HELP IMPROVE THE QUESLETT NATURE RESERVE

The friends of the Friends of the Queslett Nature reserve are holding an activity session on Saturday Nov 6th at 11am starting from the Ashgrove entrance.
All are welcome but children must be accompanied by an adult. Please dress in accordance to the weather and wear stout footwear. Any tools will be provided.

Light pruning work and rubbish clearance will be taking place. Please do not park to close to the entrance to respect the residents living their.
This is an opportunity to help keep the reserve looking good and to help encourage wildlife and the environment. The City’s Bio Diversity officer will be on hand to answer questions about the wild life on the reserve.

If you would like more information please ring 360 6486

ELDERLY OSCOTT RESIDENTS ENJOYING THEM SELVES

I popped in again to the Age Concern club which meets Every Thursday at the Emanuel Church.
It is really nice to see elderly resident enjoying each others company and doing a number of activities together. Today they had a young man with them called Domenic who appeared on X Factor a year or so ago. It was really nice to see him enjoying their company and visa versa.
If you want to know more about what Age Concern does in the Oscott area please ring 358 0309

H MARKINGS AND DISABLED BAY MARKINGS MAY NEED REPAINTING

A number of resident have complained to me recently that H markings and Disabled bay markings out side their homes are beginning to wear out. These can be repained and if you have any difficulty getting it done please give me a ring on 360 6486

NOVA COURT JUNCTION IMPROVEMENT WORK UNDERWAY

It is good to see that at last work is being carried out to improve the Queslett Road Nova Court junction. I would like to thank local residents, Councillor Barbara Dring and the Perry Barr Councillors for their support over this issue. I have been pushing to get something done at this junction for some time but it looks like now we are getting somewhere..
The junction is being widened and better markings are being put in place which will be a big improvement..
There are still many more road safety improvements needed on the Queslett Road but at least I can see some progress being made.

SUPPORTING LOCAL COMMUNITY GROUPS

As a local Oscott resident as well as the Oscott Ward Councillor I am always keen to try and help support the many local resident groups in the Oscott area. With that in mind I was more than pleased to be asked to "plug" the next Oscott Elderly Residents Group Coffee morning which takes place on Wednesday 17th November at the 610 Community Centre Kingstanding Road. The session will start at 11.15.
If you want to get out of the house and have a cup of tea and a chat why not pop along. There are also often guest speaker there to listen to or to ask questions.

The Oscott Residents Groups hold regular drop in sessions on Saturday mornings at the 610 Community Centre where you can go and have a chat with them or to pass on any concerns you have about the area. They meet at 10.30am.

If you would like to know more about the many Oscott Residents Groups (Including the Oscott Disability Group) and their Chairman George Hough ( see photo above) in the area please ring 464 1869

SANDY LANE / ALDRIDGE ROAD SAFETY PLAN UPDATE

Having met with senior Transportation engineers on site to discuss the Aldridge Road Road safety plan (for the Great Barr Schools and surrounding area) and the Sandy Lane Road Safety Plan (near the Perry Beeches Schools. I have been reassured things are starting to move again.

I have insisted that residents/ traders along these routes as well as the various schools are kept informed and consulted, however progress must be made urgently.

The problems with traffic flow and parking near these schools will not be an easy one to rectify but much of the current plans are reasonable and must be implemented ASAP and further delays should be avoided.
I am sure if these plans which may be in place by the New Year if all goes well, are successful you will be reading all about them in someones leaflets but you have the news here first and that this issue is still being dealt with.

FLY TIPPING AGAIN IN BOOTHS LANE

I was right yesterday when I said that it was only a question of time before Booths Lane will be fly tipped again. It has over night. It is time CCTV was re introduced to the area and the Council and the land owners took firm action to deal with this problem.

The over night tipping has obviously been carried out by professionals and along with other rubbish cash registers, lighting tubes, trays, glass and other objects make it clear that a pub/ restaurant has paid someone to get rid of their rubbish. Booths lane was actually blocked for a time by this rubbish.
Along with Council officers I helped search for evidence of the owners of the rubbish and have managed to get the rubbish removed.
If you see anyone fly tipping please report it to 303 9900 and lets work together to stop it.

