Residents' Update:
Sunday 28th June 2015
Dear All,
Hope you have enjoyed the glorious weather on Saturday. Tomorrow (Monday), the Friends of the London Road Cemetery will hear if the £2million Lottery Bid, to improve the cemetery, has been successful. The money would see major improvements to the cemetery including repairs to historic memorials, repairs to the promenade and enable the old entrance to be re-opened. See photo of Hazel discussing with chair of the FoLRC group how this money would help bring the old Anglican Chapel back into use. If you wish to know more, come along to their next tidy-up day on July 12
th (see details below).
This week we include:
Whitley Bridge; Rocket Pub and Station Tower to be demolished; “Trigger” looking for a New Home; Reporting a Missed Bin; “Have More in Cheylesmore”; Sunbury Road Potholes; More Questions &Answers on Residents’ Parking Scheme; Whitley Abbey Primary School Open Evening; Rogue trader reported; Styvechale Open Gardens; Bands in the Park; Dates for your Diary; Useful Links. And Finally …
Whitley Bridge
From Bob Pettipher, Custom Liaison officer at Costain:
On Monday 6th July we intend to open the new slip road off the Northbound A444 into JLR/Business Park/Hotel/Gym. Having accomplished this, it will allow us to then undertake work to tie in the existing slip road from London Road Island into the carriageway of the new bridge. However to do this we will need to close this existing slip road leading from London Road Island to undertake this work.
This will mean that all traffic entering the site will be required to use the new slip road. Vehicles travelling from the south will obviously just merge onto the slip road. However vehicles normally travelling from London Road Island will be required to travel to Festival island and turn to return Northbound and access the site or plan a new route to take them to Festival island. We will retain the existing dedicated left turn lane at London Road island for vehicles travelling from the direction of Asda during peak flows and vehicles will be tapered across onto the A444. This closure is likely to remain in place for a minimum of two weeks.
Rocket Pub and Station Tower to be demolished.
The landscape around the Friargate development is changing quickly, with many of the building now demolished. Work will start on Monday 29
th June to demolish the Rocket Pub on Warwick Road. This site will then be used by the contractors as a working and storage site whilst building a new pedestrian access tunnel from Central Six to the Station beneath Warwick Road.
Work is also due to start to demolish the tall Station Tower. This is an extract from an email received from Martin Vickery, Kickstart Programme Manager
The demolition of Station Tower, the large building next to the station, will commence next week. The site has now been hoarded off and we have agreement from the rail industry about how we’re to complete the works. We’ll first be cladding the building with a netted scaffold and then will be taking it down floor by floor. It’s likely to take some months to be fully demolished.
“Trigger” looking for a New Home
Regular readers of our update may remember we reported “Trigger” the black metal horse that stood on Junction 6 island was to be put into storage. Martin Vickery gives us the latest news.
Trigger was originally made from scrap iron as a public art display and is a much-loved feature within the city centre. As part of the J6 works we obviously needed to temporarily remove him and he was taken to one of our storage facilities where he was subjected to a health-check. Unfortunately it was discovered that there are quite a few structural / safety issues with Trigger and given the open-space nature of the new bridge deck a decision has been made not to put him back. The work required to make him safe (as he’s likely he’ll be climbed on etc.) equates to c.£50k and we simply don’t have that sort of money. BUT, we are still planning to re-home him, albeit somewhere else in the city centre and we are currently exploring suitable locations.
Reporting a Missed Bin, Faulty Street Light, Fly Tipping, Graffiti and Potholes
The quickest and easiest way of reporting these issues is via the Council’s Website.
See our
“Useful Links” section at the bottom to quickly navigate to the correct page. Contact us for any other links you and others would find helpful and we’ll see if we can find them for you and add them to our list.
“Have More in Cheylesmore” – bid for funds from the Section 106 Asda money.
Your Community, Your ideas, You decide.
Did you have an opportunity to talk to us about this, on Saturday, at Daventry Rd shops?
If not then don’t worry, it’s not too late to put in a bid for your community project. Bids must be received by 4
thJuly. Click
here to download the bid form.
Please encourage eligible residents to attend the event on Saturday 18
th July at 2.30pm at Christ Church Hall, Frankpledge Road, to vote for all the “hopeful projects”.
Click
here to see more details on their Facebook page.
Sunbury Road Potholes.
Residents have contacted us about potholes appearing along Sunbury Road, on the Stonehouse Estate. In 2012, we lobbied for the patching work that was done along this road but more potholes have now appeared on the sections that were not done. Hazel asked for a Council Highways’ inspector to take a look. See below, extracts from an email from Rob Little, the Council’s Senior engineer, where he says the potholes are not deep enough to be eligible for urgent repairs. Hazel has asked him to monitor this road as it is the main entrance onto the Estate; is heavily used and is likely to deteriorate quickly.
The two large patches carried out with plane & patch are not showing any signs of failure. However the centreline between and just after the patches has undergone some recent reactive repairs, also there are a couple of areas of plating off of the existing micro asphalt treatment at the far end of the road.
There doesn't appear to be anything at intervention level and the ride quality is average, the road requires further patching followed by a surface dressing in the future. Sunbury Road will be considered with other similar sites and prioritised on a City wide basis. I am unable to advise whether Sunbury Road will be included in next year’s programme at this stage in the year, as the programme is still under development.
