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And also with regard to fire safety. Here is what Devon and Somerset Fire Service have produced for landlords. Fire safety advice for landlords, managing agents, private dwellings, blocks of flats and owners of houses in multiple occupation and social housing.

Powers and duties of parish councils Parish councils have the power to precept (tax) their residents to support their operations and to carry out local projects. Although there is no limit to the amount that can be precepted, the money can only be raised for a limited number of purposes, defined in the 1894 Act and subsequent legislation. Powers to provide facilities Parish councils have powers to provide some facilities themselves, or they can contribute towards their provision by others. There are large variations in the services provided by parishes, but they can include the following: Allotments Support and encouragement of arts and crafts Provision of village halls Recreation grounds, parks, children's play areas, playing fields and swimming baths Cemeteries and crematoria Maintenance of closed churchyards Cleaning and drainage of ponds etc. Control of litter Public conveniences Creation and maintenance of footpaths and bridleways Provision of cycle and motorcycle parking Acquisition and maintenance of rights of way Public clocks War memorials Encouragement of tourism They may also provide the following subject to the consent of the county council or unitary authority of the area in which they lie: Bus shelters Signposting of footpaths Lighting of footpaths Off-street car parks Provision, maintenance and protection of roadside verges Representative powers Parish councils must be notified by the district or county council of: All planning applications in their areas Intention to provide a burial ground in the parish Proposals to carry out sewerage works Footpath and bridleway (more generally, 'rights of way') surveys Intention to make byelaws in relation to hackney carriages, music and dancing, promenades, sea shore and street naming Miscellaneous powers In some cases parish councils possess the following powers: Withholding of consent to stop up unclassified highways and footpaths Consultation on appointment of managers of primary schools Trustees or appointing trustees of local charities

Current casual vacancies on parish councils A parish council vacancy may arise for a number of reasons, such as a councillor's resignation or extended non-attendance at meetings. When a vacancy occurs, the parish clerk will notify Herefordshire Council and arrange to advertise the vacancy for 14 working days. If no valid request for an election is made, the council can choose a councillor. This person must be: * A British, Commonwealth, Irish, or European Union citizen * At least 18 years old * Either on the list of electors for the parish, or during the whole of the previous twelve months has: - Occupied land in the parish as an owner or tenant - Had a principal place of work in the parish - Resided in, or within three miles, of the parish Hereford City Council NOTICE OF CASUAL VACANCY in the office of PARISH WARD COUNCILLOR for Hereford, Belmont Parish Ward and Hereford City Council REQUEST FOR AN ELECTION NOTICE OF CASUAL VACANCY in the office of PARISH WARD COUNCILLOR for Hereford, Belmont Parish Ward Although the Hereford City Council sounds rather grand it is no more than a parish council in status, albeit one of the largest in UK. Read more about the city charters granted to Hereford over the years by various monarchs and how its powers were taken away by government reorganisation in 1974 and passed to our present day Herefordshire Council.

