Seeking re-election

Well nominations are in for the forthcoming local elections. My term of office expires this May as I was elected in November to complete the term of office originally held by Roger Collins until his passing.

Aldridge North & Walsall Wood Conservatives selected me as the candidate to fight this May’s election and the elections office have accepted my application, after securing ten signatures, as a valid nomination. I will therefore be seeking re-election for a term of four years as your councillor.

I’ll try and cover council work and elections work on the blog between now and May 3rd. I’d like to thank you for originally giving me the opportunity to work as your councillor and I hope you will consider re-electing me this coming May.

Little things make it all worthwhile…

I just received an email that made me smile:

“hello Mike just to say a big thank you for keeping a promise waited 28 years for one the promise we have recieved our brown bin it will be ready for the collection on the 27th April if you would like to help fill same you are more than welcome

once again a big thank you”

I’m glad I and my colleagues could do something to make a difference.

Press: We’ll fight on say protestors

From the Walsall Advertiser:

Homeowners have said they will fight to overturn a decision to give a housing development in Shire Oak the go-ahead.

Neighbours living close to the site say a proposal by South Staffordshire Water to build 40 homes on the junction of Lichfield Road and Chester Road will lead to an increase in traffic and affect road safety. Campaigner Jan Stahlberg, who lives across from Shire Oak School, which is just a few hundred yards from the junction, said traffic was already a problem and accidents were common.

“Only a few weeks ago a woman was cut out of her car after an accident close to the junction,” he said.

Residents say an extra 40 houses on the former reservoir would add another 60 to 80 cars onto the junction at rush hour.

But the scheme has been given outline planning permission by councillors on the development control committee, despite a petition by campaigners opposed to the development.

“We are now aiming to call a public meeting in order to set up an action group to oppose, and try to change, these plans,” Mr Stahlberg added.

The outline permission now means South Staffordshire Water can now either sell the land to a housing developer or put forward more detailed plans itself to build the homes.

Councillor Mike Flower said he would help residents in anyway he can.

“The junction can handle 760 vehicles an hour and at present 740 are using it,” he said.

“Any more pushes it over the edge. The road and the junction need to be improved before any more building can be done.”

View the article.

First phase of new brown bins

The delivery of the first wave of brown bins is underway! Distribution of bins to households are from 26th March to 13th April 2007. First collections commence on the 16th April 2007. A second phase will then be consulted upon to ensure those properties missed in the first round with large gardens are included.

Walsall Wood properties in the first batch include: Chester Road – Stonnall, Hall Lane, Barns Close, Camden Street, Oakwood Close, Lawnswood Drive, Quantock Close and Ivy Grove. I will be pushing for others to be included in the second phase.

Councillor Rachel Walker, Conservative cabinet member for environment said: “Thousands of households across the borough will get their new brown bins in the coming weeks and I hope people use them to recycle as much garden waste as possible during the growing season and beyond.

“Expanding the brown bin scheme to cover as many Walsall households as possible is an important part of Walsall Council’s future recycling activities.

“Using your brown bin is an easy way for residents to recycle grass cuttings, plant clippings and other organic material from their gardens – and at the same time help the council to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.”

Moving towards our new library

“A £100,000 plan to create a new library for Walsall Wood has come a step closer, delighted library staff say.

Tenders have now been received for the project which will see the branch library move into an improved home.

A contractor is set to be chosen with the work expected to be complete by late summer.

As part of the plan, the library will move from its current dated home in Lichfield Road into the former neighbourhood office – also in Lichfield Road.

Councillor Louise Harrison, Walsall Council cabinet member for leisure and culture, said: “The overall scheme is likely to be around £100,000. We’re all very pleased that things are progessing smoothly and a new library for Walsall Wood is well on course.

“The tenders are now in and we will be making a decision on which contractor will carry out the work very soon.

“All in all, it’s the right time to replace Walsall Wood library. It was built as a temporary structure in the 1960s when the area was still part of Staffordshire.

“It was built to last maybe 10 years and now four decades on it’s tired and I’m delighted to say will be replaced.

