DIVERTING FROM ONE DANGER TO ANOTHER

I would like to thank a Mr S who pointed out to me the Police through no fault of their own are often having to divert traffic off the Queslett Road following a accident, into Booths Lane with all the potential danger that may bring, especial at this time of year with the early dark nights.
Certainly if you ride a motor bike it is not the safest road to ride along and I am sure many a cars roads springs must earn their keep.
I have brought this to the attention of the Police but in all fairness there is little they can do.
It is time the Birmingham City Council took action and either repaired the unadapted section of Booths Lane or better still adopted it.

YET ANOTHER ACCIDENT ON THE QUESLETT ROAD

There has been another serious accident on the Queslett Road. This time on the opposite dide of the Queslett Road to the Nova Court junction.
Sadly an Amberline Ambulance Car with a Doctor on board, hit the motorway bridge or post. Ambulances were called and passengers taken away. The car was in a very bad state.
I am sure I can speak for Councillor Dring when I say these accidents are becoming too regular on this stretch of road.
I have now called YET AGAIN on the senior officers of the Birmingham City Council and the Director of Sandwell Councils Transportation department to urgently re look at this stretch of road and work together to introduce road safety measures including traffic lights at the Nova Court junction to this stretch of road following this most recent accident.
Many residents including Maureen Byrne (who lives near this accident black spot) and Mr Wilde who have campaigned for years with me to get this stretch of road sorted out and we will continue to do so. The Great Barr Observer have also in the past done their bit to highlight the problem.
Action must be taken sooner or later to deal with this stretch of Queslett Road perhaps this accident will act as a "Wake UP CALL" to those resposible for this road

STILL NO ACTION FOR MOOR LANE

How many more Moor Lane residents cars need to be damaged by speeding passing vehicles, before the Councils Transportation department takes action?
Despite numerous requests for action and petitions this Council seem uninteresting in resolving the problem.

MY ADVICE BUREAUX

Along with Councillor Barbara Dring I operate a rota system in regards to advice Beaux's*

Every Saturday of the month, 10.30am
610 Community Centre, Kingstanding Road, Birmingham, B44 (Induction Loop Available)

1st Thursday of the month, 3.00pm*
Kingstanding Library, Kingstanding Road, Kingstanding, Birmingham.

1st Wednesday of the month, 7.00pm*
610 Community Centre, Kngstanding Road, Birmingham, B44 (Induction Loop Available)

Should you have genuine mobility problems we are happy to make house visits by appointment.

I can also be contacted by the following methods

By
letter -- Council House Victoria Square Birmingham West Midlands UK B1 1BB
E. Mailmailto:Keith.Linnecor@birmingham.gov.uk
Telephone(0121) 360 6486 or 0121 303 2039 (Message service)

WALK ABOUT IN TEMPLETON ROAD.

During a Councillors walk about in Templeton road yesterday Councillor Barbara Dring and I really got to what residents thought about.
Fore instance there is a lot of concerns about the state of the carriage ways and pavements in the area as you may expect. Residents can not understand why the council does not have a program of works to deal with these problems.
Residents are also concerned that requests to deal with speeding in the area have been turned down by the Council. We were glad to hear however the introduction of the 375 bus route in the road has not been a particular problem.

REDUCTIONS IN BULKY WASTE COLLECTION SERVICE

Fly tipping like this in Booths Lane will only get worse next year due to the Councils cuts in the Bulky Waste Service.

Due to cuts being made by the current Council Administration, from January you will only be able to request up to 3 Bulky item collections free of Charge in one year. It you would like have between 3 and 6 you will have to pay £15 and for more than 6 it will cost you £60 for each collection. We are told other author ties charge more for the same service but we are a bigger authority and residents in Oscott relate to this service when they pay there council tax.
Also as can be seen from Booths Lane residents from other authorities are not afraid to dump rubbish in Oscott and this fly tipping will only get worse when Birmingham residents are forced to pay.
one hundred and fifty thousand residents use this service up to 6 times a year and only a hand full abuse 30 times as it as claimed.
Sadly as many people have foreseen we are now feeling the long awaited for cuts in services.

