I would like to invite you to our next CARSAG meeting in January. This will be at 7.30pm on Tuesday 15th January 09. However we are flexible and could meet on Wednesday 16th or Thursday 17th January at 7.30. We meet at one of our resident’s houses at 189 Midland Road. The welcome is always warm with tea, coffee and cakes! We feel that this would be a good opportunity to express our concerns regarding road safety in our area as I understand that your committee said that they had not heard from any of the residents about this issue. We would also very much appreciate hearing any of the Committee’s reservations.
Yours sincerely,
Kevin Jones
Castle Area Road Safety Action Group CARSAG
Campaigning in the Wellingborough area to improve road safety
Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 25th November 2008
Present :
Kevin Jones (Chair), Allan Blackman, Jean Vail, Philip Douglas, Anna Hickman, Kevin Hickman, Kim Mitchell, Michael Knight, Michael Prior, Councillor Maureen Shram, Dave Stuttle, Lidia Douglas.
Apologies :
Dora Spencer, Terry Spencer, Gill Clayton, Councillor Paul Crofts
Residents Parking :
A report was given of the Council’s meeting on 4th November. Ian Clayton and Tony Jackson had spoken against the Development Committee’s decision. The result of the Council’s debate was that the Committee’s recommendation had been overturned and the issue was to be returned to and reviewed by the Committee again. It was felt by members who had been there that the Chair, Lora Lawman, was not in favour of putting this on the agenda in the near future and would delay further discussion for as long as possible. Gill Clayton had started a petition locally because she was incensed by the fact that the Committee had said that they had not heard anything from the residents. This was felt by everyone to be blatantly untrue and could be verified.
Philip informed the committee that he had been contacted by the ET that evening and had been told that the price for parking at the station was going to go up – this would be a further pressure on parking spaces on the surrounding roads.
Allan pointed out that it was important to focus any discussion purely on this area and not to get sidetracked.
Action :
(1) Kevin would write a letter from Carsag to Lora Lawman setting out the Committee’s response and would invite her to the next meeting.
Date for next meeting Tuesday 13th January at 7.30 at 189 Midland Road. ( or to give her alternatives for a meeting on Wednesday 14th or Thursday 15th January at 7.30 at Midland Road )
The letter would also be sent to the officer who had written the report ( Maureen to supply name ), Paul Thompson and to the ET.(Will Ockenden)
(2) sign petition for Gill and get support for it
(3) continue writing letters to the ET ( an article had been written in response to the meeting and the newspaper had asked for views re parking )
(4) pursue the Council to find out when this would be put onto the agenda
Carsag will have to be active in getting people’s support for a permit scheme, to make sure that it was involved in the wording of any questionnaire and to possibly do their own survey on people’s attitudes to a scheme ( we need 50+1 % of the vote )
Irthlingborough Road :
The plan for traffic lights was to go ahead in this financial year as far as the committee knew.
Action : Kevin to contact Keith Parrot on 01604 654367 to ask for progress report
Housing developments :
Phillip reported on the Station pub site. He had had a meeting with the architect, Alex Stevenson, John Belton and Terry Spencer to look at plans. They were in consultation over the details as the plan will probably go ahead ( drawings were shown to the committee). Parking spaces have been kept to the Government’s required 0.7 spaces on the plans. At the moment the site is being used as a car park.
Nothing happening on the Saxby site.
Maureen passed round a bundle of plans for developing small sites. It was again pointed out that there was no overview of all these small developments and that they would all have an impact on an already overcrowded Ward. It was also pointed out that according to the reply to Councillor Croft’s enquiry all residents should have notification from the Council of any developments near their residence. However this did not always happen.
Terry had attended the meeting for the open sites in the Ward at the Victoria Centre and was very concerned that if these were built on then this would further compound the parking problem and that they would be better served by being turned into garages.
It was felt WEAST would not now go ahead – Allan was concerned that this would mean that there would be no money for any of the junction/inner road plans. There was a meeting on Thursday at the Redwell Leisure Centre at 7.30 with peter Bone to look at the Northern development.
Action : Kim would monitor planning lists and keep the committee informed.
