Robin Hood Chase consultations begin

Updated On 30th September Councillor Dave Liversidge, who is a key officer of the City Council, made an executive decision to provide £1,132,350 from the Capital Fund for the demolition works to Digby Court, Cranwell Road
Crosswall Flats, Robin Hood Chase and Locksley House.

The new concept | Lose the present small car park area, bottom row of 4 shops & former housing office, and the former Wellspring health centre, which will be subject to demolition before Christmas. A new car park area will be introduced at the bottom of the Chase with access from St Ann’s Well Road. A new super market will be built that will be 40% larger than the former Co-op, with sheltered accommodation for the elderly above. Three new shop units will be constructed facing the St Ann’s Valley Centre.

• Proposed to build 45 sheltered units over 3 floors. 44 one bed and 1 two bed unit.
• There are 3 shop units shown on the plan, the supermarket at the front can be split into two units to make a total of  4 shops or kept as one big store (which will be more attractive to a retailer) with an option to include a retail unit within the larger store (e.g. a post office or sandwich shop).
• There are no plans to reopen Livingstone Street to Aster Road.

ASRA Housing Group will manage all of the accommodation once the scheme has been construction by Wilmot Dixon, and Asra will contribute £1m to the scheme.

By Gill Callingham (Project Manager)

Astronomy & Space | Magnificent Jupiter

© Richard Pearson

Video Channels | Science Stage & YouTube

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Welcome to Astronomy and Space. In this month’s program we take a look at the highlights of the September night sky.

NASA’s latest Moon mission the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) which is set for launch on September 6th.

We also take an in-depth look at the planet Jupiter which is now attracting attention from amateur astronomers; Including how to best observe the cloud features, and carryout transit measurements over the coming months.

In every way Jupiter is a fascinating world; it is also the object which offers the greatest scope to the amateur astronomer who is reasonably well equipped. Its surface is always changing, and one can never tell what each new apparition will bring forth, so that there is plenty to be done. Even those who have no equipment other than binoculars can take an interest in Jupiter.

Work starts on former Westminster pub

Recent photographs

In St Ann’s, frozen food retailer Heron’s began work this week to transform the former Westminster pub into two new shops. The new stores are expected to open before the Christmas.

Let the Beacon Shine | The clean up

Out with the old and in with the new. Almost one hundred local folk leant their time, strength and joy to help clean up the old Beacon. THANK YOU! It was heartening to see young and old alike sharing in the task, and to hear so many dreams of what might be.

Some dubious treasures were unearthed, invading trees brought down, a lick of paint here and there: A few more days like this, and an independent community space will appear as if by magic.

We’re grateful to Rob of The Howie Smith Project who has signed the lease on the building. We are working alongside him to make this idea possible. His expertise lies in bringing derelict buildings to life, something he’s been doing for many years. Check out the website and see some super-interesting projects around the city.

Visit our website ‘St Ann’s projects’ for the latest news

By Carly Williams & Martin Summerville

Keepmoat Homes | Photo update

This is the latest photo update for week beginning 19 August. All of the construction sites are now fenced and secure except phase four. Phase 4 is situated on land at the top of Wray Close, which has now became a play area for school children climbing onto the large mounds of earth.

Work has begun clearing phase 8 in Jersey Gardens along the top row adjacent St Matthias Road. On phase one, near the former Lord Alcester pub, work is continuing to configure the ground to the correct levels ready for the foundations to be put in place, while clearance work is continuing on Phases 5 & 6. No work has been carried out on Phases 2, 3 & 4 this week; the most prominent of these sites being in Flewitt Gardens at the side of Rocket Park.

Stonebridge residents anger at poor customer relations by ASRA Housing Group.

The date of our next meeting is 24th September 6:30pm – 8pm at Blue Bell Hill Community Centre

FRIENDS OF STONEBRIDGE PARK held a public meeting at the Blue Bell Hill Community Centre on Wednesday evening (Last Night), when local residents gathered to hear what was happening around the estate.

Martin Harris of the City Council’s Parks Dept. gave a presentation about beginning consultations for new play equipment. Martin said there was presently £10,000 available to spend on the site, while Developer Keepmoat Homes at offered another £10k. This was a start, he said, however, for the provision of a good climbing frame, swings and a slide about £60k was needed.

