Road safety measures for ‘hazardous’ St Ann’s road

Beacon Hill Rise Road in St Anns  – used as a ‘ race-track’ during the hours of darkness.

The next meeting of the Area 6 Committee which covers The Dales, St Ann’s & Mapperley wards will meet on Tuesday to discuss a number of topics.

Councillors will receive a copy of the Mapperley Ward Executive Summery which indicates that In November 2012 (compared to November 2011) there has been a reduction in all crime of 14.91% in the region. It also says that in November 2012 (compared to November 2011) all Antisocial Behaviour in Mapperley was down by 49.35%.

There is also to be a ‘Week of Action’ in St Ann’s shortly. Work is already underway with residents living on Cromer Road, Ransom Rd and Chandos Street.

St Ann’s councillors Dave Liversidge & Jon Collins have implemented a road safety review of Beacon Hill Rise Road & Stonebridge Road, in order to introduce measures to cut down on the number of double-parked cars, and speeding vehicles.

Beacon Hill Rise Road has become a race track during the hours of darkness due to the absence of raised humps in the road to slow traffic down, while the street lighting along these roads is poor and inefficient.

Councillor Dave Liversidge said today “We are very hopeful & determined to put new traffic calming measures in place in the interest of the safety of local residents, and we will have a chance to discuss this subject at our next area meeting.”

With all of the street lighting in the vicinity due to be replaced in August this year, councillors hope to find money from the Capital fund & other sources to put new traffic calming measures in place as soon as practical.

Lovell’s leave Stonebridge Park Compound

Updated This week Construction company Lovell Partnerships have now began the task of moving their site offices off the Stonebridge Park Estate, and have now started returning the Flewitt Gardens site back to its original state. Lovell’s moved onto the land on 6th December 2010, and the turf cutting ceremony occurred four days later.

Housing Development Officer Debra Ross said today “I have spoken to Lovell's and they inform me that they will be returning the site back to how it was before the compound was situated there - which is in accordance with what we agreed with Lovell's when we allowed them to use the land. Lovell's inform me that this will involve the provision of 3 sets of railings along the front in order to prevent vehicles being driven onto the land.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photo lower right shows how the site looked just prior to when Lovell’s moved onto the land.

The night sky: February 2013

The planet Jupiter remains prominent in the southern sky shining at magnitude –2.4 in the zodiacal constellation of Taurus (The bull), and transits the local meridian at 7:18 pm. The planet lies 1.7 degrees N of the Moon on Feb 18th.

The lovely ringed planet Saturn is now rising in the SSW midway between the constellations of Libra & Virgo, and shines with the brilliance of a +0.52 star. The rings are nicely placed for observation using a small telescope.

All of the Winter constellations remain on view in the southern sky. Orion (The hunter) is very prominent with its four main stars divided by the 3 stars in the hunter’s belt. Follow them up the sky into the east and you will find Taurus with Jupiter shining like yellow jewel. Follow them down to the west and you encounter Canis Major (The great dog).

Gemini (The twins), Auriga (The Charioteer) and Eridanus (The river) are all on view now. 10 x 50 Binoculars will show you many fine star clusters and some nebulae like M42 in Orion a little below the hunter’s belt.

February is a nice time to observe the night sky as the nights start to get shorter as we approach the spring equinox in mid March.

Antisocial behaviour to go unpunished?

Criminals who commit minor offences could escape prosecution if their court cases are deemed to cost too much or are too complex, under new guidance

Suspects arrested for offences such as minor assaults & antisocial behaviour could avoid prosecution as the authorities weigh up whether it would be worth bringing charges in the biggest shake-up of the rules for 20 years.

Prosecutors will now consider whether the cost of charging someone is excessive given their alleged role in the crime and any likely sentence.

Bit-part players in cases involving multiple suspects could also avoid court as prosecutors focus on “the main participants in order to avoid excessively long and complex proceedings”.

The changes to guidance for prosecutors were  unveiled by Keir Starmer QC on Monday, the director of public prosecutions.

John Fassenfelt, chairman of the Magistrates’ Association, said he was concerned the use of a “proportionality test” would lead to “more and more cases being dealt with by a caution or not being taken through the criminal justice system at all”.

The new code comes after Ministry of Justice figures showed one in four violent criminals were avoiding court as thousands were let off with a caution each year.