Looking through YouTube for videos about shared space and turning off traffic lights and came up with this compilation. Starting off with a series of videos about Hereford that I don't ever recount seeing before. Shared Space - ESG Herefordshire·Feb 2010 Shared Space. A new future for Hereford. Ben Hamillton-Baillie talks about the principals of Shared Space and the impact that it has on modern cities across Europe. This forms part of the plans being proposed by ESG Herefordshire for the regeneration of Hereford City Connecting people...Connecting places - ESG Herefordshire·Feb 2010 The challenge for the regeneration of Hereford. ESG Herefordshire shows the public its proposal for the connectivity of the Edgar Street grid area. Design experts Kelvin Campbell, Chris Oakley and Ben Hamilton-Baillie talk about transforming the inner ring road into a pedestrian friendly tree-lined boulevard. Graphic showing proposal for Garrick junction in Hereford Feb 2010 Graphic animation of the proposal for the Widemarsh Street junction with Newmarket and Blueschool St in Hereford. It shows real-time movements from 1700 in the day. Animation by Crowd Dynamics. Turning off traffic lights Cabstand Junction Portishead Sept 2009 The result of switching off the traffic signals Torquay traffic lights not working Jan 2011 See how much better the traffic flows when the traffic lights are turned off. Torquay Council, The Mayor and Police all take note. There is no reason why the lights cannot be turned off permanently Lights out Virginia USA Nov 2009 No traffic lights? no cops directing traffic? pushyist driver gains? No problem. This is a free for all India style of driving where nobody hits anybody. Take a drive around Virginia Beach at the end of the Nor'Ida (Nov09 nor'easter) when the traffic lights are out.. Hey, I found this pretty damn enjoyable as traffic seemed to flow better without time wasted waiting at dead lights. Saving money, switching off traffic lights Aug 2010 One way to cut the electric bills and help cut the $5Trillion public sector deficit is to switch off traffic lights that are on during the night, when they don't need to be as there's so little traffic around during that time at many junctions. It will also have the benefit of helping traffic flow, and cut pollution from having to stop / start the car at junctions that need not be controlled at night time. Understanding the principles of Shared Space Introduction to Shared Space (1 of 2) Sept 2007 Introduction to Shared Space (2 of 2) Shared space streets - what they are and how they work Oct 2011 Shared spaces or shared zones, which involves removing the traditional distinction between footpath and road so vehicles and pedestrians can share the space, is transforming Auckland (New Zealand) streets and open spaces into vibrant, people-friendly urban destinations. Other examples of shared space around the world Poynton Regenerated Jan 2013 A community in decline, divided by decades of anti-social traffic engineering, is reunited and revitalised by streetscape redesign Coventry: Shared Space (Road Junction) Nov 2011 Ashford Shared Space Feb 2009 'Shared space' seeks to change the 'mental maps' that drivers create and alert them to a different environment in which pedestrians and cyclists have equal priority. The keys to this are low speeds, a narrow carriageway and the removal of the typical visual clues for drivers, such as information signs and pedestrian guard railing. Shared Space pedestrian and traffic interaction, Bern, Switzerland March 2010 Free-flowing pedestrian and traffic flows along this busy suburban arterial route into Bern. illustrates the potential for improving pedestrian flows where a low-speed traffic environment has been created. Road carries over 20,000 vehicles per day. First three years of this and similar schemes have seen traffic flows improve, pedestrian delays reduced and significant improvements in accident rates. All former signal-controlled pedestrian crossings were removed. Ben Hamilton-Baillie and Fritz Kobi Campaigning for shared spaces in Madrid March 2013 No code on German roads June 2008 In the German town of Bohmte, the highway code has been abolished in order to create a common code for car drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. Eröffnung "Shared Space" Sonnenfelsplatz Graz, Austria Oct 2011 The Sun Rock Place was converted after conversion to a "shared space". No road signs. Everyone needs to be considerate of other road users. And to finish some humour: How To Trigger a Traffic Light on your Bike A short vide on on how to trigger a traffic light on your bike, using the power of metal and "inductive loop detectors!". Monty Python - I Like Traffic Lights The Highways Agency National Anthem. Also chanted by some councillors in Herefordshire Council.

The works were done to relieve the pinch points.

In The Independent today: I wonder what the figures for Hereford City are? Will this make a difference to small businesses when the business rates are so high? "for retail applications that are not in an existing centre or in accordance with an up-to-date local plan". What is the position regarding Hereford City centre? National Planning Policy Framework See page 13 2. Ensuring the vitality of town centres - sections 23 to 27

And some more good news! Picture here of Paula in action.

For those that can't see the wood from the trees here are two cases supporting the role of the tree in our built environment. The case for trees in development and the built environment, and although American, Urban street trees - 22 benefits. Newton Farm is covered in trees and the better for it, The problem about looking after these trees is that like the grass cutting on our estates no one appears to know who is responsible for the trees with the agencies passing the buck back and forwards. As Colin says the council is unprepared to budget for their maintenance. The council have a blanket rule that they won't touch any tree even where it restricts the light reaching peoples' properties. I had loads of problems trying to get a tree pruned which was cutting out light and sunshine - the council refused to touch it. However the housing association sent some contractors to cut back their trees and inadvertently cut the council's trees in mistake including mine. Read the saga here and here. Here is Herefordshire Council's approach to trees in the county.

