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Colin James

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Posts posted by Colin James

  1. The use of lanterns and balloons pose serious environmental and wildlife threats

     

    Sky Lanterns.jpg 

     

    Herefordshire Council will no longer permit the use of sky lanterns and helium balloons on council owned or leased land and at council run events. Their use will also be discouraged at licensed events across the county.

    The use of sky lanterns (also known as Chinese lanterns) and helium balloons have become a popular way to mark a special event, yet their use poses a serious threat to wildlife and the environment as it is impossible to control where the released lanterns and balloons land.

    Sky lanterns and balloons pose a serious threat to livestock – animals eat lantern debris which can be poisonous or puncture internal organs, and smaller birds can become trapped and killed. There are also environmental dangers with littering, the risk of fire to crops and trees and a significant danger to aircraft and helicopters.

    Councillor David Harlow, Cabinet Member for Economy and Corporate Services, said:

    “The use of sky lanterns and helium balloons pose a serious threat to the county’s environment and wildlife, so I am pleased Herefordshire Council has joined over 60 other councils across the UK in banning their use.

    “The use of sky lanterns and helium balloons will no longer be allowed at licensed events, or at events run on council owned or leased land. We would encourage those celebrating special occasions or fundraising to consider more environmentally-friendly options, such as planting a tree, or using lighting, bunting and flags.”

     

     

     

     

  2. I have separated both topics Martin, otherwise search engines will get confused. 

     

    This is a strange one, maybe a local resident trimmed them? As for the responsibility, where maintenance is concerned many organisations will distance themselves where they can, its ridiculous.

  3. Not much action for two years since the last post above - gave up complaining. Any way the cavalry are on their way. Lets hope it shames the council and Balfour Beatty. BB's campaign for Living Places is a joke in Hereford.

     

     

    It's only going to get done by volunteers as the council couldn't care less. I will be giving a hand to get the job done.

     

    attachicon.gifDSC02164 1.jpg

     

    attachicon.gifDSC02165 2.jpgattachicon.gifDSC02166 3.jpgattachicon.gifDSC02167 4.jpg

     

    Good group doing a lot of good things here Martin, fair play to them all.

  4. We notified Balfour Beatty about our second action day weeks in advance, yet a week after all of our hard work I find myself picking up some of our own litter from the bags we left last weekend. 
     
    Yes it is all still there! Nothing has been collected! 
     
    All these volunteers have given up their day and time to commit to this fantastic project and it feels like we are unappreciated with this lack of response, not impressed at all.
     
    I am also waiting for promised emails and the results from the tree survey which took place weeks ago, I am starting to realise why things take so long in this city, well I am not going away, on the contrary, I will just increase the volume!

     

    Balfour Beattie.jpg

     

    Balfour Beattie 1.jpg

  5. People south of the river don't seem to require food banks! There is obviously a demand for overpriced snacks or the shop wouldn't open! 

     

    Yes a huge demand if you look at the many comments on our Facebook Page and this has been shared 70 times and reached over 20,000 people, so that will give you an indication of how popular this new Greggs branch has become.

     

    Greggs.png

     

     

  6. Looks the part now. Well done chaps and chapesses. Just a few loose ends to finish it off. Ideally need to get the pump working again. Volunteers doing the jobs that we pay our LA taxes to cover.

    Also great to see that both Herefordshire Council and Hereford City Council have appreciated and recognised all the time, effort and hard work that has been expended! *cough* I’m surprised that HT hasn’t picked up on this too.

     

    What’s next Colin?

     

    We need to complete the painting of the fence.

     

    I have secured up to £5k from the Hereford City Council to purchase aeration pumps and possibly a fountain, just need to find the right product and see if we can get BB to install and maintain it all.

     

    Then onto the next project, we have several in mind but the City Walls is a high priority, so pushing to get this put back on the agenda with the Councils

  7. Thank you to everyone the joined us today on phase 2 of this fantastic project, including Corden Smith, Ben, Sue, my mrs Beata and my son Joe and last but not least Jim Kenyon and his family who all mucked in to help. There were less people than last time nevertheless, another great effort by all who attended.

     

    Huge thank you has to go to George from the Castle Hotel for again providing refreshments all day and for the fabulous hot sausage rolls.

     

    Thank you to J Mart and Ann Marie for providing much needed items, such as paint brushes, sand paper etc and finally, thank you for the superb award winning burgers provided by the Beefy Boys! 

     

    Thank you to Elliot and the team at vets4pets for sponsoring another 2 signs for the Duck Pond.

