Wouldn't life be great if the street outside your front door felt like your own space? Somewhere to chat with your neighbors, kick a ball with the kids, get about by foot and bike? Somewhere to give us all a better quality of life - a quality street.

For many of us the street outside our front door has become a place of speeding traffic, rat-running, noise and pollution. Its a place for others to travel through rather than for communities to claim as their own.

That's why we want local Councillors to invest more of their local transport budgets to create quality streets. The first step is 20mph speed limits across whole villages, towns and cities. The second is residents being involved in designing their streets for living, playing, and getting out and about more. The result is better quality lives, quality chat and play, and safer more attractive places outside our front doors.

Quality Streets is a campaign to say we want our streets back, and the first step is to slow traffic.

Let your local Councillor know that you want quality streets. Sign up here.

To put the record straight.

When the original Belmont Voice Website back in 2007, I bumped into Cllr Powell and told her my intentions for a more up to date forum website which we now have. She said to me that she was thinking of setting up her own website, where as local people within the ward could contact her and visa-versa, so I suggested that she could use this site as her own base (so to speak) although, now, maybe I wish I had made it more clear to her as she honestly believed that the site was hers and advertised the fact.

Recently, what with a few people suggesting the the site is biased towards Cllr Powell, I have exchanged several emails with Cllr Powell reminding her that the site was actually mine (all paid for and I set it up) and now this could be the reason behind some of the other councillors perhaps not joining as one member has suggested.

This is probably my fault in all fairness to Cllr Powell as I should of made it more clear in the beginning that BV could be used by her to be in contact with her constituents, along with any other Councillor, so there has clearly been a misunderstanding somewhere along the line, but no monies have been paid by her, so I am a little confused to how this was misunderstood.

Belmont Voice the site and domain name are solely owned by myself, nobody else is involved in any way shape of form, hence my post earlier. The site, the graphics, and logo etc were all created by myself and are my copyright.

I sincerely apologise to Cllr Powell for any embarrassment that may have been caused to her, although I did think I had made it clear in the beginning, that said, this site is here for ALL residents and Councillors to use as a vehicle in which to communicate with each other and have serious debates.

Belmont Voice (BV) is an independent website community for discussions and issues related to the Belmont Area/Ward.

 We do not represent anyone or any organisation.

 Publish your thoughts and opinions on news, issues, planning and developments within the Belmont ward.

(in the main this will relate to the BRPC but may also relate to HCC)

 As residents of the Belmont Ward (Belmont - Hunderton - Newton Farm) you are invited to take part in local discussions about the environment, surrounding area's and where we live.

If you do not live within the ward, you are still invited to register in join in our discussions, if you live in Hereford there may be issues that you would like to highlight or raise.

 You have direct access to other residents and your Councillors via this website.

 We will endeavor to publish all the latest news and issues as soon and and often as we can.

 This site can be used as your communication with each other without having to leave your home!

 Remember!! If you start or reply to any topic or post YOU are responsible for your content.

 Please join in and feel free to start a new topic or discussion.

 Above all please be polite to others and observe the guidelines and rules of this site.

I now hope that this clarifies everything and we can now continue to get back to posting.

An invitation from Herefordshire Housing to a Families Event has been delivered to all Herefordshire Housing tenants, the event will be on Tuesday 26th October at the Three Counties Hotel, Belmont Rd between 11am-3pm this is during the half term week. They would love to see as many people there as possible to join in and have fun. There will be activities for children of all ages, including:

Pottery sessions, fun with music and drumming, story telling, soft play area, Arts and crafts, face painting, balloon modelling ..... and much more.
This will be FREE to all tenants, and there will also be light refreshments (juice and biscuits) available, come along and join in.

They will also be able to talk to you about further plans around THE OVAL development, and answer your questions and concerns.

I received this email back today;
 

Cllr. Powell

In Rob Hemblade's absence I can probably at least bring you up to date as far as I am aware and following talks with Rob earlier last week.

Fly-tipping from Haywood Lane - much of the rubbish is historical and has been there since well before the Council purchased the site although further tipping does occur. Some of the items safe to remove and not in the water/mud and eligible for general disposal were cleared at the litter-pick day a earlier this summer. Our Ranger checks the site roughly every week and continues to remove items he safely can. It is likely that the larger/buried items will require winches and other equipment and may also require traffic control for the extraction to take place safely.

I know Rob is talking with Amey about co-ordinating a removal of the larger items and those in the mud and water that require specialist removal and disposal. I believe he is hoping that this will take place at the same time as Amey have equipment and people on site replacing the spillway from the pools. This is being scheduled for September/early October as this is the best time of year for pond works causing the smallest potential impact on wildlife and when the water level is low. I will copy this email to Rob so he can keep you updated on what is happening and when.

As regards bins I believe there is a direct contact at Amey for Councillors who have requests for work, additional fixtures etc. If you email details of your suggestions and locations I am sure Amey will look in to it. There are of course bins on the plan for the wider 'Persimmon Homes' country park but these will not be delivered until Persimmon establish the Country Park - probably about 18 months time based on current build schedule etc.