Giving people more power over what happens in their neighbourhood The Our Place! programme (formerly ‘neighbourhood community budgets’) gives communities the opportunity to take control of dealing with local issues in their area. This could include: * Parents who are worried their children don’t have enough to do * Businesses who are struggling to find local staff with the right skills * Public servants who need to make their resources stretch further * Residents who want to make their neighbourhood a better place to live * or whatever is the local priority Using the Our Place! approach means putting the community at the heart of decision making and bringing together the right people – councillors, public servants, businesses, voluntary and community organisations and the community itself - to revolutionise the way a neighbourhood works. 12 areas have been piloting the Our Place! approach since 2012 and are now putting their plans into practice. Read more about about their successes and lessons learnt. The governmnet have made available a further £4.3 million to support at least 100 areas to develop their Our Place! operational plans by March 2015 and will appoint a contractor to help provide this support soon. Of these 100 areas, the contractor will support 20 to adopt a more radical approach by, for example, focusing on large or complex services The support is likely to be a mix of technical advice and grant funding and other direct help to enable areas to put their operational plans in place. We will expect our support provider/s to work with a range of different organisations including local authorities, parish and town councils, community groups and other public-sector bodies (eg NHS trusts and police authorities). Become an Our Place! team – further information For more detailed information on Our Place! or to express an interest in becoming an Our Place! neighbourhood email the Our Place! team Additional information including quick guides can be found on the My Community Rights website. Sounds like a good idea - any comments? Or will this money just go the government's "Locality" groups? See previous post on this subject.

More good cycling news. This should get more people onto a bike. Lots of photos taken during the construction to view here.

Good post from Simon Brown on the Hereford Times website today on the state of democracy within the county and elsewhere. Thought I would paste it here before it gets wiped off.

On the council's website today.

Noticed the Herefordshire Council have issued this press release following last weeks exposure to awarding emergency grants and loans to vulnerable groups In December last year, all authorities were provided with figures on the indicative numbers of troubled families in their area. This figure represents the number of families that you are being asked to turn around. You may not succeed in turning around every family that you work with, and therefore it is likely you will need to work with more families than your indicative numbers. The Troubled Families programme Financial framework for the Troubled Families programme’s payment-by-results scheme for local authorities This document explains • the process for drawing up the list of families who will be part of the programme, the criteria drawn up by government and also how to employ your local intelligence on families with serious problems and high costs; • the criteria for identifying which of these families are eligible for additional funding from government through a payment-by-results scheme; and • what you would need to achieve with each family in order to claim the result-based payment. This document is not a delivery strategy. It does not cover good practice on interventions for families, or provide advice on drawing up your local business case for investment or redesigning of public services. We will have a role in helping to build up and share that kind of information among the network of Troubled Families co-ordinators, but are not attempting to do that here. Sounds like a modern version of a Social Domesday Book.

Abbeydore and Bacton, Ewyas Harold Group and Kentchurch Almeley Bartestree and Lugwardine Belmont Bishops Frome Bishopstone Group Bodenham Border Group Brampton Abbotts Bredenbury Bridstow Brimfield & Little Hereford Brockhampton with Much Fawley Bromyard, Winslow and Avenbury Burghill Callow and Haywood Clifford Colwall Cradley Cusop Dinedor Dorstone Eardisley Garway Hampton Bishop Hatfield Holme Lacy Hope under Dinmore How Caple, Sollers Hope and Yatton Group Humber, Ford & Stoke Prior Kings Caple Kingsland Kington, Kington Rural and Lower Harpton Ledbury Leominster Little Dewchurch Llangarron Llanwarne Longtown Lower Bullingham Luston group Lyonshall Marden Moreton-on-Lugg Much Marcle Orcop Orleton and Richards Castle Pembridge Peterchurch Peterstow Pyons Group Ross on Wye and Ross Rural Shobdon Staunton Stretton Sugwas Upton Bishop Vowchurch and District Walford Welsh Newton And Llanrothal Weobley Weston-under-Penyard Whitbourne Whitchurch and Ganarew Group Wigmore Withington Wyeside Yarpole The majority of plans above are being undertaken by parish councils. Interesting to note that the towns of Bromyard, Ledbury, Leominster, Kington are having a say in their future. Not surprising Hereford City, one of the largest parish councils in the country is not listed. With seven wards in Hereford City residents may wish to have a say in their future. How do they go about creating a plan? Most of my enquiries have not been responed to. Perhaps a city councillor can elaborate? If the neighbourhood plan had been in place would OLM have gone ahead?

