MORE GLEN PARVA & BLABY BUS SERVICES UNDER THREAT

The Conservatives have threatened to cut two more important local bus services as part of their budget plans.

Once again the number 73 bus service is under discussions for cutting even though almost 34,000 passengers used it last year; most of them pensioners. It is used by residents living along the Little Glen Road and in the estates off Leicester Road, Glen Parva. Some Blaby residents also use this service. It is jointly funded by the County Council and Leicester City Council and we await to see what the City Council says in its budget.

The South Wigston High School Special is also under threat in the budget. This bus service carries pupils to the High School from the Leicester Road end of Glen Parva.

These are important local bus services which are used especially by the young and the elderly who do not have access to cars. Your local Lib Dem councillors are trying to find out more about the situation and campaigning to stop these cuts.  

Cllr Geoff Welsh (Lib Dem) said, “One department of the County Council is trying to put in a bus lane in Leicester Road, Glen Parva while another department is considering cutting two bus services which would use it. Sounds like a dysfunctional Conservative Executive if you ask me!”

COUNTY ARMS APPLICATION NOT “SIGNED OFF”

It might be a New Year but yet again the news is about nothing happening on the County Arms site!

Everards Brewers, the owners of the derelict County Arms site, have announced that they cannot afford to proceed with the planning application that was granted to them earlier last year and so have not “signed off” the conditions that were put on the plans by the District Council.

Meanwhile, it is known that the police and the fire services are unhappy about safety and security at the old pub building which has had a number of arson attacks.

In the press it has been announced that there have been meetings between the council and Everards. We await to see what happens next.

CONSERVATIVES CUT BUS SERVICE

Conservative controlled Leicestershire County Council have stopped their funding support for the No 45 bus service! From 26 October the service will be a reduced service, run on a commercial basis by Centrebus.

This is an important service for many Blaby residents, young and old, needing to travel round the edge of Leicester. I fear this is evidence that it’s the elderly and vulnerable who will feel the brunt of Conservative cuts.

The service runs from Oadby through Wigston, South Wigston, Countesthorpe, Blaby. Littlethorpe, Enderby to Fosse Park.

Many young people use this service to get to the many schools and colleges in the south of Leicester. The elderly use it to stay in contact with friends and relatives and to shop at Fosse Park. Workers use it to travel to their places of work, eg Alliance & Leicester HQ, Grove Park and Fosse Park.

Details:- Oadby to Fosse Park will retain the 0645, 1015, and 1215 journeys, but the 1415 will only run as far as Blaby and the 0615, 0815 and 1615 journeys will be lost. Fosse Park to Oadby will retain the 0915, 1115, and 1315 journeys, but the 0715,1515 and 1720 will be lost.

CAR PARK CHARGING LETTER

Below is a copy of a recent letter sent to Blaby District Council’s Cabinet by Cllr Geoff Welsh (Lib Dem), Leader of the Opposition, Blaby District Council

To the Cabinet Executive,

CAR PARKING MANAGEMENT PROPOSALS – BLABY VILLAGE

I wish to set out my views on the CAR PARKING MANAGEMENT PROPOSALS for Blaby village centre as set out in the Cabinet Papers for the meeting on 6th October.

I believe that any changes in car park arrangements should be based on two principles. They are:-

1)    The viability and sustainability of Blaby Centre.

2)    Thorough research and consultation.

I believe that neither of these two principles has been met.

The Blaby District Council consultation document “Car Parking Management Proposals (September 2008)” quotes the Blaby Town Centre Masterplan study in support of changes. However the Draft Masterplan (the Plan has not yet been signed off) clearly states that:-

“6.38. The development of a comprehensive parking strategy will require a further detailed study of the current on and off street parking arrangements in Blaby.” 

I have no evidence that this “further detailed study” has been made.

While the principles of the Draft Blaby Masterplan are aimed at the health of the Blaby Town Centre economy, it was clear from the documents submitted to the Scrutiny Commission that the main reason for the introduction of charges was to improve the financial position of Blaby District Council.