A rude woman and her daughter was disruptive during Martin’s presentation saying they didn't want anything done with Rocket Park. There was even talk of spending all the money elsewhere on King Edwards Park!

Martin said that if locals did not want play equipment on Rocket Park, the money could be spent on other improvements, better street lighting, perimeter fence etc.

However, 3 individuals are not representative of the 320 families living on Stonebridge Park today, and there will be a further 125 when new homes are completed in 2015. We the committee will be contacting Martin Harris to ask for a door to door survey of as many people as possible concerning the future of Rocket Park, and an open air gathering on the site for local residents to come along and have their say. Only then can an informative decision be made.

Three Jersey Gardens residents complained about the new Keepmoat compound being setup adjacent their homes. Workers cars parking along there road blocked them in so they could not get out to work in the mornings; large vehicles prevented dustbin lorries emptying their bins; and there was the danger ambulances/fire engines could not get through in an emergency. We agreed to raise these issues with with the site Manager, and invite him along to our next meeting.

Keepmoat Homes Ltd have an excellent first class record of customer relations across their portfolio of housing developments.

There was a lot of criticism of ASRA Housing Group who are continuously doing very little to support the new tenants of their new properties on Stonebridge Park. Some are experiencing significant problems, while ASRA are not listening and  refuse to visit Stonebridge to resolve issues due to the poor workmanship of Lovell’s, their contractor. Cracked brick walls, blocked drains, overflowing guttering. In one instance a badly fitted sewerage pipe led to smelling sewerage flooding into a couple’s living room & bathroom in the Beacon Hill House apartments. ASRA did next to nothing to support the couple, and offered them no compensation for their distress, discomfort and time while the problem was being resolved by Nottingham City Homes.

Another family described how they lived in the flat above the big main car park gates The gate hinges are attached to the main structure of the building. Many times a day as these gates open and close it causes significant noise and vibration inside their home. Other flats are also affected in Beacon Hill House. The CEO of ASRA, Matt Cooney is fully aware of this issue, yet ASRA have completely failed to do anything about it.

This exceptionally poor customer relations is very worrying, since ASRA will begin building 15 new houses in Limmen Gardens in November, and will also manage the new homes yet to be built on the Robin Hood Chase in St Ann’s. We will try again to invite a representative along to our next meeting scheduled for September 24th, and raise this subject with the Homes & Communities Agency.

There was an update from Robert Batey on the Defend Council Tax campaign; speeding vehicles & double parked cars on Beacon Hill Rise, Stonebridge Roads etc..

By Bill Robinson (chairman)

Richard Pearson (Secretary)

The Time the Place | Stonebridge Park

© Richard Pearson

In this week’s program we take a look at the history of the Stonebridge Park Estate in St Ann’s including old photographs of some of the streets, and buildings. Also the Defend Council Tax group held a successful meeting at the neighbourhood centre on the Robin Hood Chase this week

Please share this video among your friends, on face book & Twitter. You are also welcome to imbed it into your own website or blog. Visit our Our TV Video channel We are also on Daily Motion

If you like this week’s program you may also like The Time the place | St Ann’s Well.

If you have any ideas for news features or community group highlights then please Email us at stannsnews@yahoo.co.uk

If you have any ideas for news features or community group highlights then please Email us at stannsnews@yahoo.co.uk Also Email your comments to us at this address.

Until next week, Have a nice holiday, Good bye for now

Richard Pearson

Robin Hood Chase consultations delayed again

The Robin Hood Chase Regeneration Scheme is moving closer to reality. Project Officer Alan Parker said today that things were more exciting. Both the Developer Wilmot Dixon & the Asra Housing group were close to agreement. The next stage is for the Executive Board of the city council to be asked to give its approval for the submission of the planning application. However, this is unlikely to happen before 16th July. This means that consultations with St Ann’s residents and local businesses will not now take place until August at the earliest.

Award winning Developer to revamp Robin Hood Chase

Wilmott Dixon the Developer behind the successful St Ann’s Valley Centre is also the new developer for phase 2 of the ambitious scheme to regenerate the Robin Hood Chase nearby.

ASRA Housing association will manage the houses to be built on the Chase upon their completion.

City Council Project Manager Gill Callingham, who along side Alan Parker are managing the Robin Hood Chase redevelopment, said today “Wilmott Dixon had done such a nice job building the St Ann’s Valley centre, and they worked really well with the local community, we felt it was important to have them on board from the outset.”

