News From Blakenall and North Walsall

News in Blakenall


We welcome the completion of the Hospice and the Respite Care Centre in Goscote Lane but we need restoration of a full bus service to serve Goscote Lane.

There is a real possibility that at least we are back on track to rebuild and regenerate the area around Goscote and Poets Corner which will go forward with full consultation with residents.

At last Walsall Housing Group and the Council are cleaning up the area and putting in cameras. We will insist this continues.

We are leading on regulating the scrap metal business and are pursuing our idea to introduce in Walsall a scheme that will force all scrap metal wagons to display a licence as on taxis and so could withdraw the licence if they do not obey the law.

Action is continuing to persuade and compel horse owners to put their horses onto designated sites out of Blakenall and well away from the public and pay for that permission… or face stiff fines.

News in North Walsall


Sites such as the ones Mill Street are now built on . Gradually we moving forward to persuade the private owners of these sites in North Street and Brewer Street ( where the Mary Elliot school stood) to also develop these areas .

We shall continue to campaign to clear up the alleyways and footpath just off Proffit Street , close the tunnel under the road and start the approved fill in of the old railway cutting. We also need a friends group in Cannon Street North to join with us to look after that valuable and potentially attractive open space.

Buildings that have attracted anti-social behaviour have gone such as the flats in Cannon Street North . .

We are working on lots of issues with residents such as closure of some alleyways, clearing tipped rubbish and working with our excellent new beat Officer Sergeant Jim Nixon, to hit hard all those who break the law, especially those involved in drug dealing.

 
Surgeries every Thursday 12 noon to 1pm at Ryecroft Resource Centre Ryecroft Place.


Do come along for a chat or ring us for a home visit.
Cllr Ian Robertson


01922 634642

07956 829549

robertsonic@hotmail.co.uk

Cllr Ann Young


01922 403747

07828888894

younga@walsall.gov.uk

Cllr Bob Thomas


01922 611543

07508 038485

thomasbob@walsall.gov.uk


Your Local Labour Councillors

News from Blakenall

I got news by asking the question that this Council spends £867K on communications unit.up £300K in 3 years  .. now i know we have to present a good image of Walsall to  the world but this does sound a lot of money! Certainly if labour took over in May we would wish to look very carefully at this cost and prioritise any spend on promotion of walsall Borough to attract new businesses especially to save our Town centres that look dire at the moment with closed shops.. I would accuse the current tory administration of failing miserably in the regeneration department in comparison to what should have been achieved even in a very difficult economic climate.
I was also questioning that areas such as thames road in Bloxwich east had been given a lot of cash via a number of sources to do up not only the rented WHG properties but also the many private houses .. Up to £15K on these private houses with no contribution by the owners.. now I have areas such as Goscote close , Dolphin close and Goscote lane where WHG are doing up their properties but the privately owned hones are not getting any support.. unfair is a printable comment..
There is the launch of a proposal for 700 to 800 homes for the now empty areas in Poets and Goscote after the demolition some 5 years ago. Economics has got in the way of what by now would have been a new community built and up and running. Now it is much more difficult.. so the suggestion is that we swop the current green belt of the top field past the canal above swannies field for the open space now in Goscote and build on this field and only build around  70 houses on the former Gosctoe site. Consultants who are supposed to know what they are talking about say that this will attract the serious builders who will commit to finally rebuilding this community. The number of 'affordable' houses on offer will be cut to 15% and the new build will be mostly private houses for sale. I am currently asking all residents to repsond either in person to the open meeting Thursday 19th January 3.30 to 8pm at the Blakenall village centre ( Thames rd) so that i can represent you all about your real concerns for this set of proposals which will come out as a planning application in February and go to planning committee in April. If passed wail go for European tender and if ( and although attractive there is no guarantee of success) we could be looking at a build start by this time next year.
Many conditions need sot be placed here. A serious commitment by WHG to keep area clean and maintained. a commitment by the police to drive out the drug dealers, those running scrap dealing etc from their home address, those who are badly anti social in their behaviour , a supply of security cameras, big pruning of hedges and other places where these folk hide, landscaping commitments to both Goscote site and swannies field with a decent bridge across the canal, fishing points on canal side etc and of course restoration of a proper bus service down Goscote lane.
We shall learn with interest what other comments are received before the planning application goes in
regards
Cllr Ian Robertson

Blakenall Councillors back call for no pay rises for Councillors!