Why does the city look like a dump? The visitor's first point of contact with the city is through its roads and car parks. As I have pointed out most car parks in this city look like bomb sites. Also there are too many all at ground level with the exception of the Garrick multi-storey in Widemarsh Street and open to all weathers. If the council doubled up with a first floor this would release land to be turned into green corridors/squares linking through the city. Most roads in the city are covered in grit, pot holes and litter especially around traffic islands. No doubt Blackfriars will be the first to be completely resurfaced just before the OLM opens. At the moment you have to cycle down the middle of the road to find a level surface.

Flambouyant here is the answer! Watch the video. Spanish town posts dog mess back to offending hound owners A Spanish town has come up with an ingenious way to keep its streets clean of dog mess – by sending the offending deposits back to the owners in an official box marked 'Lost Property'. The council of Brunete, a small town some 20 miles west of Madrid, launched the campaign to crack down on irresponsible dog owners. During the course of a week a team of twenty volunteers patrolled the town's streets on the lookout for dog owners who failed to scoop. They then approached the guilty owner and struck up a casual conversation to discover the name of the dog. "With the name of the dog and the breed it was possible to identify the owner from the registered pet database held in the town hall," explained a spokesman from the council. The volunteers then scooped up the excrement and packaged it in a box branded with town hall insignia and marked 'Lost Property' and delivered by courier to the pet owners home. The campaign, developed for free by advertising agency McCann, won the "Sol de Plata" award at last weekend's Ibero-American Advertising Festival. In all, 147 "express poop" deliveries were made during the course of the week in February and the town with 10,000 residents has since reported a 70 per cent drop in the amount of dog mess found in its streets. The year before a similar attempt to tackle the issue saw offending dog owners chased by a remote controlled dog mess on wheels with the label "Don't leave me – pick me up". In Hernani, a town in the Basque Country in northern Spain, the council introduced a by-law two years ago forcing pet owners to register their dog's DNA so that they could be traced if their excrement was found in the streets or parks. However as a postman I wouldn't want a stack of these packets in the van with me!

Flamboyant read the report. Plenty of suggestions to start it off.

I don't think this going to work. A bit like the Tory/Lib Dem coalition. Just lap dogs - all bark and no bite.

Here is some encouraging news regarding cycling which could put Hereford on the map and raise interest in a circuit cycling track and Velodrome for the city.

How about these ideas for car parking? The word 'cool' is rarely the first thing that springs to a motorist's mind when negotiating the entrance to a multi-storey car park. The usually grey, soul-less buildings are not generally regarded as epitomes of architectural elegance or groundbreaking examples of modern design. But a competition to find the world's coolest car parks has uncovered dozens of stunning examples and now two British, as well as several US institutions have made it into the top 10.

