ALVECHURCH PARISH
COUNCIL
NEWSLETTER
SPRING 2008
Welcome to the Spring
2008 edition of the Your Council, your
voice Alvechurch is one of the
largest parishes within the Bromsgrove area and it includes Bordesley, Hopwood and Rowney Green. With a council of 12 members
the hub of its activity is at the Parish Office, the Square Alvechurch.
This is the location of the Parish Clerk and her administrative assistant
and it is the main calling point for residents on a variety of local
government and other matters about public services. The Council also
employs a caretaker to look after its community buildings and playing
fields (Hopwood, Rowney Green and the Meadows) and
has a contract with a Lengthsman for a variety of small maintenance and
improvement jobs to hedges, footpaths etc around the Parish. From other
articles in this newsletter readers will see that the Council has
responsibilities for among other things footpath lighting, play equipment,
aspects of traffic calming and also for special projects that arise from
time to time e.g. The Bordesley bus shelter and the Meadows football pitch
drainage. To meet its requirements and priorities the Parish Council has
set its budget requirement for 2008/2009 as £114,000. Alongside this and funded
separately is a figure for special projects of approx £18,750. Through
prudent financial planning and management the Council will have a surplus
from the current year of approx £36,000 to carry over to the next. When that
figure is deducted from the budget of £114,000 for the 2008/09 year, a sum
of £78,000 is needed to get a balance of income with expenditure. This sum
known as the precept is collected through the Council Tax arrangements, and
eventually reaches the Parish Council.
Parish council costs - where your money
goes
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New
Schools, New Road Safety Issues. It’s a very
exciting time for pupils and staff as they prepare for life on the new
schools’ site from early April 2008. The Parish Council sends them its best
wishes and its congratulations to all those involved the work on this very
important project. During the construction work the Council has kept a close
watch on many aspects of traffic calming so important to children’s
safety. Most recently we have insisted
(now successfully) that the controlled crossing by the vets surgery should be
working in time for the schools’ opening. Some
matters remain like the need for more fencing near to the service road
opposite the new school entrance (to prevent parents or children crossing at
a dangerous point) and more measures to prevent car parking on either side of
Birmingham Road between the school and the village centre. If parents do park
on this road to collect their children at the end of the school day, the
hazards increase for other children nearby. The very
low kerbstone on this road in front of houses
number 6 to 28 may give an incentive to park partly on the pavement and on
the road. The pavement there has been widened so that more people can safely
walk along it. The police do intend to take action to discourage
inconsiderate or illegal parking. |
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Car
Parking in the Village Centre - what’s next? With car parking spaces by the shops, in the Tanyard Lane
car park and currently, by arrangement for much of the day, at the Sports and
Social Club, Alvechurch is well served.
That could soon change if the agreement with the Sports
and Social Club comes to an end. The result would be more pressure on the
spaces by the shops, where some are parking way beyond the official time
limits, and greater demand for the spaces at Tanyard Lane. This could be
happening when there will be an expected greater use of car park spaces at
the end of the school day, given the controls on street parking that will
probably be in place near to the new schools entrance on Birmingham Road.
Why isn’t
the Parish Council meeting the Sports and Social Club requirement for an up
front payment of £20,000 for the resurfacing of the Club’s car park and so
keep it available as a day time public parking area? The answer is that this
sum is not in the Council’s budget for 2008/09, a budget that has already
increased substantially over last year to cover other priority projects
mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter. The
discussions with the Club are not over as far as the Parish Council is
concerned. Other routes to find the money for the resurfacing work will be
looked at and quickly. Local businesses may have part to play in contributing
to the costs. However the issue does seem ripe for the Alvechurch Neighbourhood Group to resolve with its wide - ranging
membership including County, District, Parish and Police representatives
along with Parish residents. |
No
MUGA at the Meadows
The
recent consultation organised by Bromsgrove
District Council on the preferred location for a Multi Use Games Area (MUGA)
presented the case for either Swans Length or the Meadows. In fact the
Alvechurch Playing Field Trust who administer the Meadows (or more correctly,
The Wiggin Memorial Playing Field) had never given their agreement for it to
be considered as a possible site. However, other things are happening at the
Meadows. As a
water meadow this lovely parkland does give special challenges in making it
suitable as a sports and play area. The Trust formed by Alvechurch Parish councillors, residents and Vicar manage the maintenance
and improvements to the playing fields and to the play equipment. They
prepare a detailed annual work schedule and in the May – October period
community service work parties arranged by the Probation service carry some
of this out. The caretaker and the parish council’s Lengthsman do other work
during the year. During
this year two special projects are underway: The first
is to lay substantial drainage beneath the football pitches so that they can
be used more often in the winter months. The Football Foundation is being
asked for support through its grant scheme and other funding possibilities
are being explored. The Parish Council has made a budget allocation of £3,000
towards the overall costs. The second
using an allocation of £10,000 from the Parish Council is to repair the soft,
protective surfaces under the play equipment for younger children and to
repaint the equipment. |
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Making more use of the Alvechurch
Parish Plan The Parish Council adopted the Parish Plan in September
2005. Created by an independent steering group it was based on a substantial
data and opinion gathering exercise involving many parishioners. At the time it was a major piece of work
with important findings and proposals. Recently a small group of councillors reviewed the whole Plan and its action points
grouped in to five sections: crime and disorder; built environment; natural
environment; education leisure and young people, and community. They considered
that the focus of the plan and its main messages were still valid as key
guidance for the Council in its work to develop and improve Alvechurch
Parish. Inevitably due to the passage of time the action points in the
original plan might benefit from being refreshed .The review group proposed
that the Parish Plan be brought firmly back to the Council’s agenda and that
meetings in the period from March to July be used to re-examine and refresh
the action points in each section. The Parish Council has accepted this
proposal.
