megilleland

The plastic sheeting I reported on 11th March 2012 in the tree by the garages just past/before Belmont Road bridge is still there! Photo here.

Hello Colin. More support here in The Daily Telegraph today: National Trust chairman calls for removal of traffic lights Nearly all traffic lights should be removed from Britains roads because they cause more accidents, the chairman of the National Trust has said. Sir Simon Jenkins called for 90% of the signals to be torn down, describing them as a form of state control and claiming that they are dangerous and slow down motorists. Read article here:

Colin maybe you could drop a line to the Hereford Taxi Association who say there are 263 registered taxis in the county and 583 badged drivers (news release 2011). It would be to their advantage to sign the petition

Hello Frank. You need to go to Herefordshire Council's website and under the alphabetical listing along the top of the site click on T and then Transparency. This takes you a homepage with the heading Contracts and Spending - click on this and then open September 2012 contracts (Excel) - 298kb. A large spreadsheet opens. Scroll down to row 118 where you will find details of the Integrated Waste Management (PFI) with Mercia Waste Management. The contract started on 23rd December 1998 and runs to 1st December 2023, with an extension date option to 1st December 2028. The contract for the initial term is £227,500,000. But from experience, especially with projects funded through private finance initiatives (PFI) the reality is the public get a poor deal and that the accrued costs could easily cost tax payers up to a billion pound with overruns. Read this article concerning Nottinghamshire County Council using a PFI scheme to renew and maintain the City's street lighting. Amazing that our MP has been going on about this for ages and people are only beginning to listen to the facts. Read "After PFI" by Jesse Norman MP

I have seen the signs put up on the railings asking people to sign the petition. Pity we couldn't get a message on the billboard just past the crossing, before Belmont Avenue, but no doubt cost a fortune.

Thanks for the PM bobby. The billion pound costs I imagine will arise during the term of the contract which is a private finance initiative (PFI). Not only is the taxpayer paying for the initial capital cost of the project, but also annual charges each year of the contract term running into millions of pounds These costs are the frightening part of the exercise which since its method of operation has generally resulted in the public being screwed by the private sector. There is a lot to read on the internet, most of it very unpleasant for tax payers now and in the future. Jesse Norman MP is very concerned about this method of paying for our hospitals, schools and other large infrastructure projects. In a speech in the House of Commons Jesse Norman said: "Since its inception in the early 1990s, the private finance initiative has resulted in more than £200 billion of public debt, the cost of which will hang over the British taxpayer for decades. It has created great private fortunes and fundamentally shaped the nature of our public services. It has generated huge public outrage, as we will hear in this debate. It has raised profound issues of fairness between this generation and the next and it has affected virtually every constituency in the land and the lives of millions of people". Read the debate here. Other PFI projects in Hereford include Whitecross School, The Hospital, and The Magistrates Court. So which ever way you look at it we are going to be paying through the nose for a long time to come. I also think the acronym SPV referred to above should have been called SPIVS!

For fuller information on this planning application see the Herefordshire Council website here. The detail lists * Application dates and tracking * Consultees (30) * Application form (1) * Supporting documents (13) * Drawings (4) * Correspondence (1) * Representations (30) * Legal (1) Some files are large and take a few minutes to download. To see the overall plan which you can zoom into, click on Drawings and then on Indicative Master Plan (4 mb).

I agree with you. Herefordshire Council do not take on board the desires and wishes of the local community. Their statutory consultations on local issues are difficult to participate in, badly advertised and any suggestions from the public, unless they fit into the cabinet's secret agenda are plainly ignored or glossed over. The majority of councillors on this council, like the public, are only aware of issues, when matters are raised by concerned citizens, usually to late to take on board or incorporate into any schemes. The main problem with this council is that it's officers and it's councillors only follow trends, usually years behind other UK cities, and fail to lead with some inspiring and imaginative projects to give Hereford a unique character/identity to lift the public's spirits and fill them with pride. One only has to go abroad to see how other cities have pulled themselves up and offer their citizens a higher standard of infrastructure and quality of life.

From Hereford Times today: Sounds like a lot of money to get rid of waste - more needs to be done to get it recycled. We recycle our household waste, but the council sends all its litter bin waste to landfill and council tax payers pick up the bill. The tax is charged by weight and there are two rates. Inert or inactive waste is subject to the lower rate. The present rates are £64 a tonne and £2.50 a tonne for the lower rate. This is going to rise to £80 a tonne by 2014.

I see you have got your petition up and running Colin, just added my name to it. The Council has a lot of consultation on at the moment and members may be interested in responding to issues they are interested in. The council's consultation page listing those currently active is here. To quote the council this section provides you with information about past, present and future involvement activities and consultations by both Herefordshire Council and partner organisations. This includes both electronic consultations and more traditional involvement activities. Giving you access to past, present and future consultations responds to one of the commitments in the Community Involvement Strategy, which is to be open and accountable to everyone living and working in Herefordshire about the information we have gathered through consultations, and how we have used this information to provide the best possible services in the County. If you want to participate in electronic consultations, you will be required to register, using the links provided. All we require is a valid email address and your name, although further information will help us target future consultations more effectively and invite you, depending on the information you have given us about your particular interests, to participate in future consultations. You are also able to access the results of closed consultations and find out what Herefordshire Council has done with the information gathered through consultations. By using the 'search' categories, you can search according to specific areas, target groups and dates of consultations. All information you give us about yourself when registering will be treated in strictest confidence in line with our privacy policy.

