Friday, March 01, 2013

Changes in station opening hours

Just to let you know that the station opening hours are due to change from Sunday 31 March 2013.

Acocks Green
Mon - Thu:   0700 - 1600
Fri:               0700 - 1800
Sat:              0800 - 1600
Sun:             CLOSED

Spring Road
Mon-Fri:     0700 - 1100
Sat:             0900 - 1400
Sun:            CLOSED

Tyseley
Mon - Fri:   0700 - 0900
Sat/Sun:       CLOSED

Sorry. 

Your Labour team has backed local residents consistently on this issue, but the Liberal Democrat transport minister didn't listen to us. 

Turning Acocks green

Pictured left is one of the new bollards that forms part of the major refresh of the street furniture - benches, bollards and bins - in the Acocks Green Village. This has been delivered by your Labour team, who had to argue hard with the our own Deputy Leader to ensure that we could deliver this investment in our local town centre. Even in these tough times, we've got to ensure that this remains an attractive place for people to open businesses and for us to shop in.

Don't forget, we've got more improvements coming with £1.7 million to be spent on improving the Warwick Road through the Village over the next couple of years.

Add to that the work to be done on Acocks Green Station - thanks to a decade of hard campaigning by local people desperate to see access to the platforms improved and we've got some good news to come for our area.

Watch this space!

Snaglist

Here's a sample of work scheduled and completed across the ward recently thanks to the intervention of the Labour team. 

Faulty street lights
On the Shirley Road/School Lane roundabout, at the junction of Shirley Road and Dolphin Lane, Oakhill Crescent, Yardley Road (including the belisha beacon), Westley Road, Flint Green Road, Shirley Road.

Damaged bollards repaired
Warwick Road/Westley Road junction (at the Green roundabout), Station Road/Oxford Road/Sherbourne Road junction.

Potholes
A couple of impressive examples of this species appeared - one particularly deep one on the Warwick Road lozenge roundabout opposite Lincoln Road North and another on the junction of Stockfield Road and Warwick Road, both of which were genuine hazards to road users. Both have been fixed. 

Other issues
Elsewhere, Amey will also be repairing the damaged trip rails on Warwick Road opposite Stockfield Road. 

A couple of weeks back, I was walking down Dudley Park Road and noticed that a deep hole had suddenly  opened up in the footpath just by the junction with Station Road. This was quite an urgent risk, given that it was potentially a serious trip hazard for any pedestrian, so I had the Amey hit squad out that same morning to perform a fix. The drainage team will need to have a look, as a void appears to have opened up beneath the footpath, so this might not be a permanent repair. 

A defective road sign on Weston Lane is to be realigned and adjusted to protect cyclists. This isn't part of the patch, but has been raised by a constituent, so I've raised it and Amey will be out to fix it. The sign warns drivers turning into Weston Lane from Battery Way to expect cyclists crossing the junction following the cycle route down into the dead end. Sadly, it was installed too low on the pole and has been turned round so that drivers can't see it. 

We've also got a problem with blocked gullies around the Spring Road station. Amey have been to have a look and the problem is actually with a blocked public sewer, which is maintained by Severn Trent. They've flagged it and I'll chase it myself with a contact with Severn Trent. 

Elsewhere, working with the landlords of the flats on Sherbourne Road, we had the access drive extended slightly to allow our bin wagons to be sure of access to the bin stores, as there was a period of several weeks when we weren't able to clear rubbish. An untaxed vehicle was parked on the private drive and prevented our trucks getting close enough to safely manoeuvre the large wheeled bins - the crews were trying daily at one point. 

Monday, February 25, 2013

Planning Applications to the 23 February 2013

Quiet again on the planning front with a single application - although a decent sized one.

2013/01113/PA - 75 Woodford Green Road, Hall Green
Erection of two storey and single storey extension to rear

You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

Wheelie Bin Consultation Starts

You can find the survey here. Fill it in and let us know YOUR views.

If you are so inclined, you can find my views here.

Green Waste Collections Restart

As from this week, the green waste collection across Birmingham restarts. It will happen on the usual cycle, so if you have your recylates collected this week, your first green waste collection will be next week. If you had your recyclates collected last week, then this should be your first green waste collection of the new season. There will be no charge for the service this year.

Police Report

Just some highlights from recent police meetings:

Thirty thefts or attempted thefts from vehicles, lately with nineteen occasions where items were actually taken. Satnavs are particularly popular, so please take care to remove them and their associated cables to avoid tempting thieves - even the circle on the windscreen where the bracket was fitted can be a temptation, so wipe it down! Thirty is eleven up on last month and seventeen up on last year. VWs continue to be a target, as their locks are vulnerable to brute force attacks and there have also been six break ins on vans, including a number of catalytic converters stolen from vehicles parked at a garage. It appears that the actual value of those is quite limited as stolen goods, but the damage caused is expensive to fix.

We had three incidents of damage to vehicles, one which was domestic related and one as a result of a snowball being thrown at a vehicle. Additional officers were on duty in the Green around 3pm on school days during the snow and they spent their time speaking to those involved in throwing snowballs at passing vehicles.  During the cold snap, officers carried out early morning patrols watching out for vehicles left unattended with their engines running to deice. On one occasion, they found 16 of them - all vulnerable to theft and none of them insured if they had been stolen.

There's still a problem with theft of wing mirrors from the BMW Mini - an experienced thief can remove them in about half a minute and as they retail for £300, can be used to turn a quick profit. One of the PCSOs has also reported that there has been a spate of thefts of the old style Mini across the force - so look after those classic cars!

Last month saw ten burglaries, three down on last month, but three up on last year. Most of these involved forced entry through back doors or windows, some of them using the resident's own garden tools to smash through the plastic panel on the door.

There have been a number of drive-offs or 'bilkings' from the Meir Stones petrol station by the bus garage. The retail radio system used in the Green has been extended to the garage and to Lidl and this will hopefully speed up the flow of information to the police.

One concern in December was a small number of robberies around Acocks Green Recreation Ground and along Broad Road. Acting on intelligence received, a suspect has now been arrested, charged with two offences and remanded in custody. The robberies have ceased.

Finally, the police have also executed three drugs warrants on properties in Tean Close, Onslow Road and industrial premises on Reddings Lane. All three came from tips from members of the public and resulted in the confiscation of a number of cannabis plants.