Traffic calming measures – just cosmetic fun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The triangular brick traffic calming measures along the new sections of Dennett Close Road & Blake Close where originally set in place nicely and their levels were adequate to prevent cars travelling at speed along these new roads. However, once the tarmac surfaces were put in place, these calming features became ill-effective because their levels became the same as the surrounding road surface. Therefore they are just cosmetic and provide no useful purpose.

I brought this important point to the attention of Andrew Gregory, Head of Development Management and Regeneration at Nottingham City Council.

In response Mr Gregory said: “Your letter outlines concerns you have about the safety of the road proposed as part of Asra’s development [in Limmen Gardens]. These stem from concerns you have regarding the new roads that has been constructed on Blake Close/Dennett Close. I have spoken to our Highways team and have been informed that the road has been constructed in accordance with the approved design and has been through a full technical approval process, including 2 Road Safety Audits to date, the findings from which helped inform the final approved design. The height and format of the features is for a visual and textural contrast, but due to the number and spacing of driveways these had to be kept low to not prohibit access or manoeuvres into/out of drives.

“The proposed access road to be constructed on in Limmen Gardens will be of a similar design to previous phases, but of course takes the form of a cull de sac arrangement, and therefore the amount of traffic using it will be limited. This new road will have a raised build out at its entrance to reduce its width, however as with previous phases any further feature within the road layout will need to be kept low to allow residents to enter and exit their drives.”

In my opinion these so called traffic calming measures provide no useful purpose whatsoever and will remain ill-effective. It is a shame because the Stonebridge Park scheme has proved very popular with all the new residents who have moved onto the Stonebridge Park Estate in recent months, and their children are at risk of injury from fast moving vehicles.

By Richard Pearson

D.H. Lawrence attraction set to re-open

In Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, the D.H. Lawrence Heritage Centre in Mansfield Road re-opens to the public on Tuesday 28th January after a period of closure from Christmas Eve which allowed staff to do essential cleaning and maintenance work.

The D.H. Lawrence Heritage Centre houses exhibitions and artefacts about the writer's life, and hosts an annual programme of events. The venue is a faithful recreation of the birthplace and early home of the writer D.H. Lawrence.

David Herbert Lawrence was born here in 1885, and was the fourth child of Arthur Lawrence and Lydia Beardsall.

After attending Beauvale Board School he won a scholarship to Nottingham High School. On leaving school in 1901 he was employed for a short time as a clerk at the Nottingham firm of Hayward’s, manufacturers of surgical appliances, and from 1902 as a pupil teacher at the British School in Eastwood.

Lawrence was a prolific writer - of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, essays, and criticism. His works are heavily autobiographical and the experiences of his early years in Nottinghamshire continued to exert a profound influence throughout his life.

During his last years Lawrence spent much of his time in Italy making only brief visits to England, the last in 1926. He died on 2 March 1930 at Venice in the south of France.

.Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday, October to March 10am - 4pm. April to September 10am - 5pm (closed Mondays, Bank Holidays). The entrance fee is £5.

For more information contact the Heritage Centre; Tel 01773 717353

The new 2013/14 Council Tax Support Scheme

The next full meeting of Nottingham City Council (NCC) takes place on Monday, 28th January

At the meeting the Deputy Leader of the council, Mr Graham Chapman (shown here), is recommending that the meeting agrees to adopt the new Council Tax Support Scheme (CTSS) in full, which was also the recommendation of the Executive Board meeting in December.

In summary, the Local Government Finance Act 2012 states that each billing authority in England must adopt a council tax reduction scheme no later than 31 January 2013; and the first financial year to which that scheme relates must be the year beginning with 1 April 2013. The 2012 Act also inserts a new Schedule 1A into the Act; it provides that for each financial year, each billing authority must consider whether to revise its scheme or to replace it with another scheme.

It is being recommended at the meeting that in the light of the consultation feedback last year, NCC takes the opportunity to reduce the financial burden on some of our most vulnerable citizens for 2013/14 by adopting a CTSS that enables NCC to access the transitional funding available from the government for one year only. It is also recommended that the City Council adopts the Council Tax Support Scheme 2013/14.