Labour launch petition against Walsall councillor cash rise
The Labour Party in Walsall is launching a petition to oppose the proposed increase in allowances to councillors. It will be presented at the full meeting of Walsall Council on Monday evening by Labour leader of the opposition, Tim Oliver.

Walsall Labour councillors will vote against any overall increase in the budget for councillors’ allowances when they are presented at the meeting.

Labour councillors on Walsall council will reject plans to swell overall annual payments to cabinet members by nearly £16,000 a year.

Tim Oliver commented “We have been overwhelmed by the anger that these proposals have generated. Walsall people are ashamed that at this difficult time the local Tory councillors appear more interested in their own welfare rather than that of the borough.

The recommendation being put forward by the ruling Tory administration comes as councillors learnt of more job losses and more cuts in the government’s funding to Walsall council.

The Leader of the Council’s Labour group, Cllr Tim Oliver said any increase in overall councillors’ allowances is totally ‘unacceptable.’

“At a time when the council are preparing to cut more jobs and our staff are coping with a pay freeze, this move appears at best out of touch and insensitive. There is no question of Walsall Labour supporting this move.”



"It is certainly our view that there are matters which need correcting within Walsall's councillor allowance scheme. But let us be clear - we believe any corrections should be done within existing budgets. If in control Walsall Labour would look toward a different structure, but any changes made would have to balance themselves out at no extra cost."



The recommendation to increase senior councillors’ pay comes in a report by an independent committee on elected members’ allowances. It proposes special responsibility payments to the council leader would increase by £2000 to £22,365 a year; from £8.300 to £15,000 for the deputy leader , while seven remaining members of the cabinet would see their individual allowances rise to £9300 per year; an increase in the cabinet’s wage bill of £15,700 per year.



Ends



For further information contact Tim Oliver 07969264635

what a time for the tory cabinet to propose a pay rise for councillors!

4th January


A set of revised pay rates is to go to Council next Monday. It cannot be right to raise the cost of us councillors at a time when we are making 99 members of our staff redundant and cutting severely into the budgets to support the most vulnerable in this Borough.



Taking a step back to try and judge what is fair in view of the time commitment involved, for example, those who sit on the cabinet ( if they do their job well and conscientiously!) should be spending quite a time each day in hands on managing public money of around £700 million a year.



Those who chair committees such as employment , audit, scrutiny committees and planning do have a bit more work than an ordinary councillor but not that much more in my view, to justify an extra £5200 to £8300 each more in pay. A cut to a total pay here to say around £3000 as an extra allowance, would save about £40000 which would result in an overall cut in the budget to the council tax bill for the cost of councillor pay, rather than what is currently proposed which would cost around £16000 extra.



. At a time of painful cuts for the community we councillors must not be immune . We used to do the job for an allowance for each committee we attended but I accept that this could seriously disadvantage younger candidates who could find their income so very badly affected if they then committed to taking on a lot of extra responsibilities over and above that of an ordinary councillor

.This must be balanced however , by the fact that is an honour to be elected and represent your local residents . Many of us do similar unpaid work as magistrates, sit on voluntary bodies such as the Citizens advice bureau and run very time consuming counselling work in marriage guidance with no claim for payment so working as a councillor still represents a similar considerable public service. So scrap the increases and cut the extra allowances !!



Regards

Blakenall 2012

 ;This time of year we must look forward to 2012 and what we aim for in Blakenall

-       ;action against illegal metal dealers who operate running a business from their residential address license required for display as with taxis. :

-   full consultation on the plans to be proposed to build a completely new community in the Poets and Goscote empty area. Despite the economic difficulties created nationally and internationally a lot of hard work has been going on to move forward on the stalled plans for this area. Progress has been made and the proposals will be published early in the new Year and I am pleased to have already had meetings with residents to seek their views. 