That
process is underway and began at the last Parish Council meeting with an
initial debate on crime and disorder in Alvechurch. Further work will be done
on this topic with relevant partners like the Police and District Council,
before a refreshed set of action points will be brought back to the Council
for its adoption. This process as it rolls forward and covering each section
will mean our Parish Plan is a living document. Alvechurch
residents are very welcome to come to Parish Council meetings over the next
few months and speak on aspects of the Plan under discussion at a particular
meeting. Alternatively let us have written comments on any part of the Parish
Plan. On this and any other matter in
the newsletter please contact the Clerk at the Parish office. |
Places
to meet and to play
The
Parish council runs Hopwood Community Centre and Rowney Green Pavilion for
the benefit of Alvechurch residents. The Hopwood
centre is now fully functioning after serious internal damage was done last
December during a young person’s birthday party. The Centre is the base at
weekends for many junior football teams and also for a variety of clubs and
societies who meet during weekdays or in the evenings. Maintained to a high
standard by the Councils own Caretaker, it is the usual venue for meetings of
the parish council itself! With hire
cost of £5.50 per hour there are some times in the week when the centre could
be available to groups or clubs looking for a meeting place. Rowney
Green Pavilion was initially opened last summer and it too has a growing
number of sports clubs using its facilities. Work has now finished on both
the flooring and heating in the Pavilion. This will increase its use as an
all year round base for sport and indoor activity. The Pavilion might also be
used for some meetings during the times when the nearby and larger Peace Hall
is undergoing repair and improvement following the very successful fund raising
efforts led by Rowney Green residents. Information
about these two parish facilities can be obtained from the Parish Council
office. |
|
Graffiti
- who cares? Who cares about graffiti in Alvechurch? Year 6 pupils at Alvechurch Middle school do and sufficiently to
make them write fifteen letters to the Parish Council with their concerns.
It may have been a classroom exercise but their arguments about the graffiti
problem were well put. The points made included the harm it can cause to
people and the environment, the costs of cleaning and the impact on the way
the village looks and on what visitors think about it. Fortunately
the problem in our village is not huge. Where it does happen in the
village centre is currently being discussed in the Council. A
project around a clean up of the bus shelter could be the result. |
Litter
- facing the facts
There are
times when Alvechurch village centre is covered in a sea of litter. It causes
real concern to a lot of residents and also to the Parish Council given its
very limited powers to act. The
Parish Council does not employ a litter picker and there are insurance issues
if any of its staff should take part in litter collection. Bromsgrove Council
staff come to the Village three times a week to empty litterbins and to clear
litter from the roads. However several of the areas where litter settles in
the village are private property, for example the Square and the Sports and
Social Club. The shops and the Club may have a bigger part to play in dealing
with the problem. Fortunately
the Village Society has organised successful litter
collections by volunteers. Councillor Peter McHugh is the Council’s link with
the Society on this matter and he is also in contact with other Parish
Councils about how they are managing litter. |
From
last time brief notes follow giving an
up-date on key topics in the last newsletter
Bordesley bus shelter. The Parish council has pushed ahead
and organised its construction. The base is ready
and the shelter will be finished very soon, perhaps by the time this
newsletter is published. Unfortunately Worcestershire County Council will not
now be installing a central island to assist people crossing the busy main
road to and from the bus stop. Allotments
in the Parish. A few helpful suggestions have been made about
possible sites for new allotments. These are unlikely to go ahead because the
landowners may have thought (wrongly) that allotments meant long- term change
of use. Short-term use can be arranged and offers of possible sites are very
welcome. Meanwhile the number of parish residents who would like an
allotment, grows.
Footpath
lighting. Following the survey of the 140 lights run by the Parish Council about
20 may need replacement. At a cost of around £1500 for each light standard
the Council has asked for further tests on the 20 to ensure that priority
remedial work is done where it is most needed. This renewal programme could be very costly for the
Parish Council over the coming years- see the budget article in this edition
of the newsletter. The Council is unlikely to be able to afford to install
extra footpath lighting any where in the Parish.