Action : Maureen asked to be included in any correspondence so that she would be kept up to date.
Action : Mike Prior will act as press officer and keep files as well as contact with the ET.
Local Councillor updates :
Nothing more to report
Any other business :
Anna and Kevin expressed their concern about the lack of pedestrian crossings at the Midland Road junction as well as in other sections. This was particularly problematical because of all the extra traffic.
Action : Anna to raise this in a letter to Maureen
Date of next meeting : Tuesday 13th January 2009 at 7.30 at 189 Midland Road.
( If Lora Lawman cannot make this then a separate meeting will be held with committee members either on the Wednesday or Thursday at the same time and also at 189 Midland Road
I write to protest that Wellingborough Councillor are trying to delay the residents in Castle ward voting on the issue of parking around Wellingborough station.
Having lived in London for many years before moving to Wellingborough I have had plenty of experience of all sorts of parking schemes designed to protect spaces for residents of narrow Victorian streets with simply not enough space to park. As pointed out by various Wellingborough Councillors in their meeting last week, there are many streets in this borough with this problem., so one day they may even have to work out what to do elsewhere. But that is not the issue here.
I am certain that local councillors responsible for station areas anywhere in London who had failed in their duty to protect their own resident council tax payers' parking spaces from non resident visitors, would not be around long to tell the tale about being frugal. So protecting residents is nothing sensationally new. Name a station in London where there is not protected parking for residents in the area and I might understand the arguement that there is nothing special about parking in streets around stations.
"You don't own the streets" I hear and "you don't have the right to park outside your house". But this is not what we want. We want just a scheme which will allow us to choose to buy, yes buy, some priority (not an absolute right but some priority) over those who are too penny pinching and selfish to accept there is a fee for leaving a car for as long as you like in an area with no space to spare. It is clear that whatever the station car park fees are there will be those who will keep their money, by parking wherever they can if it is free. By failing to support the council officers recommmendation for a local vote by residents on a parking sceme around the station, elected councillors are virtually handing out money to those who for the most part pay nothing back to Wellingborough, yet make life miserable for those who live here and pay council tax. Why are they doing this?
I would like to express (to our Councillors) my disappointment and anger that the residents have not been listened to. We (CARSAG) would like residents car parking and are fed up with having to put up with station users using our streets for free parking at our cost...
To our Castle Ward councillors... could you pass on the collective frustrations expressed at our recent CARSAG AGM to the Development Committee.
Below is the minutes that put the residents parking on hold - thanks Councillors! :-(
COUNCIL MEETING 4 NOVEMMBER 2008
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
1 October 2008
MINUTES of a meeting of the Development Committee held at Swanspool House, Wellingborough on Wednesday 1 October 2008, commencing at 7 p.m. and concluded at 9.30 p.m.
Present: Councillor L Lawman (Chairman), Councillor Warwick (Vice Chairman) Councillors Bass, Hollyman, G Lawman, Maguire, Pursglove, Timms and Ward
1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
RESOLVED to note apologies from Councillors Heckstall-Smith, Payne, and Saxby,
2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
RESOLVED to note that the following Councillors declared their interest in the Agenda items specified in accordance with the Code of Conduct:-
Councillor Minute No Subject Reason
L Lawman
Pursglove
6
5
East Midlands Regional Plan (Regional Spatial Strategy)
Personal – a season ticket holder on East Midlands Trains
3 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 3 September 2008 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.
4. PRESENTATION BY EAST MIDLANDS TRAINS
The Chairman reported that an e mail had been received from East Midlands Trains to say that unfortunately they were unable to attend the meeting to give a presentation. However, a meeting had been held between the Chairman, an Officer of the Council and East Midlands Trains to discuss whether it would be possible for them to contribute towards the consultation process regarding on-street parking. They agreed that they would contribute 50% towards the consultation process (£1,500). Once the consultation was complete they would meet with the Council again and we would ask again for their support.
The Committee received a report from the Corporate Director to further consider variations to the on-street parking regulations in Wellingborough in relation to Residential Permit Schemes.
The report further considered the proposed residential permit scheme parking areas around the Station and to the north of the Town Centre and set out in the Appendix further details of residential scheme policies and details of the issuing of permits.
