School playing fields allotments

John Fareham and John Abbott have arranged for a consultation exercise to be carried out into the possibility of setting up further allotments on the former Newland  Avenue Primary School playing fields.

Residents will, in the near future, be receiving a letter from the Council seeking to ascertain whether they would be interested in creating a community allotment site on the old school playing fields. If residents wanted to go ahead with the scheme it would thus become the third phase of our attempt to increase the number of allotments in the ward; some vacant Housing Department land on County Road North and parts of the Bakers Field land behind Huntley Drive have already been put into use on this role and, whilst the supply of available land for this purpose is of course very limited indeed, as an allotment holder myself I want more local residents to have access to an allotment of their own if they want one.

Cropton Park half term activities

John Fareham and John Abbott arranged for informal activities for children to be available on Cropton Park during the school half term break.

This is of course not the first time that we have acted on our long term priority of increasing the availability of activities for children in the area. We know that half-term is not the broadest possible canvas on which to plan such activities, but we have high hopes that children in pursuit of something more interesting than several days with a games console might have found the activities we arranged to have laid on for them of use and interest.  Given that Bricknell ward is not exactly overwhelmed with large amounts of open play space, it seemed and still seems to us sensible to get expert help in ensuring that children looking to enjoy their half-term breaks, last month and in the future, to the full should have all the help we can manage to arrange in doing exactly that.

County Road North and National Avenue cyclists on the pavement

John Fareham and John Abbott are working with the Police to resolve issues with cyclists riding on the pavements of County Road North and National Avenue.

As regular readers will of course know we have been working on this matter for a considerable time and Police Community Support Officers have now been asked to undertake initiatives on the question of cycling on the pavement which has been identified as being a particular nuisance around the County Road North – National Avenue junction. Police officers and Council officers from the local Area Team will also be taking part in work on this issue. Cycling on the pavement is illegal for a reason and both of us have been buzzed by cyclists who really should know better. We hope therefore that, whilst not a solution to this problem that will last for all eternity, a joint Council-Police initiative on this issue should at least go some way towards reducing the problem.

Barrington Avenue street lights

John Fareham and John Abbott are arranging for the replacement of Barrington Avenue street lights.

As previously mentioned the lamp standards date originally from 1930 and are thus sufficiently past their sell-by date to figure in the corporate centre’s own plans for a citywide replacement of street lights with LED lamps. However, in the light of the concerns expressed by some local residents about the effect of removing the current lamp standards from an aesthetic standpoint, we have elected to find the money for suitable replacement lamp standards. Whilst we have yet to agree with the officers on a specific design of lamp standard, those who have cause to look at the new lamp standards we had installed on Allderidge Avenue may be ahead of the game in speculating what the new lamp standards might look like.

Cropton Park play equipment

John Fareham and John Abbott are arranging for the replacement of old and damaged play equipment on Cropton Park.

This of course reflects the importance we attach to adequate play equipment being provided for the use of local children.  We have also asked the officers to arrange for the prevention of vehicles getting onto the playing field as this is as much a maintenance issue in its own way as problems withy vandals contributing to the disrepair of the play equipment. We have also received a undertaking that, as soon as the proposals have been agreed upon, we will be furnished with copies for our consideration. At that stage in the process we hope to be able to provide local residents with details of exactly what is proposed and to invite residents to express their opinions.

Fairfax Avenue dustcarts

John Fareham and John Abbott have been working to resolve issues with malfunctioning dustcarts dropping quantities of refuse down Fairfax Avenue tenfoots.

We received reports from local residents to the effect that dustcarts were Leaking large amounts of rubbish  down local tenfoots in a manner not conducive to the safety of children and others.  We therefore referred the matter to the officers as soon as we heard about it and were subsequently informed that a smaller Scarab street cleaning vehicle had been sent to clear up the mess and that the vehicle used for emptying bins had been recalled to the depot for repairs. This may or may not be a one-off problem, and the vehicle concerned may equally well be repaired completely, but we remain concerned about the possibility of a recurrence of these problems and will of course refer them to the officers for action again if they recur.

Future YPI planning application

John Fareham and John Abbott report that preliminary discussions have taken place regarding a possible planning application to build further accommodation on the former YPI sports grounds.

No formal planning application has been submitted as yet but preliminary details suggest that the plan will be for what the prospective applicants call “a small complex of high quality, single occupancy accommodation aimed towards professionals working in the city, sports scholars or post graduate students”. The proposals before us received a less than warm welcome from those members present, some of whom, including myself, feel that this would be a more sustainable sporting venue if it drew on the funds available from national sporting bodies to upgrade the facilities instead of embarking on the slippery slope towards becoming a housing estate by stealth.