I remain convinced that there must be a free parking period and that this should be of three hours duration in the Johns Court and Enderby Road car parks. One hour is inadequate and will lead to a loss of trade.

Blaby Town Centre is dissimilar to market towns such as Market Harborough which have their own extensive catchment areas. Blaby has to compete with a wide range of other outlets, such as modern supermarkets with their own free car parking; for example Tesco (South Wigston), Co-Op (Whetstone) and Asda and Sainsburys (Fosse Park). If the viability of key stores such as Waitrose is reduced then it puts at risk the whole Town Centre economy. Although larger, Wigston Magna is a similar centre to Blaby. Here the council introduced blanket charging but had to respond to falling shopping sales by re-introducing free, three-hour car parking for most of its car parking spaces.

I am also concerned that the proposed charges could be the thin end of a very thick wedge, particularly in times when the council’s financial position is “stressed”. Once the principle of car park charging is introduced there would be nothing to prevent the steady escalation of the charging regime by any future administration.

I fail to see the logic in having just 30 minutes free parking in Wigston Road which is further from the Town centre than either Johns Court and Enderby Road car parks. Such a short period of time would not allow anyone with enough time to walk into town, do their business and then walk back again.

There may be merit in allowing visitors the option of paying for an extended stay in any car park (at a suitable fee) but we believe that this could only be justified by further research.

I ask that the cabinet considers my views before it reaches a decision on this very important matter.

Cllr. Geoff Welsh

Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group

Blaby District Council

GROVE ROAD – SPEED MONITORING

Following the installation of new speed restriction measures on Grove Road, County Highways have been monitoring motorists speed and vehicle volume. They found:-

 Vehicle speeds taken in mid July 2009, show an overall average drop of 6mph eastbound from 36mph to 30mph, and..

a drop of 5mph westbound from 35mph to 30mph.

Traffic volume over a period of 12 hours taken on the 1 July 2009, shows a drop of 656 vehicles travelling eastbound, and…

 a drop of 459 vehicles travelling westbound, and …

a drop of 148 vehicles using Heybrook Avenue.

With regards to the incorrectly constructed ramps for the Heybrook Avenue junction, works to correct the ramps have been programmed to start week commencing 10th August 2009. A letter will be issued to neighbouring residents advising them of these works.

In addition, one of the speed cushions laid as part of the Lutterworth Road scheme has cracked. Unfortunately, the cushion cannot be repaired and will be replaced with a new unit.  A request has been made to the contractor to carry out this work at the same time as the Heybrook Avenue work to minimise disruption.

ILLEGAL STREET TRADING OF CARS AND VANS – LEICESTER ROAD

Over the years there have been problems with people trading cars and vans on the greens at the junction of Red House Road and Leicester Road, Glen Parva. This land is just inside the boundary of Leicester City. I have also received complaints that this has also been occurring on the pavement areas on Leicester Road. These wide pavements form a convenient base for selling cars as the congested traffic moves slowly along Leicester Road.

Most people would not object to an individual resident offering his own personal car for sale, as a one-off occurrence, at the front of his own property; but the objection is when cars and vans for sale are parked outside other people’s houses and when commercial businesses seem to be running on public grassy areas and pavements.

In the past I have written to the authorities several times about this issue but have so far not had any success.

However, I understand that Leicester City Council now have a by-law which forbids such trading and so I have written to them to ask them to take action on the cars on their land.

I have also written to Blaby District to ask them whether they intend to impose such a by-law.

Printed published & promoted by A Bailey 11 Windsor Avenue Glen Parva Leicester LE2 9TQ

PROPOSED DIVERSION OF PUBLIC FOOTPATH Z56

At yesterday’s  meeting of the County Council’s Development Control  & Regulatory Board, the committee members decided to REFUSE permission to divert footpath Z56 which runs across the grounds of Westleigh Rugby Club because “the alternative route, as proposed, would adversely affect neighbouring properties and it would therefore not be expedient to make the order.”

