Residents' Update:
Sunday 6th March 2016
Dear All,
This week’s update includes:-
Howes Primary “Cleaned for the Queen”; Tollbar Improvement Scheme Road Closures; London Road Speed Reduction Petition; Whitley Residents & Neighbourhood Watch Association; Exminster Road – Gravel on Pavement; Proposed Patching & Pavement Work for 2016/ 2017; Ring Road Junction 4 Road Works; Freezer Blocking Pavement; Road Works; Exminster Road – Name Plate Missing; Clarification to Council Tax Rebate; How to Report Dog Fouling; Litter Pick in Whitley– Help required; Potatoes in Pots Update; Illegal Turn on JLR Slip Road – Update; Salt Bin Request for Southport Close; Bale of Straw for Swans; Trees Being Planted; Priory Visitors Centre Closure; Do you have a child under 5 years old?; Coombe Country Park Easter Holiday Events; Suspicious Phone Call; Warning to Businesses; Scam Government Grant; Recalls; Coventry Half Marathon Pictures; Diary; Useful Links. And Finally …
Howes Primary “Cleaned for the Queen”
Last Friday 240 pupils from Howes Primary were joined by Coventry’s Lord Mayor, Lady Mayoress, teachers, parents and local residents to do a “Litter Pick” for the Queen. The children’s enthusiasm and energy was infectious. Many of the roads around the school are now much cleaner due to everyone’s fantastic efforts.
A45/A46 Tollbar Improvement Scheme Road Closures
From Alan Jones, Galliford Try
I am writing to advise you of further periods of overnight road closures required for the A45/A46 Tollbar Improvement scheme.
A46 Coventry Eastern Bypass
The A46 Coventry Eastern Bypass northbound will be closed for 6 nights from 6 March to11 March from 8pm until 6am the following morning.
The closure is required to allow for construction works on the bridge abutments of the new eastern bridge at the A45/A46 Tollbar Roundabout.
A45 Stonebridge Highway between Stivichall junction and Tollbar roundabout
With reference to our letter dated 25 February, the closure of the A45 Stonebridge Highway will now take place in both directions for 5 nights from 07 March to 11 March from 8pm until 6am the following morning.
These closures have been published on the Highways England website and the diversion routes will be clearly signed. The planned closures may be cancelled or extended in the event of inclement weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances.
If you require information please contact the Alan Jones contact details below or visit the scheme website at www.highways.gov.uk/a45a46tollbar
London Road Speed Reduction Petition
Mark was disappointed by the news that the cabinet member wanted to deal with his e-petition for “a speed reduction along London Road” by letter instead of the usual report which would be discussed at a cabinet member meeting.
It’s been announced that money has been allocated for road safety along London Road, and it has been requested for the petition to go to the relevant cabinet meeting so he and residents can have their say on any road safety improvements.
Mark welcomes the Transportation and Highway Maintenance Programme as it refers to a reduction in speed / speed awareness measures priority for London Road (A444 to St James Lane).
Read the Coventry Telegraph article on the subject.
Whitley Residents & Neighbourhood Watch Association
Their next meeting takes place on Wednesday 9th March at 7pm at Whitley Community Centre. Agenda topics include
1 – Proposed parking restrictions, use of permit schemes etc,
2 – The Whitley Business Park impact if the new development does not go ahead
3 – The potential traffic and environmental impact of the proposed JLR development.
4 – The new SEN school planned for the Alice Stephen`s site
Exminster Road – Gravel on Pavement
Recently a resident informed us of the large amount of gravel on the Exminster Road Pavements. Here’s the response from Rebecca Alcock, Senior Highway Inspector
Dear Councillor Bailey
Our Street Pride team have confirmed that they have already swept the path although because there are still some lose stones on the road they have ended up on the path again.
He has arranged for a sweeper to make another visit.