Herefordshire Council's Local Transport Plan (2012 to 2015) public consultation begins on the 10th September and will close on the 16th November 2012. All consultation materials can be accessed from the resource box at the bottom of this page. The Local Transport Plan consultation document sets out a wide range of proposals including: * Car parking in Hereford * 20 mph residential zones * Countywide bus service * A new approach to reducing the number of potholes * Hereford Transport Plan * Rural Herefordshire Transport Plan * Future spend priorities We are keen to hear views from as many residents as possible in order to help shape transport across the county. There are a number of ways to get involved. Visit the Herefordshire council's website here for ways to reply on-line or in a consultation leaflet.

Notice that the storage has now extended the whole length of the grassed area along Waterfield Road. There is going to be a big mess here when they leave in December. Not really the right time to sow grass so we will end up with another muddy blighted part of the estate. Should complement the abandoned church at the other end.

Taken from Here for Hereford website: An Open Forum to discuss Transport Options for Herefordshire Saturday 22nd September 2012 from 10.30 am to 12.30pm Hedley Lodge, Belmont Abbey, Hereford HR2 9RZ Let’s talk about RAIL…. Let’s talk about CYCLING….. And BUS ROUTES…SCHOOL RUNS…CAR SHARING… What ARE our Transport Options and What SHOULD they be? Air your views and contribute to the Council’s consultation on AN INTERIM TRANSPORT PLAN FOR HEREFORDSHIRE Speakers are Cabinet Member for Education and Infrastructure, Cllr Graham Powell ; Cllr Adrian Bridges on Rail Infrastructure and Services… and we will also be hearing from Council officers and consultants on a range of transport options. Bill Wiggin MP also hopes to attend. PLUS WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU Herefordshire Council’s transport consultation commenced on 10th September 2012. Here for Hereford will submit proceedings of this Open Forum to the Council as part of the consultation. All those attending can respond to the consultation separately and/or agree that their comments can be included in the Here For Hereford’s Open Forum submission to the Council. Please note that the consultation closes on 16th November 2012. Background papers and Council questionnaires can be found at: http://www.herefords...nsport/3204.asp Thanks to Belmont Abbey for the use of their premises. Entry and refreshments, served from 10.00am, are free of charge. Booking is not required. Any queries please email vickiweggprosser@gmail.com or write to Here for Hereford, PO Box 313, Hereford. HR1 9JO, with an SAE for reply. Could be worth a look in

The traffic flows much better with the removal of traffic lights and road signs as shown in the following examples in Drachten, Netherlands. The big problem is that A49 and A465 highway/roundabout is managed by the Highways Agency whose speciality is laying down as much concrete as possible and installing road signs every few yards along the route. Look at the savings they made in Drachten. Also the Drachten experiment was more in the centre of the city so slightly different here. The problem is that all the traffic blocking the roads in Hereford is locally generated - take that out by using cycles and public transport then things should move a lot easier. “Naked Streets†Without Traffic Lights Improve Flow and Safety European Towns Remove Traffic Signs to Make Streets Safer Magic Moments

From BBC Hereford & Worcester Radio today: Is this plan going to be any good for council tax payers. I don't like the privatisation of planning. What is lacking with this council is transparency and accountability.

Taken from "Have your Say" Hereford Times this week: I think he has got a valid point. This area of safeguarded open space has been turned into a large builders compound. Herefordshire Housing sure know how to ruin a decent green area for local people. No doubt they have plans for other open spaces bearing in mind the present governments approach to relaxations of development rules. It is a pity that they can't keep their estates tidy - the whole area is sinking fast. The area once had a youth club and church - useful community assets.

Very noticeable along Great Western Way the amount of broken glass which has been left for over a week - at least in five places. Amey just don't see this littering, even the men who empty the litter bins in their vans seem to ignore it. Maybe its another department who just do broken glass. All it needs is a brush and pan to remove it.

The work in Waterfield Road has been completed. Here are some photos showing the link to Haywood Country Park

Taken from the Hereford Times today: New opening hours for Herefordshire police stations NEW opening hours are now in effect for police station public service counters across Herefordshire. Thirty-one counters across Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Worcestershire now have a wider range of opening hours, including evenings and weekends. Chief Superintendent Trevor Albutt said: “The change to public service counter opening times will not affect local policing and all police stations will remain operational. We want to make sure we offer a good service to the public and be as accessible as possible. Visiting your local police station service counter in person is not the only way to get in touch with us.†As part of the review West Mercia Police carried out extensive research, and spoke to other forces, ensuring where opening hours are reduced alternative services are provided including telephone links outside police stations and information stands providing information on crime prevention. Every Local Policing Team can be contacted by e-mail, voicemail, at local events and surgeries, Partners and Communities Together meetings and via diary appointments which are available at the police station. The police can be contacted 24-hours a day, seven days a week by calling 101 for non-emergencies and 999 in an emergency, as well as by logging on to www.westmercia.police.uk or their Facebook and Twitter. To check who your local policing team is visit the force website www.westmercia.police.uk New opening hours for Hereford and South Wye are: Hereford: Monday - Saturday 8.00am - 8.00pm Sunday and Bank Holidays 10.00am - 4.00pm South Wye: Tuesday - Friday 10.00am - 2.00pm