COUNTY ARMS PLANS ARE PASSED

Earlier this afternoon (February 16th) councillors on Blaby District’s Development Control committee approved plans to develop the old County Arms pub site, but with a number of conditions, including better public access to the canal towpath.

The plan retains most of the current County Arms building but it will be converted into up to 16 apartments. On the old car park there will be two residential buildings containing a further 16 units.

Access To Canal Towpath

When the County Arms building closed down, the much-used access to the canal towpath by the bridge shut too. The new plans guarantee public access at two points.

Whatever view is taken of these plans I am pleased that the pressure of local residents and councillors has resulted in public access to the canal being guaranteed. Personally I would have used this application as an opportunity to include junction improvements to help alleviate the traffic congestion, much suffered by local residents along Leicester Road and Little Glen Road. But despite pressure by local residents and me this has not happened.

This site is a terrible mess and I hope that, even in these difficult economic times, Everards move forward with the development as quickly as possible.

FEATHERBY DRIVE/CORK LANE/BELLAMY CLOSE/WESTVIEW AVENUE

The consultation on the proposed introduction of No Waiting at Anytime Restrictions at these locations shown residents are supportive of these plans.

The new traffic calming schemes on Hospital Lane and Lutterworth Road, Blaby have been in place for some months now. But the vehicle activated signs and school 20mph flashing lights are still not working because the power hasn’t been connected by the power suppliers. This is outrageous when road safety is the issue. So at the last full meeting of Leicestershire County Council I put down some questions to try to “gee” the process up a bit. The questions and the answers from the cabinet member, Mr Rushton, are copied below.

COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING – 24 SEPTEMBER 2008

QUESTION TO BE ASKED BY MR A D BAILEY CC

“The completion of two important road safety schemes in Blaby village has been delayed for a considerable period because the electricity supplier E-ON has not yet fulfilled its contractual obligation to connect the electricity supply to the projects’ road signs.  The first scheme, on Lutterworth Road (a Reducing the Impact of Traffic, RIOT Scheme) was installed several months ago, but the Vehicle Activated Signs (VAS) are not yet functioning because they have still not been connected to a power supply.  The second scheme, on Hospital Lane, is a project to improve the safety of pupils and their families travelling to Thistly Meadow Primary School.  This was installed many weeks ago, but the 20mph flashing warning lights and VAS signs are still not working because of the absence of electrical power.  Therefore:

1. Does the Leader agree with me that, in the cases highlighted above, the power connection service provided by E-ON has been unsatisfactory?

2. What actions have been taken by Leicestershire County Council to ensure that E-ON provide the service that will allow these projects to operate fully, so that schoolchildren, pedestrians and drivers can reap the safety benefits of these excellent schemes?

3. Can he tell me whether these are isolated instances or has the completion of other road safety projects in Leicestershire been delayed due to E-ON failing to provide a satisfactory service?”

Mr Rushton replied as follows:

“1. I do agree.  The performance of Central Networks East has been a concern to officers and members of Leicestershire County Council for a number of years over a large number of projects.

2. Poor performance by Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) around the country has led local authorities to call upon the help and assistance of OFGEM. Officers from a representative sample of local authorities, including Leicestershire, have been working with OFGEM for the past 3 years.  As a result, local authorities now have a Service Level Agreement in place at a national level with key performance indicators for DNO performance.  This performance is now monitored by OFGEM as part of the DNO licence conditions. Officers are delighted at this major step forward by OFGEM and will continue to work with and press OFGEM to ensure that the KPIs are both achieved and exceeded by Central Networks East. OFGEM have indicated that penalties could be applied to DNOs who do not achieve the KPIs.

At a local level, Central Networks East attended a meeting in January 2007 of the Scrutiny Review Panel looking at the “Management and Maintenance of Street Lighting”.  At this meeting, Central Networks East acknowledged their failures and set out their recovery plan.  I understand this recovery plan is well advanced and Central Networks East will attend the Environment Overview and Scrutiny meeting on 30 October to update us on their progress.

