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Weather Warning for Wolverhampton! – Thursday 11 May 2023.


City of Wolverhampton Resilience Team has just issued a weather warning to Wolverhampton Councillors . They say
“Just a quick update on the current forecast. There is a Yellow Thunderstorm warning in place locally between 11:30 this morning until 19:00 tonight. Please see below a snapshot from the latest update from our Regional Met Office advisor (received today, 11 May):
“It is going to be another showery day across the West Midlands with clouds building and a scattering of heavy showers and thunderstorms breaking out during the late morning into the afternoon and first part of the evening. In the drier, sunny interludes it will feel pleasantly warm with temperatures reaching 16 or 17 Celsius, but considerably cooler if caught out in some of the heavy downpours. Winds will be light and so some of the showers will be slow moving and last some time.

This is likely to lead to some surface water issues with some local flooding in places. There is also the risk of hail and some lightning strikes with more eastern counties most at risk (Staffordshire, Warwickshire). Some of these showers will be slow-moving and 10 to 20 mm of rain is likely to fall in less than an hour in some places whilst a few spots could see as much as 20 to 50 mm of rain in 2 or 3 hours. Showers fading away during the evening and fewer showers on Friday but a breezier day.
Potential Impacts:
 There is a good chance driving conditions will be affected by spray, standing water and/or hail, leading to longer journey times by car and bus
 Delays to train services are possible
 Perhaps damage to a few buildings and structures from lightning strikes
 Some flooding of a few homes and businesses likely, leading to some damage to buildings or structures
 Some short term loss of power and other services is likely
 Probably some damage to a few buildings and structures from lightning strikes“
Councillor Phil Bateman added ” Please Wednesfield take care and prepare for the Thunderstorms if you live in an area that is prone to flooding.”

The situation has a possibility to change, so please visit: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings for the most up-to-date information on weather warnings and please visit https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/warnings to view the latest on any Environment Agency flood alerts or warnings (there is also an option on this page to sign up directly for the free flood warning notification service).

HoC public accounts committee – “complete overhaul” of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Good Morning Wednesfield – Wednesday 10th May 2023. Councillor Phil Bateman said “This seems to be a story that will shock many, and has huge implications for the whole Country. It is a surprise to me that this Tory Government and its Ministers have allowed such a key department and its service, to fall so far behind modernising their approaches, when there is so many global challenges to our health and food protection.
Following a weekend of flash floods here in the Midlands, it doesn’t fill you with confidence to read a report which is so dismantling in the key areas of policy you want your Government to be confidently addressing!”
‘Complete overhaul’ needed at Defra
The House of Commons public accounts committee has called for a “complete overhaul” of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), issuing a damning report after hearing that the department is still using paper forms to handle around 14m transactions a year, is relying on “outdated” IT systems in areas like flood protection, and is struggling to recruit staff and obtain funding for a £726m modernisation programme.
Committee deputy chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “We are facing down rapidly spreading animal diseases, maybe the next pandemic, with systems that may rely on moving paper forms around. This cannot continue.”
This story is reported in these two newspapers.- Financial Times I Yorkshire Post

Labour Councillors Fighting For Your Green Belt!

This is just a reminder that it isnt just the seven Cornfields near Sedgley that are facing a battle to save the Green Belt. We will also be pitched into a similar battle. It is anticipated that South Staffs will publish a document in Mid October 2019 which will uncover more information on this issue which we broke to the public originally back

We are fighting for your Green Belt! This will be a battle – It will be a tough one to win!

This Wolverhampton City Council election on Thursday 3rd May 2018, is very much about having strong representation here in Wednesfield North. We want you the Voter to be able to rely on the strongest team and the strongest representation there is.

Wednesfield North Labour Party were the first to break this story about how 2,500 homes are being made ready to be constructed on Green Belt land locally, and we are pleased that we did!

It wasn’t the Councils of South Staffordshire District Council, Essington Parish Council, or even Staffordshire County Council that told the public about these proposals first. It wasn’t the Express and Star, or the Local Radio stations that told the public about the enormous interest the developers were showing in this Green Belt Land!