Proposed Patching & Pavement Work for 2016/ 2017
In our recent survey many residents raised concerns over uneven pavements, cracked slabs and poor road surfaces. Mark photographed every road reported; Officers visited the areas of concern and some immediate repair work was undertaken.
On March 8th, at a cabinet meeting (Public Services), the
2016/17 Transportation and Highway Maintenance Capital Programme will be discussed for approval.
Here are the proposed works for our ward, in the programme:-
- Patching works:- Brathay Close, Cecily Road, Foresters Road and Sunbury Road;
- Pavement works:- Castle Close, Daventry Road, Dillotford Ave and Porlock Close.
Not all the roads and pavements that were reported are in the capital programme so we will continue to ask for these to be considered.
Mark has added a
video on this subject onto his ‘Cheylesmore Coventry’ Facebook page.
Ring Road Junction 4 Road Works
Last week Hazel sent this email to the Highways department
Could you please give me an update on the planned work for junction 4 of the Ring Road?
As I drove past it looks like the old slip road to come back along the London road is being completely closed off.
Residents have commented to me how much better this island is since the traffic changes were made.
Response from Peter Ullah, Highways Operations Manager
Dear Cllr. Noonan,
The dedicated right turn slip on Junction 4 was closed as an experiment during the Friargate Project (Roadwork element) and it has proved to be very successful in terms of improving traffic flow.
The junction is due to undergo some extensive resurfacing shortly, so we are taking the opportunity to make this a permanent feature of the junction layout.
Road Works
Daventry Road - 6th March, at off-peak, 2 way traffic lights so that a manhole cover & frame can be replaced
London Road - 14th to 25th March 2 way traffic lights so the work to excavate and remove the existing advance direction sign base and to install new sign base, can be done.
Freezer Blocking Pavement
In recent weeks Mark has noted a few freezers left around the ward. He notified Council customer services to ask that one particular freezer be removed as it was blocking a pavement.
Thankfully the pavement is now clear.
Exminster Road – Name Plate Missing
A resident reported that the name plate for Exminster Road at its junction with Leaf Lane was missing. Response from Rachel Goodyer, Street Lighting PFI Contract Officer
Dear Councillor Bailey
The current policy is to only replace street name plates if there isn’t any on site, following my site visit I can confirm that there is one on site and therefore as a priority to replace the missing one, this unfortunately isn’t very high.
However, I didn’t raise a job to get the existing poles and backing board removed as just installing a plate is considerably cheaper than a frame and if once the new financial year starts in April and the back log of missing street name plate has reduced significantly I will look at whether we can get the plate replaced.
Illegal Turn on JLR Slip Road - Update
Hazel asked for the latest situation on this ‘illegal turn’ as in our 24th February Residents’ email it was believed that things would be in place within 2 weeks.
Update from Ian Lewis, Senior Consultant
From the information and images we have been able to review it does seem that the issue of the traffic problems at the roundabout are made worse by the traffic that has illegally turned left on the entry slip road, driven onto the new section of Leaf Lane and down to the roundabout entry lane. The illegal left turning vehicles have increased since the initial review in late November 2015.
With the installation of the signs shortly this will allow the Police to enforce or provide the opportunity for the Council’s CCTV car to park on the service bay and monitor.
Clarification to Council Tax Rebate
A resident sent us this and asked that we allay people's concerns on this matter.
Just in relation to the Editor's note that you had at the bottom of this week's update :-
- In the recent Citivision I read, with surprise, that the single adult Council Tax rebate is being stopped, which means that these bills could go up by over 38% (excludes pensioners).
I was worried that this may relate to single person discount, so I did check with Coventry City Council & their reply is as follows:-
Thank you for your email.
There will be no change to single persons discount.
The article should have read that second adult rebate is to be abolished. This discount is linked to Council Tax support and does not impact in any way on single persons discount.
How to Report Dog Fouling
Residents regularly contact us about dog mess on pavements and in parks
“Stop Dog Fouling in Coventry” is on Facebook.
Sign up to their
Facebook page.
