Today the newspapers are analysing a charity’s report on why so many public assets are being sold off, and the reason is.
Austerity forcing sell-offs of council buildings and parks
The charity Locality has released a report, The Great British Sell Off, which has found that English councils starved of central government funding are selling off public buildings and parks at a rate of more than 4,000 per year. The charity found that councils have sold off 20,651 public buildings or spaces in the last five years, including former library, swimming pool, or youth centre buildings.

Among the buildings sold over the period were the Grade II-listed former Liverpool City Council headquarters, sold to a hotel developer for £10.2m, and the former Temple Cowley swimming pool sold by Oxford City Council for £3.5m in 2014.

In the report, Locality noted that: “While selling some land and buildings for private use is appropriate, the danger is that this becomes the only option for councils unaware of the longer-term benefits of community ownership,” and that against a “backdrop of austerity,” many local authorities were taking opportunities to make “short-term financial gain at the cost of losing some of the country’s most valuable assets.

” Richard Watts from the LGA’s resources board said that with town halls facing a funding gap “in excess of £5bn a year by 2020,” they were forced to make “difficult decisions about how best to use resources to support services and protect public assets.”

Councillor Phil Bateman said ” Its true that all local authorities are constantly analysing all their portfolios, as Government grants are axed and reduced. There is a real tough task facing Councils, which have to balance their budgets by law, and of course we are all trying hard to maintain front line services.  Sometimes to do that Councils have to resort to selling their assets.

Its not a good time to be in Local Government at the moment, there seems to be a fresh crisis appearing every day!”

No new social care funds until 2020, warns May
Councillor Phil Bateman said today “The national newspapers are predicting that  Theresa May is expected to confirm today that there will be no extra funds to help address the social care funding crisis until the “forthcoming spending review,” not due to apply until 2020.”

Glen Garrod, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Care Services, said that “putting money into the NHS without putting it into social care is like pouring water down a sink with no plug in,” while Cllr Izzi Seccombe, chair of the LGA’s community wellbeing board, said the situation was “hugely disappointing.”

Extra money for public health will also only be allocated in budgets set out for the next spending review.

Councillor Bateman added “This Government just does not realise how important it is that the NHS and the Local Authorities are tied together in a partnership when it comes to Public Health. There is a huge crisis already in the nations social care funding. People and families who rely on Local Authorities to administer social care for their families, across the nation, already know of the deep anxieties surrounding many of our Local Authority’s  ability to do so, without extra funding for social care. Its disgraceful really. It is very frustrating if the Government just will not listen?”

Councillor Phil Bateman  said today – ” Wednesfield North Councillors received the following correspondence from  The Post Office today 12th June 2018. Whilst it is not a very uplifting piece of information. It nevertheless sets the situation out so that residents and customers of the Post Office can see what is taking place. I know many of you have missed the Post Office in Woodend. Fingers crossed that the bosses at the Post Office will be able to progress this issue quickly, and find another location quickly”.

Dear Sir/Madam

Wood End Post Office®

289 Wood End Road, Wednesfield, Wolverhampton WV11 1YQ

Temporary Closure – update

I’m writing to let you know what’s been happening with the above Post Office service which closed temporarily on 27 November 2017.

Wood End Post Office closed because due to operational reasons. Since the closure, we have been exploring our options for restoring a Post Office service to our customers in the area.

In exploring likely future provision, we are still confident that a Post Office local service will best meet the community’s needs. As you are aware from using your former service, Post Office locals run alongside an established local shop. They are designed to create a more modern and convenient retail experience for customers in premises which are adapted to accommodate Post Office facilities.

The vacancy in Wood End was advertised on our website and I have also personally visited the area. I can confirm that we have had some interest locally in the opportunity but our negotiations are at an early stage so I am unable to provide you with any further information at this point.

I’m sorry for the time it is taking to restore a service locally and for the inconvenience the ongoing temporary closure is causing to our customers. We hope they will continue to use the other branches in the area during this time.

We would welcome any applications from potential retail partners interested in running a branch on our behalf. The vacancies are currently being advertised on our website www.runapostoffice.co.uk and applications will be carefully considered. If you are aware of any interested parties, please do share the link with them.