Now that parking enforcement measures were in place it was proposed that residents in the streets affected by commuter parking in the residential streets to avoid paying the station car park charges would be consulted. This would involve the introduction of time limited parking areas, with the residents being given the option to purchase resident parking permits allowing parking throughout the period of restrictions (i.e. 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays). This would prevent parking by rail users during the day but would allow short stay visitor parking during the morning and longer term visitor parking in the afternoons and overnight.
A meeting had been held with East Midlands Trains at which the issues were discussed and they have been requested to contribute to the scheme.
It had been suggested that as the original consultation on the introduction of a permit scheme in Alma Street was carried out seven years ago, a further consultation would be carried out in Alma Street and also in Cannon Street, Great Park Street, Park Road and Herriotts Lane. The appendices to the report set out the proposals in more detail.
It was proposed that a charge of £25 was made for the purchase of a residents permit with a review taking place on an annual basis.
The cost of the proposals amounted to £53,500 and were detailed in the report on the assumption that all the proposals were carried out as separate schemes. By carrying out the proposals together the cost could be reduced by £2,700.
A Member expressed great concern about payment from residents affected by such schemes in the present economic climate. Other Members were also concerned about the charge of £25 and the uncertainty over future costs. Members also were very aware of the total cost of the scheme in the region of £ 53,000. Separately members noted that this could spread into other areas of the Borough where parking may pose a problem. One suggestion was made that the whole issue could be resolved if East Midlands Trains were a bit more sympathetic to their users and dropped their parking charges.
It was pointed out by the Officers that any significant increase would have to be agreed with the Council and the Parking Partnership.
In view of the discussion and the concerns expressed by all members present, it was moved by Councillor Pursglove and seconded by Councillor Hollyman that the Recommendation and Resolution as printed in the report be rejected and would be reviewed by the committee in 12 months time.
The Resolution as amended was voted on and carried.
R1 RECOMMENDED that the proposed action be rejected and would be reviewed by the committee in 12 months time. e hopedIt
6. EAST MIDLANDS REGIONAL PLAN (REGIONAL SPATIAL STRATEGY) SECRETARY OF STATE’S PROPOSED CHANGES
The Committee received a report from the Corporate Director to bring to the Members’ attention the recently published changes proposed by the Secretary of State to the Draft East Midlands Regional Plan, covering the period to 2026.
The Secretary of State had proposed a number of changes to the Draft Regional Plan following the recommendations of the Panel that examined the Plan last year. The strategy of urban concentration remains. In Northamptonshire, only the 2021-2026 housing figures had been determined along with a figure to replace that for the Northampton Implementation Area which had been struck out of the Strategy following a legal challenge. During the period 2021-2026 the Borough would need to provide on average 685 dwellings per year. The Secretary of State had also proposed an immediate review of the Strategy to 2031 in view of latest projections showing the need for further growth in the Region.
A new policy had been proposed by the Secretary of State requiring sites for strategic distribution to be identified. Broad locations should include North Northamptonshire.
The immediate review of the Strategy would also reappraise the regional transport strategy which had been judged unsound.. Non committed transport schemes had for the present been excluded from the Plan, including the A14 Kettering bypass and the Wellingborough Eastern Distributor Road. Such schemes would be considered for inclusion in a proposed freestanding Implementation Plan to assist in identifying potential sources of funding.
The Chairman advised the committee that she had received some further information from the County Council since the writing of the report regarding the Regional Funding Allocation. This indicated that there could be a delay in the implementation by approximately 6 months of the Isham Bypass and Isham to Wellingborough Improvement, as schemes were to be reviewed owing to a significant increase in costs and the Department of Transport only potentially committed to 75% of the cost increase leaving a substantial shortfall for the county Council. It was agreed to express the concerns of the Committee in a response to the Secretary of State and in response to the Regional Funding Allocation process which will be reviewing major infrastructure projects.
It was moved by Councillor G Lawman and seconded by Councillor Maguire that a third resolution be added to the report namely:-
3.3 a separate response be sent to the Secretary of State on the Draft East Midlands Regional Plan including the comments made at this committee. The letter would be agreed by the Chairman and Vice Chairman before this is sent.
