Councillor Mike Flower

I received a response to my letter to Centro late yesterday evening. It says:

Councillor Flower

Stephen Rhodes
Bus & Highways Director
Centro-WMPTA

So three cheers for my Conservative and Walsall colleague Cllr Gary Clarke!

Just a note to say we had Development Control Committee last night. Nothing from our ward and a mixed bag of decisions - some in line with officers advice, others against. This is currently one of the committees I really enjoy sitting on because I feel like I am actually making some sort of difference. The lack of trust the planning process has in councillors however is deeply fustrating… but I won’t rant on about that!

Here is a copy of the letter I have sent to Travel West Midlands regarding the 991 bus route:

Dear David,

————————————————————
Councillor Mike Flower
Conservative, Aldridge North & Walsall Wood
Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council
Mobile: 07732 079881
Website\blog: www.mikeflower.com (contains political content)
Email: flowermd@walsall.gov.uk

Currently being overwhelmed with correspondance about the bus services in Walsall Wood - particularly regarding the 991 which runs from Lichfield to Walsall. Not the most popular bus service in the world but never the less it is a vital link between Lichfield and Walsall for school children, college students, people who want to shop in the two areas and of course access to Shire Oak and Sandhills. It is used by many who go to visit the residential home at Shire Oak. I used to use it myself a few years ago when I dated a girl in Lichfield, who went to school with me in Walsall. If it wasn’t for the 991 she’d have never got to Walsall, and there were always plenty of others on the bus.

So what can we do about it? Not a lot sadly as councillors have NO powers over bus companies. Even Centro-WMPTA (which has councillors on, has very few powers available). So we can only resort to public pressure and outrage. That is exactly what I intend to do!

In the meantime my colleague, Cllr Marco Longhi recommends that “a meeting is taking place of the Transport User’s Forum at the Town Hall on 16th Oct, at 6pm. Travel operators (e.g. TWM), Centro, Rail Operators, stakeholders and members of the public attend these meetings and they are the ideal place for you to voice your concerns. I believe that Cllr Clarke, Chairman of the PTA, may well be chairing this meeting and I am confident that he will see that you receive a reply from the bus operator in question, either in writing or verbally on the night (as well as any input from Centro itself if this is a subsidised route.)”

I’ll also be getting together with local residents and the residential home shortly to get help with a petition.

Well its been a busy few weeks. Last week was Conservative Party conference and the eagle eyed among you may have seen me on the tele or on the web. I got a front row seat for the David Cameron speech. I personally thought it was fantastic - both in delivery, content and style. I do a bit of public speaking from time to time so to deliver that for over an hour and under such intense pressure and scrutiny was pretty good. Particularly liked the bits on zero tolerance policing, inheritance tax relief raised to £1m and of course stamp duty exemption for houses under £250k. That would have helped me buy my own place! Still all these issues have cropped up on the doorstep over the last 11 months so its good to see a Conservative Party listening and promising policies that are both deliverable and useful.

More blogging to come soon - including the 991 bus service which I am being inundated on at the moment.

Fair play to the Council. They listened, acknowledged the “balls up” and reacted prompted. Here you can see Keith pointing to the newly altered signs. Behind him, out of sight, are five different families enjoying the open space playing football and cricket.

A victory for common sense and democracy.

Further to the story below - my colleague Cllr Anthony Harris tells me he has bucket loads of green paint so if the signs aren’t changed by the weekend we might have a go ourselves! (I’m afraid the three of us are getting a bit militant!!)

There is a serious point to this too. Walsall has one of the worst health rates in the UK. I think we’re only beaten by Sandwell if I remember correctly. We should be encouraging people to use the parks to have fun, play footie or rounders with mates, and be safe. Its a no lose situation! Thats why we want Oak Park Leisure Centre rebuilt. Lets give people the chance and facilities to get healthy and have fun too. Too often I hear that there is nothing for people to do or places for them to go. I’ll be encouraging my colleagues to instill a more encouraging approach into the Council and do away with the “no ball games” approach. I’d certainly welcome a review of this policy.

Talking of Oak Park, there is a sign next to the KFC saying entrance “No golf”. Its a bit random. No boy races might be more appropriate! Is there a phantom golfer in Walsall Wood or is it another pointless sign?! Answers on a postcard…

Yup the signs in Greenwood Park say no ball games. Time to get someone down there with a bit of green paint me thinks!