More Questions & Answers on Residents’ Parking Scheme
Hazel and Roger have had many enquiries regarding the two new schemes for Cheylesmore. The questions and responses from Caron Archer (Senior Engineer, Traffic Management) and Parking Services are below
Can one house have more than 3 resident permits?
Residents permits are for vehicles registered to a property, the number is not capped, but they are only available for vehicles registered to the property address.
Visitors permits a maximum of 3 permits can be applied for, the maximum number is not affected by the number of residents permits that may be allocated to a property.
Special Event if a resident is having a party/special event during the times the scheme is in operation (Monday-Saturday, 8am -6pm) they should contact Parking Services in advance of the event and they will try to accommodate the request
Visitors sometimes arrive unannounced. Is there a grace period in which residents can register their vehicle?
Grace Period – an observation period of 5 minutes takes place when a car is observed without a permit, this should allow time for a resident to register an unexpected visitor, once registered the permit is valid. However, if there is any problem, difficulties online for example, and there is a delay in the permit being allocated and a PCN is issued, this can always be reviewed.
If residents suspect a vehicle does not belong to a resident, who they can ring to either check or report it?
Non Resident Parking. If a resident thinks that someone is parked without a permit in a residents only area they can contact Parking Enforcement on 024 7683 4367 and provide details of where the vehicle is parked. The Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) have hand held devices that will allow them to check vehicle registrations and see if a permit is allocated, if they are on site they can issue Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) if a valid permit is required and the vehicle does not have one.
Why can’t residents have paper permits for visitors, as it would be more flexible? Why have we gone fully to online registration?
A decision was taken by the Council to move to a virtual permit system. Paper permits will only be given in exceptional circumstances on request (this was outlined on the FAQ that was sent out recently).
What about older residents who do not have computer access, how can they register visitors?
Any resident who does not have computer access can register visitors by phone. If a resident does not have a phone, this would be considered an exceptional circumstance and they could apply for ‘paper’ visitor permits. Situations such as this would be considered on a case by case basis.
On my letter, the deadline date to register for permits is 13
thJuly. Is it possible to apply for permits after this date?
A resident can register at any time. The deadline is to get as many people as possible to register in advance of the scheme starting, to avoid being issued with a Penalty Charge Notice.
My neighbour is on holiday and won’t be back before the scheme starts. What can I do?
If a resident has parked on street, gone away on holiday and will not be returning until after the 15th July, if we are supplied with the vehicle registration and date of return, we can provide the information to Parking Services so that they do not issue any PCNs
I have a company car that is not registered to my house, what should I do?
With company cars, particularly if they are changed on a regular basis, we would recommend using one of the visitor permits. If this will cause particular issues, they can contact Parking Services.
For how long can a car be on a visitor permit?
A car can be a permanent visitor for 3 years
I have a permit for Cheylesmore East, does this mean that I can park in Cheylesmore West?
No, the parking schemes in Cheylesmore East & West are independent. Your permit only entitles you to park in your area.
Click
here for more information about the scheme
Whitley Abbey Primary School Open Evening for Residents
Residents in the Whitley area will have seen the building work taking place to extend the Whitley Primary School. The school has doubled in size with extra class rooms, library and sports hall. The Chair of the school of Governors has sent us the invite below, which is open to all residents who would like to come and see the new buildings.
Residents who would like to view the new building at Whitley Abbey Primary School, Ashington Grove, are most welcome to visit the school on Thursday 2nd July 4.30pm until 6.30pm. Refreshments will be available.
Rogue trader reported
We have also received a report from a concerned neighbour in the Cheylesmore area following work carried out at an elderly person’s property which involved ‘pruning’ a tree.
Rogue traders may see the improving weather conditions as an opportunity but our advice as always is to never to agree to work that is instigated as a result of a knock on the door or via a leaflet drop. If you do need work on your property or garden, use a reputable local trader recommended by friends or family or someone who has been vetted and is part of the Age UK Coventry - Trusted Traders Scheme
To read other current scams, click
here
Styvechale Open Gardens
Graham Pountney, Chair of Styvechale Open Gardens Group wrote:
I would like to thank everyone who was able to attend Styvechale Open Gardens on Sunday 14th June. I am sure that you will be pleased to know that the event raised £3,675 for charity. I would also like to thank all the local shops and businesses who were kind enough to support the event by displaying posters or providing prizes for the raffle and tombola. I hope you will feel able to help us again next year.
Nearly 400 people visited the gardens. I hope that everyone had an enjoyable time. All the gardeners look forward to seeing you again in 2016.
Bands in the Park 2015
During the summer months, Bands are playing at various parks on Sundays from 2pm – 3.30pm . The next event is at Spencer Park on 19
th July when the Swing Museum band will be playing. Click
here for the full list of these free performances.
Dates for your Diary
3
rd – 5
th July – Godiva Festival. Click
here for details
Sunday 12
th July is the next London Road Cemetery tidy-up day. Meet at the Paxton Memorial at 10am. Click
here for the Friends’ of London Road Cemetery website.
Tuesday 28th July 7pm - Cheylesmore Neighbourhood Forum at the Cheylesmore Community Centre, Arundel Road
And Finally “50 reasons to stay away from Coventry”. Click
here to judge for yourself.
Useful Links.
Age UK Coventry - Trusted Traders Scheme
Blood test locations to download a document listing the locations
Cheylesmore Parking Scheme
Community Activity Directory
Report Fly Tipping
Report Graffiti
Report a Missed Bin
Report a Pothole
Report a Street Light Fault
Scams & Warnings