I came across this article and thought it was very apt, with the development of the Old Livestock Market and its potential effect on the established retail businesses, especially in High Town and its related retail streets. It would be an idea to give this report some debate and how it relates to Hereford. The OLM will be the only shopping development opening next year in the UK and to wait until it opens before finding alternative strategies for the established shopping areas, will I fear be too late for most businesses. How would you like to see the two areas working and interacting? High Street needs post-war scale rebuilding says report By Emma Simpson, Business correspondent, BBC News 29 November 2013 Rejuvenating town centres requires radical action on a scale not seen since the building programmes of post-war Britain, according to a new report. The Distressed Town Centre Property Taskforce says structural changes needed in retail are so fundamental, many towns and cities need reshaping. The taskforce was set up following Mary Portas's review of the High Street. The report calls on the government to designate town and city centres as key national infrastructure. In its scale and range, it is an unprecedented group. For the past 13 months, senior retailers, property investors, landlords and bankers have been investigating the impact of the changes that have affected retail and property in England's towns and city centres. In other words, the folk who own and finance so much of our town centres have come up with their own solutions on what to do. Too many shops? One of the main recommendations is that the government should designate town and city centres as key national infrastructure in order to open up new funding opportunities. The retail landscape has changed completely in the last five years, thanks to the recession and the shift to online shopping. It has left most towns with too many shops. The report found that in the past four decades, retail floor space in England increased by around 43 million square metres. That is the equivalent of building nearly 300 Bluewater Shopping centres across England, or seven of the new Westfield centres near the London Olympic site every year since the early 1970s. The chairman of the taskforce, Mark Williams, said: "There's still a need for vibrant retail, just less of it." Mr Williams, who is also a partner at the retail property firm, Hark Group, added: "Over the past 12 months, it has become increasingly clear that waiting for so called 'normal' economic growth to return is unviable: Many more town centres will have embarked on a course of terminal decline." Scourge Solutions, he says, will vary from place to place but for the overwhelming majority, a smaller retail core is necessary and alternative uses like housing and leisure need to be found. But for local authorities, it hasn't been easy tackling the surplus of space and with it the scourge of empty properties. There are often a myriad of different landlords and competing interests to deal with, as well as getting funding. Friday's report spells out the problems along with recommendations for change. They include: * Government should designate town and city centres as infrastructure in order to open significant funding opportunities currently not accessible. A High Street Infrastructure platform should be set up to help to deliver this idea * Bold and strategic land assembly is required. Government should pilot a joint venture vehicle and an associated High Street property fund to pool land assets and address fragmented ownership * Make it easier for councils to use compulsory purchase powers in order to bring about the scale required for major urban regeneration * Local authorities should take more risk in investing capital reserves now, which can be replenished as the economy recovers * Significantly greater flexibility in the planning system is needed to enable quick and easy change of use from redundant retail premises to more economically productive uses Edward Cooke, the director of policy for the British Council of Shopping Centres, said: "All stakeholders have a role to play: Individuals, local councils, local and national businesses and central government. "We believe these recommendations will deliver the direction and the funding necessary to make this happen." Demolish The question is, who will be paying for all this potential change? The group says it is not asking the taxpayer to foot the entire bill. Often the problem is down to a gap in funding, which, if plugged, would make a development viable. The Taskforce believes post-financial crisis, the traditional funding models for town centre redevelopment are no longer fit for purpose. New ways of funding have to be found and that key bodies in the retail and property sectors are keen to play their part. The message from the retail property industry to the government is clear: they are prepared to demolish land and write off distressed buildings to regenerate town centres, if the public sector and government can make it easier rebuild. Mr Williams said: "There is a huge amount of private sector funds available to regenerate town centres. But it requires scale and planning. What it's not there is for piecemeal change, an ad hoc approach to fix the odd shop. "So we're looking about scale and critical mass. And in that sense the private sector will respond to local authorities and government initiatives." Bedfellows The Taskforce says it is up to individual communities and local authorities to decide what is right for their area. But "future proofing" towns will require strong local leadership. The big commercial stakeholders in our towns and cities are not often comfortable bedfellows, but they have all signed up to this report. "What is extremely pleasing is that a wide coalition of influential stakeholders has united behind agreed parking issues and develop local plans and good local vision," said Tom Ironside, British Retail Consortium Director of Business and Regulation. The government, which encouraged the Taskforce to be set up, is now digesting the findings. The Housing Minister, Brandon Lewis, said: "It's a really interesting report with some really interesting things here which we need to look at. We are doing an awful lot for the High Street, we're empowering local communities to shape their town centres for what's right for their communities in the future." Lots of comments on this article (587) The report in full here: Beyond Retail Redefining the shape and purpose of town centres November 2013 Contents 1. PRINCIPAL RECOMMENDATIONS 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2.1 Vision 2.2 Primary challenges 3. RECOMMENDATIONS 4. TOWN CENTRE CONTEXT 4.1 Historic trends 4.2 The perfect storm 4.3 High vacancy rates 4.4 Population growth and relative affluence 5. KEY ISSUES 5.1 Local leadership 5.2 Polarisation 5.3 Too much retail floorspace 5.4 The wrong type of space 5.5 Understanding the catchment demographics and shopping patterns 5.6 Car parking 5.7 Business rates 5.8 Digitising the high street 5.9 Funding 6. CONCLUSIONS 7. APPENDICES Appendix 1 — Survey results Appendix 2 — Interviewees and survey contributors Appendix 3 — Town Performance Matrix Appendix 4 — Sample towns Appendix 5 — Taskforce members