This was voted on and carried.
RESOLVED that:-
(i) the Secretary of State be advised that the Eastern Distributor Road would be developer funded and constructed as part of the implementation of the proposals for Wellingborough East.
(ii) the North Northamptonshire Joint Planning Committee be advised that in relation to the Secretary of State’s proposal of Sites for Strategic Distribution: the need for rail connection should be imperative; proposals must not prejudice, the objective of moving the local economy into higher order employment; and over reliance on distribution should be avoided.
(ii) a separate response be sent to the Secretary of State on the Draft East Midlands Regional Plan including the comments made at this committee. The letter would be agreed by the Chairman and Vice Chairman before this is sent.
7 THE MARKET POLICIES
The Committee received a report from the Corporate Director with information of the current operation and operational policies of the Market.
A brief description of the various components in place was set out in the report which comprised the current operation and operational policies of the Market and a suggestion that Officers bring to a future meeting proposals on specific matters.
Various appendices were attached to the report as follows:-
v Appendix A – Market Charges v Appendix B - Wellingborough Market Regulations 2007 v Appendix C – Operating Procedures Manual v Appendix D – Street Trading: Consent Streets Regulations v Appendix E – Proposed working of new paragraph 6.11 v Appendix F – Summary of Revenue Income & Expenditure for the last four complete financial years.
A specific addition to the Market Regulations was requested concerning the type of goods for sale and the proposed wording was attached to the report in Appendix E.
Members were asked if there were any further particular market matters Officers could bring back to the committee. This was discussed and are shown below:-
v The pricing policy v Disabled parking and parking arrangements for disabled market traders v Street traders v Configuration of market stalls v Potential indoor market v Web page for the market and advertising budget etc v The appointment of a permanent market manager v The objectives of, and a formal remit for, the Informal Market Working Group which has served as a platform for the Market Traders to express their opinions and problems Allocation of street trading pitches to retail use/potential conflict with the market
RESOLVED that:-
(i) The matters referred to above would be brought back to future committee meetings.
(ii the Market Regulations be amended to include the new regulation set out at Appendix E to the report
8 A PLACE MARKETING CAMPAIGN FOR NORTH NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
The Committee received a report from the Corporate Director updating the Committee on the formulation of a co-ordinated place marketing campaign for North Northamptonshire and its importance for Wellingborough. Officers wished to proceed with the development of a marketing campaign for Wellingborough and North Northamptonshire.
Wellingborough faces a challenge to attract the number and type of jobs that the Borough needs to increase its prosperity and to raise its profile in respect of investment institutions which need to be aware of Wellingborough’s offer in a competitive market.
On 3 September NNDC delivered a presentation to Members. Members also received a briefing note which set out the key messages and how the marketing would be integrated in a family approach for North Northamptonshire while still retaining the independence of the individual centres.
One of the unique selling points over the rest of North Northamptonshire was Wellingborough’s proximity to London and this was proposed to be the key message followed by Growth as a secondary message, then Central, Value and Green in equal third place.
Members were being asked to endorse the strategy and to make further resources available from within existing budgets originally allocated by the Resources Committee.
Nick Bolton of NNDC attended the committee for this item and delivered the presentation which had previously been shown to Members at an earlier date.
A question and answer session followed the presentation.
The Chairman urged the Members to forward any thoughts or ideas they may have to the relevant Officer to take back to the Steering Group.
It was proposed by the Chairman and seconded by Councillor Warwick that a sentence should be added to 3.3 as follows:-
3.3 Members recommend that in addition to a Wellingborough campaign the Borough optimises its resources by buying into and taking advantage of a wider North Northamptonshire campaign subject to funding
This was voted on and carried.
The Chairman thanked Mr Bolton for the presentation and attending the committee.
R2 RECOMMENDED :-
(i) that the key marketing messages be approved.
(ii) to proceed with the development of a campaign for Wellingborough that could be adapted for and aimed at target audiences.
(iii) that in addition to a Wellingborough campaign, the Borough optimises its resources by ‘buying into’ and taking advantage of a wider North Northamptonshire campaign subject to funding.