Hope this information helps.

Rob is due back next Monday if you have any further questions.

James

James Bisset
Principal Countryside Officer
Parks, Countryside and Leisure Development Services

I have been ask for an update of the Oval redevelopment, there is a meeting of the steering group next Tuesday 6th Oct where we will be discussing the next steps moving this project forward, and a newsletter will be delivered.
After the meeting I will give you all the update.

Springfield Children's Centre provides access to a range of services to families with children under 5 years of age, these include: Health, Early Years Education, Parenting Support Activities and more. To find out more about the groups that we run please use the link to our What's on guide below.

Sept-Dec 2010

Binder1.pdf

This picture of Broad Street Hereford was taken in the 1930's.

:Smile Face_32: I have received today further information about Belmont Pools from James Bisset, Pricipal Officer Parks and Countryside:-

Dear Cllr Powell,

Amey will be starting work on clearing out the 'cut'and replacing the spillway from this coming Monday ( suject to torrential rain over the weekend). Access will be across Persimmon's field from Haywood Lane. We have already cut a track through the grass across the field for them and Persimmon's site manager is fully aware of what is happening. Our team will be keeping a careful watching brief on their progress.

Although no evidence of White-clawed Crayfish has been found in the lower pool or subsequent stream we have briefed Amey and they will be keeping a careful lookout as the debis in the 'cut' is removed. Likewise for birds nests in the trees and shrubs they may need to cut in order to gain access. If wildlife is found appropriate steps are in place to handle the situation.

Whilst this work is taking place security fencing etc will be in place so access to and across the existing spillway area will be restricted.

If you have any concerns about the work do not hesitate to contact me, or if you see vandalism of any equipment etc please call the police in the usual way.

James Bisset

Principal Countryside Officer.

This is an email from Mark Schoffer to Rob Hemblade

Dear Rob,

 

I am very sorry but this matter of sewage leaking into Belmont Pools is now getting very serious.

 

Close examination and picture "A steady volume of sewage entering Belmont Pool" shows that this is really serious on the grounds of health hazard, to children swimming, young fishermen as well as the older fishermen. Sewage pollution cuts down oxygen in water and contaminates the fish which are handled by fishermen, also our Easter European friends who like to eat them.

The other two pictures "sewage entering the lower Pond & Volume of sewage entering the pond"show how serious this matter is.

The last picture "New pipe in between the branches", I do not know what this does as nothing appears to have come out of it.

 

Cllr Powell I ask that you have this published on your website as a warning to residents who use the lower pond, incase they catch some infection, but not the lower comment re Cllr Edwards.

 

I have not included Cllr Edwards as his comments are irrelevant to the problem.

 

Mark

This is entering in the lower pool

A open air community meeting took place in Westholme Road last week
A group of local fishermen are setting up a community angling club in order to work in partnership with Herefordshire council on the future management of fishing at the big pool. A number of issues were raised and one of the outcomes was that a number of places on the angling club committee will be for local residents, and also a number of day tickets for fishing will be available.

Alan Beasley leader of the fishermen group has ask Cllr Mark Schoffer to be the liasion representative between the fishermen and residents he has accepted.

:Thumbs-Up: I received an email from Rob Hemblade this afternoon I quote:-

I had a chat with the fishermen on Friday and they are really keen to improve matters on the pools, and equally keen to engage local residents. This is a very good example of their commitment.

We Had an email back from Persimmon this morning and they are going to empty the septic tank which should deal with the outfall. and they are dealing with the longer term issue though they did not go into any further details I presume for legal reasons.

End of quote.

I have also suggested to a officer from the environment dept of the possibility of putting spreaders or a soakeway into the field to enable the sewage to drain away there and not into the pools.

Several weeks ago, I took it upon myself to contact the Chairman Cllr Phil Edwards and invite him to join Belmont Voice.

I personally believe that Mr Edwards as well as your other elected Councillors should be here for their constituents.

He told me that "he likes to get out and about on his bike and meet the residents of the parish", I explained that the website would assist him as it is immediate! you can ask questions and post replies without the need to go out on your bike. He told me he likes to be known as the "man on the bike"...Mr Edwards said that he would consider registering for the site, I also informed him that other councillors were active members and that I would post his reply here.

I also invited Andy Myatt who has registered I am pleased to say.

I personally spoke with our new Councillor Dawn Killeen and John Newman when I visited the Oval Office, they were all keen to register, but as yet Andy Myatt is the only other councillor besides Cllr Powell to be registered.

Now as elected Councillors I am both suprised and disappointed that no councillors have joined! This is not through lack of computer skills either as several councillors including the chairman were quite active on the old BR website before it closed.

It could just be that Mr Edwards does not approve of the LIVE forum debates and prefers to have constituents posts edited to suit like on the old BR site, well, this site is open, live and fair and represents the TRUE feelings of the local people. As a Councillor you should be open to criticism as well as praise unless there is an alternative agenda for not joining?

