Road repairs, M Group, drainage, traffic calming and accessibility
And so in a flash we are at mid-summer. Long evenings, and weekends of village fetes and various celebrations of village and rural life.
We have by now moved firmly away from Balfour Beatty, and the “public realm” works are now being undertaken by M Group. This transition has gone well, with only a few teething problems. The “public realm” is local government speak for roads, green and play spaces, paths, drainage; all those spaces that the council has a responsibility and a duty to maintain. As previously noted, this isn’t just a change of firm; the operating model is quite different, with us having much more control as to what is done.
And a lot is going on! Roads across the county are being patched and prepared for resurfacing or surface dressing. Far better to repair the roads than simply plug potholes. Within this ward, the Parks Road at Brinsop has been done, the A480 outside Mansell Lacy is being repaired, and prep work on Derndale Road from Westhope towards Wellington is underway. And as I’ve previously reported, the centre of Kings Pyon, and Back Lane in Weobley are also on the schedule.
These works only survive if the drainage is also fixed – but I have been impressed by the amount of prep undertaken. Again this year, Herefordshire Council has made grants available to parishes to undertake local drainage work – ditches, grips, but also small scale piping schemes etc. I’ve been working with parishes to try and maximise what they can achieve from this, and look forward to those works being approved shortly and works being able to begin. I’m also chasing down acknowledgement of responsibility for the drainage just west of Kinford Cross, which will become more important after the works on Derndale Road.
Please do carry on reporting potholes. The more reported the easier it is for me to ensure that they are actually responded to. In particular, the U roads which don’t get inspected monthly. The council website is improving reporting on this – but there is still work to make that better. And also if you see issues with repairs, please do let me know – the gabions installed in Weobley Marsh are a case in point, raised to me, where remedial work is now being scheduled.
I continue to work with the school, the police, and council to try and improve road safety around the school in Weobley; and was relieved to see the flashing lights to the east now working after I raised them as a defect (only a few weeks after the other set were eventually repaired). I am in conversations about introducing a school crossing officer (a “lollipop lady” in old money), which for a number of reasons looks like the best approach now.
More generally, both Weobley and Canon Pyon have traffic calming schemes planned, funded out of developers contributions, that are just two of many across the county being held up by bureaucracy and a historic lack of, and constant churn of, personnel. We have a new officer to sort this, but I have also been working behind the scenes to try and change the way these are delivered so that we can get something done rather than waiting forever. In particular this has included looking at whether we can get the SIDs (Speed indication devices) installed asap. I am heartened to have seen – I hope I’ll be forgiven the vulgarity - the acronym JFDI (“Just effing do it”) in an email from a very senior officer, acknowledging that this can and should be done much more quickly. The recent accident near the red house in Weobley is a reminder of how important this is.
Parallel to that we are also trying to improve accessibility around Weobley village – in particular the area around the doctor’s surgery, where I WILL get the crossings better protected, and Broad Street itself.
In Dilwyn, we are making good progress regarding the Tyrells lorries, and also starting an investigation into how to manage general traffic down Dilwyn Common Lane, particularly near the school. I have had assurances from Welsh Water that I will have some good news to report in the very near future – I’ll keep up the pressure.
We continue to make efforts – often with parish footpath officers – to ensure that footpaths are kept open; it’s much better to informally resolve than have to go to enforcement, but the council must be prepared to enforce if appropriate. Similarly I’ve had a number of enquiries about trees and tree preservation orders, including cases where people have asked for them and nothing has happened. Please do get in touch if you are aware of blocked paths, or trees you think should be protected but where the request seemingly didn’t get actioned.
Hopefully the oil prices will indeed continue to drop, in time for winter. The grant scheme is still paying out – so if you can, but haven’t yet, taken advantage of it, it’s still worth it. But I’m acutely aware that that is just part of the squeeze everyone is feeling financially.
As always, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me: 07884 268624, or [email protected]