628 BUS ROUTE MIX UP ON DYAS ROAD

There has been a lot of confusion as to whether bus stop on Dyas Road near Cavandale Avenue is actually part of the 628 bus route. Now after contacting Centro, I can advise
that the 628 service is not registered to stop at this location.
The last stop on the route is further up Dyas Road. The signage on the bus flag near Cavandale Avenue and the online timetable, both of which are provided by Centro, are incorrect.
I will naturally be pressing Centro now they have been made aware of their mistake to put it right.

BOOTHS LANE CLEANED UP

Following numerous complaints from Councillor Dring and myself Booths Lane has finally had fly tipped rubbish removed from it.
Sadly however I expect partly due to the Councills decision to cut much of the free Bulky Item Collection service I think it will only be a matter of time until fly tipped reappears in Booths Lane.
I have been in touch with both the Environmental department and the Police asking them to be aware of the situation and try and catch those responsible.

KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH RESIDENTS

I am often criticised by some Councillors who do not presumably like to keep residents informed about they are doing in their wards, for being in the press to often.
I have to say I disagree with this view. Like with using a blog to inform residents, although it does allow some, to use the information in their leaflets, the press is good way of engaging with residents.
I think it is important to let residents know what is happening without bombarding them with leaflets. For example as well as using the press and this blog I also hold regular Advice Bureaux's on most Saturday mornings at the 610 Community Centre Kingstanding road at 10.30 am and attend a number of residents groups meetings.
I do not think Councillors should be frightened of meeting their residents face to face as this is often a good way of really getting to know residents concerns

COTLEIGH GROVE RESIDENTS TO SEE THE LIGHT

At long last after 10 long years many Oscott residents are seeing the light. 30 foot high conifers situated on a 10 foot high bank behind walling and fencing are now being removed from near residents homes.
About half have already been taken down this week and the rest should follow.
Their removal will also mean the crumbling, root effect wall, will be less of a danger to residents. It may also be possible to remove at last Stabilising beams put it to stop the wall falling down near some of the houses.
It is a great shame when trees have to be removed but in this case these Conifers had to go.
I am doing what I can to get the Housing department to sort out the wall and repair the remaining fence as soon as they can once the trees are gone.

(See also August 19th Post)

OSCOTT ALLOTMENT HOLDERS FACING RENTAL CHARGE INCREASE

It would appear there is going to be a hike in the price of renting an allotment. The very reasonable current £28 a year rent is to jump to £75 in 3 years time.
While the £28 current rent compares very well with other authorities the proposed fare increases will not.
I well remember trying to help promote the use of allotments in Oscott some years ago. The benefits being- to be able to grow you own health food cheaply, while keeping fit doing it.
I hope these price increases do not put off those who need this service most, those on lower incomes.
What extra services do you get for the price increases? None at all that I can see, in fact the Council have already reduced the allotment development staff from 3 to 1.

ANOTHER ROAD ACCIDENT IN SANDY LANE

Sadly there has been another accident on Sandy Lane near the Perry Beeches Schools entrance yesterday.
A young girl has been knocked down while being collected from school by a parent. I understand from an eye wittiness that in their opinion was no fault on behalf of the driver.
Accidents in my view are bound to happen at this location and also on the Aldridge Road near the Great Barr Schools. The Councils Transportation department have for 2 years dallied and dallied with putting in road safety improvements in both areas. They have received numerous request and suggestions from myself and local residents
I have by coincidence already arranged to meet with the latest Council Officer put in charge of sorting these areas out and you may be assured I will be making absolutely sure he has a personal look at these potential accident hot spots.