Council motto;

"Working in partnership for the people of Herefordshire"

I have also distributed some flyers about the Belmont Voice website in the council offices, Tesco's and the newsagents at the Oval.

Lets hope that your elected Councillors register in the near future to support you all.

I am aware that Cllr Powell reported all the rubbish and tyres in and around the pool last week, it was my understanding that Amey were going there?? I have had a quick walk around this morning and everything is still there.

Maybe it will take a little longer...

I had a look in the open space at the bottom of Glastonbury Close today and was amazed to see that the people who live at the back of this fence (Golden Post) have cut their tree's and then dumped all the waste in the field!!

This is the culprit! as you can see they have cut their trees

Now they have just dumped it

It looks a right mess and it would be unfair to ask Amey to clean up this, so can someone from the council knock on the door and ask them to clean it all up please. This is clearly fly tipping, not the brightest persons as it is obvious who is responsible.

Caught a better picture of the Heron today



& here is the same picture zoomed

A rare species of Bumblebee have been found in the area of Abbey View Park a recommendation has come forward with the object of supporting and encouraging this particular species which will bring with it other benefits I have attached some more details of this particular bee.

The bee found in the area of Abbey View Park is the Brown Banded Carder Bee Bombus Humilis its listed as nationally rare - below is what the UK biodiversity action plan says about it

Bombus Humilis is a brown carder bumblebee which makes its nest on the surface of the ground at the base of long vegetation, often under accumulated plant litter. It has most often been recorded as associated with areas of grassland supporting a large number of plant species with long corolla types notably belonging to the plant families Lamiaceae and Fabaceae. It is one of a number of bumblebee species to have undergone a drastic reducation in range and abundance, as a result of theloss of this habitat in the moder agricultural landscape, although it appears to be able to survive in less extensive areas of flower rich habitat with some bumblebee species.

At the beginning of the 20th Century this bumblebee was considered uncommon in southern England.

However, it was a widespread species, reaching Yorkshire and Lancashire in the north. By the 1970s it had disappeared from most of its norther and inland localities, although it was still widespread along much of the coast. The species has continued to decline in the eastern half of England, where it is now local and sporadic. It is still readily found along the south-western coash of England, from Dorset westwards, and on the southern coast of Walers. There are also a number of inland localities associated with the larger areas of chalk grasslands, notably the Salisbury Plain. There are no records of this species from Scotland or Northern Ireland. B.humilis is widespread in Europe.

In Great Britain this species is classified as Local.

HUNDREDS have signed a petition asking for Hereford's new GP walk-in centre to stay at Asda.

Here is Cllr Powell handing over the petition


Almost 700 people are opposed to it being moved to a new purpose-built unit near the A&E department at the County Hospital.

Belmont ward Councillor Glenda Powell said she had been asked by many people to start up a petition calling for the new centre to stay south of the river.

Coun Powell said since it had opened last December, 973 patients had visited GPs there and people were very happy with its position.

Petition forms placed at the Oval and Putson Post Offices attracted 654 signatures in four weeks and were handed to Herefordshire Council chairman John Stone last week.

Story from Hereford Times

For the last 15 months Herefordshire Housing has been talking to the residents of the flats in The Oval area, to inform and update them on the progress of Herefordshire Housing’s plans to transform the Oval area. This started in April 2009, when a questionnaire was sent to all residents of the Oval area, asking for their views on what they thought of the area, what they liked/didn’t like, what they thought would improve the area, and what they thought of their current properties.

The replies were for the most part very positive, people like the area, and feel a strong sense of community, but many felt that there was little in the way of activities or facilities, particularly for young people.

In May of 2009 a steering group was set up for the purpose of overseeing the project on behalf of the community, and to act as the main strategic driver for the Oval community Plan, the group is made up of tenant representatives, local councillors, Newton Farm Community Association and representatives of Herefordshire Housing, the group is chaired by Rev Clive Evans. Herefordshire Housing in partnership with the steering group has also organised two family fun events at the Three Counties Hotel in Oct 2009 and on 2nd June 2010 as a thank you to the community for their support and involvement in the ongoing process.

In January of 2010 Herefordshire Housing was able to present the options for the Oval area, and following an exhibition and later face to face interviews with residents, the overwhelming feeling was that they would like to see all the blocks knocked down and replaced with new housing, 99% of residents questioned also said that they would like to see a community centre or hub that can cater for all sorts of community activities and a place where various local organisations could be based.

So what happens next? Herefordshire Housing are currently discussing with the Diocese the St Francis site on Goodrich Grove, where we are hoping to site the community hub, the next step is to discuss funding for the regeneration project with the Homes and Communities Agency, we are already in discussion with the planning Dept, and hope to have some design ideas to show the community later in the year, although we do not envisage any building work on new housing to start until 2012 at least.

The project is still in it's infancy as yet, but we have high hopes for it's success.

If you have any queries or would like any further info Please contact Herefordshire Housing Neighbourhood Officer Peter Grayer on 01432 346092