I delayed posting this comment due to the Christmas and New Year Break, but feel that attention should be raised to the piles of litter which I see, not only on my estate, but also around the city generally and in particular along the A465 verges between Wormbridge and the city. Is anyone going to pick it up or is it just a case of waiting until spring/early summer and hope it gets hidden in the long grass. One particular bad part of the city which I walk through every day is the lane joining Canal Road and the back of Morrisons. I know it is a private road, but it is public litter that has been dropped and together with the graffiti overlooking the burial ground, the complete scene is an eyesore. I have yet to see a human road sweeper in the city with a brush and shovel keeping on top of this problem. If it can't be reached from the comfort of a mechanical sweeper no one bothers. Also the debris that was reported at the back of Charles Witts Avenue and bordering the Great Western Way is still there after one year. How does everyone else feel about this constant problem?

From BBC Hereford & Worcester Radio today:

Herefordshire Council may privatise more services

 

Herefordshire Council has said it is looking at outsourcing a further 38 services including planning to a private company in order to save money.

 

In 2003 the authority employed company Amey to take on several of its services, including street cleaning, highways maintenance and grass cutting.

 

It said that as that 10-year contract was coming up for renewal, it was looking at what else could be included.

 

The council said it was not "looking at any redundancies at the moment".

 

If the extra 38 services, which include car parking enforcement, housing development, planning, archaeology, environmental health and pest control, bereavement services, licensing, markets and catering, are also privatised, the contract could potentially be worth £1bn over 10 years.

 

Council officials said the plans were only at their "very early stages" and were only looking at the possibility of outsourcing further services.

 

Richard Ball, from the council's commissioning department, said: "We are not looking at redundancies at the moment.

 

"This is very much about making sure we get the right quality of services. We are not under a commitment to any other outsourcing."

 

'Big experiment'

Steve Akers, regional Unison organiser for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, said it was important the council remained "transparent" over any decisions it made.

 

He said: "It's a big experiment.

 

"The spin is that this is about value for money and good quality services, but there are no guarantees of that."

 

The authority said it would be starting a consultation process over the plans, and will be holding a series of events from 20 September to explain them.

 

The Hereford and Worcester Chamber of Commerce has backed the proposals, saying they could potentially be good for the local economy.

Is this plan going to be any good for council tax payers. I don't like the privatisation of planning. What is lacking with this council is transparency and accountability.

I have just driven into the City from the Abergavenny side and a lot of the road signs are hidden becasue of overgrown tree's and bushes, in particular in the roundabout sign on the left just after the Haywood Lane turning heading in towards Hereford, you cannot see it until you are more or less on it becasue the tree's are so overgrown, the same with quite a few of the road signs. All along the main road the tree's seem to have got out of hand, it will not be long before we have a canopy formed, can these not all be cut back? it looks a right mess coming into town, this continues all down the Belmont Road to the iron bridge.

As a daily user of Haywood Lane, I have been concenced for sometime at the lack of warning signs about Ducks and Swans crossing the road between the Belmont Pools, So I was delighted to here that some New signs had been installed...

Please forgive me for complaining but they are useless in their current position!

This is the view travelling from the Callow towards Belmont, I am now driving at a legal spped of 40mph and less than 20 metres from where the pools are...Can you see the sign yet?

Ok, now lets get really close and move my position over to the opposite lane and yippee!! now you can see the sign

Too late they are all dead !!

First of all, you DO NOT see these signs until you are on top of them

(so can someone please explain how do these serve as a good warning in order to slow drivers down?) and secondly they are far far too close to the pools and where these animals cross the road.

Driving at the legal speed limit, stopping distance at 40mph is 30 metres (120ft) which makes these signs USELESS as they are much much closer than that and I am assuming that drivers are within the speed limit which more often than not they are not! Why are these simple mathamatics not put into practice prior to any insallation?

I have got in touch with the chairman of South Wye Regeneration Board in regard to the old south wye notice board that is located at the Oval in Newton Farm asking for it to be removed, as it was put in when we received the SRB money. I have also asked for the seat opposite the new notice board to be replaced as it is beyond repair, the chairman has said he will deal with both my requests

On my visit to Amey offices today I issued them a list of grass cutting and weed spraying that needs to be done in Newton Farm, I have been told that this will be done starting tomorrow (Saturday 21st August) in The area commonly known as the 'Bird Sanctuary' then progressing through the garage area in Muir Close, Sherborne Close, the blocked pathway at the rear of Sherborne Close and Dunoon Mead, and public right of way pathway at the back of Blakemore Close.

There has been problems with the work being carried out on the PRC cornish properties in Newton Farm. I have a weekly meeting with the site manager every week therefore if any tenants are experiencing any problems whilst these works are being done please contact me so that they can be rectified.