She said Wilmott Dixon have now drawn up the new plans for the Chase, and are presently working with ASRA and the city council to finalise the number of homes to be built in order to make the scheme financially viable.

Once this is complete, and contracts signed, there will be wide ranging consultations with local shopkeepers, and the local community taking place. The planning application will to be submitted in July, and any demolition work on the redundant commercial units, and former health centre, will take place in the autumn around November 2013.

Willmott Dixon to revamp the Robin Hood Chase

© Richard Pearson

Updated With the closure of St Ann’s Post Office on the Robin Hood Chase in 16 weeks time the remaining shopkeepers have all said they too will close. After more than 40 years of trading, the Chase shopping precinct looks set to come to the end of its current lifespan.

Project Manager Alan Parker was on the Robin hood Chase on Thursday meeting with the shopkeepers to discuss their future. Many are asking for some form of compensation prior to closing down because they blame the City Council for the many of the problems which has led to the Robin Hood Chase shops closing over recent years.

The planning blunder of building the Chase neighbourhood Centre in the middle of the precinct which has seriously damaged their trade. Allowing the former Co-op store to sell newspapers & magazines, which led to the closure of the Newsagent. Granting an alcohol licence to the Co-op, which in turn caused the closure of the off-licence store.

In other news, Willmott Dixon has been disclosed as the developer behind the new plans for the Robin Hood Chase, while the ASRA Housing group, formerly Leicester Housing Association will manage the new homes on completion.  Alan Parker is presently waiting to sign contracts with Willmott Dixon & ASRA before holding a public consultation event on the Chase in the next few weeks. A planning application will be submitted in July.

This comes as no surprise because the present CEO of ASRA, Matt Cooney (Shown here), was once the city council Housing Manager based on the Robin Hood Chase a few years ago.

Stonebridge Park Friends to hold public a meeting

Friends of Stonebridge Park are to hold there next public meeting at the Blue Bell Hill Community centre on Wednesday evening.

Beginning at 7pm – 8:30pm, FOSP will elect its new committee members into office, before hearing the latest updates about Stonebridge Park, and St Ann’s, from the Police, Landlord Nottingham City Homes, and the City Council.

High on the agenda is the group’s road safety campaign, which was launched a month ago to try to do something about speeding motorists using Beacon Hill Rise Road as a ‘race track.’

The photo shows (Left to right) Lucy Auma Okia, Sylvia Miller, Richard Pearson, with Joan Ding in the foreground

There is also the significant problem of double parked cars along Beacon Hill Rise Road/Stonebridge Road. The obstruction of these vehicles means that local residents have no choice but attempt to cross these hazardous roads by walking between the cars. This is very dangerous, especially for all of the children living in the area who cannot be seen by fast moving traffic travelling down hill towards the city centre.

St Ann’s Councillor Dave Liversidge (Portfolio Holder for Housing, Adults and Community Sector) will also be attending the meeting.

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

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.

The night sky ~ December 2012

Sky Diary VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Winter’s lack of daylight is in some ways a restriction on outdoor activities, but it does provide at least one fun opportunity: the chance to enjoy great views of the night sky. Winter brings a new set of constellations to the Pacific Northwest, and cold, clear, moonless nights in the wilderness can offer some of the best chances to observe the stars all year (provided you’re dressed warmly).

The most prominent constellation in the winter sky is Orion, the Hunter. To spot him, look towards the southeast for a band of three stars—this is his belt. To the upper right of the belt is Bellatrix, a bright blue star representing Orion’s left shoulder (as he is facing us), and to the left is Betelgeuse, an old, enormous orange star that indicates his right shoulder. Below the belt hangs Orion’s sword, which might appear to be a bit fuzzy. This is because two of the three stars that make up the sword aren’t actually single stars—they are blobs of gas and stars called the Trapezium and the Orion Nebula. While it’s fairly easy to notice the fuzziness of these objects with the naked eye on a clear night, a pair of binoculars will help resolve their shape and reveal more subtle details.