In order to comply with the criteria set out by the government to access the one-off transitional funding, the 2013/14 CTSS will include the following elements:

1 Putting a maximum limit on the amount of council tax support that can be paid to all working age people, so that working age households who get 100% help with their Council Tax bills now can receive a maximum of 91.5% help in 2013/14;

2 All working age households will pay at least 8.5% of their Council Tax bill in 2013/14

3 There is no sharp reduction in support for those entering work.

It is also recommended that the following additional elements are included following consideration of the findings of the council’s formal consultation exercise:

1 The second Adult Rebate is removed

2 Backdating is retained

3 Setting a minimum award level of 50p.

In order to comply with government regulations, the 2013/14 scheme also includes a guarantee that low income pensioners will see no change to the help they currently get with their Council Tax bills.

The current National Council Tax Benefit system is a means tested benefit system and when calculating the amount of Council Tax Benefit, the amount of money the household has to live on is taken into account. There are certain sources of household income/benefits that are not taken in to account. Under the 2013/14 CTSS this will not change and the following households will continue to be recognised:

1 Households with Children – Child Benefit will not be taken into Account when household income is calculated

2 Households with a disabled person – will continue to receive Benefits such as Disability Living Allowance and other allowances towards living costs.

3 Households with a carer – will continue to receive an additional Allowance towards living costs

4 Households with a war widow or disablement pension – War pensions will not be taken into account when household income is calculated

St Ann’s citizens launch new Tenants & Residents Association

An assembly of St Ann’s residents meeting at Mellor’s Lodge on Monday evening have now set up “SATRA Central.” The ‘St Ann’s Tenants & Residents Association, Central.’

The Chairlady is Ms Gisella Sobarasus; Secretary Mr Richard Pearson, and Treasurer Mrs Kate Barnes.

The new catchment area has still to be agreed, however, they would like it include Ransom Road, Cromer Road, St Ann’s Valley, and the area north of the Robin Hood Chase. They also want to include the Stonebridge Park Estate, Kelverdon & Nugent Gardens, along with Bellevue Court and Westgate Street.

The group of 12 locals from Cromer Road, St Ann’s Valley & Bellevue Court said that “they wanted to concentrate on improving facilities along with local services for all the people living in the area.”

However, their main project should be ‘overseeing’ the Robin Hood Chase Regeneration Scheme, and lobbying Nottingham City Council officers.

The majority of those who attended the meeting said that “they wanted new shops & a super market to be built on the precinct, and did not want to see any new social houses built on any of the public open spaces there.”

Already over 230 local residents have signed a petition to this effect.

The residents attending Monday’s meeting agreed to approach a number of high street stores, including Iceland and the Pound Shop, to see if they would be interested in taking over the former Co-op store on the Robin Hood Chase that closed down in November 2012.

Several other issues were raised at the meeting, including the City Council’s failure to grit around the Bellevue Court flats complex, which housed a large number of elderly & disabled residents.

The problem of double parked cars along St Ann’s Well Road which made crossing the road very unsafe. And the apparent lack of Police & Community Support Officers patrolling in the area.

The next meeting of ‘SATRA – Central’ will be on February 25^th; 7pm – 8:30pm in the community room at Mellor’s Lodge (Blue building), on the Robin Hood Chase.

Update: Dept. for Communities and Local Government

New planning measures will ensure empty and underused offices can be swiftly converted into much-needed housing to make the most use out of previously developed land, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announced today (24 January 2013).

The changes will make the best use of developed sites by allowing existing buildings to be quickly brought back into productive use. New permitted development rights will allow office space to be converted into new homes without the need for planning permission from the local authority.

This new change of use right will provide badly needed homes for local people and will make a valuable contribution to easing the national housing shortage. It will help create jobs in the construction industry and help regenerate our town centres by increasing footfall in high streets.

The permitted development right will be in place for 3 years, and because local circumstances vary, local authorities will have an opportunity to seek an exemption if they can demonstrate there would be substantial adverse economic consequences.

Further reforms will also help boost rural communities and create jobs by allowing agricultural buildings to be converted for other business uses without the need for planning permission.

Buildings no longer suitable or needed for agricultural use could be transferred into new growth-boosting ventures that benefit rural areas, such as shops, restaurants, small hotels and leisure facilities and offices, under new permitted development rights.

Town centre buildings will also be able to easily convert to help new shops, business start-ups and community projects keen to set up in high streets.

The new rules will allow a range of buildings to temporarily convert for up to 2 years and will speed up the process of bringing vacate high street buildings back into use.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: “We want to promote the use of brownfield land to assist regeneration, and get empty and under-used buildings back into productive use.

“Using previously developed land and buildings will help us promote economic growth, provide more homes and still ensure that we safeguard environmentally protected land.

