Sunday 9 March 2008

OSCOTT HAVE YOUR SAY DAY




It was really good to see Saturday's (8th March) Oscott Have Your Say Day was so well attended .
Dozens of Oscott residents popped along to see the display unit during the course of the day at the Hawthorn Road and Kingstanding Circle. Most took the opportunity to tell Councillor's John Cotton, Barbara Dring and myself what they thought of what is happening in the Oscott area. I certainly had a number of residents views to think about.

It was clear to me that most residents have seen improvements in the area but a lot are concerned, about the speed that some issues take to sort out. Speeding vehicles, Housing issues and the need for more Street Lighting were highlighted to me for example.

Many residents just cannot understand why the Current Birmingham City Councils administration is so slow in responding to the areas need for improved road safety in some of our roads. The penny pinching antics of the Council when it comes to this issue many feel is very frustrating. Roads such as Birdbrook Road, Old Oscott Lane, Kingstanding Road and Kettlehouse Road were of concern, but there were others aswell.

There is clearly also a need for the Councils Housing department to speed up processing transfer requests and look again how they match up the requirements of tenants. There are a number of tenants stuck in homes which are now to big for them and yet there are families in homes that are to small for example. There is also a growing concern about the way when things go wrong compensation claims are being dealt with.

Many residents would like to see more new Street Lighting in the area and can hardly believe how little funding wards get from the Council (25g) each year to replace street lights. Like their local Councillors it is generally felt this budget should be at least doubled.

I would like to thank all the residents from Oscott and elsewhere for coming along and letting us know their view.to I would also like to thank those who helped out on the display unit on the day. These included Pertemps, the Police and other Council agency workers.

I would especially like to thank Mike Trevor, the Oscott Ward Support Officer, for his efforts in helping to arrange the event and for the help he will be giving John, Barbara and myself in adding the results of the Have Your Say consultation's to the ongoing Oscott Ward Development Plan.


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