Nearby are Orion’s two hunting dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor. Extend Orion’s belt to the left and look for Sirius, the head of Canis Major (the Great Dog) and the brightest star in the night sky. Directly above Betelgeuse, Orion’s right shoulder, is Procyon, the head of Canis Minor. Procyon, Sirius, and Betelgeuse together form the quasi constellation known as the Winter Triangle. If you again use Orion’s belt as a pointer and follow it to the right, you’ll find Aldebaran, another giant orange star, which is one of the brightest in the sky. Aldebaran appears to be following a cluster of stars—the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, after a Native American legend of young women who climbed into the sky to avoid angry bears. Pleiades is a good test of how clear the observing conditions are. Six stars are usually visible to the eye, but on a very clear night you might be able to pick out 9, and up to 14 with binoculars.

By Jeff Acquino

St Ann’s - tributes & candles for popular Co-op manager

A steady stream of St Ann’s residents, friends, and family members continue to visit a make shift shrine outside the former Co-op store on the Robin Hood Chase.  Some of those attending were tearful as they paid their respects to Germaine Edwards who lost his life on Saturday.

28 year old Germaine from Bilborough worked at the Coop for a number of years, and was very popular among his work colleagues and store customers.

 

The Co-op store closed down for the last time on 15th November after 40 years

Westminster Pub in closure mystery

There was great sadness in St Ann’s today after the Westminster public house suddenly closed down on Tuesday afternoon. Local residents said that a Police forensic unit was seen outside the pub with officers doing things inside the building, before the public house was ceiled up with steel shutters for the last time.

A spokesperson for Punch Taverns said: ‘The Westminster did not close because of any drugs or licensing related issues. The pub will remain closed for the foreseeable future and we are actively marketing the site for sale.’

Both veterans and locals held a Remembrance event at the Westminster on 11th November, which turned out to be a momentous occasion, and the pub was open as usual the day before its sudden closure.

Mr Alan Sedgemoor of Rushworth Close said “I was in the Westminster on Sunday and everything was fine. The Westminster Pub was well liked and was the last remaining pub in the heart of St Ann’s, now the community has been left with no community facilities, its a great shame.”

200 New Homes to be built on Stonebridge Park

More good new for Stonebridge Park this week, as the Nottingham Target Plan for new house building in the City says that over 200 new homes are to be built on our estate by 2018.

The Executive Board of Nottingham City Council meets on Tuesday 20^th November to discuss their three year Housing Nottingham Plan 2013-2015. This is a ‘draft’ copy of a joint report by Mike Andrews CEO of Nottingham Community Housing Association. Chair of Nottingham's Housing Strategic Partnership. And St Ann’s Labour Councillor David Liversidge, Portfolio Holder for Housing Delivery at Nottingham City Council.

This is a detailed and comprehensive 65 page document that covers every aspect of housing strategy in Nottingham, and is being presented to the Executive Board along side the Nottingham Target Plan to 2020.

The Stonebridge Park Estate gets a mention in both documents.

Recently Keepmoat Homes Ltd has been awarded ‘kick start’ funding from the Homes & Communities Agency under the ‘Get Britain Building Program’ to enable them to build 104 new homes on Stonebridge Park. Keepmoat are presently in discussions with the City Council as to the best and most economical way to provide these properties in the near future. However, Keepmoat are not mentioned by name, the Target Plan simply says “NCC in partnership with private developers.”

The Nottingham Target Plan is to deliver 11,500 new homes by 2020 across Nottingham, with 4,150 to be completed by 2014.

For the Stonebridge Park Estate the plan indicates that “61 new homes are to be provided by ASRA” (Leicester Housing Association) by March 2015. It also says that “Stonebridge Park phases 3 & 6 consist of 40 houses being built by Dec 2013 and 104 units by March 2017. NCC in partnership with private developers.”

However, the 2009 Master Plan for our Estate shows 165 additional new homes to be built here in the near future, including the 16 new units to be built by ASRA in 2013. So in reality the number of new social houses to be constructed is likely to be closer to 150 by 2018.

ASRA have just submitted a planning application to build 16 new houses in Limmen Gardens. If the application is successful they aim to begin building them next summer; the construction company being Lovell Partnerships.

In the Housing Nottingham Plan under the Regeneration Theme, it says “transforming Nottingham’s Neighbourhoods is identified as Strategic Priority 2 in the Nottingham Plan 2020 which aims to achieve:

“Greater balance…. in the city’s housing market with an increased choice of quality housing meeting the needs of a diverse population and enabling the city to retain more of its aspiring residents”.