From today's Daily Telegraph: "Authorities in England and Wales saw their surplus from parking rise to £511.6 million in 2010-11 from £489.4 million a year earlier, according to an analysis of local authority accounts by the RAC Foundation. Local authorities were warned by Mike Penning, the road safety minister, last year to stop treating motorists as an easy target to raise funds. Town halls are supposed to use their powers to control parking to improve traffic flow and prevent gridlock on their streets. They are prohibited from using these powers to bolster their income. However, many councils seek to get round this by earmarking the cash raised for other transport projects. Westminster came top with a surplus of £38,196,000! Herefordshire Council was listed at 148 out of 371 authorities with a surplus revenue of £863,000 from parking charges. How long would it take to pay for a ring road at this rate.

The standard of grass cutting and weeding of kerbsides on the estates and county roads is dismal. City estates suffer due to different agencies being responsible for separate parts of the estate. Amey do not do it all - various Housing Associations and other bodies are responsible, but tend to pass the buck between one another. Time to get it back in one department and assume responsible for all parts of the estates ie one phone contact point. Also litter, fly tipping, blocked drains, overgrown trees, overgrown pathways, damaged verges by car parking, black bags put out days before collection and left behind by waste collectors. All functions carried out by different agencies and departments of the council with a lot of time and money wasted telling us why they can't get these things sorted out.

Following the reduced bus services in the city has anyone noticed that certain buses do not appear to run as scheduled. This Monday (2nd July) my partner wanted to catch the 18.47 from Argyll Rise to meet me in the city at 7pm following a meeting I attended. The bus didn't turn up. I was waiting at Tesco to meet her and other people were waiting for this bus, I assume to travel onwards. When I spoke to these people, they had been waiting for this missing bus to take them up to Newton Farm as advertised at 18.32 and were still waiting until I told them that there was no bus running. It was ironic that the meeting I attended earlier that evening was promoting a scheme called "Destination Hereford". Following an annoucement earlier this year the Department for Transport confirmed that Herefordshire Council's "Destination Hereford" had been successful in its bid to its Local Sustainable Transport Fund. The project will receive £4.97million of funding over the next four years to promote sustainable travel amongst households and schools, support the Connect2 project, develop workplace connectivity and enhance rural access. Part of the package is to make improvements to connectivity within Hereford City, in particular improvements along Broad Street joining it with other newly refurbished areas. To quote: "Destination Hereford provides a package of integrated transport improvements designed to improve end-to-end journeys to and within Hereford". The council should start with ensuring that the local bus services are running as scheduled and not on a please yourself approach. Then maybe people will leave their car at home to go into the city instead of blocking up the roads.

Can anyone tell me why certain pieces of land on housing estates are retained by developers/housing associations? I am discovering that when housing estates were completed the land/open spaces and highways would be handed over and adopted by the council to manage. However by retaining small areas of land, developers/housing associations could impose a service charge each year for maintaining these areas. This charge would be passed onto tenants in their rent and freeholders would be sent a demand for each year. So not only is there the council tax to pay, but also a further charge which varies from estate to estate to keep them tidy and in order. The interesting thing is tenants are protected from unscrupulous landlords through various acts of parliament which enable them to see where and how the service charges are estimated and spent, but not freeholders, they have no rights whatsoever! This explains why a lot of these estates look uncared for and untidy. Because as well as the council maintaining parts of the estate, other housing associations/developers also have a responsibility to do their bits of land. All carry out this maintenance on different days and to different standards and charge accordingly. When you walk around the estates who is responsible for that piece of land that never gets cut, the weeds that are growing out of the kerb sides, the removal of graffiti, litter and fly tipping, hedges growing out over footpaths and numerous other eyesores which are reported through this forum. Everyone in authority passes the buck around and very little gets done. I did comment on this forum that what each estate needs is to be completely adopted by the council and a task force created to solely manage and be responsible for it. Each estate then will get a facelift and be somewhere where we can be proud to live.

I see they have at last put something substantial in place on the Great Western Way bridge at Belmont Road.

From the Hereford Times today: PEOPLE living in the county will soon be buying their own black bags to throw away their rubbish. Herefordshire Council said today it will ‘reluctantly’ be withdrawing the black bag service in a bid to save £200,000 a year. The council will continue to deliver recycling bags and collect rubbish on a weekly basis but says the black bags will not be handed out this Autumn. Council leader John Jarvis said: “Due to the high levels of recycling in Herefordshire residents were often only leaving out half-filled black sacks each week, so residents can now decide how many they need depending on how much waste they produce.â€