The First 4 Months! As we approach the end of 2023, Your City Councillors are taking a look back on the big, and maybe not so big issues, that stand out during the course of this last year.
This is the FIRST 4 months that makes a Review of The Year 2023 and looks at it with a Wednesfield North slant.
January 2023 – The Big Story at the start of January 2023, was still the big issue of South Staffordshire District Council who planned 2,000 homes on their Green Belt. We told you about the latest on the decisions on the Green Belt Land North of Linthouse Lane. We told you that it was not a victory. But the halt on the proposal from Tory led South Staffs DC .Was a little more progress and was worth celebrating! Twelve Months on we are still waiting to hear what they, the SSDC are planning for 2024. But no matter what happens it’s our Wednesfield North campaigning that meant no destruction of the Green Belt yet, and that means we have had getting on or five years with the SSDC Green Belt still providing Wednesfield residents with amenities that they love and respect. Without your Wednesfield Labour Councillors campaign, and the support of Wednesfield & Essington residents campaigning, that would not have been the outcome we face today.
It was in this month that our newly selected Wolverhampton North East Labour Party candidate for Member of Parliament – hit the streets of Wednesfield North for the first time. Sureena Brackenridge locally born and schooled in Wednesfield, is selected for the role. We have high hopes for you!
It was during this month that the Police informed us that they were treating vehicle crime as a priority here in Wednesfield. Also in this month following a consultation process we received the good News that the Leader and the Cabinet will not be using their Local Plan to build on Wolverhampton Green Belt Land. This was ratified at City Full Council.
Mary and I attended former Wolverhampton Mayor Trudy Bowen, who was also a former West Midlands County Councillor. At her funeral in Telford on the 17th January. Trudy was a former County Councillor representing Bilston, she was also a City Councillor representing Bilston North, and a current Honorary Alderman of the City of Wolverhampton. Trudy served our city with distinction. I was pleased to give a tribute to her duty as a City Councillor and her steadfast support for the Labour Party at the funeral. Water Pressure in Wednesfield North. My contact at Severn Trent Water Company tells me ” The team are hopeful we’ll start work on this project this year (2023) and complete it in 2024, a little bit earlier than first thought. There are a few hurdles STW need to go through to make this a reality – they said “we very much try to prioritise things in the right way – but the team seems pretty hopeful.”
Wednesfield Crime stats stood –
| Jan 2023 | 254 crimes | 8.9% |
February – In the early part of the month I met with the CRT to ask them to dredge the canal arm alongside the Nickelodeon so that the 2023 Wednesfield Canal Festival could moor more efficiently. What this Conservative Government just does not get, is that Policing is important to our Community. We had a real problem with crime in Wednesfield, and in February your Councillors raised the issues that you the residents kept asking about. That is the need for more Police. Over the last twelve months (2023),we I have done as much as I can to try and raise the profile of the importance of more Police in the battle against crime. Here in Wednesfield North one of 20 individual Wards here in the City of Wolverhampton, the crime relating to Anti Social Behaviour has been pretty well catalogued in the Police UK Crime statistics. As we move towards a General Election, I am really hopeful that Wednesfield North will vote Labour, because we cannot afford another 5 years of this Governments lack of investment in the Police. If you feel like I do that “Criminals Get Off -Residents Get Let Down” then please join with us at the local elections, and the next General Election and vote Labour! Wednesfield Crime Stats stood-
| Feb 2023 | 224 crimes | 7.9% |
March – This month brought more Fly Tipping including a house clearance with carpet tipped into the Wyrley and Essington Canal at the Linthouse Bridge. The Wednesfield in Bloom team ran a seminar about how they had continued to improve Wednesfield, explaining how the volunteers work and the success we had achieved over the time we had entered the Heart of England In Bloom competition. Public health Director Mr John Denley spoke in support of the Bloomers activity! New Polling arrangements were launched for Wednesfield North. Exmoor Green and Suffolk Close were place into Wednesfield North, and Lower Prestwood Avenue was taken out and placed into Fallings Park Ward. You may know that recently Ashmore Park had another tree planting session with the public. I now know that 840 Common Oak trees are now planted, with 360 Alder, 285 Aspen, 240 Bird Cherry Tree, Northern Red Oak 240 , and 120 Rowan trees.
They will be recorded as part of Severn Trent Water Companies Commonwealth Legacy Forest, and will also be recorded on the Combined Authorities Virtual Fores and the Queen Elizabeth Green Canopy website. Previously there was a ‘Tiny Forest ‘ planting a year ago.
The Ashmore Park already has a really fine set of trees, some 400 of them to be precise. Some very specialist ones that slurp up a lot of water! With these new specimens planted. It will become quite the draw in a few years’ time for wildlife and Arbologists! Councillor Mary Bateman and Councillor Rita Potter, also celebrated with Women across the Globe on this International Women’s Day. Wednesfield Crime stats stood at-
| Mar 2023 | 223 | 7.8% |
April– The environment has come into the battle, as discoveries show the two Local brooks have been subjected to more than 30 breaches of spilling effluent. The Conservative Gov seem to have lost their enthusiasm to stop water course pollution, and pollution on our coastlines. This is the month that Wolverhampton Labour Council released it local authority manifesto for the Local Elections. It was well received and it laid out our plans for the City in 2023/ 2024 Municipal Year.
Wednesfield North Launched its Candidates for the Municipal Elections taking place in the month of May. As it was an all out election. Where all 60 City Council seats were up for election, Wednesfield North were fielding 3 candidates these were . Councillor Mary Bateman Councillor Phil Bateman and Councillor Rita Potter.
Also this month of April the big news was that the City of Wolverhampton under Labour control, placed in our City manifesto, the building is a brand new £55m City Learning Quarter, centred around a new City centre College. This was an important and exciting announcement which is predicted to attract 45,000 learners and 7,500 apprentices to our City, an action by itself which will bring energy and vibrancy to our City centre, opening up new opportunities, and feeding commerce and trade. Plus, the benefits of educating people, will help to serve the business opportunities of others trades and manufacturing industries.. This is another great example of “Labour Working 4 You!”
Wednesfield Crime stats stood at =
| Apr 2023 | 220 | 7.7% |