Litter louts have been targeted as part of a major clamp-down staged by Walsall Council.

Penalty notices are set to be handed out to people who drop litter in the Lichfield Road area close to KFC and the Oak Park leisure.

An £80 fine could be levied on people who fail to but their rubbish in the bin.

New litter bins are also to be installed in the area as part of the clamp-down with the leisure centre car park recently resurfaced as part of a package of improvement measures .

Councillor Rachel Walker, Walsall Council cabinet member for environment, said: “We need people to understand quite clearly that dropping litter is just not acceptable.

“You can call this a carrot and stick approach. We’re putting in extra litter bins with the help of KFC.

“If people are too lazy to use them they stand a serious chance of being hit in the pocket by a penalty ticket.”

Six new bins are to be installed by Walsall Council.

Councillor Mike Flower, who represents Aldridge North and Walsall Wood ward, said that he warmly welcomed the initiative.

He said: “This is very much a case of Walsall Council listening to people’s concerns and then acting on it.

“We were told that people were unhappy at the rubbish on this site and we’ve acted on it.

“Residents have been contacting ward councillors and we have been busy behind the scenes helping to draw up an action plan for Oak Park.

“This is one of several improvements we would like to see at the site over the next few months.

“This has been a very comprehensive response to the problem and I would warn people thinking of littering to think twice. It will not be tolerated in Walsall Wood.”

Warning signs about litter have also been posted around Oak Park leisure centre to help drive home the warning message.

Myself and the other five councillors for Aldridge, along with the MP Richard Shepherd, are pressing for Stonnall Road Bail Hostel to be put back on the agenda. We met with the Head of the West Midlands Probation Service and they agreed with us that the Bail Hostel needs to be moved. They are going to actively work with the Council on finding an alternative site. Then funding will have to be found from central Government, and then planning permission granted.

I hope we have generated some momentum to move this onto the next phase although I wouldn’t get overly excited about it happening quickly. Still hopefully it is the beginning of the end for the Bail Hostel in Stonnall Road.

I’m 24 next month and i’ve never ever been allowed to have a say on Britain’s relationship with Europe. Why is it important? Because the majority of our laws are now made over in Europe. It is totally unaccountable. When was the last time an MEP or European Commissioner rang your doorbell?

The fact is that European government is too distant from the people. Lets face it, most people think the Council is too distant from the people! The European Treaty will only give more powers to Europe and we don’t get a say. Its a sell out.

You might think it doesn’t affect you but it does. Legislation like the EU Landfill Directive, have been passed down to governments and passed down to councils. Yes you got it, the reason council’s across the country are mentioning fortnightly collections is because of the EU directive. It is effectively removing our right to decide on what rubbish collection we want! There are many many other examples of this.

Its time to have a debate and trust the people to have a say. The Conservatives want a referendum and I want one too.

Read what the fuss is about here: http://www.conservatives.com/getfile.cfm?file=eu-plainenglish&ref=GENERALFILE/3585&type=pdf

Remember this injury I got during the by-election last November? It can be a difficult business delivering leaflets or going door knocking. With injuries like this its no wonder people comment they never see their local councillor - as we’re tip toeing around trying not to get bitten! Something tried to get at me through a letterbox this weekend, and someone elses dog jumped all over me barking. Quite scary when you don’t hear it or see it coming!

I’d hate to be the local postie…..

Coppy Hall Park in Aldridge has got new signs which say no ball games, golf or horse riding. A resident has written to me to ask me why they can’t play football in the park. Good question!

Don’t understand it myself as it’s a great place for a game of rounders or football. I’ve asked the Council to explain the logic or change the sign!

Your three local councillors are back on the streets delivering the summer version of our Intouch leaflet. If you see us around do say hello. We’ve been upto quite a bit so there is plenty to read about on the four page leaflet. Can you help deliver some? Even if just twenty please do drop me an email. It saves our legs. Delivering to 5,500 homes between three of us is pretty tiring!!

If you can’t wait to have it delivered you can download it here. Please do return the survey to us on waste and rubbish collection. The more responses we get the better informed we are and the more we can fight your corner. Feel free to post it back or drop us an email.

The Express & Star covered my recent attempts to clamp down on speed in Aldridge - after numerous complaints from residents.