Taken from the Hereford Times today:

New opening hours for Herefordshire police stations

NEW opening hours are now in effect for police station public service counters across Herefordshire.

Thirty-one counters across Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Worcestershire now have a wider range of opening hours, including evenings and weekends.

Chief Superintendent Trevor Albutt said: “The change to public service counter opening times will not affect local policing and all police stations will remain operational. We want to make sure we offer a good service to the public and be as accessible as possible. Visiting your local police station service counter in person is not the only way to get in touch with us.â€

As part of the review West Mercia Police carried out extensive research, and spoke to other forces, ensuring where opening hours are reduced alternative services are provided including telephone links outside police stations and information stands providing information on crime prevention.

Every Local Policing Team can be contacted by e-mail, voicemail, at local events and surgeries, Partners and Communities Together meetings and via diary appointments which are available at the police station.

The police can be contacted 24-hours a day, seven days a week by calling 101 for non-emergencies and 999 in an emergency, as well as by logging on to www.westmercia.police.uk or their Facebook and Twitter.

To check who your local policing team is visit the force website www.westmercia.police.uk

New opening hours for Hereford and South Wye are:

Hereford:

Monday - Saturday 8.00am - 8.00pm

Sunday and Bank Holidays 10.00am - 4.00pm

South Wye:

Tuesday - Friday 10.00am - 2.00pm

Is this all the kit for the new car wash? (Removal of 9 parking spaces and change the area into a hand car wash and also erect a canopy for valeting with associated signage)

Planning application numbers S121029/F and S121030/A

Following the reduced bus services in the city has anyone noticed that certain buses do not appear to run as scheduled. This Monday (2nd July) my partner wanted to catch the 18.47 from Argyll Rise to meet me in the city at 7pm following a meeting I attended. The bus didn't turn up. I was waiting at Tesco to meet her and other people were waiting for this bus, I assume to travel onwards. When I spoke to these people, they had been waiting for this missing bus to take them up to Newton Farm as advertised at 18.32 and were still waiting until I told them that there was no bus running.

It was ironic that the meeting I attended earlier that evening was promoting a scheme called "Destination Hereford".

Following an annoucement earlier this year the Department for Transport confirmed that Herefordshire Council's "Destination Hereford" had been successful in its bid to its Local Sustainable Transport Fund. The project will receive £4.97million of funding over the next four years to promote sustainable travel amongst households and schools, support the Connect2 project, develop workplace connectivity and enhance rural access. Part of the package is to make improvements to connectivity within Hereford City, in particular improvements along Broad Street joining it with other newly refurbished areas.

To quote:

"Destination Hereford provides a package of integrated transport improvements designed to improve end-to-end journeys to and within Hereford".

The council should start with ensuring that the local bus services are running as scheduled and not on a please yourself approach. Then maybe people will leave their car at home to go into the city instead of blocking up the roads.

CCTV Appeal After Theft From Cashpoint in Belmont

Police in Hereford are appealing for help from the public as they attempt to identify two men they want to trace in connection with a theft from a cashpoint in the city.

Police in Hereford are keen to identify this manThe incident occurred at the Tesco supermarket on Abbotsmead Road in Belmont on Saturday 2 June.

At just before 6.15pm, the victim - a 79-year-old lady - attempted to use one of the cashpoints at the store but was put off by an advert that came up on the screen. On seeing the advert the lady thought her transaction was unsuccessful and that the machine must be faulty.

She then moved to a second machine but as she did so the first machine bleeped and money came out of it.

Before she had chance to collect the money, one of two unknown men - who had been nearby - grabbed it from the machine and made off with it.

This left the elderly lady with nothing except the receipt for the £100 cash she had originally tried to get out of the machine.

This man is thought to be a crucial witness to a theft in BelmontA police spokesman said:

"This theft has left the elderly lady very upset as everything happened very quickly while she was a little confused.

"It appears the two men took advantage of the victim's confusion to carry out this theft and therefore we would like to find them as soon as possible. "With that in mind we are very keen to identify the two men pictured in the CCTV stills we have released today as we believe they may be vital witnesses to this theft.

"Either of the two men, or anyone who recognises them, is asked to contact PC Paul Sartoris in Hereford so that he can take statements from them about what they saw.

"Anyone with information about these men, or the theft itself, is asked to contact PC 2495 Sartoris as soon as possible on 0300 333 3000, quoting reference number 698S 020612.

"Alternatively, please remember that Crimestoppers can also be called anonymously on 0800 555 111 if you'd rather pass on information without getting directly involved yourself."

