Mike Davies
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[quote quote=176746]Mike– I take on board what you say. However, this should not be an excuse to use as the reason for not doing basic repairs. Look how long it took to repair Tesco roundabout and other major roads in Wrexham. And let us not forget the major priority of WCBC,The Councillors Car Park. Sorry, the priorities seem to be wrong.[/quote]
I am making no excuses for anybody, I was answering the previous question as to why the this Country was able to create and tarmac all the roads in the first place but cannot seem to maintain the roads anymore. The fact is there are too many roads that need repairing due to long-term neglect. How the work is prioritised is a different issue.
There are many reports and articles on the subject. This is quite a good read. A report is published every year by the AIA
https://www.asphaltuk.org/wp-content/uploads/alarm-survey-2018-FINAL.pdfLack of investment from Central government. The problem isn’t restricted to Wrexham, it is a nationwide issue. British roads have been neglected for many years. Research has shown it will take £Billions to bring all our roads up to scratch. Councils repair town roads but they rely on funding from Central government, which is reducing year on year. This means that they are just trying to play catch-up but without sufficient funding. Something needs to change but government are happy to keep the status quo because they know that is the Councils not them that people will blame. So they save the money and use it to prop up something else.
Following on from Alunh’s post. I lived in Mold in the early 80’s for a couple of years. The street market was very well organised. Each of the regulars had a reserved spot on the High Street and the market manger would go around and measure up the sites to make sure nobody was taking up more than their allocated space. On Wednesday the stalls were arranged along both sides of the road and the road was kept open in between. The Saturday market was slightly bigger and the High street was closed off to traffic at both ends. There was also a storage area around the corner in King Street, where the framework for the stall covers were kept. It was a great arrangement. It ensured that the market could be set up quickly.
It was nice to be name-checked by the Vice-Chancellor in her Q&A session published here today. Unfortunately she doesn’t seem to be aware of my involvement and communications with the University.
Originally I was not invited to the University’s presentation outlining their planning applications. When it was pointed out that I and (and another councillor representing a different ward) should have been invited as a courtesy. A second presentation was made for us at a later date.
We attended and were shown details specifically concerning planning applications in our two wards.
I noticed a serious inaccuracy in the Dean Road presentation. The application stated that the field on Dean Road was a Brownfield site. I pointed out that this was not accurate, and the claim had already been disproved by the Council in 2011 following an earlier application to get the field accepted for the LDP. The earlier application had been thrown out by the Council for a number of reasons, saying the land was not suitable and appropriate for development.
Unfortunately, this “inaccuracy” regarding Brownfield Site, was not removed from the presentation which continued to be circulated, despite me contacting the University on a few occasions.
It was only when I brought up the matter with local media, that Glyndwr were quizzed over this claim. They then replied that it was “a mistake”. Bearing in mind the amount of research involved and the money spent on plans etc. I fail to see how all the experts involved could make such a basic mistake.
There are so many other details in the Q&A session that I will be responding to. Meanwhile, I just wanted to take this opportunity to reply to the remark naming me.
Regards
Mike DaviesA number of concerned local residents are having a protest meeting on the Dean Road field on Sunday afternoon. One resident has placed signs around the field to advertise this. This morning Glyndwr reps were seen ripping down these signs. Some of these signs were on private property or areas not owned by Glyndwr. This seems very hypocritical bearing in mind their stated reason for building the fence was due to vandalism of their property.
Matt. Thank you for your kind words. I follow this forum regularly, and occasionally post on various subjects. I am aware that it isn’t very often that a local Councillor gets a good rep on social media, so I am pleased that you took the time to comment.
The issue is a lot more complicated than many people believe.
Yes, Glyndwr own the land. However the land was transferred to them [NEWI then) by the then Clwyd County Council in 1998, under the Education Reform Act. No doubt the land was intended for educational purposes. I am certain that no Council would dispose of valuable land Carte Blanche, to another body without some sort of clause regarding future use of the land. To do so would be a gross dereliction of their duty. I am trying to get information about any such clauses, but the information is not exactly freely available.
Meanwhile, I do not believe that Glyndwr should be in a position to try to sell the land to a developer for a profit. They have stated that they have never used the land for educational purposes, maybe they should consider returning the land to the Council for public use.
There is a lot going on behind the scenes, and many people are determined to fight to protect this open green space. If anybody wants to follow what is going on, they can check out my Facebook page: Rhosnesni Community News, or the Save Dean Road Field Facebook page.
Regards
Mike[quote quote=172972]Who made the decision to spend this money on the resurfacing of the car park? Did all Councillors have the chance to vote on the decision, or was it delegated to officers/lead members only ?[/quote]
Most councillors were not aware this was going to happen.
I have been doing a bit of research on this issue for some time. Originally the field was owned by the Council. In 1998 Clwyd County Council transferred a large portion of the field to NEWI under section 126 of the Education Reform Act 1988. I would assume that there were clauses stating that it should be used for educational purposes only, and not sold off at a future date. Glyndwr recently lost their planning application to build on the field and have responded in a rather petulant manner. No doubt they will re-apply but local residents are in for a fight.
[quote quote=172437]If this zone is a low emission zone and it’s been reduced to 50mph, can I do 70mph if I drive an electric car, they don’t have an exhaust pipe so there’s no emissions, does not get much lower than that. 😂😂[/quote]
Interesting thought. However, most electricity generated in Britain is still produced by methods that produce carbon and other emissions. So your electric car will indirectly be responsible for some of these emissions, also if you drive your car faster you reduce the range and therefore use more electricity. 😀