Once signed up you can access their information by clicking on
Files
How can you help us?
We hope this group will bring communities together to work with us to catch persistent offenders allowing their dogs to foul. You are the eyes and ears on your street; you can help us to identify irresponsible dog owners by telling us roughly what time of day you notice the dog foul has occurred and where.
The more information you give us the better chance we have of catching owners and tackling the problem quickly. If you have witnessed a dog owner not picking up after their dog, you need to provide us with the following information:
A description of the person in charge of the dog at the time the incident occurred.
A description of the type of dog they were walking.
If they arrived in a vehicle, then please provide a description of the vehicle.
We also need to know how far away you were when the incident occurred and what kind of view you had.
These are all important factors that we need to enable us to find the owner of the dog and if necessary issue them with a Fixed Penalty Fine.
To report a dog fouling incident on public land or domestic gardens please contact us at Coventry Direct on 0500 834 333.
Litter Pick in Whitley– Help required
Larry, a local resident, proposes to clean up the footpath from the North Whitley Common footpath bridge down to the sports centre and along to the Old Whitley Bridge.
If you would like to help, please call him on 07982 100702.
Potatoes in Pots Update
Salt Bin Request for Southport Close.
A resident recently requested an extra salt bin to be placed in Southport Close on the Stonehouse Estate because in icy weather the nearby foot bridge to Folly Fields footpath gets very slippy. We are disappointed that this request has been turned down by the Council.
Response from Peter Ullah, Highways Operations Manager:-
Dear Cllr. Noonan,
I have taken a look at this site and unfortunately it does not meet the new criteria for Grit Bin provision, however there are existing grit bins in Sebastian Close, Sedgemoor Rd and Sunnybank Avenue.
The amount required to grit the footbridge would be equivalent to a bag of sugar, so although they are a bit of a distance away we are not talking about transporting a heavy load. The salt should be spread so it is barely visible (we usually spread a 10g/m2) and although you often see people piling it in huge mounds that is unnecessary.
Bale of Straw for Swans on Quinton Pool Island
A resident recently asked if another bale of straw was going to put onto Quinton Pool Island this Spring, as in the last couple of years it has had very positive results.
The Park Rangers initially advised that it’s a little early to put the straw out for the swans and that it will be done in April.
However, a regular user of the park informed us that April would be too late as he had seen that the swans were already seeking a nesting spot and had been on the island and looking at the small pool area. He noticed that even the ducks were now in pairs.
Hazel passed this information onto the Park Rangers and asked if the bale of straw needed to be placed sooner? Here's her response:-
No problem, I’ll ask Simon to get it in the next couple of weeks.
Regards,
Michelle A Tyrtania, Parks Development and Ranger Manager
Trees Being Planted
Mark recently saw a resident planting trees at various locations near the new JLR bridge and asked the council’s opinion on this matter. Response from Tim Wetherhill, Urban Forestry Officer
I’m not too bothered by trees being planted like this, but would not encourage people to do it. Now the trees are in the ground, we’ll leave them there and benefit from them.
We have asked the council for another update on when the trees and landscaping that was promised around the new Whitley Bridge will be done.
Priory Visitors Centre Closure
Last Saturday the Priory Visitor Centre shut as a public visitors centre. Roger was the last member of the public to leave when it closed and he was also present on the day it first opened, 15 years ago.
The Priory Visitors Centre was a history centre, telling the story of Coventry's first cathedral and the Benedictine priory and hence the start of Coventry. It was twice visited by the Time Team programme.
Read Dr Jonathan Foyle’s, a leading Medieval expert, opinion on the closure of the Priory Visitor Centre.
Do you have a child under 5 years old?
In 2017, the government plans to extend the free childcare entitlement to 30 hours for some families. Coventry City Council wants to assess the impact of this initiative on Early Years Providers.
They are asking families with a child under 5 years old to take 10 minutes to
complete the survey before 14th March 2016.