3. Unfortunately these are not isolated instances and there are still examples of poor performance.  However, the overall performance of Central Networks East is improving.

With regard to Lutterworth Road Blaby, officers are still trying to ascertain an exact date for these works from Central Networks and this will be notified to Mr Bailey as soon as it is known.

The electrical connection works on Hospital Lane to the school 20mph signs are still currently within service standards but again officers will update Mr Bailey when a proposed date for the works is available.”

Councillors sitting on yesterday’s County Council Development Control Board meeting, REFUSED permission for a new Waste Transfer Station in South Wigston.  This followed a vigorous campaign by residents and councillors in Wigston and Glen Parva.

Although I do not sit on the Board I was able to speak to the cpmmittee because I am a local member whose ward would have been affected by the application. I emphasised the problems that even more heavy goods lorries would have brought to the Little Glen Road, County Arms junction and A426 (Leicester Road). I also expressed my concern that more traffic would worsen the road safety problems experienced by children walking to their schools along the B582.

Many thanks to everyone who organised and signed petitions and wrote letters and emails.

We await to see whether the waste transfer applicants appeal this decision.

This week I presented a petition objecting to the proposed Waste Transfer Station in South Wigston. The petition was collected by two residents living on the Little Glen Road and I presented the petition to Leicestershire County Council’s Development Control Board. A decision regarding the application will be considered by the board later in the year.

Watch this space!

I have written to the Director of Highways at Leicestershire County Council regarding the flooding which regularly occurs beneath the railway bridge on the Little Glen Road. I have copied the text of the letter below:-

Dear Mr Lugg

“At the last meeting of the Council an additional £500,000, over two years, was included in the budget for 2008/09 and 2009/10 for “improvements/remedial works to highway drainage systems throughout Leicestershire directed to increase the capacity of systems and alleviate the risk of flooding.’

Following heavy rain the B582, Little Glen Road, is regularly flooded underneath the railway bridge, which is approx 400 yards east of the County Arms junction. The water also lies in the road for considerable periods after it has stopped raining. The B582, at this point is a very busy road, and as a link with the congested County Arms junction it causes further traffic disruption when many drivers seek out alternative routes in order to avoid the flooded road.

I therefore ask that the roadway beneath this bridge be included in the programme of “remedial works to highway drainage systems to alleviate flooding.””

Yours sincerely

Alan Bailey CC

The County Council has received a planning application for a large waste transfer station on a site at Magna Road South Wigston (Magna Rd is off Blaby Road, almost opposite the new Tesco supermarket).

If approved, this development would have serious consequences for Glen Parva residents.

The application expects a total of 550 extra vehicle movements per day. The hours of operation would be:- weekdays, 5.00am to 2.00am; weekends, 6.00am to 6.00pm.

There are several causes for concern for Glen Parva residents. They include:-

Extra heavy lorries moving along Little Glen Rd would worsen the levels of noise, pollution, pedestrian safety and congestion.

Many Glen Parva children walk and cycle to schools along Little Glen Rd and Blaby Rd., eg Parklands Primary, Sth Wigston High, and Guthlaxton College. Extra heavy traffic would pose an additional safety risk to these pupils.

Extra traffic on the Little Glen Rd would cause further congestion at the County Arms junction and more tail-backs along Leicester Road.

The road system in and around Glen Parva, South Wigston and Blaby is already struggling to cope with demand. More heavy lorries would make things much worse.

The application can be inspected at:-

Oadby & Wigston Borough Council offices , Station Rd, Wigston.

Department of Community Services (Planning Group), Leicestershire County Council, County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester, LE3 8TE.

LCC web site at www.leics.gov.uk/eplanning_searchform.htm (quote ref 2008/C217/08)

SEND YOUR REPRESENTATIONS by letter/fax/email to the Director of Community Services, at the above COUNTY COUNCIL address by 27th March quoting reference 2008/C217/08. Email - planningcontrol@leics.gov.uk