Tough Mudder Challenge

I will be taking on the Tough Mudder Challenge in Winchester as part of the Team Spirit team. 

The aim is to raise sponsorship money for the Civil Service Sports Ground venue in Freemantle. The money will be given to local school children who can decide how the money is spent. 

The Tough Mudder challenge is on 8th June and is a grueling 12 mile assault course. As without doubt I am the least fit in the team, I am in emergency training!

I will be pestering people for sponsorship over the coming weeks (that includes Labour Councillors to whom I should point out that this could be a by election opportunity if I don't make it!).

60th Birthday Celebrations for Banister School!

I was delighted to join Banister School on Wednesday for their 60th birthday celebrations. The school was first opened on 23rd April 1953. Built by a former aircraft manufacturer seeking to diversify their business after the war, the building was only intended to last 15 years. Wednesday's birthday celebrations were also an opportunity to mark the progress of the building of the new school which is due to open in September. The event was marked by the launching of Chinese lanterns from the outside learning space on the roof of the new building. 

Public Exhibition Regarding the City's Station Quarter

Sulphur Plant: Local Meetings

The city council has organised a meeting on:

Wednesday 1st May at the Freemantle CE Community Academy in Mansion Road, 7pm - 9pm. 

Representatives from the City Council, the developer - Oxbow Sulphur and Fertiliser, and local councillors including myself will be present.

In addition Oxbow are holding their own drop in session:

Monday 29 April 2013 at the Freemantle CE Community Academy, between 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm

Action Needed to Tackle Street Drinking in Shirley Road

In Howard Road with a huge pile of beer cans - one example of evidence of street drinking 

I am calling for tough new licencing rules to be brought in to restrict further off licences and shops selling alcohol on Shirley Road and Shirley High St and the roads nearby. 

I recently told the Southern Daily Echo: "The pubs are well managed in the area but there are so many off licences there and we don’t need any more. It’s intimidating when you walk down the road and see people drinking beer in the streets from early in the morning until late at night and urinating in the alleyways and it brings the area down."

I am asking that the Police and the City Council's licencing team look at the introduction of a new 'Cumulative Impact Licencing Policy' which will make it much harder for new off licences to be approved and for existing ones to extend their operating hours. 

I will put the request to a meeting of the city's Safe City Partnership later this month. I am also calling on the police to use their powers to confiscate alcohol from those seen drinking in the street.  

Update 21/04/13: I am attending the Safer City Partnership on 25th April to present my concerns to the Police, the City Council and other local partners.

Plans to Demolish Southbrook Rise?

Several weeks ago demolition signs went up around Southbrook Rise in Millbrook Road East. The building has been empty since the City Council moved out of the offices. 

I have had lots of questions from local people wondering what will happen with the site. No one at the City Council's planning department seem to know anything about it however planning approval would been needed if the building was pulled down. I am trying to find out what is going on. It would be a shame if the building was pulling as its a reasonably attractive office block. I am hoping its not going to be another big block of flats without proper parking. Parking in the area is already very difficult and with plans for night time parking charges in the city centre the local area will suffer even more from commuter parking. More flats would be the final straw!

UPDATE: 21/04/13: I recently raised concerns about the possibility of Southbrook Rise in Millbrook Road East being demolished as demolition signs had gone up around the site. I have been in discussion with the planning department at the council and they have now informed me that the site won’t be demolished and that a planning application (13/00467/FUL) has been received for a proposed single storey new building (reception) and internal refurbishment of the whole building. I am still unsure as to why there are demolition signs on the fencing to front of building as they are not proposing to demolish.

Update on the Lawsons Application 84-88 Millbrook Road East

I regret to inform you that despite the council rejecting the recent planning application on the former Lawsons site, that it was granted planning permission by the Planning Inspector on appeal. The council rejected the application because of concerns about over development and lack of parking and the design. It is therefore a real blow that it has now been given the go ahead. This means that all we can do is appeal to the good will of the developer to ensure that the development is as in keeping with the area as possible. 

I would also be interested in your views on local parking. With this new development and also council plans to charge in the city centre for evening parking, there will be more pressure on local parking. If you have views on whether the hours of the local residents' parking scheme should extended until later into the evening I would be pleased to hear from you.

Planning Application for Sulphur Plant in the Docks

There has been Daily Echo coverage of a planning application for a Sulphur Pellet Plant in the West Docks and I know residents will be very concerned about possible noise, smells and traffic.

I am hoping that there will be a public meeting very soon and that the company applying for the planning permission will attend to answer questions about the proposed plant.

I can also confirm that the application will be heard by the council's Planning and Rights of Way Panel. This is a public meeting where residents can speak and raise their concerns in person. It is likely to be on 28th May and I have persuaded that council to extend the deadline for resident comments to 10th May. 

The planning reference is 13/00123/FUL and the full details can be found HERE on the City Council's website.

Residents were not informed about the application by the council, as because this is an application in the docks, they are not legally required to do so. I think this is quite wrong. The planning reports talk about the impact of the plant, citing individual addresses, and yet those properties were not contacted! I am asking that in future the council contact residents when there are docks applications that might impact local people. 

We have the threat of the Helius Biomass power station and now this new application and so residents are rightly concerned and should in my view be properly kept informed. In this case it was only because of an eagle eyed local resident who saw it on the council's website, that the application came to light.