(iv) that resources be vired within existing budgets to progress this project with NNDC.
9 ANY OTHER BUSINESS
The Chairman reported that as the report on Swanspool Gardens Car Park had been withdrawn at Full Council this would now be brought back to the November meeting.
It was also reported by the Chairman that the planning guidance for Wellingborough which was brought before the last meeting was as agreed by Committee, amended by the Chairman and Councillor Timms 2 weeks ago. Officers were requested to let all members of the Development Committee have a copy of those amendments to ensure the correctness of the amendments following from the committee discussions. This will now be brought back to the November meeting.
We need people to show up at the meeting, even if they just sit in the gallery. The agenda has already been set for the Council meeting so I doubt anyone else will be able to speak now.
Can you think of a way of rounding up support for Tuesday? I am in the process of setting up a petition for permit parking at the moment, just for Midland Road, as I cannot undertake the rest of the streets on my own. I would like to present this at the Council Meeting - or give to Ian to do so.
We are concerned that if we don't have support, they won't take us that seriously. Perhaps you could email the rest of the group, in the hope we can drum up some help??
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Tuesday 22nd October 2008 Victoria Centre, Palk Road, Wellingborough 7.30 pm
Welcome and Introductions : Dave Stuttle had agreed to chair the meeting for the AGM. He gave the welcome and introduced the agenda.
Present : Dave Stuttle Sally Mayes Tony Jackson Jerry Burst C. Mitchell L. Perez Mike Prior Jean Vail Maureen Shram ( Councillor ) Dora Spencer Terry Spencer Philip Douglas Lidia Douglas Allan Blackman Kevin Jones Dave Phillip Anna Hickman Gerald May Ian Clayton Arthur Gould Gill Clayton Paul C. Dolb Steve Mason Andy Gorr Shashi Dholakia ( Councillor ) Gillian McNorn Piyush Pau Paul Croft ( Councillor ) Karen Edgar Ryan Edgar
Apologies :
James Ashton, Paul Thompson
Minutes of Inaugural General Meeting ( 23rd July 2007 ) :
The minutes of the Inaugural meeting were accepted as a correct record.
4. Matters Arising :
There were no matters arising.
5. Chairman’s report :
Allan Blackman outlined Carsag’s activities over the year. The two main highlights were a meeting with Borough and County officers in January and the Action Day held on 15th July. He felt that the local Ward councillors had greatly assisted the committee over the year and had contributed to Carsag’s voice being acknowledged as an important channel for the opinions of the Castle community but although all the items on the agenda had been raised and discussed thoroughly nothing had in fact changed from the situation in the previous year. The only thing which had changed were the priorities which had shifted from the problems of the Irthlingborough Road junction and development to parking. He felt frustrated by the limited and confusing information from the Council members themselves and the promises which seemed to be made but nothing resulting. He also felt that the direct action taken had been quite effective in July with the slowdown of traffic but he himself had sadly been unable to pursue this success because of pressure of work. He was therefore giving up the chairmanship for the present time.
6. Election of Committee :
Chair : Kevin Jones proposed Allan Blackman, seconded Philip Douglas Vice- Chair : Philip Douglas proposed Terry Spencer, seconded Kevin Jones Secretary : Lidia Douglas proposed Jean Vail, seconded Terry Spencer Treasurer : Jean Vail proposed Lidia Douglas, seconded Dave Philip Non-executive members : Terry Spencer, Allan Blackman, Anna Hickman, Mike Prior, Piyush Pau, Kim Mitchell, Arthur Gould Proposed Ian Clayton, seconded Clive Mitchell
7. Changes to the Constitution : Clause 9.1 Figure of 25 changed to 10. Proposed Allan Blackman, seconded Terry Spencer Unanimously accepted – no abstentions or objections.
8. Date of Next Committee Meeting : Tuesday 25th November 7.30 at 189 Midland Road ( all welcome )
The AGM was followed by an Open General Meeting chaired by Kevin Jones
Kevin Jones began the meeting by extending a vote of thanks to Dave Stuttle for chairing the AGM.