Work will be carried out to adapt the new building with its floors strengthened to take the weight of book shelves.

The new venue will also have car parking and cycle racks.

Councillor Mike Flower, whose Aldridge North and Walsall Wood ward includes the library, said he warmly welcomed the scheme.

He said: “This is great news for the people of Walsall Wood. What this will also mean is that the library will come closer to the shopping parade so a bestseller can be collected at the same time as a basket of goods.”

A banner to keep people informed of the switch has been put up at the site of the new library.”

Camden Street & Canal update

I understand work is progressing on this – and Severn Trent are working on the drains to see if this will solve the problem. I’ll post another update if I get any further information.

Trip to Wembley

A story totally not related to anything I do on the Council. Myself and a mate went down to watch the first official game at the new Wembley Stadium yesterday (and paid for by myself I should add!). We saw the first hat-trick at the new Wembley along with probably the fastest goal that will ever be scored there, timed at 25 seconds. All good stuff. Couldn’t help but think it’ll be a perfect location for the Black Country derby in future years….

Just one political point however. Outside the ground we asked a steward if he could take a photo of us with my mate’s camera. He refused and said that company policy stopped him from taking the photo in case the camera got broken and steward and company were sued by us. So we used common sense and grabbed a random bloke to take the snap. I couldn’t help but think that if we now live in a society where someone can’t take a photo of a couple of lads at a football match for fear of being sued then there is something really wrong with our country. That or i’ll have to carry around legal documents that waiver my right to legal action. The things we have to do……

Results: Safety on Lazy Hill Road

As you may remember I wrote to all residents in Lazy Hill Road in February and followed it up with the Spring Intouch leaflet.

I have received a really healthy number of responses from residents on the road. The majority acknowledges that there is an issue with traffic safety on this road and therefore I will forward all of your correspondence to the Council. This will trigger a road safety monitoring scheme which will measure the traffic, volume, speed and safety, etc. They will also take into account all views raised in letters about size, weight, frequency of traffic, concerns about any possible traffic calming and types of traffic calming. At this stage no traffic calming is planned, only the need to have the road properly investigated and analysed and your concerns addressed.

Shire Oak & Sandhills sign

Here is the design for the new shell for the Sandhills & Shire Oak sign on the border of our ward with Staffordshire. Hopefully this will stop the confusion and acknowledge the area of Sandhills and Shire Oak.

Charging for graffiti removal?

I’ve had three queries about the Council charging for removing graffiti off private property. The Council’s current policy with regard to cleaning up graffiti on private property is as follows:

“The council policy is to charge for the removal of graffiti on private property. The council has no responsibility for removing graffiti from private land nor has any budget to do so.”

This policy varies from council to council. Sheffield offer a free service to private properties dependant on various conditions. Leicester City Council charge at a “competitive price”. I don’t think Dudley offers any service for private properties. Coventry also charge for private property.

As your representative on the Council I would be happy to challenge this policy and initiate a debate if there is a demand to do so.

Apology

I haven’t updated this blog properly for a week now. I started a new job on Monday last week so i’ve been pretty tied up settling in. However there was still plenty of Council work to undetake and I’ve still got lots of things to report so i’ll update this very shortly.

Youth Club re-opened

A fantastic photo from the re-opening of the youth club last night. Thanks to everyone for their hard work and I really hope the place is well used and a big success.

Conservative Spring Forum

This weekend I won’t be holding a surgery as i’ll be in Nottingham for the Conservative Spring Forum. This is a mini conference where activists, councillors, MEPs, candidates, MPs, Lords and anyone else get together to hear speeches, get involved in policy debates and socialise. Its a great chance to meet new people and bump into high level politicians! I’m particularly looking forward to finding out about policies and how the reviews are going. I’ll try and take some photos and post them from my mobile over the weekend.

If you are interested in more information you can have a look here: https://conservativespringforum.com/admin?service=direct&context=DefaultPage/wrap.menuLink&sp=register_wrap&sp=17107&sp=S&sp=agenda