“We are absolutely determined to support people striving to bring life back to their communities and high streets.”

The Keepmoat Master plan December 2012

Middle right & bottom right: Jersey Gardens. Bottom middle: Top of Wray Close. Middle left: the site of the former Fairholm Court elderly person’s complex in Flewitt Gardens. Rocket Park is clearly shown middle left, and Limmen & Melville Gardens are shown on the top left of this Master plan. The red & orange lines represent the pipework of the EnviroEnergy District Heating Scheme.

Keepmoat consultation event kicks off £11m scheme

Stonebridge City Farm was the venue for a successful 5 hour public consultation exercise on Thursday when representatives from Developer Keepmoat Homes Ltd exhibited their pristine £11m plans for the Stonebridge Park Estate.

Charlotte Wood, Trainee Graphic Design/Bid Co-coordinator at Keepmoat Homes set up the presentation.

Shown in the photo left to right are Zahid Khan of BMK Architecture, Charlotte Wood (Keepmoat Homes), and Peter Shambrook Regional Development Manager of Keepmoat Homes Ltd.

Keepmoat Homes submitted a planning application on 24th December to build 110 new houses in the Jersey Gardens & Flewitt Gardens area of the estate, after successfully bidding for almost £800,000 kick start funding from the government’s Homes & Communities Agency in 2012.

Keepmoat Homes Ltd are also working on plans to build a number of new houses on the site of the former Kings Thorpe flats complex in Mapperley.

The Regional Development Manager of Keepmoat Homes Ltd, Peter Shambrook, said today “Our development plans have been technically challenging because of the different levels of the site, and we are very pleased with the proposals that we have come up with.

“We had the original 2009 Master Plan drawn up by the City Council five years ago which we used as a frame work, and in just 6 months we were able put together our plans.”

Peter then shown me copies of the proposals saying that the long footpath linking Melville Gardens with Jersey Gardens Road would disappear altogether, and that the adjacent 3.5m steep drop to the lower land would be landscaped to build up the ground making the area look nicer.

This would also be the case with land either side of Jersey Gardens Road leading into the estate from St Matthias Road.

A 1.8m wooden fence would also be introduced around all of the new homes on the upper level of Jersey Gardens adjacent St Matthias Road, to make them safe for new families with children set to move in after completion in 2015.

Zahid Khan of BM3Architecture Ltd, who designed the scheme, added “All of the new houses are of a modern design and they take into account the layout of the landscape, a small number of which overlooks Rocket Park. We think that new young families will be pleased with them and they will be very popular.”

Zahid then shown me the housing layout, and the different house designs along with external cladding finishes.

Keepmoat Homes Ltd will be constructing all of the 110 new houses themselves, and intend to take on a number of local apprentices, as well as providing employment for local people.

Meanwhile the ASRA Housing group have just been given planning permission to build 15 new social houses in Limmen Gardens; work will begin here in the spring.

On the right: Peter Shambrook (Keepmoat Homes), and Debra Ross (Nott’m City Council) studying the new plans.

Housing Development Manager Debra Ross from Nottingham City Council, said today that she was already applying for funding to provide off road parking areas, perimeter iron railings, and rear wooden fences for the original properties in Limmen Gardens.

“Eventually we aim to provide these external improvements around the whole of the Stonebridge Park estate, although it can only be done in phases as the funding becomes available,” she said.

The plans may be viewed on the City Council’s Planning website using the Ref 12/03501/PFUL3.

Keepmoat Homes - consultation event

Stonebridge house building plans are approved

Conditional planning permission was granted to ASRA this afternoon to allow them to build 15 new houses in Limmen Gardens. The planning officer for Nottingham City Council is Joe Briggs. None of the imposed conditions gives any reference to the likelihood of increased antisocial behaviour which will occur as a result of this development, and this is despite objections being submitted from locals who expressed concerns to planners.

Construction firm Lovell Partnerships Ltd will begin work in Limmen Gardens in March, and the completion date is expected in January 2014.

Stonebridge apartments named after beloved colleague

ASRA Housing Group has named a block of Nottingham apartments in remembrance of a beloved colleague shown here.

The Group held a dedication ceremony at Stonebridge Park in memory of Elliot Goodwin who worked as an admin support before he passed away aged 26.

The block of apartments on Magson Close has now been renamed 'Elliot Goodwin House' to highlight the apprentice's work.

