Cropton Park play equipment restoration

John Fareham and John Abbott have committed funds for the replacement of Cropton Park play equipment.

At this time of year councillors begin to be aware that the corporate centre are out to snaffle any remaining ward funds for the current year that haven’t been either spent or earmarked as all but spent. Thus projects that might have been on hold for fear of spending too hefty a portion of our meagre annual allocation of ward funds can suddenly come off the back burner and be implemented.  The new equipment – of which more details should follow later when it is on order – forms part of our ongoing commitment to providing sufficiently good play equipment for local children and – in the face of repeated idiotic attacks on such equipment by vandals – to ensuring such equipment stays in working order. 

Cottingham Road grass verges

John Fareham and John Abbott are taking steps to secure protection for Cottingham Road grass verges.

At this time of year, when the corporate centre is apt to set greedy eyes on such local ward funding as remains, regardless of whether, in accordance with the ruling group’s criteria,  there was ever enough of it to start with, we are more than ever keen to find ways of disbursing such funds of direct benefit to residential amenity. We are therefore consulting with the officers to determine the most effective means of protecting the grassed area between local residents’ houses and the pavement.  It goes without saying that when we have detailed proposals on the preferred means of realising this objective we will of course report further on this matter.

Briarfield Road traffic markings

John Fareham and John Abbott report that the markings for the Briarfield Road traffic scheme are expected to be in place by the end of March.

This is of course the culmination of a consultative process that, by design, has been longer and more thorough than the basic method of consultation required by law. We wanted to be sure that this was what local residents actually wanted.  The target date of the end of March is of course subject to potential delays such as the weather, or the other work the contractors are scheduled to do first, but at least we now know almost exactly when this process will be completed.

Windsor Road pavement works

John Fareham and John Abbott report that the programme of slurry sealing that will include Windsor Road pavements was due to start on Monday January 30^th.

John Fareham says, “This news is of course most welcome. We have always been honest with residents and said, because of the sums involved, that the chance of the path being rebuilt was very low.  However, we agreed it needed attention and so we pressed for the inclusion in the slurry sealing programme. It is of course not the end of our concern with Windsor Road pavements – no repair, however extensive, lasts forever – nor indeed of our concern with the state of pavements nearby and elsewhere. The contractors’ schedule of works forwarded to us by the officers suggests that Windsor Road will be done from Friday 10th to Friday 17th but this may of course be subject to change.

Plans for more allotments

John Fareham and John Abbott are working to secure another “model allotment” site on the former Newland Primary School Playing fields adjacent to Goddard Avenue.

Meetings have been held with a social-enterprise company who plan to roll out a number of such allotments across the city and who are hopeful of being able to secure a source of external funding for part of the cost of the work. If they can succeed in doing this we will be able to meet the rest of the cost through our own ward funds. This would form part of our long running commitment to increasing and preserving allotment provision and also happens to harmonise with the efforts John and others have been making to have the Council raise its game in matters relating to the alleviation of poverty – as all who have had them will know, home grown vegetables taste better but they are also cheaper.