Exclusive: Big overhaul of NHS ‘mental health’ services in Nottinghamshire

In recent days we have been receiving Emails and other communications advising us of the closure of ward A23 at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre which caters for 20 very ill Dementia and Alzheimer's patients. The decision was taken at a special meeting of Nottingham Healthcare NHS Trust on Friday 5th October.

Our correspondents are deeply concerned that the Dementia patients on ward A23 will be moved onto the ‘Care in the Community Programme’ following the ward closure at the end of the year. This is because NHS staff will be unable to provide the necessary 24/7 care to look after the patients, and untrained family members will be unable to cope.

There are several points which have been brought to our attention which I have been able to verify with journalists at the Nottingham Post and the BBC, although the Nottingham Healthcare NHS Trust has so far not confirmed any of the reports. The Trust said it would issue a Press Statement on Wednesday afternoon, 10th October, and failed to do so.  I therefore contacted the Trust earlier today and have so far not heard anything from them either, although they promised to answer my questions.

I have therefore written to the Communications Team at the Nottingham Healthcare NHS Trust for clarification:

Dear Sir,

Closure of ward A23 at Nottingham Queen’s Medical Centre and other changes

I run a website in St Ann’s for the Stonebridge Park which covers various topics of interest to our readers.

I have received a number of Emails & phone calls this week regarding the closure of ward A23 at the Queens Medical Centre, and a number of our correspondents have highlighted several points.

Please can you confirm the following changes which I am advised where agreed at your committee meeting held on Friday 5^th October?

1.     At the Queens Medical Centre ward A23 – Dissolved (Closed) with the loss of 20 Beds for Dementia patients.

2.     Ward B50 – is being transferred to old Hasting ward (Highbury hospital) and is being renamed CHERRY Ward – (Functional Illness) and will be for Female patients only.

3.     That you are already finding places for A23 staff to be transferred too.

4.     That Bronte ward at Kirkby in Ashfield is currently closing and merging with Silver Birch ward at Highbury Hospital. And that this will be a Dementia Intensive Care Unit with 20 Beds

5.     That Daybook Remains the same, 20 beds – Functional Illness, at the CITY Hospital St Francis, which will become a Male only ward.

6.     That Bestwood Remains the same, 20 beds – Dementia, Organic at the CITY Hospital St Francis.

7.     Finally, can you please confirm that the A23 closure plan has to be submitted to the CQC Care Quality Commissioners for approval?

By Richard Pearson

Free cladding – the debate continues

The varying costs of external cladding for home owners on the Stonebridge Park Estate is still stirring up emotions especially as a small number are having the cladding carried out free of charge. I received an email from a lady living in Stonebridge Road yesterday who said:

“I contacted Nottingham City Homes with regards to the free cladding that some homeowners are having and I was told the reason these homes are getting it for free is because they haven't had any money from the council spent on their homes, i.e. new windows and doors, which means there is enough funding for them to have the cladding free of charge.

A home owner of Lytton Close “has not had any money spent on his house but he is not entitled to free cladding, this seems rather confusing for people don't you think?”

Which is very interesting, and another piece of the jigsaw.

Another concern is that the sums involved do not appear to add up. According to the following Report there are a total of 99 home owners on our estate, and therefore 161 rented properties eligible for the cladding work, making 260 in total.

On 25^th July 2012 Portfolio holder & local councillor Dave Liversidge agreed a decision with the City Council to make £99,000 available to help home owners to reduce the cost of their cladding before the August deadline. Add this to the total cost of the 16^th April decision and we have £3,006,144. If this money were shared equally among 260 residences, then it would provide £11,942 per property – enough to pay for the cladding work. Everyone should therefore be getting the cladding free of charge!

So why are home owners being asked to make an average contribution of £2.170 each?

If 99 Home owners were to pay this sum, it would amount to a £21,000 contribution on top of the £3,006,144 already made available for the cladding work!  Of course this does not include the installation of new double glazed doors etc.

Therefore another home owner living in Flewiitt Gardens this time, is to request information from both Nottingham City Council, and Nottingham City Homes, under the Freedom of Information Act to determine why some home owners are getting the cladding free of charge. This may also help to answer the query of whether home owners having to pay £2,170 are subsidising others paying less. And as there is enough money (£11,942) per household to allow everyone on our estate to get free cladding, why is it that home owners are having to pay over £2,000 each?

