Town Centre Watch

Jamie Shaw working hard for Stourport and Areley Kings.

At its meeting on 1st July, Stourport Town Council accepted my motion to write to the Head Offices of “Blockbuster Videos” and “Threshers”, to request that their shopfronts be repainted. This action is requested because it is an obvious way to improve the town centre’s appearance. However, I made it clear that the more complex matters involving other agencies’ participation in town centre refurbishment must not be forgotten and that it would be reasonable to expect feedback from them by the time of our next meeting, in August.

Meanwhile, I am pleased to hear that it is proposed to re-form the Stourport Town Centre Forum and to accept the invitation to be involved.

New Police Presence on Walshes Estate Welcomed

Jamie Shaw working hard for Stourport and Areley Kings.

A planning application to convert 36 Old Ford Walk into an office for local officers has been passed. I welcome this development, which I have been advocating for the last couple of years, albeit not at this precise location. The office will not be for public access, only administration. However, as I see it, there will be at least two beneficial effects. Because there will be less need to return to Stourport Police Station, officers will be in their beat area for longer. Also, their daily presence here, right in the centre of the estate, is bound to improve contact with local residents, which should benefit everyone.

This little local development is, of course, part of a wider Labour Govenment strategy to strengthen neighbourhood policing. Labour is fighting crime and the causes of crime.

Jamie is marking for the AQA exam board

Jamie Shaw working hard for Stourport and Areley Kings.

Jamie says:

“I am an examiner for the AQA exam board. During the “marking season”, June-early July, I will not be providing a weekly comment.”

Jamie will be back at the end of July.

Graffiti

Jamie Shaw working hard for Stourport and Areley Kings.

At the June meeting of Stourport Town Council, I was able to inform fellow councillors about the modest progress made so far to address this problem in the town centre. A working party has been established, drawing membership from the district council, (both members and officers), the police and Stourport Forward. Some of the most prominent and/or most offensive examples of graffiti have been removed, but, it seems to me, the working party’s “rules of engagement ” are far from comprehensive. I have asked a series of detailed questions, to be pursued by the Town Clerk, with the intention of a report-back at the council’s July meeting.

Lighting of Footpath, Betty Dawes Hill

Jamie Shaw working hard for Stourport and Areley Kings.

The above issue was brought to my attention during the recent election campaign. I have now established the nature and extent of the concerns expressed by residents in nearby Ryvere Close. As a first step, I am requesting a meeting on-site with a county council lighting engineer. Also, I expect to be making contact with the two landowners, The Community Housing Group and Wyre Forest District Council, to request a cut-back of the tree canopy.

John Wardle MBE

The death of John Wardle, at the age of eighty-six, gives cause to remember his nearly-sixty continuous years of distiguished public service in Worcestershire. John served as a Labour councillor at all levels of local government and as a magistrate. Amongst other forms of recognition, he was awarded an MBE and served as Chairman of Hereford and Worcester County Council. Labour colleagues will remember John as a charismatic public speaker and an independently-minded councillor who was not afraid to step out of line to support what he believed to be right. However, the Labour Party was only the second-most important feature in John’s life, after his family. Our thoughts are with them at this sad time.

Action against Anti-Social Behaviour

Jamie Shaw working hard for Stourport and Areley Kings.

Labour’s law-and-order policies are working! “Anti-Social Behaviour” is now an established phrase in the English language, thanks to Labour legislation. Such selfish, boorish behaviour was difficult to tackle before Labour came to power in 1997. Now, in Areley Kings, there are three options for taking action, namely PACT meetings, police CSOs and Community Housing street wardens.

The current episode with which I am dealing is a good example of nuisance that would not have been addressed pre-1997. It involves intrusion of privacy and damage to gardens in two streets off Redstone Lane. Although minor in terms of law-breaking, it represents a major deterioration in the quality of life of affected residents. I have chosen to route the request for “something to be done” through Wyre Forest Community Housing’s street wardens. I have supplied evidence on behalf of residents and expect the wardens to curb the nuisance quickly.

Action against Graffiti

Jamie Shaw working hard for Stourport and Areley Kings.

Stourport Town Council meets on June 3rd. I am pleased that, under the “Town Centre” agenda item, progress can be reported, not least because of recent Labour publicity on election leaflets and in the press. The progress is modest; a district council officer has been given responsibility for co-ordinating graffiti removal and some of the worst locations have been cleaned.

Obviously, the above is good, but not enough. I shall ask council for the identification of precise responsibilities, procedures and ongoing resources and propose ways forward for town and district councils’ participation.

Allotments

Jamie Shaw working hard for Stourport and Areley Kings.

One aspect of environmental debate which has had a real impact in Stourport is food self-sufficiency. Many more people are now interested in growing their own fruit and vegetables and have enquired about the availability of an allotment. Allotments, provided in Stourport by the town council, have been a Cinderella-issue for a long time. I have requested the chairman of the Parks Committee to put them as an agenda-item on our first meeting of the new municipal year. The council should be doing all it can to encourage green self-sufficiency.

PACT Priority

Jamie Shaw working hard for Stourport and Areley Kings.

The PACT meeting of 19th May, at the Walshes Community Centre, will hear a report-back from me on road surfaces of particular concern in Areley Kings. I took on this responsibility at the March meeting, because the locations mentioned by residents had already been identified to Highways by me. The main locations were on Windmill Bank, in Hermitage Way, in Redstone Lane, and at, and near, the junction of Areley Common with Dunley Road. I will be able to report that all but one of them, the Areley Common/Dunley Road junction, have been repaired, not by the filling-in of potholes, but, in each case, as suggested by local residents through my representations, by the laying of a new patch of road surface.