More fool me, I went into town today.

Nothings changed, I need some ink for my printer, WHSmith was sold out, Cartridge World has moved to Holmer and the other places have closed. So I did the usual walk all over town looking for a basic product while being consistently hassled by the clipboard people* and finally picked up the very last 1 in Argos.

While in town hunting for such a simple item (do you know Tesco doesn't sell pastry/cake cutters/shapes at all?), I noticed bins full to the brim, some with nappies stuffed in the tops, cigarette (phag is censored?) buts EVERYWHERE outside Tesco/Cash Machines and Chadds.... the only words to describe what I saw there is "f*** me". There are (penises) drawn in the dirt on the unbelievably filthy windows and the door ways are FULL of pi*% and vomit.

Which basically brings me to ask - Does anyone EVER clean the streets?

While I often drive through between 2am-5am, I haven't pulled an all nighter for a long time. I know I haven't seen a street cleaner out for over 10 years.

If you can stomach it, I'd urge you all to just have a glance into the Chadds doorways next time you're in town.

* Something needs to be done about them. Why can't they stick to a plot like the Sky salesmen?

I have received many complaints again about the recent topic create by smartieno1 and after taking into account all the comments made within, that the best course of action was in my opinion to remove the topic altogether, which I have now done. If smartieno1 has an issue with this decision then he needs to take that up with me.

Another sign of a downward spiral.

HEREFORD LOCALITY WEEKLY BRIEFING WEEK ENDING 27^th MARCH 2015

Dear Councillors and Parish Clerks,

During the last week we are pleased to report that the reactive team in the locality completed the following works:

• 119 square metres of carriageway patching (potholes and other surface deterioration)
• 53 square metres of footway patching
• 11 gully’s cleared
• 4 fly tips removed
• 3 litter picks carried out
• 14 kerb defects rectified
• 24 loose footway blocks/slabs re-bedded.

Please see below a summary of our key activities within the Hereford Locality over the last week.

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

The above mentioned reactive works included

Belmont Ward

• Carriageway patching (potholes) in Kilvert Road and Charles Witts Avenue
• Kerb repairs in Westholme Road
• Hedge cutting in Haylease Crescent Footway and Glastonbury Close
• Fly-tip removed in Dorchester Way

St Martins & Hinton Ward

• Pothole repair on Ross Road Service Road
• Footway patching in Holme Lacy Road
• Kerb repair in Norton Avenue
• Litter pick in Staddlestone Circle

Tupsley Ward

• Pothole repairs in Old Eign Hill, Quarry Road and Hampton Park Road
• Gully cleansing in Hampton Street and Harold Street
• Hedge cutting in Litchfield Avenue and Brookside.

Planned works in April - Hollington Ward Greenway, Holme Lacy (cycleway works) scheduled for 1^st and 2^nd April.

Some of the issues I have addressed this week

• Work order raised for a pothole in Eign Road
• PROW inspection on HB1A
• Work order raised for 3 x potholes in Old Eign Hill
• Work order raised in respect of line markings in Haugh Road
• Order raised for litter pick along Gatehouse Road
• Order raised for 3 potholes in Haywood Lane
• Approved dropped crossing application in Goodwin Way and in Carr Lane
• Order raised for carriageway patching on B4399 just outside of Holme Lacy village
• Order raised for edge defect repairs in Witherstone Lane, Bolstone
• Meetings with two residents in Gorsty Lane with regards to hedge cutting in vicinity of pedestrian crossing
• Liaised with BT over defective inspection cover in Ridgeway Avenue
• Order raised for kerb damage in Wigmore Grove
• Order raised for 2 x potholes in Golden Post
• Order raised for carriageway patching adjacent to bus shelter in Hampton Bishop
• Orders raised for gully repairs in Holme Lacy Road and Netherwood Road
• Carried out 8 NRSWA (street works) inspections
• I have also been involved in PROW training, and recruitment interviews for a Locality Steward.

Please note that due to some annual leave and other commitments I will be unavailable until 9^th April.

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

This week I have

·         Completed the City Centre monthly walked safety inspection

·         Reported a dangerous lamp/col  to street lighting Staniers Way

·         Had a meeting with Aylestone Park Association and walkabout the park to discuss  future maintenance works

·         Raised 8 x  ad hoc c/way pothole repairs for Sheridan Road and Moor Farm Lane

·         Addressed overgrown hedge issues in Three Elms Road and Tillington Road

·         Inspected a Cat 1 emergency for slippery surface in Yazor Road

·         Supported a volunteering day for the Brandon Trust

·         Approved a dropped crossing request (Kingsway)

·         Raised ad hoc c/way pothole defects for C1129 and Withies Road

·         Attended a site meeting with Breinton Parish Council, Ramblers assn. and Cllr Powers on the BT1 PROW route

Hereford Rural Locality Steward 

I pleased to update you that following a selection process this week an offer will be made to one of the candidates to fill the vacancy left when Steve Churchill moved to another role. All being well the new steward will be in post from early May. I will confirm details when the offer has been formally made and accepted.