Click on the Report to open it in a new window.

Councillor Jon Collins: Leaders Key Decision meeting 16^th April 2012

Total NPower CESP funding £993,425

Total NCC funding £1,913,719

Total value of NCC decision: £2,907,144

Extracts from the Report

(1) CESP funding is only available until Dec 2012 and therefore the external enveloping works must be complete by October 2012 to ensure all funding can be claimed within the set time limit.

(2) PHD No 826 dated 21 March 2011 outlined the intention of providing all owner occupiers in the first phase a discount, with the remaining cost to be provided by the offer of a Property Appreciation Loan secured by a charge against the property. The discount and loan was to be funded from £251,000 of Regional Housing Board funding. However, none of the owner occupiers in the first phase have taken up the offer. As the CESP funding is now available for all properties on Stonebridge (NCC and Private) it is recommended that a discount be offered to all owner occupiers on Stonebridge estate. The £251,000 will therefore be divided equally between all 99 owner occupiers.

However, should there be a high take up on this, the amount of funding available will not allow for any additional assistance to be provided and therefore owner occupiers would themselves have to fund any costs that remain. The cost, following the CESP contribution and discount paid from the RHB fund is estimated to be an average cost of approx. £6,550 which includes the cost of new doors and windows. However negotiations with the contractor [WATES] and Npower may reduce this figure further.

Decision taken

• To approve the use of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital Programme as a contribution towards the cost of external enveloping works of all Nottingham City Council (NCC) properties on Stonebridge Estate

• To approve the of use of Community Energy Savings Programme (CESP) funds as a contribution to fund external enveloping works on all properties on Stonebridge Estate

• To amend the decision in Portfolio Holder Decision (PHD) 826 dated 21 March 2011 which offered owner occupiers a Property Appreciation Loan to be funded from Regional Housing Board (RHB) funding and instead use this fund to offer owner occupiers a discount towards the cost of external enveloping works.

By Richard Pearson

David Cameron humiliated over planning overhaul

Town hall chiefs last night vowed to kill off David Cameron’s plan to allow large extensions in back gardens.
 
They warned his free-for-all would encourage unsightly development and spark tension between neighbours.
 
In a huge blow to the Coalition’s flagship housing policy, the Local Government Association said councils would not implement the plans.

Homeowners can currently build a 10ft extension at a terraced property – and 13ft at a detached house – without planning consent.
 
Mr Cameron wants these limits doubled to 20ft and 26ft for a three-year period.
 
The move is needed to boost the economy, the Prime Minister says. But without the co-operation of town hall chiefs the policy is unlikely to be implemented.
 
Last year councils rejected outright only 22,000 of the 200,000 applications they received.
 
And the LGA, which represents more than 370 councils, fears that without such scrutiny these failed plans would now go ahead.

Read more in today’s Daily Mail

“You have done a outstanding job.”

Comment received earlier today from ‘Anonymous.’

“Hey there! This is my first visit to your blog!

We are a group of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us useful information to work on.
You have done a outstanding job! “

Thank you for visiting our website and for your kind words. We do our best to keep our posts up to date with the latest news, and produce regular video updates every week. Its all worth while when we receive nice comments such as your own. Lots of luck and best wishes with your own community project; and do continue to visit our site for some more useful ideas in the months ahead.

I have visited your website and find it impressive. We can see that you provide a variety of IT installations from CCTV systems to satellite TV., and provide a good value for money service.

By Richard Pearson

Fire breaks out in Maryland Chicken fast food outlet

I was caught up in a bit of drama yesterday afternoon while walking into town shopping with a friend.

Opposite the Victoria Centre three fire crews were called to Maryland Chicken in Lower Parliament Street at about 1.57pm after a blaze broke out in a fat fryer. The shop manager was taken to hospital with minor burns and smoke inhalation.

As I passed the shop was half full of smoke and firemen with breathing apparatus were entering the building.

Looking up white smoke was coming from the roof of the building with the occasional puff of thick black smoke.

A Nott's Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said the incident was soon brought under control and was being treated as accidental but an investigation is on-going.

Fire-fighters used breathing equipment to search the upper floors of the building to check no-one else was inside.

Police closed the road to traffic travelling towards the City for the duration of incident.

