November Advice Surgery

This month's Advice Surgery will be held on Saturday 17th November from 10.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. in the Community Room, Horsehay Village Hall.

Please bring along your queries and comments on any aspect of living in Horsehay & LIghtmoor, I will do my best to help. No appointment required.

October Advice Surgery

This month's Advice Surgery is set for Saturday 20th, 10.30 to 11.30 Horsehay Village Hall. All ward residents are welcome to drop by; no appointment needed.

Lightmoor Village Extension

In a further phase of the Bournville Lightmoor Village project, plans have been laid to build on land to the rear of Woodhouse Lane / Wellington Road, Horsehay.

The original scheme was not well received by existing Horsehay residents, who were disappointed by the proposed loss of green space and traffic pressure on Woodhouse Lane.

Modified arrangements have been developed and these will be made available for consultation at Horsehay Village Hall on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th October.

Outline planning permission is likely to be applied for during November.

Funding for Community projects

Telford & Wrekin council has again to decided to allocate a fund of £1,000 per ward member to be used on a project of community interest for 2012. Suitable projects must have a community-wide application and cannot be personal to an individual resident.

Last year £500 went towards children's discos in Lightmoor Village and a further £500 was allocated to the Lawley Heritage trail.

If you have a suggestion for a suitable project in Horsehay & Lightmoor ward please email me at clive.mollett@telford.gov.uk, or leave a comment below. Applications must be received in time for processing before the end of the current financial year (5th April 2013).

September Advice Surgery

I will be at Horsehay Village Hall again this Saturday 15th September from 10.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. for this month's Advice Surgery. Any questions or concerns about life in Horsehay & Lightmoor ward please do drop by, no appointment needed.

I look forward to seeing you there.

August Advice Surgery

This month's advice surgery will be Saturday 18th, 10.30-11.30, Horsehay Village Hall as usual.

Any concerns or questions about life in Horsehay & Lightmoor ward please come along and I will do my best to help. You don't need an appointment just turn up.

I look forward to meeting you there.

Bus service changes

Arriva are making changes to route 77 with effect from Monday 3rd September. Lightmoor Village will now be served by the 77, stopping on Lightmoor Way and then onward via Wellington Road towards the town centre via Lawley Village. Unfortunately this means that service to Woodhouse Lane, Frame Lane, St. Luke's Road and Holly Road will be lost.

In partial mitigation of the loss of service a Council owned community bus service will be provided, running on Monday and Wednesday for three journeys to Dawley Centre. Departures from Woodhouse Lane at 9.33, 11.33 and 13.33.

Please note that you need to pre-register to use the community bus service by calling 384824. Fares are £1.30 per journey (single or return). Concessionary passes are valid.

Lightmoor Way - Parking Prohibition

T&W Highways are to issue a revised Prohibition of Parking order for Lightmoor Way following feedback from the intial TRO. This will involve extending the restricted area so that it matches the speed restriction (20 m.p.h) TRO.

A further consultation will be required for the new proposal, although I am told that the speed restriction order will go ahead meanwhile, so no further delay on that element.

Issues raised at the June LVRA meeting

Feedback from two issues raised at this month's LVRA

Amongst the numerous items raised in discussion at this month's Lightmoor Village Residents' Association meeting there were two which I specifically pledged to pursue further:

1.    Surface finishing of Stocking Park Road and footpaths:

a.    The condition of these surfaces raises valid safety concerns. The good news is that this is acknowledged and is under discussion with a view making safe.

b.    As yet no date has been set for remedial works, but a report will, I am told, come forward to the Joint Venture next month. I will follow this up and ensure that there is a timescale in place.

c.    Less promising is that there is no plan at present for achieving final finishes.

2.    Furnace Road lighting

a.    There are no plans to install lighting in this area prior to final finishing, which itself will not happen until phase two of the Cropping’s is complete and I am told that “no one has raised it”.

b.    Clearly the answer to this is marshal individual voices for action and then maybe we can get at least a temporary solution in time for winter. Please contact me if you have concerns on this topic.

June Advice Surgery

Bring your concerns or issues about life in Horsehay & Lightmoor to this month's advice surgery.

I will be at Horsehay Village Hall from 10.30 to 12.30 this Saturday 16th June. All ward residents welcome, no appointment needed.

Lightmoor Village development

Residents of Lightmoor Village will all too aware that substantial development has been halted for some time. For once this is not a matter of economics, but relates to the presence of Great Crested Newts, a species protected by law. It is an offence to kill or injury a Newt, which obviously makes building work impossible where they are present, or indeed anywhere within 500 metres of a newt. Recent surveys have shown that the little fellows have taken up residence in every pond and pool in the village, varying in number from just one to 119!

