LEA Governor Appointment Panel

This met this afternoon and we appointed some new school governors. This committee is as simple as the title suggests!

Email problems

My email box reached capacity this week and so apologies if you have emailed me this week and it has bounced back. I have had a clear out so it should work. Its flowermd@walsall.gov.uk

Also please feel free to chase me on any outstanding issues. I think I have about 20 individual cases on the go at the moment and when one has to chase others for answers some issues can get overlooked. This isn’t because I don’t care… so feel free to badger me. Email is always the best way to do so if you can.

Development Control Committee 2

Tuesday came and brought another Development Control Committee. In total we will have had nearly 7 hours of planning over two days – the same as working another working day. No wonder I was done in by 10pm on Tuesday!

I am beginning to grow in confidence and I was happy to second a motion to refuse permission for a mobile phone mast in green belt. I later proposed a motion to refuse a mast in Pelsall – and so it was pleasing to win both votes and ensure the masts were turned down.

I appreciate that we need masts to use phones, but its time companies started to share them like BT do with phone lines. It is also stupid to expect to be able to build them in green belt!!

Want to be Walsall’s Chief Executive?

Walsall Council are now advertising for a new Chief Executive. To quote Cllr John O’Hare, our Leader: “Our aim is to reach the top. Our citizens deserve nothing less. If you think that you can help us achieve our ambitions then we would be delighted to hear from you.”

You’ll be working with a good team of councillors!

See more here: http://www.tribalresourcing.com/walsallchiefexecutive/

Approving Manor Hospital & canal regeneraton

We had a Special Development Control meeting tonight because there are so many planning applications to deal with. Thats because Walsall is changing and developing for the 21st Century.

Firstly we had an application for apartments, housing and other developments on the side of the canal not far from the Art Gallery. These were really impressive. However it is the job of a planning councillor, in my opinion, to pick constructive holes in it to make sure they are properly thought through and practical in reality. I had two concerns – one being parking and the other being affordable housing. Sadly only 10% of this will be affordable housing, despite policy recommending 25%. This because it wouldn’t be financially viable to have 25% affordable housing. I am glad I raised it however because it is difficult for many people, including people of my age, to get on the housing market. Less affordable housing in this case will mean it is less accessible to some new purchasers. However I am glad I raised it.

Secondly was devleopment at Manor Hospital as you can see above. Again this is an excellent development my main bug bare with this one was parking. I think my concern was lost translation a little but the point was made. When people go to a hospital they don’t want to spend ages faffing around with parking. Many a time i’ve had to go to a hospital in an emergency and wasted time trying to park. It stresses you out! What I wanted to get across was that plans not to increase the parking capacity at the hospital was not going to relieve the stress of parking. Why would local residents want a permit scheme if existing parking is adequate?! I’ve been there myself with my grandad, standing around waiting for my mom to park or manouvere.

So car parking won’t be improved on the site despite my concerns. However a minor victory because they will look at purchasing a site for more parking and while development occurs and car parking space is reduced they will look into my idea of a park and ride scheme as some sort of aid.

I am glad the application was approved and the hospital is being redeveloped – but I did my best to get extra car parking too!!

Moving Oak Park forward – delivering

Remember this?

Well we said we would start to lobby to get Oak Park moved forward and we have delivered on the first step. The car park has been resurfaced, new lines painted and a 10mph limit introduced with speed bumps. This is good news and many local groups and residents have been asking for this.

It is a start – and I am pleased we are moving in the right direction. We shall of course continue to monitor the usage of the car park and the “boy racers” as some residents call them. Now to focus on the litter issue….

Surgery review & the week ahead

Was pleased to arrive early for my surgery and leave late! Plenty of people came to see me and I have three pages of case work now to crack on with!!

This is a busy Council week with Development Control on Monday AND Tuesday evening – thats how much planning is going on in Walsall at the moment! And LEA Governor’s Appointment Panel on Wednesday.

Plenty to be getting on with…

Shire Oak Residents Group

The group have established an online forum. Please do join in and discuss ideas and thoughts. The link is: http://groups.google.co.uk/group/shire-oak-rg?hl=en

Surgery this Saturday

My surgery will be held this coming Saturday between 10 and 11am in Walsall Wood library. Please come along and see me if you have anything pressing you wish to discuss.