By Richard Pearson

Reporting antisocial behaviour: Change of guidance

Anti-social behaviour is a problem that can seriously affect the quality of life of local residents.

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 defines anti-social behaviour as:

Behaviour which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as the perpetrator. Anti-social behaviour can range from serious acts of violence and harassment, to more everyday incidents such a noise nuisance or vandalism of the estate or local area and may or may not amount to a criminal act.

Up until 4th October 2012 Nottingham City Council recorded incidents of ASB and passed on the information in confidence to the local patch manager to deal with it under the tenancy regulations, and the local beat manager.

However, On October 5th Nottinghamshire Police took over the role of dealing with Antisocial behaviour (ASB). Anyone reporting antisocial behaviour are now asked to phone the Police control room on 101, however, the ASB incident is not recorded by them or placed on file? Instead the victim is asked to phone their local beat Manager to report the incident.

In my experience of this new system, if as the victim of antisocial behaviour you do not report the incident to the Police on the day it takes place, the police officer in the control room questions why it was not reported to the Police at the time it happened, and proceeds to suggests that the ASB incident was insignificant!

Antisocial behaviour is all of the following:

• noise such as playing loud music or having loud parties
•verbal abuse, harassment, intimidation, threatening behaviour
•hate related incidents
•vandalism and damage to property
•nuisance from vehicle including mini-motors
•drug misuse and dealing
•alcohol related disturbances
•domestic abuse or violence
•physical violence (not domestic violence), including threat of violence
•litter, rubbish, fly-tipping
•garden nuisance, overgrown gardens and hedges
•misuse of public space, loitering, prostitution, sexual acts, kerb crawling
•other criminal behaviour not included in above categories

By Jonathan Green

New footpath closure notice issued

Dated 8th October 2012 the Department for Transport have today issued a notice of the closure of the public footpath at the bottom of Dennett Close Road which links Ferrers Walk on the east side with Dennett Close itself. At present the site is also occupied by garages, however, the 2009 master plan indicates that these garages are to be demolished to make way for a three bedroom house at some stage. I  therefore anticipate that the new developer Keepmoat Homes Ltd intend to build a new house in this location in 2013.

The closing date for objections for this footpath closure is 3rd November 2012.

By Richard Pearson

Cladding update: Day 72

84 days to completion on 31 December 2012.

I have today spoken to two home owners in Ferrers Walk who confirm that they have been given the cladding free of charge; however they are unhappy with the end result. They say that the horizontal boards make their homes look like a ‘cabin’ facing onto Stonebridge City Farm, and the contractor WATES completely failed to consult them before the work began. They say that the end result will lower the value of their homes.

One of the home owners who lives at the bottom of Dennett Close Road, told me today that her guttering was old & rotting, and has not been replaced, while neighbouring properties have been replaced. She was quoted a fee by WATES of £650 to replace the guttering/facia boards on her property which she cannot afford. The guttering will now remain rotted & will deteriorate significantly in the near future.

The video begins in Melville Gardens, then moves on to Limmen Gardens, Pym Walk, Flewitt Gardens, Ferrers Walk, Dennett Close, Lytton Close, Eastham Close, and Lytton Close & ends in Paxton Gardens.

Government promises your Council tax will not rise in 2013

George Osborne today vows to help hard-pressed middle-class families with a series of eye-catching tax breaks.

The Chancellor has emphatically ruled out any plans to impose ‘wealth taxes’ on high-earners, and pledged to freeze council tax and cap commuter fares in a package worth £500 million.

The move to rule out a wealth tax will delight the Tory Party faithful – but will infuriate their Liberal Democrat Coalition partners, who have warned that they will not sanction further austerity measures without fresh levies on the rich.

Rear more in today’s Daily Mail

Limmen Gardens petition

In August/September Limmen Gardens resident Sandra Maccoy organised a petition to try and save the green open space near her home as it was being utilised as a children’s play area and had never been developed since Wimpey's constructed the present Stonebridge Park Estate in 1974 following a major slum clearance of old St Ann’s.

This is the letter of reply to the petition from Project Manager Debra Ross at Nottingham City Council. Debra Ross informed residents at the recent meeting of SPTRA that ASRA expect to put in their planning application later this month.

Demolition of the Robin Hood Chase precinct to begin in January

Landlord Nottingham City Homes are presently finding new homes for the residents living on the Robin Hood Chase, St Ann’s, in preparation for demolition of the health centre, Locksley house,shop units, and library in 2013. The area will be redeveloped with new social houses and a small number of shop units.