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 & Phil.

Shane Hancock | Senior Locality Steward (Hereford City South)

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

Sirius store closed this weekend in Hereford, will this end up being another empty shop for our city?

Yes,I know this is Hereford Voice but I thought people in the city might like to know about a new place for a day out in Bromyard, which we tried today. It is called Ralph Court Gardens, which has statues, follies and water features based on themes from around the world e.g. Italianate, African, Japanese, but also has Alice in Wonderland, Toad of Toad Hall, the Green Man, a dragon, and all sorts. It's really good fun.

I have to say, the café is not cheap if you want a savoury main course but is really terrific value. If you're on a budget, eat before you go! A cream tea costs £6.95 but we did not try that.

They have obviously put a lot of time and money into this so it's worth supporting.

www.ralphcourtgardens.co.uk
 

For those of you who ain't interested and I for one can't blame you, the new shopping development has salt all over its brickwork. Putting aside the fact that this means the bricks are substandard and we have damp in the brickwork before a single shop has begun to trade, we are now blighted by another problem.

It's an all to predictable problem that often emerges when you've salt deposits all over the bloody walls. It allways happens. Simulacra, or as its better known, bloody apparitions.

I staggered past the East facing wall this afternoon and they were there. They allways are. Bloody pilgrims, staring up in wonder at the salty brickwork screaming hysterically, 'Halleluzah', they shouted, 'Lordy, Lordy be praised. A sign!'

I told them, ' well who in Gods name is this salty image supposed to be?', 'we ain't certain, but we reckon its either the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mary Magdalena. Our monies on it being a gift from Jehovah.'

'Rubbish', I said, 'I know rubbish when I see it and this is rubbish'. Mind, I can understand the fools seeing this as a sign. It's clearly a woman and to be fair it does look like a biblical Icon but I told them, 'I've read the New Testament from front to cover and not once has the good book mentioned that either of these two women were keen participants in athletics'.

This salty image clearly depicts a woman pole vaulting over a horizontal bar, wearing a sports bra and clutching a vaulters pole and her skirts, and whilst I accept it could be a genuine apparition, I'd need to hear some seriously compelling evidence to convince me that Mary Magdalene or The Virgin Mary were ever active competitors in Judean sporting events.

We don't want lepers, people with headlice and Ricketts tipping up here and draining our already overwhelmed public services, so I say, lets get this salt off the walls before our local economy takes another hit and we become the latest place for these bloody pilgrims to visit.

I hope this is Ok to post Colin. 

Thursday 26th March - doors open at 8pm Play is hosting a "Rock the Vote"

The idea is simple - all the major parties have been invited, Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems, Greens, UKIP, Its our County - all have replied and confirmed attendance. 

This is an "open Question Time" style of discussion from 9pm in the club. 

So - if you are interested in Politics, care about who should be the next MP for our great City but unsure who to vote for, this could be the place to help you decide! 

Candidates take to the stage at 9pm. 

IF you have a question you wish to ask - please feel free to post here, and Ill add it to the mix and report back the answers if you cant make the event. 

So I have a dilemma.

I know that soon the election will be over my vote cast, for richer....no probably poorer though for some there will be hard times for sure.

Now I'm thinking that my Council Tax will rise and my hard earned cash will be placed into the Bank of Herefordshire for local politicians to break down and carve out into tiny little pieces though this will be no fishes and loaves scenario.Not everyone going to get a bit not even a morsel but I will have no control on who gets what.

What if there was an option to part with just a little more but on the proviso that you named that organisation or group who you felt were most in need. I'd want it ringfenced oh yes bigger than the bloody Berlin Wall,perhaps two fences after all Steve McQueen got over one!

You see Mrs Knight and I are not wealthy far from it! We don't expect a significant pension and inheritance is for the fortunate. We do expect to work on in some form or the other well past 65. However we are happy..content in our Castle Bungalow and mini wheels outside.

If I could choose three pots I would part with another £50 a year. A noble idea or am I the fool?

I saw today that yellow signs have gone up at Penn Grove Road indicating that traffic regulation is proposed between Moreland Ave and Admirals Close. That's where the commuters/students/hospital people park for free just beyond where the existing yellow lines stop. The details of the restrictions are not yet on the relevant Council page (link here) but they are sure to appear soon and will probably stop people parking on that section of road full stop. I'll be quite pleased if this happens as the current free for all makes driving along there inconvenient and sometimes dangerous.