It was Wednesfield North Labour Party and it’s Councillors who were vigilant and found the information buried deep in a regional report. It was our team that went public, and told you. It was twenty four hours before the Government confirmed their plans on housing in the House of Commons!

We have made our opposition to the proposals for the construction of 2,500 homes a major part of Wednesfield North Labour Party’s Local Election Campaign, in the run up to the City Council elections on the 3rd May 2018

The proposals that will go to South Staffordshire District Council to build 2,500 homes on this agricultural land within the Essington Green Belt is strongly opposed by all three of Wednesfield North’s City Councillors.

Councillor Mary Bateman has been telling residents on the doorstep and in her election literature “SpeakingUp4WednesfieldNorth” that has been distributed to homes right across Wednesfield North that – “We will strongly object against the loss of Green Belt and the loss of any further agricultural land, North of Linthouse Lane and Kitchen Lane.

We will strongly object to the reduction of these Green Field sites.”

Your City Councillors have spoken with Officials at Wolverhampton City Council and the information is becoming clearer by the day. The key to the development is what South Staffordshire District Council does with their Local Plan Review.

It will be down to South Staffordshire who will make the initial decision probably in this Autumn on how they designate their land.

Wednesfield North Labour Councillors are already collating information that will need to be used to argue against these proposals. The homes may be constructed on South Staffordshire land. But we suspect that the infrastructure for its delivery in terms of highway capacity, beefing up local road networks will be off our own Local road network here in Wednesfield. We suspect that the extra homes will add to the problems we have here in Wednesfield around health delivery, education, and where we look to replace the valuable amenity that we lose under bricks,tarmac and mortar.

Halting or ameliorating proposals will revolve  around how we oppose the proposals. Your Labour City Councillors are already making their own plans to defend the Green Belt.

We recognise how valuable the current site earmarked for construction is for wildlife, how rich and diverse the site is in flora and fauna and what significant heritage and historic interest would be lost if the site was designated for construction. Your Councillors have already contacted South Staffordshire politicians to seek and meet with them to understand where they stand. We have opened up lines of communication with interested local naturalists to see what help with their expertise that they can bring.

There is a lot yet to find out about the process, and how elected members and the general public will have their say, and how that say is then reflected in decisions.

Your Wednesfield North Councillors are already looking closely at the Authorities time table

  • South Staffordshire District Council start a Review of their Local Plan in the Autumn of 2018
  • Followed by a decision of that Council in 2020 of next year
  • Proposal then for an issues and options stage in 2021.

 

Wednesfield North Councillors also set an on-line survey and the information that was returned is very valuable.

 

  • 257 people responded to the survey on this housing announcement.
  • 143 persons who responded were from Wednesfield North – and the next largest cohort of responders were from South Staffordshire.
  • 143 who responded were from Wednesfield North Ward. That is 56% of the Poll. Of all the responses received, irrespective of whether they came from, Wednesfield North or South Staffordshire –
  • 95.7% said the Greenbelt was important.
  • 91% or 236 people either living in Wednesfield or Essington didn’t think the proposals were a good development for either Wednesfield or Essington.
  • 60% of those surveyed believed that local people needed homes. But the info suggested that it should not be at the loss of this Greenbelt!
  • 89% or 231 of the people responding to the survey agreed that the site being earmarked for housing is rich in Wildlife and Heritage. They agreed that the Housing Development should not take preference over this important Green Belt.

We will be using this information on what your views are in our campaign going forward.

Wednesfield North residents have a simple task to make now.

A Vote for Mary Bateman Labour at the City Council elections will be a very strong indicator of what you – the Wednesfield residents want!

Voting for Mary Bateman Labour will keep our team intact as we go into battle with the planning authorities in the Autumn.

Voting for Mary Bateman Labour will signal that the residents of Wednesfield North are fully behind us in this battle.

