HEREFORD LOCALITY WEEKLY BRIEFING – WEEK ENDING 10^th APRIL 2015

Dear Councillors and Parish Clerks,

A relatively quiet week in the locality over the Easter period. The reactive team has completed the following works:

• 6 pothole repairs
• 10 gullys cleared
• 4 fly tips removed
• 2 litter picks carried out
• 11 kerb defects rectified.

Planned works in April - Hollington Ward Greenway, Holme Lacy (Cycleway Work) now taking place on 15 to 17 April (previously 1 & 2 April) Traffic Management: 2 Way Lights

Update from Shane - (City South Belmont, St Martins & Hinton, and Tupsley Wards; Rural Backbury and Hollington Wards)

Following an extended Easter break Ive worked only Thursday and Friday this week. Some of the issues I have addressed

• Cleared broken glass from footpath adjacent to Northolme Community Centre and carried out litter pick
• Inspected a dropped kerb installation in Brampton Road
• Approved 3 x dropped kerb applications in Brampton Road, Franks Avenue and Aconbury Avenue
• Carried out a PROW inspection on HER17
• Inspected and raised orders for potholes/patching work in Gorsty Lane, Cilcennin Close, Court Orchard Fownhope, Burden Road, Seaton Avenue, Church Road
• Arranged for fallen tree branch to be removed from Noverwood Drive, Fownhope
• Inspected and raised a works order in respect of a blocked gully in Standale Road
• Arranged for a tree assessment in Hillside Avenue 

Update from Mike (City North Aylestone, Central, St Nicholas, and Three Elms Wards; Rural Credenhill and Hagley Wards)

This week I have 

·         Attended court to defend a personal injury claim against Hereford Council

·         Met with Westhide parish council regarding culvert / c/way flooding issue

·         Attended an emergency to remove discarded barbed wire adjacent to a PROW route in Newton Farm

·         Raised an order for double yellow lines to be retraced in Barton Road

·         Spoken to a resident about an overgrown hedge causing and obstruction to pedestrians, Scudamore Street

·         Inspected a tripping incident in Commercial Road for a personal injury claim

·         Inspected a tripping incident in King Street for a personal injury claim

·         Raised a sweeping request for the cycle lane Aylestone Hill

·         Raised a number of ad hoc c/way defect for Aylestone Hill near the copper kettle

·         Raised a couple of ad hoc c/way pothole defects in Huntsmans Drive

·         Raised some works orders for loose bocks in Commercial Street and High Street

·         Prepared an order for a dangerous tree to be felled in Churchill Gardens

Herefordshire Council website is the one-stop-shop for up to date information

Maps for pot holes are available on the Councils website –

https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/transport-and-highways/maintenance/potholes

We hope the above is of interest.

Kind regards

Shane & Mike.

Shane Hancock | Senior Locality Steward (Hereford – City South)

Balfour Beatty Living Places | Unit 3, Thorn Business Park | Rotherwas | Hereford | HR2 6JT

This is the reason it took an hour and 5 minutes to drive from Belmont to Holmer this morning. Another nightmare morning on the A465 Belmont Road. Apparently a trailer carrying sheep overturned.

You see, one problem and the traffic extends out past the Clehonger turning on the A465 coming into Hereford and out as far as the bottom of the Callow on the A49 Ross Road. Still, we have a relief road coming soon eh...

More river crossings please!!

Another sad day for the city, after 35 years in Hereford, Mothercare is closing it's store on the 30th due to the lease coming to an end.

Cafe Nero have now purchased the new lease. (scoop)

Now they have finally finished the pavement on Roman Road this pelican crossing is being used a lot. The trouble is that the traffic is backing onto the roundabout when the lights are red and because of this south facing traffic coming down the A49 cannot exit. Traffic blocks the roundabout and its quite possible that traffic coming from Roman Road Holmer Park side could easily attempt to go around the roundabout for the A49 and drive into this traffic.

I can see this island roundabout losing all the current landscaping to improve safety. The traffic on the A49 can now get back as far as Kenchester water gardens during school and college term time.

Minutes of a Meeting of the Parish Council, held on Thursday 5th March 2015 At Northolme Community Centre, Northolme Road, Belmont Hereford.

Minutes - 5.3.2015.pdf

Minutes of a Meeting of the Parish Council,held on Thursday 5th February 2015 At Belmont Community Centre, Eastholme Avenue, Belmont 

Minutes - 5.2.2015.pdf

Minutes of a Meeting of the Parish Council, held on Thursday 8th November 2014 at Northolme Community Centre, Northolme Road, Belmont Hereford.

minutes 8.1.2015.pdf

Minutes of a Meeting of the Parish Council, held on Thursday 4th December 2014 at Belmont Community Centre, Eastholme Avenue, Hereford.

Signed Minutes.Pdf

Come on Hereford,its election time.theirs only one way to vote this year.

YOU LIVE LOCAL

SO VOTE LOCAL

VOTE ITS OUR COUNTY

With less than four weeks to Polling Day, Council Leader Tony Johnson has come out fighting, announcing that he has personally vetoed the recruitement - at a cost to the taxpayer of over £36,000 - of three new Shire Hall bosses, due to head up the Directorates of Adult & Wellbeing and Resources.

