JANUARY UPDATE
PEMBRIDGE, SHOBDON, LYONSHALL, & TITLEY GROUP PARISHES
From your local County Councillor Roger Phillips Tel: 01544340269 / 01432260046 Email:rjphillips@herefordshire.gov.uk
Dear All
Happy New Year to everyone and hope you all survived the festive celebrations. All the indications are that 2011 will be a challenging year but a memorable one with the Queens Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics Games. Our Diamond day in Herefordshire will be on the 11TH July at King George V playing fields and we will be hosting at the Royal National College at Point 4 several of the Blind football teams and possibly a couple of the smaller national teams prior to their attending the paralympics
Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II 2nd to 5th June
London Olympics July 27th to August 12th
Paralympics Games August 29th to September 9 th
Three Choirs Festival Hereford July 21st to 28th
Thankfully the weather continues to be mild compared to last year but I will remind you if you see and need to report a pothole please either ring01432261800or emailstreets@herefordshire.gov.uk. Should the winter weather close the schools the council has launched a new automatic system that alerts parents to closures or disruptions. Schools can put information directly on the website and control the message they wish particularly if it affects certain groups or part of the school.www.herefordshire.gov.uk/schoolclosures.
Prime Minister visits Hereford
Last Thursday David Cameron visited Hereford`s new Enterprise Zone at Rotherwas. Apart fromunannouncedvisits totheSAS camp this is the first PM visit to the County for 20 years. He was impressed by the progress we have made and the joint management with the private sector. We have had 37 expressions of interest in the new Zone from companies including two overseas companies one of which who is looking to establish their European HQ. Work continues on the demolition of old military buildings and the flood scheme.
Road Safety in the Ward
Over the last ten years several severe accident blackspots on the main roads in my parishes has received attention. Sometimes this involves new road surfacing or markings, bollards or marker posts. Three of the most severe have seen significant reductions ; A44 bends at Cotmore which saw 9 serious accidents in 5 years prior to works have been reduced to 3. A44 Moseley Corner had 10 and since the improvements no serious accidents and Monie Corner also on A44 outside Pembridge no accidents where there were previously 9.
Speeding still is major concern and as you will recall fromtheOctober Update the Police have prioritised Shobdon, Pembridge and Lyonshall for speed enforcement. They will also be enforcing on other sections of the A44 this Summer. To date Pembridge is my only Parish Council to take up the use of Speed Indicator Device ( SID ). However Titley has agreed this month to also apply for the installation of a SID. These devices flash your speed at you and records it; they are put up one month in three and all 25 sites in the County show a reduction in speeding.
Turbine Movements
Residents living alongside the A44 in Pembridge will know from the leaflet I delivered that a proposal was being put forward to transport wind farm turbines though the village and the A44 in my ward to New Radnor. There are 24 movements in all involving vehicles up to 42m long and the heaviest component weighing 125 tonnes. Following a meeting with the consultants I am pleased to tell youthey have now dismissed the Pembridge route in favour of going though Eardisley!
Although I very pleased that they have dismissed the idea of going though Pembridge I am supporting my neighbouring councillor in opposing their use of Herefordshire road network. We understand that a strategic plan is being concluded between the Welsh Assembly and contractors on the movement of all wind farm traffic for development areas in Wales and we need to understand the implications for Herefordshire.
I am also keeping a watching brief on how electricity from these Turbines links into the National Grid. The Station at Bullocks Mill is our local electricity generator and talk of underground cabling from Turbines to Bullocks Mill may not be the only alternative.
Council Budgets
The current 2011/12 budget of £146 million is currently projecting an overspend largely due to overspends in social care budgets of£ 1.5 million. This is due to increase in residential and nursing care placements and an extra 19 new residential and nursing placements in Mental Health budget. Looked after children costs are running over 800K above budget. At the end of October there were 15 children in residential placements and 49 in agency foster care an increase in two in each category compared to August . Savings are being made in other services and refinancing packages to ensure a balanced budget is achieved at the end of March.
In preparation for the 2012/13 budget the Council is proposing to take the Government grant equivalent to 2.5% council tax increase to ensure that Council Tax bills are frozen for a second year. The Police and Fire authorities have been offered grants of 3% so the only increase on your Council Tax Bill this year will be that imposed by the Parish Council.
Following the £10 million reductions in 2011/12 a further £7 million will have to be found next year and this will mean more job losses in the council, increased charges and reorganisation of some services and the loss of others.
I will update you with more details next month.
Roger
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