Alvechurch Neighbourhood
Group (ANG). Parish Council representatives met Bromsgrove
District Council’s chief Executive at the end of January to explore the
purpose of the ANG and aspects of the way it works.
An independent review of the two groups (in Rubery and in Alvechurch) has
already been done and its findings will be discussed soon at a meeting for
interested parties. Meanwhile we urged that the different types of ANG membership should be made clearer along with more
information given about group meetings and agendas. The Parish council wants
to work with others on the group but with a stronger emphasis on ‘making
things happen’ in and for Alvechurch. |
Your Parish Council -
meetings, people and contacts
For details of other meetings such as Planning please check
our notice boards or visit our website at www.alvechurch.gov.uk.
To visit us in person or view local planning applications,
visit us at 16 The Square , Alvechurch
B48 7LA. Our opening hours are 10am
to 1pm Monday to Thursday inclusive.
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Parish Councillors |
16 The Square Alvechurch B48 7LA |
0121 447 8016 |
Ward |
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Syd Caddick |
5 Callow
Hill Road, Alvechurch B48 7LT |
0121 445
4636 |
Alvechurch |
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The Firs,
Rowney Green Lane, Rowney Green B48 7QR |
0121 445
2800 |
Alvechurch |
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David
Matthews |
12 Rose
Hill, Lickey ,Rednal,
Birmingham B45 8RR |
0121 445
3307 |
Alvechurch |
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Peter
McHugh |
31
Tanyard Lane, Alvechurch B48 7LL |
0121 445
6080 |
Alvechurch |
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Diane
Farlow |
The
Willows, School Lane, Alvechurch B48 7SA |
0121 447
7093 |
Alvechurch |
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Top Barn,
Scarfield Hill, Alvechurch B48 7DB |
0121 447
7668 |
Alvechurch |
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Anne
Willetts |
Greenbank Cottage, Redditch Road, Hopwood B48 7TN |
0121 445
3578 |
Alvechurch |
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June
Griffiths |
Tre Dhen, 439 Birmingham Road, Bordesley B97 6RL |
01527
62018 |
Bordesley |
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William
Peyton |
High
Point, Eachway Lane, Rednal,
Bham B45 9XZ |
07938975552 |
Hopwood |
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Edgewood
House, Rowney Green Lane, Rowney Green B48 7QP |
0121 445
0323 |
Hopwood |
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John
Puckering |
Alpine Lodge
Farm, Rowney Green lane, Rowney Green B48 7QZ |
0121 445
6102 |
Rowney
Green |
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11 Newbourne Hill, Rowney Green B48 7QN |
0121 445
4495 |
Rowney
Green |
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APC Employees |
16 The Square Alvechurch B48 7LA |
0121 447 8016 |
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Yvonne
Goode |
Clerk to
the Council - Clerk@alvechurch.co.uk |
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Clerical
Assistant - Clericalassistant@alvechurch.co.uk |
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Rob Watkin |
Caretaker |
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Ron Rand |
Lengthsman |
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District Councillors |
Bromsgrove District Council, The
Council House, Burcot Lane, Bromsgrove B60 1AA |
01527 881288 |
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Mrs Jean Luck |
Hawthorne
Cottage, Chapel Lane, Beoley, Redditch B48 9AW |
01527
64358 |
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Mrs June Griffiths |
Tre Dhen, 439 Birmingham Road, Bordesley, Redditch
B97 6RL |
01527
62018 |
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Edgewood
House, Rowney Green Lane, Rowney Green B48 7QP |
01527
881400 |
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County Councillor |
Worcs County Council, Spetchley Road, Worcester WR5 2XG |
01905 765765 |
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Dr George Lord |
10 Belle View,
Marlbrook, Bromsgrove B60 1AA |
01527
875244 |
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M P |
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Miss
Julie Kirkbride |
House of
Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA or |
01527
872135 |
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Conservative
Association, 37 Worcester Rd, Bromsgrove B60 7DN |
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Contacts
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West Mercia Police |
WPC Lucy Thornton, Wythall Police Station |
08457
444888 |
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Primary
Care Trust |
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01527 507040 |
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Railway
Operator |
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09065 500
000 |
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Karen
Jordan |
Alvechurch
C of E Middle School, Tanyard Lane, Alvechurch |
0121 445
1033 |
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Jeanette
Morris |
Crown
Meadow First School, Tanyard Lane, Alvechurch |
0121 445
4540 |
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Hopwood
Community Centre |
Bookings
Yvonne Goode/ |
0121 447
8016 |
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Rowney
Green Pavilion |
Bookings
Yvonne Goode/ |
0121 447
8016 |
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Alvechurch
Village Hall |
Bookings
Barbara Baker |
0121 447
7382 |
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Rowney
Green Peace Hall |
Bookings
Jude McManus |
0121 445
2806 |
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Hopwood
Village Hall |
Bookings
Zoë Taylor |
0121 445
5078 |