Our Website
Our Website address is
www.cheylesmoreward.wix.com/teamcheylesmore. It contains our previous updates, parking scheme information & notices.
Note from the Editor
I’ll be away from 10th March, if you have an event that you’d like including then please send them to
cheylesmore.ward@gmail.com asap. A sub editor will be taking over in my absence.
Coombe Country Park Easter Holiday Events
19 March -1 April –
Easter Trail
29 March -
Nature Crowns/
Crafty Creatures
30 March -
Kiss the Frog/
Spring Animal Art
5 April -
Nature Crowns/
Crafty Creatures
6 April –
Kiss the Frog/
Spring Animal Art
8 April –
Birds of Prey
All events (except the Easter trail and Birds of Prey) require advance booking and payment. Booking can be made at the Visitor Centre in person or over the phone on 024 7645 3720, 10am to 4pm daily. Parking charges apply.
Suspicious Phone Call Claiming to be from Bank
A resident suggested that we warn others that this scam is making the rounds again.
Afternoon Roger.
Just a quick line to advise of a suspicious call I have just received claiming to be from HSBC bank fraud department,
The Scottish gentleman’s voice on the other end of the line claimed to be calling from HSBC and was enquiring about a pending payment of £1,200 from my account to be paid to Mr Robert Bryce, after questioning him about the transaction further and then advising him I didn’t have an account with HSBC the phone call was abruptly ended by the other party.
The call was made via a withheld number, I feel they were obviously looking to obtain personal details.
Read more
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Coventry Half Marathon Pictures
See the pictures from the Coventry Half Marathon 2016.
Dates for your Diary
Friday 11th March - 2pm to 4pm - Cheylesmore Good Neighbours will have a talk from "Coventry Older Voices", at Quinton Park Baptist Church Hall.
Sunday 13th March - London Road Cemetery tidy-up day. Meet at the Paxton Memorial at 10am. Click
here for the Friends of London Road Cemetery website.
Monday 21st March -7pm - Friends of London Road Cemetery will have a talk by Pete Walters on the History of Coventry, Christ Church, Frankpledge Rd. Everyone is welcome.
Tuesday 5th April – 7pm – Whitley History Group. Ian Woolley will be giving a talk on “A Victorian Resting Place for a growing Industrial City - Coventry's London Road Cemetery” at ibis Hotel, Whitley Village. All welcome
Thursday 28th April planning meeting to discuss JLR Planning Application for Whitley South
Sunday 26th June 2016 11am - 5pm Styvechale Open Gardens in aid of Local Air Ambulance Service.
Saturday 11th June - War Memorial Park - Grin and Bear it Obstacle Course for children from 6 to 10 years of age doing a 2.5k course, in aid of Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice.
More details here.
Sunday 12th June War - Memorial Park - Grin and Bear it Obstacle Course for 11 year olds upwards to adults doing a 5k course, in aid of Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice.
More details here.
And Finally Be There for the Good Times - Coventry City 1987 FA Cup.
Watch the Video
Useful Links and Phone Numbers.
Age UK Coventry - Trusted Traders Scheme
Blood test locations to download a document listing the locations
Cheylesmore Parking Scheme Email:
parkingenforcement@coventry.gov.uk
Community Activity Directory
Crime Rates in the area
Disposal of Large or Bulky items
Dropped Kerb Information
European Health Insurance Card
General Online Safety Tips & Advice
Government Services
Noise Nuisance
Refuse Collection Information
Report Fly Tipping
Report Graffiti
Report a Missed Bin
Report a Pothole
Report a Street Light Fault
Road Works
Scams & Warnings
School Closures
Parking Enforcement phone numbers
Misuse of a visitor pass - 024 7683 4367
Not sure a car has a permit 024 7683 4367
Change virtual visitors pass registration number - 0345 520 7007
Buy a new permit virtual & paper - 0345 520 7007
Query the status of a PCN (Penalty Charge Notices) - 024 7683 3400
Roger & Hazel secretaries - 024 7683 1101