The plan is to make an application to Natural England to relocate the Newts and allow construction to get back on track. This is not a quick or simple process and will involve fencing off all of the newt areas with a newt-proof barrier, before trapping and moving them to new habitat. All of this must be complete before the onset of winter weather, as newts will then go into hibernation, making them impossible to remove until spring 2013.

Despite these problems some progress has been made with other development concerns. The isues raised on the Lightmoorlife blog post of 29th May I will list and address here:

Q. Newts

A. See above.

Q. Site compound to the rear of Ellens Bank.

A. This is still in use by Crest who are due to return to it.

Q. Poor road signs.

A. All the current signs are temporary. BVT are discussing with the T&W council exactly what type of sign will be acceptable once the roads are adopted.

Q. When will the temporary playing field on the Stocking Park Road footpath be made good?

A. This is due to be removed. The area will be given over to grass and a limited number of trees and will also host a new play area, due circa 2014.

Q. When will the roads be properly surfaced?

A. Some of this is dependent upon the newt situation, although the central village area will be complete this summer. Road House Park has already been transferred to Bournville control.

Q. When will the missing street lights on Stocking Park Road be installed.

A. This work is in hand and should be complete within the next eight weeks.

Q. What's holding up the transfer of Crest and Stocking Park Road to Bournville.

A. These developments are not yet complete and there long "snagging" lists to be addressed.

Q. When will the bus come through the village?

A. This has been discussed in detail and more news will follow soon.

Q. What businesses have made offers for the shops?
A. There has been some progress with this. The nursery is due to open in August ready for the Autumn term. A GP surgery and dentist is at an advanced stage of discussion. The other shops have also attracted interest, but nothing firm yet. The relatively small number of residents and the high cost of fitting out the shells doesn't help the commercial case.

Raise your concerns with the Police and Community leaders

There will be an opportunity to meet the local policing team next Monday 28th May at 7 p.m., at the Oak Tree Centre, Lightmoor Village with the latest PaCT meeting.

PaCT stands for "Partners & Communities Together" and brings together the local policing team with community representatives to take action on your concerns.

From anti-social behaviour to burglary, you have the chance to get a focus on issues which are important in your area.

Even if you have nothing of immediate importance to raise I do urge everyone to attend, as this is an excellent opportunity to make connections across Horsehay & Lightmoor.

June Advice Surgery

The next advice surgery will be held on Saturday 16th June in the Community Room, Horsehay Village Hall, from 1.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.

All ward residents are invited to bring questions, concerns, complaints, about any aspect of living in Horsehay & Lightmoor.

You don't need an appointment, just turn up. I look forward to meeting you there.

April Advice Surgery

This month's advice surgery is set for next Saturday 21st April, from 10.30 to 12.30 in the community room, Horsehay Village Hall.

As always this session is open to all ward residents and you don't need an appointment. I look forward to meeting you there.

March Advice Surgery

March Advice Surgery is coming up this Saturday 17th. 10.30-12.30 at Horsehay Village Hall in the Community Room as usual. All ward residents welcome. No appointment necessary just turn up and I will do my best to assist with any problems or queries.

Farm Lane, Horsehay

The surface condition of this road is very poor, having worn completely away in several large areas.

Having reported these issues to the Highways Department many months ago and after much chasing, I am now able to report that immediate repairs are to be effected soon and a complete top-dressing carried out before the end of next month.

Getting local Police to focus on your concerns

If you have issues about crime or anti-social behaviour (and let's face it, we all do from time to time), one of the best ways to flag these to the local policing team is to attend a PaCT (Partners and Communities Together) meeting.

These used to be regular events at Horsehay Village Hall, but the police team for Horsehay and Lightmoor also covers Dawley and Aqueduct, so the format was changed about eighteen months ago. Now they occur at irregular intervals and different venues.

The next PaCT is this Wednesday, 7.00 p.m. and this time it's at the Oak Tree Centre in Lightmoor Village. If you can get along I would urge you to do so as this is a relatively rare, but very useful way to get your issues on the list of action points. There have been a number of notable successes in the past, dealing with problems ranging from dog fouling to violent neighbours. I hope to see you there.

Clive

February Advice Surgery

This month's advice surgery is coming up this Saturday, 18th February, 10.30 - 12.30 in the Community Room, Horsehay Village Hall as usual. No appointment necessary, just turn up.

I look forward to meeting you there.

Clive

Mobile library to visit Lightmoor Village

Mobile Library coming to Lightmoor Village

In response to requests from residents I have arranged for the mobile library service to start making scheduled calls to the heart of the new Lightmoor Village.

The first official visit will be on Friday 3rd February from 2.15 to 2.45, parking near to the school and thereafter every third week.

Given that the Labour administration are cutting opening hours on a number of library facilities throughout the Borough this is quite a coup for Lightmoor and I would urge residents to make as much use of it as possible.