Community Library

 We should aim to set up a residents' group to move forward the running of libraries now the Council have removed the funding to staff them.

Flooding on the roads

When will this be resolved for good. Peter is working with Marion and June to resolve the flooding issue. Both County and Severn Trent have been contacted, it is unclear who will do the work but you are concerned about the safety aspect when the road becomes totally flooded and cars approach it at speed.

Statement about Walleys Quarry from Cllr Marion Reddish.

The quarry actually sits in the Thistleberry ward, contrary to what you will have heard in the media.

Planning Permission for the quarry to operate was given in 1996, despite opposition from my Liberal Democrat predecessors in Thistleberry. Permission was finally granted by the Secretary of State following refusal at local level. As part of that permission a condition was put in place that the quarry operators had to set up a liason committee to enable stakeholders to raise concerns. This committee has met for over 20 years now and we as the Liberal Democrat ward members have been active within that group which meets at least 4 times a year, throughout that period. At the start it was a productive committee and issues raised were thoroughly discussed and mediation took place, latterly due to a change of operator at the quarry , useful discussions have broken down and Red industries refuse to admit it is the quarry which emits the odour. It is hard to believe that the smell can be coming from anywhere else. The Environment Agency officers, Environmental health team, Police, Highways team and residents are all present at this forum.

So what happens next?

Regular meetings with management take place on site, raising your concerns, pressure is put on to get Red industries to co operate better.

A report is about to be published at the end of March by the Council EH department following a member scrutiny committee which looked at all concerns independently, I sat on that panel. Recommendations are in that report about what we to improve. Odour being the major concern but we are also looking at the route of travel, mud on the road, litter caused by the landfill site, excessive parking of lorries in the layby used by visitors to the cemetery and how we can prevent gulls becoming a nuisance to nearby residents. In that report we are saying very clearly that we think operations should be suspended until all mitigation measures are addressed, better care needs to be taken with regard to netting on site. We are asking for better monitoring of the site, particularly by the EA who have been slow to respond to complaints but are now more proactive following pressure from the public and agencies.

We are working with our MP who has now successfully managed to lobby colleagues for support in erasing the problem. That has only happened due to pressure over a number of years by faithful campaigners who have continually put the pressure. Much of my time has been taken up supporting them, time well spent.

I am disappointed that this has now become an election issue and folk are joining in on the band waggon, many of whom have been silent for years. Pity those people have not been active before , but I suppose we must be grateful they are joining us now, hope they continue to shout post County elections! I am supporting a motion put forward by the Labour party to have an extraordinary full council meeting in order to debate the subject further.

A message from your Liberal Democrat Councillors Marion Reddish and June Walklate - February 2021

 

Dear Residents.

We hope you are safe and well. June and I try to work for you all the year round so we would like to give you a flavour of our activities. We cannot say all we would like to here so please do contact us with your concerns.

We have put in a request to the County for grit bins in Ostend place and at the entrance to the Persimmons site. Do you have other requests?

We are concerned about the state of our grass verges across the ward and are seeking advice about how we can best prevent people using them to park on or as an extended work area. The County Council deals with this and we thank Peter Andras for his help in getting something done about it.

There are a number of uneven pavements across the ward which June and Marion have concerns over. We are particularly concerned about Sneyd ave which we have reported to County.

Representation has been sent to the County about the position of the lights by the crossing in Gallowstree lane. Car drivers tell us there is a dark spot that prevents them seeing people crossing until the last minute.

We are asking for a tidy up in Thistleberry Parkway by the brook, and repair work to the dog bin and notice board. Do we need the notice board or is it just an eyesore?

The alleyway leading from Keele road to Renfrew close needs a good clean up, many unwanted items there. A request has gone in for the alleyway to be monitored as undesirable activity may be happening there.

The stink from the quarry area, remains a major concern to us. Please do keep on reporting unpleasant odour to the Borough Council on line at www.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk click on the home page to report concerns, or the Environment Agency on 0800 80 70 60. Marion is raising your concerns and is part of the investigation committee at the Council. A report of findings is due.

June and Marion have received individual requests for help, please do let us know if you are having problems which are not being resolved at County or Borough level. Our friend Peter Andras is also taking up issues with the County on our behalf over the next few months.

Please feel free to contact us at:

6 Renfrew Close,

Thistleberry

ST5 2JZ.

Tel. 613265.