Steps update

I’ve worn this stepometer on and off over the last week or so. The worst day was 992 steps!! That consisted of a walk to and from the car to work and the same again to come home. I was shattered that day and a colleague brought lunch in! Thats over 9,000 steps under the recommended daily amount. It is easy therefore to see where my second chin is creeping from (joke)!

However it has made me realise that on work days when I am in the office, I really need to do more to get active and stay healthy. Perhaps time to join a gym – and this time go!!

Oak Park update

Myself and Keith had a meeting with a number of high level council officers regarding the state of Oak Park. Anthony was spending a week away but this issue is very much a priority for the three of us.

We made it clear that we want Oak Park and the High Street designated as a “zero tolerance” site with regard to littering and ideally anti-social behaviour. We want the site and surroundings deep cleaned and then cleaning schedules increased to keep the site clean. This will deal with the symptom. To deal with the cause we want environmental health to prosecute anyone who drops litter on this site. Enough is enough and we need to take responsibility for this. If you see someone dropping litter there please do report this to Environmental Health (01922 650000).

In the meantime the car park is being resurfaced – which is good news. However we now need to take action to secure the car park and stop the racers messing around. Officers are working on this. We are continuing to work with the Football Club on their funding bid.

I hope they will come back with a positive action plan.

Other updates: phone mast and flooding

Remember this: Phone mast on Royal Exchange Public House? Well this is something we are stuck with. The Council are unable to take enforcement action as it does fall under permitted development rights.

Why? Because the government passed legislation which allowed these masts to go up.

Why? Because Gordon Brown raised £20bn to plug a black hole in the economy (See BBC NEWS article here.)

What does this mean? Well in theory these could pop up anywhere and everywhere – providing they have permission of the landlord and are under a certain height – its tough luck on local residents. This sums up Labour’s outlook on the planning process – minimalise democracy and force changes through. Silly me, I thought local people would look after their local areas better, but instead it is the might of Whitehall.

Also remember the strange pool of water on Camden Street? See my post here. This has now been resolved. Many thanks to the Council and Severn Trent for working together and sorting this out for residents. Good job it was sorted before the weekend floods or it would have hit the power sub station!

The bail hostel on Stonnall Road, Aldridge

A resident recently got in touch with me regarding the bail hostel on Stonnall Road. I spoke to Richard Shepherd MP and it appears that the Home Office wrote in July 2006 stating they wanted to find an alternative site in the future and would work with the Local Authority to do so. I have therefore written to the Chief Executive of Walsall Council asking him what progress Walsall Council are making in working with the Home Office on this issue. It may also be worth residents contacting Richard directly asking him to press the Home Office for an update. With it nearly being a year on it would be timely to do so. Please do this in writing so he can forward these onto the Home Secretary.

I should state that this shouldn’t raise anyone’s hopes or fears with regard to this site – but its always worth asking and pushing!

Update: this is nothing new. The Probation Service have been “actively looking” for an alternative site since 2002 in Walsall. As a new councillor it gives me an excuse to fire off a few letters to see if it has moved on at all.

Helping Rosie’s helping hands

I was also delighted to be invited to meet with Karen and Sean Ross on Saturday morning to discuss their charity – Rosie’s helping hands. This charity was set up in memory of their daughter Rosie who was tragically murdered in Centenary Square a few years ago. I remember it well as I often would sit there with my friends and being of a similar age it really struck a chord with me.

The charity undertakes excellent work helping local young people’s organisations and health causes. One of their main events is coming up shortly – Rosie’s walk and festival – on the 15th July which is a Sunday. I hope I can make it myself and will do what I can to support the charity.

To find out more please visit: http://www.rosieshelpinghands.org If you can help or can take part please do contact the Ross family or drop me an email.

Supporting local events

I was delighted to be invited to and attend the sale and coffee morning at St Thomas’s Church, in Aldridge on Saturday. Despite the terrific rain it appeared to be well attended and I think I bought most of the plant stall – much to the delight of my grandad who will be making the most of the tomato plants I bought! I also enjoyed a coffee and a chat with a few local residents. It was a lovely event – also supported by Cllr Keith Sears and Richard Shepherd MP – and I hope it raised plenty of money.