A number of shop keepers presently occupying the commercial units are continuing to complain that no one from Nottingham City Council have been to visit them to explain what is going on, and they are being kept ‘in the dark.’

This is the revised time table for the Regeneration Scheme:

Locksley House
Re-housing residents - August 2012 to December 2012
Demolition - January 2013 to March 2013
 
Robin Hood Chase
Re-housing residents - December 2012 to March 2013
Demolition - April 2013 to September 2013

Police update

A body found in Mapperley Park this morning is believed to be missing man Lloyd McDevitt.

Mr McDevitt, 42, was last seen in St Ann’s on Tuesday 21 August and reported missing two days later.

A member of public found the body of a man in woodland off The Crescent shortly before 9am today (Thursday 4 October) and alerted police. It is believed to be that of Mr McDevitt but formal identification is still yet to take place. A Home Office post-mortem examination is also due to be carried out this afternoon.

By Nicola Parkin (Police, PCSO 8192, City South, St Ann’s)

The ‘new’ 2012 Limmen & Melville Gardens master plan

ASRA plan to build 16 new houses in Limmen Gardens, do you like their new plan shown here; do you have any concerns?

‘Click here’ to have your say using the ASRA Feedback form

Alternatively you can email them at enquiries@lha-asra.org.uk or call their Customer Contact Centre on 0116 257 6716.

The footpath closure Notices refers to the 2009 Outline Planning application which covers the whole of the Stonebridge Park Estate. However, ASRA have drawn up a new master plan for Limmen Gardens which was released only yesterday, which is shown above. Noticeable changes are the 3 new houses which will occupy the site of the former subway at the top of the plan, instead of four originally planned. No houses will be built on the land presently occupied by garages & a grass area in Melville Gardens, upper right, instead of the planned three new homes shown on the 2009 master plan. Also the orientation of the 4 new houses on the present grass children’s play area, lower, middle.

 

This aerial photograph taken in 2007 before the old flats were demolished, shows the same area for comparison.

Councillor Dave Liversidge Acts to assist home owners

In April power company N.Power signed a contract with Nottingham City Council to provide £950,000 under the CESP scheme towards exterior wall cladding of properties on the Stonebridge Estate. However home owners still had to make a contribution of £6,550 if they wanted the cladding work done to their own properties, while tenants of Nottingham City Homes are having the work carried out FREE of charge.

Since then local councillors & managers at Nottingham City Council have worked very hard to obtain additional funding to assist home owners.

At the next full meeting of Nottingham City Council on 9^th September an urgent decision taken by local St Ann’s councillor Dave Liversidge on 25^th July is to be agreed in full.

Councillor David Liversidge, who is the portfolio holder for adults, housing and the community, agreed to provide City Council funds of £99,000 to enable home owners to join the scheme by the August deadline, by reducing the amount home owners would have to contribute for the wall cladding.

Today the average cost of external wall cladding for home owners is just £2,170

Police crime figures for August 2012

1. Limmen Gardens: Other crime 1
2. Dennett Close: Criminal damage/arson 1; ASB 2
3. Lytton Close: ASB 2; other theft 1; Criminal damage & arson 1
4. Paxton Gardens: ASB 4
5. Magson Close: other crime 1
6. Kelverdon Gardens: criminal damage/arson 1
7. Nugent Gardens: ASB 1

Information from POLICE.uk website

ASB = Antisocial behaviour
Other crime = Includes fraud, forgery, and other miscellaneous crime.

 

 

“Thank you for your comment today, and your kind words about our website.

You are quite right, every crime is different with quite different circumstances and events. However, the crime maps published each month only record the ‘type’ of crime which has taken place around our estate, and not the circumstances.

While PC Dean has had a poke at our website to make his point, I think in reality he has concerns about the way the Police crime maps & figures are being presented on the POLICE.uk website.

I don’t think its a case of manipulating the crime figures.

We will continue to accurately reproduce the maps and crime figures relating to our Stonebridge Park Estate, because they are very informative to local residents living on our estate today “

Richard Pearson

The Starry Sky: October 2012

Video update: 1st October 2012

With the new street lighting being connected up below ground level, and work continuing on the roads & pavements around the new buildings, the estate looked more incomplete than usual, which is shown in this video presentation. City Council Housing Development Manager, Mark Lowe, informed local residents at the recent public meeting of SPTRA, that the construction works by Lovell’s on Phase 1a & Phase 1b will be completed at the end of October.