“In Nottingham, the Stonebridge Park regeneration scheme has provided a good example of where housing replacement programmes have attracted regeneration benefits beyond the initial scope of the scheme. The scheme has created 10 apprenticeships for local young people while delivering 95 new homes. In addition, the programme has stimulated the development of a new extra-care facility, Albany House on an adjacent site. Private investor interest in the Carlton Road/Albany works near the southern end of the Stonebridge estate is likely to see this site brought forward for a mixed residential and retail development in the near future.”

Developer Blueprint (Igloo) intend to submit a planning application before Christmas, which includes building a new ASDA store on the Albany Works site, and new houses on the land presently occupied by the Co-op nearby.

By Richard Pearson

Work begins installing new parking areas

New off road parking areas VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

On the Stonebridge Park Estate, over the last week contractor WATES Living Space have been installing new off-road parking areas for residents living in Wray Close & Stonebridge Road.

WATES have also been putting in new cobbled footpaths to the front doors of the residences.

In Eastham Close the old wooden perimeter fences have now been taken down, while the old concrete sheds are going to be removed on Monday.

New low level iron railings, gates and off-road parking areas will be installed soon after.

Twelve new houses to be built in St Ann’s

Windmill Lane [St Ann’s]

As part of its 10 year program to build new social houses around the City, Nottingham City Homes has submitted a planning application to build 12 new houses on vacant land off Walton Avenue.

12/03076/PFUL3

The application was submitted to the Development Department on 13th November.

The development site is located between St Ann’s to the North and Sneinton to the south, with Colwick to the east. It is a former garage and parking area. However the buildings have been demolished and the area grassed with a tarmac path running through the centre. Large boulders have been placed behind the back edge of the pavement to prevent vehicular access to the site.

The application is for the development of twelve two storey dwellings on behalf of Nottingham City Homes in partnership with Nottingham City Council. Two of these dwellings have two bedrooms and the remaining ones have three bedrooms.

There is a public footpath to each side of the site, providing access between Windmill Lane and Walton Avenue. These are to be retained and the presence of the new dwellings will provide enhanced surveillance of the paths from the new dwellings.

Consultations with local residents have already begun, and the closing date for objections or comments is expected to be 15th December 2012.

Breaking News: Paddy Tipping is Nottinghamshire’s first ‘Police Crime Commissioner’

On completion of a second count, former Government Minster and Labour candidate Paddy Tipping has been elected as the first Nottinghamshire Police Crime Commissioner with 65,919 votes. Malcolm Spencer  came second with 52,789.  We don't have the spoilt total, but total rejected (includes spoilt) was 2,769.
Paddy Tipping will now take up his post on 22nd November.

Turnout for the election was low at just 16.77%, with 135,754 votes cast.

Read Mr Tipping’s election statement by clicking the ‘Read More link’ –>

Election statement:

Nottinghamshire needs a Labour Police & Crime Commissioner to stand up for our communities in the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour; not be a cheerleader for Conservative Government cuts to the police.
 
Paddy Tipping has lived and worked in the voluntary, public and private sector in Nottinghamshire for over forty years.  He’s well known in communities around Nottinghamshire, and his family live here too. That means that your concerns are his concerns and he’ll always speak up for you with a strong voice.
 
Paddy believes that residents need to feel safe and secure in their homes and streets.  We all want a better and safer environment for our children and families.
 
Paddy will:

•Fight for extra resources for our Police who face a budget cut imposed by the Conservative Government of £42 million or 20%.  Already nearly 300 Police Officers have lost their jobs. You can’t cut crime by cutting Police Officers.
•Improve and enhance neighbourhood policing by recruiting an extra 150 Police Officers backed by 100 more PCSOs. We need a regular uniformed presence on our streets.
•Work with local Councils and others to cut anti-social behaviour by 50%. He’ll clamp down on yobbish behaviour.
•Make sure that the victims of crime are treated as people, not cases, and properly fund Victim Support.
•Give extra priority and resources to domestic violence and crimes against women.
•Be fair and honest; protect Council taxpayers money and he won’t take a pay rise if elected to office.
 
Paddy Tipping will be the People’s Commissioner.  He will be a strong and effective leader of Nottinghamshire Police, while always listening to you and the communities he is elected to serve.
 
This statement prepared by Nicola Heaton, Agent, at 23 Barrett Lane, Attenborough, Nott's NG9 6AD
 
Contact details: Email: paddy4pcc@gmail.com
Website: www. paddy4pcc.co.uk