Saturday 28 February 2009

Flood Man comes to Tenbury

Anthony Perry, Flood Risk Manager, Environment Agency – is due to attend the full meeting of Tenbury Town Council on Monday night.

Perhaps he will explain why the promised work doesn't appear to have been started, and is now likely to be further delayed as the Ducks have started to nest.

"Pot Hole Man" to be questioned.

John Wallace, County Highways Liaison Engineer, WCC – is due to appear before the full Tenbury Town Council on Monday night to discuss the condition of the pavements and roads in Tenbury and St.Michaels.

It may not be as high profile as appearing before a House of Commons Select Committee, but I don't think he is in for a smooth ride!

Maybe that is why the WCC Pot Hole temporary repair squad have been so busy in the Tenbury area in the last few days. They seem to have missed Berrington Road (but perhaps they will do that on Monday)

Thursday 26 February 2009

Green Experiment Abandoned

http://flickr.com/photos/rev0lvin/
Local haulier H Wragg has abandoned their experiment with Bio-diesel. The Shropshire haulier has reverted to running all its tractor units on diesel. The converted trucks kept breaking down and the price of rapeseed oil rocketed.

Full details

Monday 23 February 2009

It's behind you.

TADS production of Sleeping Beauty was a great success with almost full houses for most performances.

A strong cast featured throughout the production, with exceptional performances from Emily Portsmouth as Coldheart, and Hannah Wragg as Snap the baby dragon, who despite only "speaking" one word, "squeak", was able to portray many different meanings and emotions with clever intonation.

The Costumes were of a very high standard. I'm not sure if they were designed and produced locally or hired in, but would be the envy of many professional productions.

Tuesday 10 February 2009

MHDC Budget Meeting

A good (by Tenbury standard) turnout of local residents met with Serena Croad the Leader of MHDC and others to discuss the proposed 2.95% increase in the budget.

Various subjects were discussed, including MHDCs £140,000 a year support of the Malvern Theatre, and the perceived lack of local financial support in Tenbury. The apparent lack of progress on developing the Tenbury Business Park. Concerns about the concessionary bus far scheme and the lack of joined up local public transport.

29% of Malvern's budget comes via the Council Tax, 38% from Central Government and 33% from other activities such as car parks, etc. Over 50% of the money raised is spent on salaries.

£570,000 is now spent on the Concessionary Fares scheme of which only 30% is Government Funded. Great concern was raised from the floor about how this is audited and accounted for.

It was also noted that NO Town Councillors attended the meeting.

Saturday 7 February 2009

Crowds enjoy Gloombuster

Crowds of eager children (of all ages) flocked to the Regal Cinema Tenbury this afternoon to watch the hit animation Madagascar : Return 2 Africa.

The film was shown as part of the Regal Cinema groups, Gloombuster day. This evening High School Musical 2 completes the day before the cinema closes for two weeks for the staging of the pantomime Sleeping Beauty.

Monday 2 February 2009

Toilet Planning Application

The Chair of Tenbury & Burford Civic Society addressed the Town Council about concerns relating to the planning application for the replacement toilets in Market Street.

She raised various points such as
  • Design of Building
  • Size of build in relation to size of site
  • Distance from road - Seating and exit doors
  • Isolated area behind buildings
  • Inappropriate feel - lack of integrity
  • Cost effectiveness

The Town Council discussed the application at length, and agreed that the design choice had been reached democratically.

They felt that although the number of people who made comments during the design competition public exhibition was quite small, it still represented a reasonably large number by local consultation standards.

Whilst not everyone preferred the chosen design, certain preferences were a common theme such as wanting non-unisex toilets, and a design of a more traditional nature.

The winning design was also the one selected by the Malvern Hills Conservation Officer, the Senior Planner and by the Team who will be responsible for day to day maintenance.

Town Councillors expressed some concern about the area behind the toilets but felt that risks could be mitigated by the use of lighting.

They also felt that some of the objections expressed by the Civic Society were actually benefits of the scheme rather than negatives.

The Town Council voted 10:1 in favour of the application with some minor technical queries.

Good News for Tenbury

It now looks certain that Tenbury Wells will be awarded at least £45,000 to redesign the Children's play area. It is also hoped that additional money will be awarded to pay for play equipment for older children.

In a separate announcement, it is hoped that MHDC will be able to find funds to allow free swimming at the Tenbury Pool for the over 60s. Although this is to become Government policy, there could be funding issues in Tenbury as the pool is run as a Trust and is not run by MHDC.

Everyone is urged to attend the MHDC budget roadshow to be held in the Pump Rooms on Tuesday 10th February.

Precept Error

Tenbury Town Council are to set a precept of £94,700, a 1.8% increase on last year.

The hopes of a zero percent increase were dashed when a calculation error was discovered.

Historic First for Town Council

A rigerous examination of all the budgets will be carried out during 2009, with discussions to find the balance of "Service to the Town" with "Individual Costs"

The discussions will include deciding which if any of the services provided, especially if used by only a small minority should be run on a more commercial basis.

Support for a minority sport

Precept Meeting

Ask not what your Council does for you

The Town Council have confirmed that they will not be installing CCTV in Tenbury, but will be joining the Lengthman Scheme.

Second thoughts about CCTV

Environment Agency Work in Tenbury

The Environment Agency Flood Risks Manager was unable to attend tonight's Tenbury Town Council Meeting as advertised due to the adverse weather conditions.
Councillors were informed that work to remove the vegetation from the shoal below Teme Bridge, and work on Kyre Brook would start shortly so as to be completed before the bird nesting season.

Work on a monitor for Kyre Brook has also been agreed.

Work to remove rubble from the Old Toilets would not be started before August 2009.