On the eve of a knife-edge poll, Cllr Johnson's bold initiative is to appoint legendary Voice poster Bobby47 to all three key positions, at a combined annual salary of circa £300,000.

In an exclusive interview, Bobby47 told The Voice: "I ain't planning to spend much time at Shire Hall - what with the fishing being good down on the Wye, and my dear friend Sally promising me unfold delights in the brambles. But yes, 300K will certainly help with the baccy and booze."

I will be calling it a day come Election Day in May. I was first elected in 1992 for the old St. Martins Ward on the City Council, those were the days of Hereford & Worcester when Hereford Councillors made decisions for the city unlike now. As a member on Herefordshire Council and the City Parish Council I have found the last four years very frustrating to say the least. On Herefordshire Council unless you are in the ruling group you have almost no say in major work in the county and attempting to get items for constituents sorted is almost impossible. Yes there has been massive cuts in grants from the Goverment but could this money we did receive been spent on alternative projects. I have always attempted to leave politics out of the way I have voted over the years and did support items from all groups on the Council even when I stood as a Labour candidate.

Thanks for the votes over the years.

PS My wife Maureen is going to stand in South Wye for the City Council, as readers will know there are no allowances or expenses on this Parish Council.

PPS Colin can you please remove Councillor from my name on May 7th then I can join other writers but will use my name.

I'll tell you what the problem is within public service! Career advancement. Yes, that's the problem. In the private sector you tip up for a job that clearly says, 'we want a bloody welder'. You, being a bloody welder think, 'that's the job for me'. You tip up, they ask you some questions, they drag you off and say, 'weld that', you do it and they then say, 'you are a fine welder. The jobs bloody yours', and off you go welding two pieces of iron together for God knows how many years knowing that you will be welding that bloody metal together for as long as you can stand the drudgery of your role in life.

Course, that's not the case in the Council, the NHS, the Police or any other bloody public organisation. No Sir'ee! Beneath the umbrella of public service they set you on as the person who orders the stationary and they give you a job title that you can barely understand. Once in there, strapped behind your desk counting bloody paper clips, you learn that your position has several pay grades which mean that each time Human Resources review you and your job every twelve months, you can climb your pay scale if you manage to become outstanding at counting your paper clips and star binders.

But that ain't the end of it! Far bloody from it. Once you get to band bloody nine of your pay scale counting these bloody paper, you then become the Team Leader and that bloody position has nine pay grades that then lead you to becoming Supervisor, then Manager and then Regional Manager. And all the time, your business is the same, the counting of paper clips or ensuring the paper clips are counted or they are counted very well by a highly qualified and motivated much valued member of staff.

And what drives this relentless and bludgeoning Career Advancement? Bloody Human Resources and the ethos that everyone within the organisation can reach the top if they can climb their pay scale and please those that have created this business model of madness.

And how do you fuel this madness that sees some more qualified than others in the art of counting these bits of stationary? Bloody Courses and lots of them! And after you've been on the rotten Course? Well you shoot up another pay grade don't you and, because you are outstanding at what you do, Human Resources poach you, strap you behind a desk in their Department and off you go again appraising the employee who replaced you counting bloody paper clips.

And that's the problem with public service!

A former Hereford pub could be turned into a Tesco Express according to this article in the HT.

The supermarket giant has bought the lease of the former Buckingham Inn pub and has set the wheels in motion to turn it into a convenience store - creating up to 20 jobs.

The Buckingham on Whitecross Road will go the way of the Game Cock pub after the latter was converted into a Tesco Express on Holme Lacy Road in 2010.

I see the liar has emerged from his burrow! God only knows why Milliband has beckoned this tap dancing devil of a man with the Far Away Eyes to tip up at Sedgefield and tell us all why we should not even consider leaving the European Union and to place our waning trust in the runt of the Milliband litter. The bloody cheek of it!

Bloody man! Bloody Blair! Him and his Far Away Eyes that moreorless imply that he and only bloody he has had a blessed vision from the Almighty and only he can deliver us all from our bloody misery.

The Barstard! Mark my words, this evangelical bloodstained souless preacher who's private letters to George bloody Bush we shall never read, prays nightly to the God that slew Kane and Able that he can be gifted the Stigmata.

He'd bloody love that wouldn't he. The deaths of thousands on his hands and the prostitution of all things that we all hold dear gifted the bloody marks of the Stigmata. My God! Imagine Blair with his Far Away Eyes gazing lovingly into the camera as we all sit back and watch in awe as he takes on the sins of the world and before our watching eyes he bleeds before us.

The mans mad! Yes! Completely detached from reality and digested by his own egotistical thoughts that he and Bush were right to launch their shock and awe attack upon a bunch of people that never ever bothered me.

There's only one outcome for this former Right Honourable Member of Parliament and it's the Courts of Justice at The Hague. I just hope that I live to see the day this false prophet is made to face the enormity of his crimes against humanity. The Barstard!

http://www.bastionradio.com/

Discussion starts at 31:00.