DAYS OUT FOR OSCOTTS ELDERLY RESIDENTS

I was pleased to hear that the Oscott Elderly Residents Group (Chaired by Maureen Byrne) has been awarded 1 thousand pounds by the "Birmingham Community Foundation" I would along with Members of the OERG like to thank the Foundation for this wonderful donation and I am sure the money will be well used.
This funding will enhance the small amount of Community chest funding the Oscott Ward Committee gave to the OERG earlier this year.
I know this group do a lot of good work as I attend a number of their meetings to help out and give advice when I can.
They give elderly and often frail Oscott Resident a helping hand and a place to go away from their own four walls.
I understand coach trips are being planned and I am sure many of members of this group will be grateful for a day out.
If you would like more details about the activities of the Oscott Elderly Residents group please ring 464 1869

BIRMINGHAM EVENING MAIL - YOUR COMMUNITIES

I am glad to see that the Birmingham Mail is doing some work to promote bloggers that are busy in the Birmingham area, you can see for yourself here.Many thanks to the reporters at the Mail for this excellent idea. (AND ALSO FOR ADDING MY BLOG TO THEIR LIST)

PLANS FOR HAWTHORN ROAD AMUSEMENT ARCADE DEFFERED

Plans to open an Amusement arcade on Hawthorn Road have been deferred by the Planning Committee while views from the Police are sort. At the Planning meeting yesterday I reminded the committee of the history of anti social behaviour near the proposed arcade site.
This shopping centre needs more genuine variety of retail shops in my view and an amusement arcade would be out of place. I also handed in a petition opposed to an amusement arcade on the Hawthorn road with 200 signatures on it, which were gathered in just one day.
In these times when money is all I feel it will be difficult to stop the amusement arcade coming to the Hawthorn Road but on behalf of worried residents and traders I am giving it a go.

LEAVE OUR DUCKS ALONE

Ducks are disapearing at an alarming rate off the lake in the Queslett Nature Reserve. It is believed that some people are going around catching them for the pot. This is great shame after all the hard work out in by members of the Queslett Nature Reserve to improve conditions for the wild life on the reserve.
If you see anything suspicious please ring the Police on 0345 113 5000 and do not put your self in any sort of danger.
I have also been informed Swans are having their eggs stolen in Perry Hall park

WHY DONT THEY EDUCATE CHILDREN ABOUT THE PROBLEMS LITTER CAUSE?

As part of my campaign to try and improve the cleanliness of our streets in Oscott I have been calling on the Council to go into local schools and talk about how important it is not to leave litter all over the place.
Sadly I suspect due to cuts being made in Council Services, the officer who would normally take on this education role finds her post no longer exists.
This is very disappointing, but I have now asked why Environmental wardens can not go into schools from time to time (especially during bad weather when it is difficult for them to operate out doors). Again I think I will receive a negative response as the time these Environmental Wardens once spent in an individual ward has been reduced. But i shall keep trying.

CONCRETE ROADS IN OSCOTT ARE STILL ON THE AGENDA

Oscott's many cracked and deteriorating roads is an issue that Councillor Barbara Dring and I are not going to let go away. This issue was brought up again with Amey and the Birmingham City Transportation yet again at last weeks Oscott Ward Committee.
I for one will not accept the fudge and dodging of the subject that has been going on and am continuing to demand roads with concrete carriage ways in Oscott are bought back up to a reasonable standard.

VACANCIES FOR JOBS AT MORRISONS

Since I posted the news about the vacancies for jobs in Tesco's recently several residents have asked me to let them know if any other similar vacancies are in the pipe line. So with that in mind.

There will be a new Morrison’s store opening in early 2011 on the former Astra Training site on Holyhead Road. An application form can be obtained by phoning a telephone hotline run by Jobcentre Plus ring ( 480 3840) to book a place on an open day You will then be sent an application form.
There will be approximately 1700 spaces on the Open Days which will be held locally on the 11th and 12th October. This is the only way to get an application form.

FRIENDS OF QUESLETT NATURE RESERVE AGM

I was delighted to be reelected Chair of the Friends of the Queslett Nature Reserve at their AGM today.
There were some new faces elected onto the committee and I am sure they will do a great job.
I would also like to say a big thank you for the effort put in by those committee members who have been replaced.
The Queslett Nature Reserve is an old quarry site which was filled with rubbish and then landscaped. For many years until I and a number of like minded residents got together to form the Friends of the Queslett Nature Reserve, the reserve was neglected by the Council

Bit by bit the FQNR are getting this reserve into shape and it has started to become a wild life haven. The Friends of the Queslett Nature Reserve also help look after the Aldridge Road Recreation Ground and are interested in local environment
If you would like more details about the FOQNR please ring me on 360 6486 or see their blog http://queslettnaturereserve.blogspot.com/