This follows on from existing proposals to stop all that dodgy parking on Aylestone Hill (lines are yet to be painted) and a Public Meeting which was held at Brockington Towers on 30th January:

Hereford Times Report

When the lines do appear the cars that do end up getting shifted are sure to clog up somewhere else because the drivers' are obviously looking for free parking. Even using the new Council car park at Station Approach for £3 a day adds up to £60 a month (20 working days) which is certainly not cheap.

Certain people think the Council are bringing on these parking issues themselves. Such as causing the fiasco outside the Leisure Centre where all the car park has emptied out onto the adjacent A49 ... 

The Venue (formally The Jailhouse) Opens This Week!

Councillor Mark Hubbard has this morning resigned from Herefordshire Council's Planning Committee after claiming the planning process has been brought into disrepute.

Just came across this cordon in Bridge St. Apparently a young girl was attacked by a dog. She had serious injuries to her upper leg and torso. The dog has reportedly been destroyed.

I wandered into town today and the usual drinkers' were camped on the wall swigging bottles/cans of that strong cider ..... In front of the Church ... Sat on the wall as the seats have been removed ..... I walked by an hour later and they were still there .... Commercial Road ... Not a good advert for Hereford .... 

This was approx. 13.45 and 14.45 btw so hardly out of hours for the people who should sort this out  ..... 

HEREFORD LOCALITY WEEKLY BRIEFING – WEEK ENDING 20^th MARCH 2015

Dear Councillors and Parish Clerks,

During the last week we are pleased to report that the reactive team in the locality completed the following works:

• 96 square metres of carriageway patching (potholes and other surface deterioration)
• 31 square metres of footway patching
• 13 gully’s cleared
• 1 gully replaced
• 10 fly tips removed
• 735 metres of ditching work
• 560 metres of public right of way (PROW) vegetation clearance
• 85 loose footway blocks/slabs re-bedded.

Please see below a summary of our key activities within the Hereford Locality over the last week.

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

The above mentioned reactive works included –

Backbury Ward

·         Carriageway patching on C1292 opposite Sufton Rise

·         Carriageway patching on B4399 from Dinedor Mill Bridge to B4224 opposite Heathfield House.

Belmont Ward

• Carriageway patching in Northolme Road
• Fly-tips removed from Newton Brook.

St Martins & Hinton Ward

• Pothole repair in Walnut Tree Avenue

Tupsley Ward

• Pothole repair in Litchfield Avenue
• Carriageway patching in Eign Road
• Gully replaced in Ledbury Road
• Speed restriction signs repositioned and cleaned in Hampton Park Road.

Some of the issues I have addressed this week  â€“

·         Inspected trees in Carwardine Green and arranged for crown reduction on one tree

·         Attended a fuel spill in Belmont and arranged for granules to be sprinkled in a number of area

·         Inspected and raised jobs for gully cleansing in Hampton Street and Harold Street

·         Raised a job for a pothole repair in Quarry Road

·         Carried out an inspection on PROW FWD4 (Fownhope) and raised an order for repairs to defective steps down to a stream crossing

·         Carried out an inspection on PROW FWD10 (Fownhope) and raised an order for repairs to the crossing boards on a bridge

·         Met with landowners at Crow Hill, Upton Bishop, to reach agreement on remedial works required on newly laid fencing

·         Carried out PROW inspections on LD14 (Little Dewchurch) and AC13 (Aconbury)

·         Raised a works order for the reinstatement of zig-zag lines outside Marlbrook School

·         Inspected and raised an order for footway repairs at Croft Close

·         Raised an order in respect of 6 potholes in Kilvert Road

·         Carried out 16 NRSWA (street works) inspections – one failed inspection

·         Carried out statutory inspections of A and B roads with Mike.

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

This week I have – 

·         Commenced the Aylestone annual safety inspection (56 roads)

·         Raised a number of ad – hoc c/way pothole order for Bath Street, Britten Close, C1189, Three Elms Road, College Road

·         Raised an order for repairs to steps on PROW path BT10

·         Completed the monthly A roads safety driven inspection with Shane

·         Competed the monthly B roads safety driven inspection with Shane

·         Carried out 4 x NRSWA street works inspections

·         Raised gully cleaning orders for College Road

·         Raised a road sweeping request for Kings Acre Road

·         Commenced the monthly Hereford City Centre walked safety inspection

Update from Phil (Rural – Burghill, Holmer & Lyde, and Sutton Walls Wards)

Hereford rural works –

This week I have been carrying out statutory inspections and NRSWA enquiries within the Weobley locality.  With the exception of a meeting on 18.3.15 for a drive around Marden with  our Asset team I have been working exclusively in Weobley.

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 & Phil.

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

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