While I accept a small number of residents may abuse the current free system of bulk collections but this draconian response is very unwelcome and when this is added to the reduction in the Ward Environmental officer time allowed in a ward it will result in an increase in fly tipping.

SKATE BOARD AND BMX CENTRE A STEP NEARER

A planning application to build a top class BMX centre and Skate board park on the Aldridge Road side of Perry Barr park, was agreed today at the Councils Planning Committee.

Councillor Dring has campaigned long and hard for this and I am delighted to see it take a step closer to being built. The youngster in Oscott and the surrounding area should be enjoying these recreation facilities by the middle of next year if not before.

It is an ideal location given its proximately to Oscott via all the main bus routes as it is near the College road site of the park just yards from the Oscott boundary. The building work should begin in a matter of months.

LETS SUPPORT THE DISABLED ELECTIC SCOOTER USER

Having been given the opportunity to see for my self the problems those disabled residents who have to use an Electric scooter have, I can only say I am pleased to support demands for better pavements and drop curbs.
It is only when you use an electric wheel chair (or the standard wheel chair) you realise how badly users are effected by poor standards in out pavements. It is not only the bumpy ride (just what you do not want when you have a bad back) but also the lack of enough disabled drop curbs. Having to use somebody drive and go out on the road is just not on.
It is time this Council prioritised areas like Oscott where there is a high proportion of elderly residents when it comes to maintaining pavements.
I will be calling on the Council Administration to do just that. The Government have put forward a package of credits for the Council to improve our roads and pavements.I t is time they got on with it.

It is also time , shops, community buildings and offices did more to assist those who have to use electic scooters.
If you are an electric Scooter user or some one who uses a wheel chair and if you know of a bad stretch of pavement please let me know. Tel 360 6486.

MEETINGS ARRANGED TO DISCUSS PARKING PROBLEMS AROUND THE JAMES WATT COLLEGE

The delays in getting something done to sort out the dangerous parking near the James Watt College are a disgrace.
This is why Councillor Dring and I have not let up on trying to resolve the issue. I am as the Chair of the Oscott Ward Advisory Board, calling on all the parties involved, the College, the Planning Department, the Transportation department, the Police and Community leaders, to come along to the next Oscott Ward Advisory board, to discuss the issue and hopefully move it on.
Councillor Dring who is the Chair of the Oscott Ward Committee, is also calling the same parties to the Oscott Ward Committee which takes place a couple of weeks after the Oscott WAB meeting. This will enable the public to hear for their selves what is or not being done by those concerned and to air their veiws.
It is time for action to be taken and the excuses to stop.

DYAS ROAD RESIDENTS UNHAPPY WITH JUCTION

I met a number of residents yesterday in what ended up as a walk about in Dyas Road yesterday.
One of the issues which was of some concern to many of these residents, were cars parking in a way to obstruct the views of motorists using the Days Road, Aldridge Road junction.
There is currently a road safety consultation process being carried out regarding this issue by the Council and I have passed on residents concerns.

YET ANOTHER ACCIDENT ON ALDRIDGE ROAD NEAR GREENHOLM ROAD

There has been yet another accident near the junction of Greenholm Road and Aldridge Road. I am not aware of any injuries but certainly it did the cars involved no good.
I will continue to request that traffic lights or some other similar road safety measure is put in place at this junction. The new signs have been a help but more is needed.

MOOR LANE TO BE CLOSED FOR 3 DAYS

Moor Lane will be closed to traffic accept Plant and to frontages for 3 days from the 14th of November. This is due to much needed and request resurfacing of the carriageway.
Now they have grant requests to resurface the carriage way I will keep trying to get them to look at introducing sensible road safety measures, signage and so on, you never know they may do something one day.