     

    Thank you to Hereford City Council for paying for the paint and brushes :)

     

    As you can see from the photographs, we have removed a few more large overhanging branches and cleared more of the bamboo which has now let a lot more light in and really opened the area. The pathway and bushes have been cut back and thinned out and the footpath has been cleared with lots of rubbish and mud recycled.

     

    The fence has been painted as far around as the large tree. The remaining fence down the side of the grass still needs to be painted, so we are looking for volunteers to help complete this, maybe a few people with some spare time however, it may require one more mornings work for maybe a dozen or so people to complete this last section, hoping to get this completed as soon as possible. 

     

    Fence Before 1.jpg

    Fence before it was painted

     

    Fence After 1.jpg

    And after

     

    Before Cleared.jpg

    Before we cleared it all

     

    After Cleared.jpg

    After it was cleared

     

    Fence Complete.jpg

    After this section was painted.

     

    Painting 1.jpg

    Sue and Ann Marie

     

    Painting 2.jpg

    My better half Beata and my Son Joe

     

    Painting 3.jpg

    Everyone busy

     

    Corden & Ben.jpg

    Corden and Ben

     

    CJ.jpg

    Adding my bit 

     

    Duck Pond 1.jpg

    Me with Jim and his family

     

    Beefy Boys.jpg

    Massive thanks to George from the Castle Hotel and these wonderful award winning burgers from the Beefy Boys!

     

    Footpath.jpg

    Bushes thinned out and footpath clear again

     

    Bags.jpg

     

    Wood.jpg

    We have left a nice neat pile for Balfour Beattie to collect in the morning.

  8. See you all bright and early 0900 :)

     

    Please Please remember to bring some garden tools, rakes, loppers, shears etc..
    We will be painting the fence, we have the paint and some brushes but please feel free to bring your own brushes and some black bags or dust sheets to place under the fence as we paint.
     
    Finally, does anyone have a large Grab Bag they can bring? Like the one in the photo below, we had one last time and it would be really useful for putting the pond weed etc
     
    Builders Grab Bag.jpg
     
    See you all in the morning 
  9. Hereford City Hidden Treasures

     
    Hidden in the depths of the Town Hall in a small vault are the City's hidden treasures.
     
    Accessible to only the abled bodied and in confined space allowing only a maximum of 10 people at any one time access to view them, the vault is dark and damp it is not the ideal place or conditions in which to display and preserve the City's hidden treasures.
     
    At present there are up to 100 plate visits a year, a number restricted by the vaults accessibility. When school classes attend they must visit the vault quite often in three lots and any children who are unable to manage the steep curved stairs down to the basement below the Town Hall miss out completely.
     
    Coaches of tourists are dropped off outside the Town Hall almost daily to view the historic buildings magnificent architecture, completely unbeknown to them are the City's treasures and deep seated history stored in the vault in the basement below them.
     
    Every piece of silver, every charter, the oldest being 1189, older than the Magna Carta, makes up a piece of this City's history. Every piece tells a story or bequeaths something to the City and the people that reside here.
     
    These treasures should be accessible to all; every school trip, every tour party and every group/organisation who visit the Town Hall should be able to see the City's fascinating collection.  
     
    The land the Town Hall stands on was left to the people of this great City by the Johnson sisters, daughters of a former Town Clerk, to build a municipal building for the people of Hereford.
     
    What better place to install a purpose built all accessible civic museum than in the Town Hall.
     
    The no longer used Mayoress Parlour in the Mayoral Suite in the Town Hall will house this purpose built museum and will ensure the security and preservation of the City's ancient artefacts for generations to come. 
     
    The tourists who visit the Town Hall will now not only be able to view the buildings fascinating architecture but also City's history and ancient treasures. 
     
    Groups, organisations and schools will no longer be restricted to specialised visits restricted by numbers and accessibility. 
     
    An underspend on the development of the new Tourist Information Centre for Hereford, a substantial application for a Heritage Lottery grant (if it is successful) and a saving on rent for the vault currently housing the City's silver and charter will all support the installation of the new civic museum.
     
  10. On 09/11/2017 at 21:34, Clarkester said:

    Apart from the fact that she clearly isn't cycling on the pavement...

    The others, they are tools, but this lady is quite clearly walking with her bike.

    Well when I first saw the video on my mobile this morning at 3.26 she rides up onto the footpath on the Old Bridge and which point it froze. It was not until I got home this evening that I managed to see it all and realised that to be fair to Helen a few seconds later she actually got off her bike and walked. So I apologise for my mistake, I have also apologised on the HT website. 

    That said, there are far far too many people riding on footpaths, which is more than evident in the debate.

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