Painting Arlington Youth Club

We are looking for community volunteers to join us during week beginning June 18th 2018 to help paint and brighten up the external areas of Arlington Park Youth Club - We are TS18. If you would like to join us, do please get in touch.

Thanks!

Developments in respect of rubbish in the alleys

For the last few weeks council Enforcement officers have been patrolling certain alleys in targeted areas to see for themselves the problems that residents have identified. They have then issued the first of what will be a series of Section 46 notices. Fining people is so much harder than it used to be and some people are in despair at the state of the back streets behind their houses. Since 2012 things have become much more difficult, people need at least three warnings now before they can be fined. In the meantime people just throw out anything they no longer want, with no regard to their neighbours.

Not everyone realises that the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Government decriminalised the offence of "mispresented waste" claiming that “Honest, hard-working people have been punished for innocent mistakes with heavy-handed bin fines for far too long. We are now consigning these bin-fines to the scrap heap of history."

These photos do not show "innocent mistakes" from "honest hard-working people". What they show is what happens when you let people get away with doing as they please, with no regard to anyone else in the street. It is a disgrace that situations like this are now almost impossible to get on top of. Our enforcement officers are working really hard to jump through the ridiculous hoops they need, in order to change behaviours and punish those who won't learn.

I want to thank them for everything they do, even though they have one hand tied behind their back, and look forward to seeing improvements in the state of our back streets eventually.

In the meantime, keep reporting everything you see to Care For Your Area so they know the places to concentrate their efforts in. 

Oxbridge Community Garden

Last week I had a walk round Oxbridge Community Garden with one of our residents who volunteers there every month, litter picking and tidying up. We met a council officer who is responsible for projects in green spaces to talk about some more enhancements we would like to see. We discussed completing the network of paths across the garden (which is on Oxbridge Lane just below the cemetery and just before the beck). We hope to find the funding to extend the paths into Grangefield Park (Rudd's Rec) and across stepping stones over the beck, to form a long lazy figure of 8. This would be great for local people who like to walk their dogs or take a stroll. The officer has gone off to cost the proposals up and then we will work on ways of raising the money to pay for it. I would like to think we might have a community picnic to celebrate the new paths if we can pull it off, so that local people who don't yet know about this lovely green space can start using it.

Waste and recyling update

Message from CFYA 

Update on refuse/recycling collections. 

We got round some homes this morning (including all of those missed in Ingleby Barwick yesterday) but have reluctantly taken the decision to suspend all remaining refuse/recycling collections today (1 March) due to the severe weather. 

 If your refuse/recycling was due for collection today but hasn’t been collected, you should leave it out on Saturday from 7am instead. 

Please see this useful page on our website to provide details of service disruptions: https://www.stockton.gov.uk/stockton-council/service-disruptions/

Broadband at Queensgate

I have been involved in a series of meetings and discussions concerning this issue since my election.

I am now in a position to update you as follows.

With respect to Queensgate (the estate opposite Lidl on Yarm Road), SBC have advised they are prepared on this occasion to accept pavements with repairs, as opposed to pristine ones, when adoption of the estate occurs, if it means residents can access decent broadband. That is important in convincing Bellway to let cabling occur, otherwise there may have been financial costs in terms of making good afterwards, which they perhaps wouldn't accept.

Virgin have advised that if they can get on to the estate as part of the current phase two build and start cabling there, they will then consider the commercial viability of moving over to cable phase one too (if permitted).

The hold up has been persuading Bellway Yorkshire to let them on site.

There is now a meeting planned for next week between Bellway and Virgin to discuss phase two access. I have given Virgin a statement to share with Bellway at that meeting, stressing how important this access is to me, and to Dr Paul, on behalf of residents.

I have also arranged a meeting with SBC officers to discuss how we might change local Planning law so that in future when a developer submits a planning application for a new estate in the borough, access to cabling/broadband becomes a condition of accepting the application. I don't think anyone wants to go through this every time.

Finally I would encourage residents in Queensgate to register their interest with Virgin so as to encourage them to make that shift over to phase one in due course, as and when it becomes possible.

Running red lights on Yarm Road

I have been contacted by a number of residents, individually, who are worried about traffic jumping the traffic lights along Yarm Road. The two junctions causing most concern are Yarm Road/West End Way/Van Mildert Way and Yarm Road/Sculptor Crescent/Lidl.

It is not clear to me whether the cars driving along Yarm Road are failing to notice the red lights, or whether they are choosing to ignore them. However, too many are taking dangerous chances by driving straight through.

I have been in touch with Highways a number of times and am now asking them to consider adding a couple of extra seconds, to both sides holding people at red for a bit longer, so that the cars emerging from the side streets have less chance of being smashed off the road.

I am being told that there are very few reports of accidents at these locations. I can't explain that but I do know from long experience that when a number of people separately approach their councillor about an issue they are concerned about, without knowing that anyone else has done so, it is something that needs taking seriously. 

I hope to have more news soon

Rubbish dumped over Christmas

My first job on 27th December was to report three different lots of rubbish.

A mattress on Grove Street, some rubbish by the entrance to the park on Yarm Road opposite Arncliffe Avenue and yet more builders waste in the alley behind Densham Drive.

I have also enquired about installing a new bin on Yarm Road by the park entrance in the hope that sorts that problem out for the future. Thanks to Low Hartburn Residents Group for that suggestion.

Why are people so selfish? Particular cowboy builders, we will catch them in the end, and I look forward to the naming and shaming!