COUNCILLOR DRING LEADS CAMPAIGN TO IMPROVE COOKSEY LANE

I am pleased to be able to support the good work Councillor Barbara Dring is doing on behalf of the residents in Cooksey Lane. Today she will be presenting a petition to the Council on behalf of local residents concerning the state of the carriage way in the road. The Council turned down the last petition lets hope we have better luck this time.

INTERGRATRATED TRANSPORT AUTHORITY MEETING ?

At a meeting of the Integrated Transport Authority business improvemnt Committee ( I know it is a real mouthful) for once a number of interesting issues came up.
For example they were trying yo mull over why Bus patronage has fallen 4% across the West midland area over the last 12 months. I explained in my view it does not help to keep passangers when buses like the 655 are withdrawn from service.
There was also a discussion about the well know Transport Users Forums (TUFTS) especially the Birmingham one.
Again I tried to explain to our Tory / Lib Coalition in charge of the ITA that it may be helpful if they told people what these Forums were. If you look back at some of my old posts you will see I have tried to. I may do so again in the future but for now if unlike most Councillors in the WestMidland you would like to know more about a body supposedly set up to inform Transport users ,what is happening in the way of service provision and so on give me a ring on 0121 360 6486.

RIGHT OF WAY CLEANED ALREADY

The Councils Deep Clean Squad should change their name to Superman. Why because "faster than a speeding bullet" they have now cleaned up the Right of way (see last post) between Birkenshaw Road and Birdbrook Road.
I am impressed well done. I now look forward to seeing this being claimed in a political leaflet by someone WHO CLAIMES THE WORK HAS BEEN DONE BY THEM???

COMMITMENT TO GET BIRKENSHAW RIGHT OF WAY CLEANED

Over the last few weeks a number of residents living in Birkenshaw Road have been asking if I could get the Council to clean up the right of way, between Birkenshaw Road and Birdbrook Road.
I am now pleased to say the Council have now agreed to carry out the clean up and hedge cutting required required, to make this right of way, pleasant to walk through. They have promised to do the work shortly.

IMAGINE GETTING HELP FOR MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESS

Last week as part of the Oscott Ward Committee I was pleased to be able to grant £1.000 funding for the Imagine group. This is a voluntary self help group who work with people with a mental health illness.
The funding will help pay for trips and to keep the groups Independence when it comes to meeting together to help one another.

If you would like more details about this group please ring 464 1869

WHERE ARE THE MISSING LITTER BINS?

I have been requesting replacement litter bins for some time now for locations across the Oscott Ward.
Litter bins are at the moment on order and waiting for placement I am told.
It is a great shame that so many litter bins are being vandalised at the moment as they for fill a useful role in keeping rubbish and litter off our streets which helps improve our environment.
If you know of a liter bin that has gone missing please let me know. Tel 360 6486

YET ANOTHER ACCIDENT ON THE QUESLETT ROAD

Eye witnesses have informed me that there was yet another accident on the Queslett Road near the Nova Court Junction (opp0site) on Saturday evening. An ambulance was called to the scene.

It would appear that the Birmingham and Sandwell Council seem unconcerned about the dangerous on this stretch of road and are far more interested in avoiding their responsibility which is to introduce road safety measures there.

MORE HELP FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN OSCOTT

I was pleased along with the other Oscott Ward Committee Councillors to agree that more funding from the Oscott Community Chest be given to those supporting our youngsters in the area.
Recently funding was agreed for, Out door play provisions for the Goodway Nursery and the Elim Church towards football coaching for children.

AGE CONCERN GETS FUNDS FOR GARDENING PROJECT

Age Perry Barr will be able to carry on with their elderly residents gardening scheme thanks to the Oscott Ward Committee agreeing to a £3.000 funding request by Age Concern.
This will mean elderly resident in the area will be able to get their gardens maintained on a one off basis byAge concern
Many elderly resident find it difficult to keep their gardens under control and this initiative which is a continuation from last years should help that.
For more details please give me a ring on 360 6486.
(he Oscott Ward Committee comprises of Councillor Barbara Dring, Grahm Green and myself.)