Anita McDermott, Sales and Marketing Officer of ASRA Housing Group, said: "He has been missed so much since his passing in January 2012.

"I worked day-to-day alongside Elliot, his future held a lot of promise and it's very sad that he wasn't able to fulfil his potential."

Elliot worked with the Sales, Marketing and Development teams, after his position was provided by an apprenticeship fund from the Stonebridge Park regeneration project.

Elliot's work involved supporting the teams as they worked on the regeneration programme.

Matt Cooney, Chief Executive of ASRA Housing Group, said: "Here at ASRA Housing Group, we look after and value our employees. Elliot was an important part of the regeneration team, helping to build an integral part of Stonebridge Park.

"His contribution to the association will be recognised thanks to naming the building, and his name certainly won't be forgotten."

Turkish Baths in Sneinton to be demolished

 Update This news item is to feature in the Evening Post on Friday

Plans by Nottingham Developer Blueprint to regenerate the Bath Street Area of the city took a step closer this month after Nottingham City Council applied for planning permission on 7^th January to demolish the old Turkish Baths building at the side of the Victoria leisure centre shown above. 

The planning application Ref is 13/00021/LNCAC

Once demolition has taken place in the spring, the proposal is for 17 units, including 13 houses and 4 flats to be built on the land, all of which will be for sale. These houses are built around a courtyard and include houses facing onto Bath Street, and a new link route to be built between Bath Street and Brook Street. This artist impression shows the same view of the Turkish baths site as seen in the above photographs.

In November 2007 Nottingham Regeneration Limited, in partnership with Nottingham City Council and Developer Blueprint, commissioned a team lead by Gehl Architects to produce a Neighbourhood Development Plan centred on Sneinton Market and a wider area identified as the Eastside 'Gateway' in to the City Centre.

The project Board drew up imaginative plans that aim to regenerate the Bath Street area of the city, and the former Nottingham City Transport bus depot site near the Ice Arena.

Nottingham Regeneration Limited (NRL) was responsible for delivering the new £9m Victoria Leisure Centre, and Sneinton Square Scheme, which opened in March 2012.

New local Dental Practise to open soon

St Ann’s will have a new Dental Practise after the City Council agreed on January 8th to grant conditional planning permission to Dr Mustafa Najat of West Bridgford to turn existing shop units at 185-191 Huntingdon Street into a new surgery.

In his supporting letter to planners Dr Najat said “I think the location of the site for our future plans has been well chosen. The area is in a very busy part of the city and has always been used for commercial purposes.

“The ground floor suitability for a dental surgery comes from the fact that as a big open space, two dental surgeries can be created as well as a reception and waiting room in one area of the ground floor and the property is easily accessible from town and the surrounding area.”

St Ann’s has been without a Dentist for the last decade after a dental practise in Westgate Street closed and transferred to Sneinton Dale.

In November 2009 St Ann’s campaigner Gissela Sabarasua shown here with Richard Pearson & Peter Forry, organised a petition and gathered more than 450 signatures in less than two weeks.

Gisella said today “I am very pleased that at long last St Ann’s will again have a Dentist to treat local people, this is excellent news.

"I was knocking on doors and stopping everybody and there's not one person who has said I don't agree with the petition.”

"Speaking to the people who have signed it, I would say 90% have said if we get a dentist here I'm coming back to St Ann's [for treatment].

"I was born in the old St Ann's and they are doing what they did when they destroyed the old St Ann's. They are doing what they want and they are trying to give us the impression they are consulting us."

Local residents were hopeful that a dentist would be included in the new St Ann’s Valley Centre which opened in May last year, but it was not to be.

A spokesperson for NHS Nottingham City said it was looking at other ways to provide dental services in St Ann's, including a mobile unit.

He said: "While we recognise the importance of dental services in healthcare provision, St Ann's does not have a large enough population to support a dental practice within the new centre. There are a number of dental practices close to St Ann's.”

Power cuts hit Mapperley & the St Ann’s valley area

RESIDENTS in Mapperley Park were without electricity this morning due to an underground cable fault.

About 3,500 homes were affected by the power cut which started at 6am.

​Engineers restored the electricity supply in stages – but power was lost again at about 8am.

Nearly all homes have now had power restored. The few that haven't are being hooked up to generators.

A spokesman for Western Power Distribution said: "An underground cable fault has caused the problem.

"Engineers are still working out there at the moment and once everyone is back on they will work to repair the cable."