Can anyone tell me why certain pieces of land on housing estates are retained by developers/housing associations? I am discovering that when housing estates were completed the land/open spaces and highways would be handed over and adopted by the council to manage. However by retaining small areas of land, developers/housing associations could impose a service charge each year for maintaining these areas. This charge would be passed onto tenants in their rent and freeholders would be sent a demand for each year. So not only is there the council tax to pay, but also a further charge which varies from estate to estate to keep them tidy and in order.

The interesting thing is tenants are protected from unscrupulous landlords through various acts of parliament which enable them to see where and how the service charges are estimated and spent, but not freeholders, they have no rights whatsoever!

This explains why a lot of these estates look uncared for and untidy. Because as well as the council maintaining parts of the estate, other housing associations/developers also have a responsibility to do their bits of land. All carry out this maintenance on different days and to different standards and charge accordingly.

When you walk around the estates who is responsible for that piece of land that never gets cut, the weeds that are growing out of the kerb sides, the removal of graffiti, litter and fly tipping, hedges growing out over footpaths and numerous other eyesores which are reported through this forum.

Everyone in authority passes the buck around and very little gets done. I did comment on this forum that what each estate needs is to be completely adopted by the council and a task force created to solely manage and be responsible for it. Each estate then will get a facelift and be somewhere where we can be proud to live.

From the Hereford Times today:

PEOPLE living in the county will soon be buying their own black bags to throw away their rubbish.

Herefordshire Council said today it will ‘reluctantly’ be withdrawing the black bag service in a bid to save £200,000 a year.

The council will continue to deliver recycling bags and collect rubbish on a weekly basis but says the black bags will not be handed out this Autumn.

Council leader John Jarvis said: “Due to the high levels of recycling in Herefordshire residents were often only leaving out half-filled black sacks each week, so residents can now decide how many they need depending on how much waste they produce.â€

Noticed on The Hereford Times website today:

"Herefordshire Housing has pledged to provide all its tenants with free broadband within five years.

The housing association, that has around 5,500 homes, has teamed up with Whitestone-based Allpay to provide the ambitious scheme.

While Allpay’s background is in social housing payment systems and it has breached out to broadband and recently created Herefordshire's Ofcom-approved broadband network using church steeples as transmitters.

Working together Allpay and Herefordshire Housing are trialling free broadband at speeds of up to 10Mb at three sheltered housing schemes, starting at Innesfield in Clehonger followed by Southgate in Ross Road, Hereford, and Bryngwyn Court, off Barrs Court Road.

“Broadband is increasingly becoming the fourth utility and we want as many of our tenants as possible to benefit from having high speed internet access in their home,†said Herefordshire Housing chief executive Peter Brown.

“Access to the internet can change people’s lives.â€

A lot of comments about this here.

I wouldn't mind a faster connection, but mine is ok for most things.

I had a stroll along the old railway lines and noticed how dangerous this fencing and pipe work is actually on the bridge. This looks very sharp indeed. Just though I would put these pictures on here for Councillors and Amey to see.

Tesco have applied for planning permission for change of use and to remove 9 parking spaces and change the area into a hand car wash and also erect a canopy for valeting with associated signage.

Planning application numbers S121029/F and S121030/A

Hereford Assault - Police Release E-Fit

Police have released an e-fit image of a man who is believed to have carried out an unprovoked attack on a dog walker in Hereford.

The 30-year-old male victim was walking his two husky dogs along the riverside footpath that leads from the Bishop’s Meadows to Peregrine Close in Hinton when he was attacked from behind with some kind of object between 6.30pm and 7.35pm on Tuesday, May 8. He fought back, but was headbutted several times in the face, sustaining cuts and bruises.

The suspect is described as being white, about six feet tall and aged between 20 and 30.

Police are keen to speak to any witnesses, in particular a man who was walking a brown Staffordshire bull terrier who passed by at the time. Anyone with information can call police on Hereford CID on 0300 333 3000, quoting incident number 0604-s-080512 or crimestoppers

A new community information service has been opened by volunteers at Newton Farm Community Association in South Wye, Hereford.

Community Info is a drop in service run by specially trained local volunteers known as Community Wardens, who will be able to offer information or signposting assistance to relevant organisations in Herefordshire. The aim is to provide a friendly face and helping hand to local residents who have queries on a range of issues including how to apply for a blue badge, dispose of bulky items, access community transport or receive home repairs.

The service, which is run in conjunction with Herefordshire Council and NHS Herefordshire, is funded by Skills for Care, a national organisation which assists social care employers to improve their workforce.

Fran Warden, Herefordshire Council’s signposting officer, said: “The new service aims to create a stronger community in South Wye by enlisting volunteers to provide useful advice and support to local residents. They will be available to answer non-emergency questions and help people access additional information and services in organisations across Herefordshire.â€

“The service is currently being run as a pilot scheme and is available at The Oval in Hereford every Monday and Thursday 10am to 1pm.â€