I know that the residents of Wednesfield North recognise that together we are a very strong team. We are not just here at election times, we are here the year around. None of the other candidates have either the experience or the public awareness required to win this argument.

My plea is that you use your vote on Thursday to return Mary as your Councillor for another term! That will be a significant move that can only help our cause, and help you in the battle to save our Green Belt.

Vote Mary Bateman Labour – Thursday 3rd May Wolverhampton City Council Election.

 

 

A Five Week Leak – No Severn Trent Action- Shame on Them!

 

There is a water leak that has been running for 5 weeks in Kitchen Lane Ashmore Park.
It lies between the homes from the junction of Millbank Street and Wolmer road with Kitchen lane.
It is smelly, growing algae, it has flies and the neighbours are very upset that they are no nearer getting the repair done.
Severn Trent to need to make the repair urgently – take a look  at the attached a video Click to see

(Item 8) Taking the Year in Review (2015) Wednesfield North -Footways -Highways & Transport –

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This year has been a busy year for these services and the issues they have thrown up in 2015.

IMG_6530 Acorn Road 1

National Grid – Acorn Road -Noisy and at times more than annoying for residents!

The largest number of complaints I have received are about issues in this order –

  • Top of the complaints people have made this year places complaints about the National Grid and the noise and mess they have made whilst replacing Gas infrastructure on Ashmore Park. Also up there is the complaints I have received about Highway Safety on Griffith Drive – These were the top two issues residents complained to me about during 2015 when it comes to this section.
  • The second most numerous complaints’ I have received relate to Highway maintenance issues and Potholes in particular! – Alongside those issues sit Car Parking, and grass verges and the two are often linked together!
  • Public transport also features but low down in the list for popular complaints, yet alongside people’s complaints about trees. Interestingly most people contact me when talking about trees to either have them lopped or felled! Though I have had one case this year where residents have requested a tree!
  • Other complaints in this sector but just the single types of complaint were about travellers accessing land across highways, Overgrown Cemetery, Removal of Bonfire residue, Abandoned vehicles, fly tipping, bikes,

I also received complaints about low hanging branches on trees in Ashmore /Acorn Ave, I got the matter addressed, and during the course of the year there were many similar issues about trees which were planted in the Highways. Also in the same month I had complaints about the new LED lights placed in Orchard Road for ‘flickering’. Wolverhampton Highways Chiefs told me that “Our Electrician has been out to Orchard Road today and changed several Cell’s after checking nearly all 20 lighting columns, hopefully this will have eliminated the problem of the flickering lights.”

  • During January Councillors were informed that Chris Barker would be leaving Highways and the City Council. Chris has always been a very responsive Officer, and I personally was sad to hear this news. I sent Chris a message wishing him well in his new career outside the City Council. I was also informed by Highways that the minor carriageway works that I had requested for the Linthouse Estate had now been carried out in -Janine Avenue – carriageway -Jayne Close – carriageway -Measham Way – footway -Prestwood Avenue – kerbing -Roderick Drive – footway and carriageway -Springhill Road – footway -Sudbury Close – kerbing -Thomas Mason Close – kerbing – Whitehouse Avenue – footway- Linthouse Lane – footway – Brailsford Close – footway and carriageway -Ridge Lane – reactive works to carriageway and nu-phalt works to carriageway.

 

I was requested to help with the removal of an abandoned vehicle in Kitchen Lane.

I raised the issue of Griffith Drive and its safety record following a car chase and damage to a wall. I also wrote about the access way into the Park in Russell close because of its dangerous surface to pedestrians.

There were also complaints in February about damaged grass verges in Linthouse Lane. with Government austerity measures biting and following Government cuts in funding the Public realm team wrote back “The Public Realm team, who maintain grass verges, have advised that they are not prepared to undertake repairs to damaged verges where the underlying problem still exists because any repairs will be destroyed almost immediately. Verges are not regarded as places where people are expected to walk so they are not required to be maintained to the same standard as footways in terms f trip hazards, potholes, etc. We are keeping a schedule of problem locations for consideration if/when any funding becomes available in the future, and I will ensure that this location gets added to that schedule.”