About 2,600 people in the Porchester Road and St Ann's Well Road area also suffered a power cut on Sunday night which lasted from 6.30pm to 8.15am.

WATES Paid over £124,600 for Stonebridge Park work

The Executive Board of Nottingham City Council meets again on January 22^nd to discuss varies topics including a final decision on Council Tax arrangements from April 2013.

The Board will also hear about various items of expenditure, including money paid to WATES Living space, who have been carrying out external cladding work in St Ann’s including the Stonebridge Park Estate. In addition they have also been carrying out work installing perimeter iron railings, off road parking area, and new fences to 61 properties on Stonebridge since the summer; a total contract valued at over £124,600.

There have been three payments made to WATES by the City Council in 2012/2013:

12/11/2012 ST ANNS CESP - EXT ENVELOPING Contract Payments £145,679.63
23/11/2012 Stonebridge Park CESP - EXT ENVELOPING Contract Payments £94,204.36
30/11/2012 STONEBRIDGE PARK Contract Payments £30,475.37

Stonebridge Park – ‘Snow scenes’

As snow began to fall over Nottingham on Sunday evening lights flickered at 6:40pm leading to a major power cut in the Mapperley area of the city lasting three hours. The snow continued to fall into Monday afternoon when I ventured onto the Stonebridge Estate to take a number of photographs to record the occasion.

When I returned home I was contacted by Charlotte Wood of Keepmoat Homes Ltd who advised me that the company is planning ‘Consultation Event’ for local people to attend to see the significant plans to build 110 new houses on our estate in the near future. Further information will be made available shortly.

By Richard Pearson

David Cameron ‘in the dark’ on government decisions!

David Cameron often only learns about government decisions when they are reported by the media, his former policy guru has revealed.

YouGov/Sunday Times voting intentions CON 31%, LAB 44%, LDEM 11%, UKIP 8%.

Painting a shambolic picture of the Downing Street operation, Steve Hilton (Left)  said the inability of No 10 to control government decisions was ‘pretty horrific’.

‘Very often you’ll wake up in the morning and hear on the radio or the news or see something in the newspapers about something the Government is doing,’ he said.

David Cameron's former strategy guru Steve Hilton has revealed that the Prime Minister often finds out about his own government's policies through the radio and in newspapers

‘And you think, well, hang on a second – it’s not just that we didn’t know it was happening, but we don’t even agree with it! The Government can be doing things... and we don’t agree with it? How can that be?’

Mr Hilton revealed that ministers spend only 30 per cent of their time dealing with the Government’s priorities, with 40 per cent spent handling diktats from the European Union and the rest on ‘random things... which were not anything to do with the coalition agreement’.

Read more: The Daily Mail

By Jason Groves, Political Correspondent

Video update: January 2013

Three of the new tenants just moved into homes in Dennett Close informed me this week that cracks had opened up in some of the walls, and in the woodwork. Another tenant living in house 1b Dennett Close at the front of the estate pointed out that their drainpipe is disconnected from the top gutter; Its been like this ever since the tenant moved in.

Another problem is that former Nottingham City Homes tenants, and home owners, living in Dennet Close, Lytton Close & Flewitt Gardens etc. are having new front perimeter iron railings and gates fitted free. Nottingham City Homes tenants just moved into their new properties are being charged £300 by ASRA if they want new gates fitted to prevent their young children going onto the nearby road – A stealth TAX on child safety!

The triangular & oblong shaped traffic calming measures installed on the newly built Blake Close & Dennett Close roads are completely level with the newly tarmacked road surfaces, and are therefore of no use in slowing traffic down.

Already a number of cars are travelling at speed along the new Dennett Road & using it as a short cut; and a week ago the Police chased a speeding car along this road late at night while the police helicopter hovered overhead.

Government welfare reforms will hit working poor

The Government's welfare reforms could push struggling working families into hardship and reduce the amount being spent in the local economy.

That's the message Nottingham City Council's Deputy Leader Councillor Graham Chapman took to a Government Select Committee on Welfare Reform on Monday January 7th.

Councillor Chapman was one of a number of council representatives invited to give views to the Select Committee on the implementation and potential effects of the welfare reforms.

He said: "These welfare reforms are the wrong thing to do at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons. The people most likely to be affected are working families who rely on benefits to supplement their low income - the strivers rather than the so-called skivers the Government purportedly intends to capture with these changes.