 ;firm action against anti social behaviour in partnership with a hands on support by the police, a better partnership commitment by Walsall Housing Group and other landlords .. those who privately let their properties and are often totally absent landlords and do not take up proper references

 a commitment to dramatically improve the standard of maintenance of open spaces… removing shrubs to remove any hiding place for either litter or criminals: full exploration of opportunities for communities to join together in social enterprise:

 ;fairer distribution in this ward for road and pavement  repair : action against those irresponsible dog owners who do not immediately clear up after their dog fouling and that includes parks and open spaces:

 ; use of more community orders against those who break laws about dropping litter to get them to have to do some clearing up as part of their punishment;

 ; a no tolerance regime against those who deal in drugs : ban on cheap alcohol below cost promotions:

 ;20 mph zones around all schools : reinstatement of road safety training for our children.

 ;every take away to have to maintain and provide a litter bin for their premises:

 ;proper fair regulation of stray horses:

 ; get away from the fine culture and into more community service type orders,

 ; more support for community ownership and maintenance of buildings and use. More use of school buildings as community based activity and training: reskilling; could encouraging parents to come back to ‘school’ be a motivating factor for their children also and support them?

 ;Research what funding is there to support such social enterprise and how we can support it… areas of social care, child care and elderly… apprentices… 

 ;Examples of where we might commission from a social enterprise… some forms of elderly care : also support for Family Intervention plans to try and break the cycle where dysfunctional families have dysfunctional children who grow up to lead equally dysfunctional families of their own

 ;Cookery classes for families etc to be able to live well but cheaper as budgets are put under a lot of pressure.

 Energy saving measures for council and schools plus help for all to save energy .

 ;Encourage neighbourhood watch and community groups with this grant offered and encourage them to take some ownership of their community.

 ;Friends of park support… Leamore Park needs to become a star park for access to sports and leisure... we can  get access to grants… more for open spaces?

 ;Parking rationalisation.. can we impose other penalties rather than fines?

 ;Better organised youth support. Too many youths idly hanging about street corners 

 ;Obesity in children; war on drug trafficking and below cost sales of alcohol

 ;Street theatre.. we need to attract people to Walsall centre

-     Development of community and social enterprise moving the community forward under their ownership.. there is grant money out there to tap into.. just needs the leadership.

 ;Public exercise points as in Reedswood

-  we need to expand the potential of sites such as Hollemeadow and Ryecroft resource centres to provide improving skills opportunities and address the unemployment issues especially amongst our young people.

 ;Fair deal for all.

 ;Best start possible for our children

At least the above will make a good start and cost very little..  

see you around in 2012

regards

Ian Robertson

Latest news for October

We battle on here as Blakenall Councillors... been having some good residents meetings ... around North Walsall , around Newholme way, and we plan to hold many more to directly address issues that face you bringing together a team of the police, housing group, the council, representative from anti social behaviour unit... please get in touch with us if you have an issue you would like us to tackle.
Had some continuing success in the campaign to combat those wretched tat wagon owners who run their business from home... no objection if they use proper premises... but they are getting around £350 a time on each run... do they pay tax and national insurance? please sign the e petition which when gets to 100K will be the subject of a debate in Parliament.
Persuaded the Council at least to run a pilot to bring the tethered horse situation under some control. A notice to remove them from Council land has cleared Swannies field. These horses are popping up in more places... Mill street again etc and toher parts of Goscote...
We are on the case of getting the money released to use for the benefit of the people of the Goscote area ( £56K left after Gosctoe Centre closed) We shall hold public meetings and consult to find what areas would directly help this area.
Good news for the residents of Oak Crescent who will get those terrible pot holes repaired within the next 2 weeks with a total resurface next April.
One item that really anoyed me was the knowledge that the help line run by the tax and benefit office is an 0845 premium one and the average cost per call is around £15 .. which is disgraceful as those using the number find that they are paying a vast sum to enquire about their often difficult financial circumstances and being ripped off ..
more news soon... do get in touch with us with any issues etc
Look forward to hearing from you
regards
Ian Ann and Bob
Your local Councillors

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