I arranged street lighting in Hodson Close, where bungalows had been subjected to burglary and other nuisances riding bikes and motorcycles on a pedestrian footway.. I also had complaints about cars parking on footpaths, all of which was reported to the Local Police.

March –High winds started the month and blew a tree down in Johnsons Ave which I reported. I also reported the boundary fence being down between Walsall and Wolverhampton in Simmons Road.

More Pot holes reported this time in the Park Way public highway on Ashmore Park.

I requested the Authority, to introduce some dropped kerb to the pavements  taking people with disabilities into the Ashmore Park because it is difficult for those with wheelchairs or motorised buggies to access. Currently they find it difficult to access the footpath and have to mix in with cars It’s not good, and it is a health and safety issue. there was a Lot of concerns still about parking around Woodened Primary school and the  school gates, and on the grass verge. Complaints came in about Woodend school and parents parking which was highlighted. Not only is this dangerous for other road users it is also churning up grass verges. Is there a chance that we can get the grass verge protected or re-established? In March there were two further accidents on Griffith drive, one a car hit a public highways sign and smashed a tree out of the ground. The second was a minor accident hitting and damaging a car then fleeing.

BnsbPPfIEAAvGC4RadarComplaints about the High St in Wednesfield constantly come up in Public Meetings during this year. Where the Highway regulations are ignored by many motorists. Residents feel this issue is also an important safety issue. All the Wednesfield Councillors are in conversation with Highway Chiefs about this issue.

 

 

 

Floating Pop-Up Market Arrives for Christmas Trading in Wednesfield!

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I just want to draw your attention to the fact that there is a floating Pop -Up Market taking place at Bentley Bridge just in time for Christmas! I have been informed that your custom is wanted!

There are four boats trading for the first time ever during this Christmas period. I do hope Wednesfield folk will turn up and trade with them over this week end.

I am reliably informed that a “Santa Paws grotto will be open this weekend at Bentley Bridge. £5 includes a doggie mince pie, a doggie Xmas gift & a donation to a doggie charity plus chance for furpals to sit inside the grotto.”

Also in attendance will be trading crafts from Morgana & Here Be Dragons floating emporium (on their first ever visit to Bentley Bridge.).

I am keen that Wednesfield residents turn up and speak with these traders who have travelled many miles through the Inland Waterway system to be here…trading in Wednesfield! 

safe_image7LZ8J9ZX Floating boat market!

Wyrley & Essington Canal – Boat Owners Will You Help Please!

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Many Narrow Boat and other pleasure craft owners will know that I am trying very hard to ensure that this canal at this Village of Wednesfield is not only welcoming but relevant to your leisure journeys, your trading requirements and that we are using the heightened interest in our canal to drive improvements to the tow path, the trade in the Village, and of course the enhanced understanding of the natural world that the canal serves.

Earlier this year I ran a survey asking if you could tell me if you travelled on this canal, if you stayed overnight and I asked a lot of you quietly! ( How much you spent on re- provisions entertainment, leisure food etc!)

From all the info you gave me and I thank you for that…I have gleaned that from January through to end of August/ that there were some 80 movements on our WE, 57 boats overnighted at Bentley Bridge, and on average a £100 was spent by boats whilst here.

Now I wonder if you could be so good and tell me

  • Have you travelled on the Wyrley & Essington canal through Wednesfield in September, and October 2015
  • Have you overnighted in Wednesfield and if so when did you do so (during these months only please)
  • Have you had a ‘pop-up’ market during these months ( If so would you tell me how many people you estimate attended?

This will be really useful information. What the canal lacks is some good relevant statistics. I only ask these questions so that we can build a picture of what is taking place here in Wednesfield.

If you would like to email me with your comments my email address is email@philbateman.com Otherwise I am very happy to build what is happening across these public pages.

IMG_6614 BCN Cruise on a Chilly Wednesfield- 14 9 2015