Agenda Items :
1. Residents’ Parking: Councillor Paul Crofts explained what had happened at the Council meeting re parking. There had been a clear proposal for consultation but this had been stopped by the Development Committee. The Ward councillors had not been present at the meeting as they had had no indication that there would be any opposition. The situation is now that the present proposals have been deferred for a year but since this is only a recommendation it will go before the Council on 4th November. The Ward Councillors themselves will protest but urged members to apply to speak themselves and to have as many as possible there. Each person has three minutes to speak and advice was given for people to make sure they do not make the same points. If anyone wishes to speak they should contact either Dave Newbold or David Seabrook. They will need to apply by the Friday before the meeting( 31st October ). The agenda item is item 5 and the meeting starts at 7 and finishes at 8. Jean Vail recommended that if people did not wish to speak themselves they could show support by attending in the gallery. The main thrust of objections should be that consultation should start now and not be delayed by 12 months. Residents voiced their concern that the decision was not being left to the residents themselves but that other influences may be at play. They felt very strongly that if there was a question over cost this should be left to them. The Chairman of the Committee had also stated that nobody had approached the Committee as being interested in a residents’ parking scheme which was blatantly incorrect. If there was consultation it was important to get people interested as there needed to be a vote of 50% + 1 of all residents for a positive outcome. A suggestion was made for people to meet beforehand to discuss which points they wanted to make. Terry Spencer pointed out that the Councillors who had influenced the decision were not from Castle Ward themselves. Their own residents were probably those who were the very commuters who were contributing towards the parking problems and did not want any change. Councillor Croft made the point that there would have to be a thorough discussion as to the details over any proposed residents’ parking scheme as there were different options and implications.
2. Irthlingborough Road – Senwick Road Junction Safety Issues : Kevin Jones read out a letter from Paul Thompson who had sent a brief update on the main highway issues in the Ward. Councillor Maureen Shram reported that she had been asked to set out the Ward’s top ten priorities for Transport and Highways to the County Council. As this has been required by the day of the meeting she used information from Carsag meetings to assist in drawing up a list which she shared and asked for any additional points which residents felt had not been included – there were none.
3. Housing Developments : Housing developments had now been delayed because of the economic climate. there was concern over the future of the Saxby site. the Station Pub site may now become a car park. concern was expressed over the lack of consultation about small developments e.g 185 Midland Road and that this was due to different methods of consultation. The Councillors said that they would be happy to inform Carsag if there were developments in the area. Action : Councillor Croft said he would enquire what the present consultation policy was as the Council may be breaching regulations.
4. Items from Local Councillors : Councillor Dholakia expressed concern that he felt the local press were not passing on information from them and that the residents needed to bombard the media with their concerns.
5. Any Other Business: Allan Blackman said that he was under the impression the Habitat site on Eastfield Road was not now going ahead. Jean Vail passed on information about an exhibition in the Victoria Centre on 30th October from 5.50pm -9pm about some unused sites in the Ward. There would be questionnaires to fill in.
I am the new chairperson of CARSAG Castle Area Road Safety Action Group
I have been voted in as Chair to lead the group into the next years campaigning.I live in the Castle Ward area and would like to make a difference with your help!!
Just a quick word of thanks to Alan Blackman who did an outstanding job of chairing CARSAG over the last year...
Thanks too to Dave Stuttle who has helped CARSAG organise their AGM
This group needs your help... If you want to make a difference, do something about the local tranpsort issues, then contact us.
this week there was a meeting between county council, borough council and CARSAG members. A lot was discussed. There may be movement on a number of issues
Hallo CARSAG members. I'm a new blogger but have joined to contribute if possible to the group's progress. I'm County Cllr for Croyland Division (includes half of Castle Ward) which covers area between Finedon Rd and Wilby Way. Huge! Was also one of three Borough Cllrs elected last May for Castle Ward. Allan corresponds with me when it seems likely I can chase up information about council plans etc.
Please email me on mshram@northamptonshire.gov.uk or blog here if helpful. We do hold councillor surgeries in Castle and I have another in Croyland. Both most months.
I have heard that Traffic Wardens will soon have the authority to fine people parking their cars with two wheels on the path. Where would the residents of Chace and Colwell Road park?