Changes to the Social Fund As part of the Government's welfare reform, local authorities have taken over parts of the Social Fund and are now responsible for awarding emergency grants and loans to vulnerable groups. The Government has abolished the previous system of discretionary payments and replaced it with a new locally-based provision delivered by local authorities in England and devolved to the governments of Scotland and Wales. On H&W radio today Herefordshire Council exposed of having given out only 1% of the grant money (total fund £300,000) to vunerable groups, with 6 out of 7 people asking for help turned down. H&W radio are taking this up and Cllr Tony Johnson is to be interviewed this morning as to why this is, bearing in mind Newton Farm falls into one of the areas which would qualify due to poverty levels.

October expenses up on Counil's website. From £10,811,299.47 spent this month the following stand out again. £851,967.86 Redacted (not allowed to know to whom this money is being paid) £587,902.68 Hoople £338,771.14 Fcc Environment Services (uk) Ltd (formerly FOSCA waste) £36,435.80 Hereford Futures Redacted monthly sums since June 2013: June £694,638.70 July £880,447.46 August £1,053,019.69 September £807,065.76 October £851,967.86 Total to date: £4,287,139.47

More background information from Herefordshire Council's Agenda of Regulatory Sub Committee Wednesday 27 November 2013 11.00 am EXPEDITED/SUMMARY LICENCE REVIEW OF THE PREMSIES LICENCE IN RESPECT OF THE 'BREWERS ARMS, 97 EIGN ROAD, HEREFORD To consider an application for an ‘expedited licence review’ of the premises licence relating to the ‘Brewers Arms, 97 Eign Road, Hereford. MEETING: REGULATORY SUB-COMMITTEE DATE: 27 NOVEMBER 2013 TITLE OF REPORT: EXPEDITED/SUMMARY LICENCE REVIEW OF THE PREMSIES LICENCE IN RESPECT OF THE ‘BREWERS ARMS, 97 EIGN ROAD, HEREFORD, REPORT BY: LICENSING OFFICER also Application for the review of a premises licence under section 53A of the Licensing Act 2003 (premises associated with serious crime or disorder

However behind the scenes a lot is being organised not for the benefit of local citizens nor necessarily by councillors. National government plays the lead role in giving us what we think is democracy. I have predicted that we are seeing the demise of our local authorities, to be replaced by regional enterprise partnerships (LEPs) and professional interests. These selected people, not democratically elected, will decide what is good for us and how the local economy will be controlled. I have been reading about Common Purpose on UK Column and the establishment of an organisation named "Locality" and where it has been established throughout the UK. Surprisingly or not Herefordshire Council has gone overboard with this idea while the IEWM provided Herefordshire Council with £212,500 to support the development of this way of working. Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands (IEWM) is the brand name of the West Midlands Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (RIEP). Locality working in Herefordshire Working in partnership with empowered communities - local people involved in local decisions and given more control over local issues. Who are the important key partners for locality working? You can find a list of all those currently listed on the contacts database for locality working (Excel document) on the Council's website Locality page. Click on "Who are the important key partners for locality working"? Is this a scheme to establish a select consultation group when issues affecting ordinary citizens are raised?