"The other effect these changes will have is, by putting more people into hardship, there will be less money for the local population to spend in Nottingham. This is the last thing we need at a time of recession, especially in deprived areas that once again are hit hardest by this Government's policies."

Key points Councillor Chapman made at the Select Committee include:

• Cities with disadvantaged communities are disproportionately affected by the welfare changes alongside the Government's cuts to council budgets
• Questioning why Council Tax support could not have been integrated with Universal Credit rather than reducing the budget - by over £6m for Nottingham this year - and handing responsibility to councils at short notice
• Raising concerns that the way the changes are being introduced could leave citizens confused
• There is potential for further confusion with the introduction of Universal Credit, with a need for any Government contingency plans for IT failure to be shared with councils
• The so-called Bedroom tax could affect up to 7,000 people in Nottingham, creating financial problems for them and putting extra pressure on councils to collect extra rent
• Significant reductions in benefit awards including through benefit caps could result in more households falling into rent arrears and increased financial hardship
• The impact of the recession, Government cuts and welfare changes is driving up demand for advisory services on money, debt, welfare rights, housing and homelessness.

Update: New St Ann’s ASDA store

Developer Blueprint who are behind the new St Ann’s ASDA store to be built on the site of the former Wright & Dobson factory, are set to submit their planning application to Nottingham City Council.

Spokesperson  Alice Rossi said today “I’ve had a chat with Peter Conboy who is the development director for Blueprint on this project, and he said that the contracts for the Co-Op land were signed before Christmas. This now triggers the requirement for Asda to apply for planning. Although I don’t have an exact date on this, I am advised that it will be happening quickly now.”

The Developer will also build a number of social houses on the site of the former Co-op store in Carlton Road in cooperation with ASRA – formerly Leicester Housing Association.

Assuming the planning application is successful, construction work is expected to begin in the autumn and the new ASDA store will be open for business in early 2015.

ASRA apply £300 stealth tax on ‘child safety’

The first phase of the Stonebridge Park Regeneration Scheme is close to completion, and Nottingham City Homes (NCH) have done a fine job letting the new rental properties to new tenants.  These homes are being managed on behalf of Landlord ASRA.

Following a reorganisation the developer Leicester Housing Association became ASRA in 2012.

None of the newly built houses on Stonebridge Park have front gates fitted, while most the properties are now occupied by families with young children.

Some of these families have now requested front gates be fitted to their properties to provide a safe space for their young children, only for landlord ASRA to refuse! They have all been told that they will have to pay for the gates themselves at a cost of £300 per property – a Stealth TAX on ‘child safety’!

ASRA say that it does not matter if their home is home-owner occupied, or rented from Nottingham City Homes; everyone is being asked to pay.

Naturally young families who have just moved onto the Stonebridge Park Estate, feel that this is a serious safety issue, because they don’t want their young children to stray onto the main Road.

WATES Living Space are presently finishing external works on 61 properties adjacent some of the newly built houses, all of which are getting front gates fitted FREE of charge as standard. These Include properties occupied by tenants of Nottingham City Homes.

It seems strange that NCH tenants who have just moved into their newly built houses on Stonebridge Park are being billed £300 for new front gates to be fitted, while NCH tenants living in the original houses opposite are getting their front gates FREE of charge!

As a result, young families who have just moved on to the Stonebridge Park Estate, feel they are not being treated fairly by Nottingham City Homes .

Clearly we need to attract new young families to live here on the Stonebridge Park Estate in the future, and obviously the safety of their children needs to be catered for & be made a priority. It therefore seems improper that ASRA are now applying a £300 stealth Tax on ‘child safety,’ when every newly built home should have been fitted with front gates as standard practise.

Housewives of St Ann's would be television hit

Evening Post Letter

MUCH has been made recently of the valiant efforts people are putting in to keeping the historical St Ann's community going.

Having watched several of the "Housewives of..." series, why doesn't some enterprising TV producer make a "Housewives of St Ann's" programme along similar lines?

These women won't have the riches, diamonds, trout-pouts, false boobs, wigs or eyelashes or anywhere near the money that those US pampered females have, but I would take a bet they have just as many interesting stories – and would generate as much if not more entertainment value bringing in much-needed cash.

I can see such a series making riveting viewing and would go a long way towards the regeneration of this once prospering community.

They would certainly be more realistic and, since I have such a deep abiding love for the place, you can count me in!

JOY JAMES
Colwick Park Close
Colwick Village