About 14 days ago opportunist thief's walked into Beacon Hill House apartments, and stole a dozen new refrigerators and ten electric cookers, loaded them onto a lorry and drove away. There were no security personnel on duty at the time, and contractors simply forgot to luck up after themselves!  Two security guards are now on duty at any one time doing 12 hour shifts to ensure this kind of theft never happens again.

Podcast: Recent meeting of local residents association

External house cladding debate continues

Mark Lowe updates residents on estate improvements

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stonebridge Park Tenants & Residents Association held a public meeting on 26 September, which was well attended by locals from all over the estate. It was a chance for them to catch up on the latest information of what has been happening around the estate over the last six month. The meeting was chaired by Laura Summers (Shown here), with Treasurer Ben Rowson at her side, and assisted by Tenant & Leaseholder Involvement Officer Afzaal Nawaz.

From Nottingham City Council Housing Development Manager Mark Lowe updated residents on the External works to 51 houses which includes off road parking areas, perimeter iron railings & fences. The proposed ASRA development of 16 new houses to be built in Limmen Gardens, and Keepmoat Homes Ltd who have just acquired government funds to build a further 104 new homes around Jersey Gardens.

For Nottingham City Council Debra Ross is the Project Manager for the Limmen Gardens Scheme, and Michelle Walker is the Programme Delivery Manager for ASRA.

Mark Lowe then opened up a discussion on the whole subject of external wall cladding. For Nottingham City Homes the Project Manager is Derek Roberts, and Christine Neatby is the Tenant Liaison officer for WATES, the company doing all the work.

Podcast 1: Duration 14m 46s ---- Podcast 2: Duration 13m 09s

By Richard Pearson

Podcast: Work on new ASDA store to begin in August 2013

PODCAST Duration: 5m : 17s

Alice Rossi from Blueprint Regeneration travelled down especially from Manchester to attend the latest meeting of Stonebridge Park Tenants & Residents Association, and received a warm welcome.

Talking about the planned new ASDA store on the former Wright & Dobson land in Carlton Road, St Ann’s, Alice advised residents.

“We have just carried out the site investigations, they have not been fully analysed as yet but there is nothing unexpected.

“We have had some problems getting into the former Co-op site to see how much of a hole there is underneath the store that needs to be filled in before any new houses are built their.

“We have also carried out pre-planning consultations with planners & the City Council to make sure that there are no traffic problems at the new store’s main entrance on Carlton Road; no cuing up going into or out of the car park, that sort of thing.

“We hope to submit a planning application at the end of October for the new ASDA store along with an outline planning application for the new houses on the former Co-op site nearby.

“If we are successful in being granted planning permission early next year, we then have to apply for the road closure of Seymour Street; the street that runs down between the old Co-op store and the site of the new Asda Store.

“Therefore we hope to begin construction work on site in August 2013.

“We are also talking to ASRA with regards to the planned new houses on the former Co-op store site. We plan to build the necessary social houses on the land, and ASRA will buy these off us for rental to new residents wanting to move into the area. There are various options available, and some of the houses will be of 4 bedrooms.

“Upon completion, the ASDA store will create 200 local jobs, both full and part-time, which is good news for the St Ann’s area.”

Phase 1 Demolition of Robin Hood Chase shops is approved

Planning Application Ref: 12/02429/PADA

On September 24^th Nottingham City Council was granted planning permission to demolish the commercial buildings and dwellings above 2 - 10 Robin Hood Chase. The retail premises include the former St Ann’s Housing office & nearby pizza parlour, along with the current Co-op Chemist and General Food Store which are still trading.

Nottingham City Homes are presently relocating the residents living in Loxley House near the bottom of the Robin Hood Chase and finding them new homes elsewhere in the city. The next stage will be to relocate the residents living in the maisonettes above the shops beginning in November.

The demolition of the former Health Centre and commercial buildings on the Robin Hood Chase is expected to begin in March 2013, followed by Loxley House.

The area will be redeveloped with a number of new social houses on the site of the shops, and new retail premises will to be built in place of the health centre.