If you have any questions please write to me via the National Consultation Team at the address shown below. Please note that your comments will not be kept confidential unless you expressly ask us do so by clearly marking them “In Confidence”.

We’re carrying out this communication in line with our Code of Practice. You can find more information about the Code at the end of this letter.

Thank you for your continued patience during the time taken to resolve this situation. I’ll write to you again when I have more news.

Yours faithfully

Karen Coles

Karen Coles

Area Network Change Manager

How to contact us:

comments@postoffice.co.uk

FREEPOST Your Comments

www.postofficeviews.co.uk

This communication process has been agreed with the independent statutory consumer watchdog, which in Great Britain is Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland, and in Northern Ireland, the Consumer Council, and is being carried out in line with our Code of Practice for changes to the Post Office network, which we have agreed with them. If you’d like copies of the Code they are available on our website at: www.postofficeviews.co.uk. If you think that the process has not been properly followed and wish to make a complaint, then please write to us or email us via the contact details included in our posters and letters and let us know why. We’ll examine your complaint and respond to you as soon as we can. We will provide you with the relevant contact points for the consumer watchdog, so if you are still not satisfied when you have received our response, you can ask them f

Post Office Limited is committed to protecting your privacy, information about how we do this can be found on our website at www.postoffice.co.uk/privacy

To get this information in a different format, for example, in larger print, audio or braille please contact the Customer Helpline on 03457 66 01 15 or Textphone 03457 22 33 55.

Wednesfield Labour Councillors have been campaigning for some considerable time for much needed public toilets at the Bentley Bridge Shopping Park. I am hearing that Planning permission has now been secured to move the public toilets into part of C1b Unit and for C1a Unit to be enlarged and used for retail sales.

This Public Toilets arrangement has been a long term ask by Wednesfield Councillors, and I am sure will be greeted with relief, by the loyal customers of the Bentley Bridge Shopping Park. I am also informed that the Bentley Bridge Shopping Park has secured and agreed a lease for yet another new retailer. 

The new retailer will be The Card Factory. This will be Card Factory’s third store in the city and will result in yet more jobs at the Shopping Park. It will also signify the final unit letting!

It will be the first time the Shopping Park has EVER been fully occupied in its whole history.

Currently there are about 636 jobs already associated with the Bentley Bridge Shopping Park. It is already very significant employer now of local people. It also remains a very popular destination for not only Wednesfield residents but for shoppers from across the West Midlands Conurbation.

Agent Applicant

Mr Paul Burton

A P Architecture Ltd

E-Innovation Centre Suite SE 219

Telford

TF2 9FT Mr K Plant K J PLANT DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED 49 Leasowe Drive, Perton, Wolverhampton WV6 7TX

Our Ref: 18/00323/FUL

Site: 52 Millbank Street, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV11 2HU

Proposal: Erection of two semi-detached dwellings

_______________________________________________________________________

City of Wolverhampton Council as the Local Planning Authority hereby Refuse permission for the development described in the above application.

The reasons for the Council’s decision to refuse permission are:

1. The proposed dwellings would result in a form of development of cramped appearance. The proposal is not in keeping with the existing density, form and layout of the established pattern of development in the street, thus detracting from the established character and appearance of the street scene, creating a development less spacious in appearance and character.

Relevant UDP Policies: D4, D6, D8, D9 & H6; Relevant BCCS Policies: CSP4, ENV2 & ENV3.

2. The proposed dwellings, by reason of their height, bulk and position relative to the house/garden on the adjoining properties at and 290 Kitchen Lane and the existing property at 52 Millbank Street would have an unacceptable overbearing impact, reduce the amount of light, and have a detrimental impact on the outlook presently enjoyed by those houses, and especially their gardens.

Relevant UDP Policies: D7 & D8, ad BCCS Policy ENV3

NOTE FOR INFORMATION

Any policies referred to on this decision notice are the policies of the Black Country Core Strategy (BCCS), adopted 3rd February 2011 and the saved policies of the Wolverhampton Unitary Development Plan (UDP), adopted in June 2006, unless otherwise stated. The BCCS and UDP can be viewed at the Planning and Building Control Reception on the second floor of the Civic Centre or alternatively on the Council’