Are shared surfaces the answer

Tenbury has waited a very long time for a make over.  Improvements to the road surface and the pavements have been discussed in various forums for years.  Unknown to most, battles have been going on behind the scenes to get the approval for the use of good quality materials, rather than using quick fix concrete.

So now finally, after many broken promises and force starts, the basic design information is in the public domain.

I have no knowledge of town planning or traffic calming and control, so it is difficult to argue from a position of knowledge, and all we can really do is put trust in those employed as experts.

From a layman's point of view, any scheme that reduces parking, and mixes vehicles and people doesn't feel right, and I do worry that if the graphic artist thinks Tenbury is served by London Black Cabs, how good was the brief!

2013 Not a happy new year

Tenbury welcomed in the new year in 2012 with a bridge closure that was to last 10 weeks. 

The new year 2013 will herald the arrival of Temporary Traffic Lights, controlling the traffic through the town for up to 16 weeks, as Ringway start to replace and repair the drainage system under Teme Street & Market Street.

Although there is a promise, that the lights will only be used when necessary, past experience is that the contractors will not only install the lights at the drop of a hat, they will leave them running 24 hours a day and over the weekend even if there is no work taking place.  Also, due to lack of training or just lack of care they won't be phased correctly to allow for the traffic flow, and the sensors will either be inoperative or wrongly focused so as to be ineffective.  Although work is scheduled to start at 9.30 am and end by 4pm we can look forward to queues back past the High School and past Kerry's!   I see a Ringway supervisor will be on site throughout the duration of the work, so hopefully they will prove me wrong.

No one can be in doubt that these repairs are necessary.  We have known of the damaged drains since at least 2007, and the summer stink at the bridge end of Teme Street reminds us the the foul sewer also serves as the rainwater drain at that end of town.

The promise of 16 weeks of queueing traffic and the noise from the road works is enough to put as many people, if not more, off from venturing into town, than the bridge closure in early 2012.

So far there has been no promise of any additional support for the town, no additional parking provision in response to the inevitable parking restrictions, in fact had it not been for the two "public" exhibitions and a leaflet through the door, it would have come as somewhat of a surprise to most.

Tenbury Advertiser

Mistletoe Festival

Tenbury on the brink again.

It looks like we might have had yet another lucky escape, and according to the EA website there is no current warning for Tenbury.

Fire at Tenbury Primary School

Ongoing incident at Tenbury Primary School. 2 Fire appliances in attendance. School appears to remain open. Hoses are deployed to the separate older building.

Update:

It seems the Fire was in the boys toilets.  That must be the least combustible area in the school so I'll leave you to draw your own conclusion.  There was also a Police presence at the school for several days after.

Tenbury News Round Up.

The reports of my demise are somewhat overstated but those of you who know me in real life will know I am somewhat busy elsewhere, but I did manage to get along to last nights Council meeting.

Drainage 

At long last a date has been fixed to start the drainage work in Teme Street and Market street. January 7th. The problems were identified after the last flood, with collapsed pipe work and in some cases rainwater drainage flowing into the foul sewer. The rather unpleasant whiff in hot weather confirms the problem! The works, which will continue for several weeks will be controlled by temporary traffic lights and will inevitably result in parking restrictions and traffic queues.

Parking

With increased pressure on the available parking spaces already being seen, the temporary loss of the cattle market, and a reduction in on-street parking will cause a major parking crisis. The Town Council are to set a parking working party to re-look at the possibility of creating more spaces.

Housing Development

Planning permission for additional housing along Oldwood road continue to exercise the concern of Cllrs, although for some reason they are all fixated on the idea that the development would lead to an increased flood risk. Why they are so set on this reason to object is strange as the analysis of the geological study and work by Hydrological Engineers proves otherwise. The site has a clay subsoil and is steeply banked. Therefore rain flows from the site now, at the same rate as it would if it was concreted. If there is development, an urban drainage plan will be implemented which will slow the run off of water or store it and release it slowly. So in fact any development would improve the flood risk. But I suppose some people don't want the facts to interfere in a good headline!

Parking Enforcement

Tenbury hasn't seen much in the way of parking enforcement in recent years, but suddenly wardens have been turning up in the dead of night and harvesting rich pickings. The elective representatives claim that they have no control over the wardens and that they are acting completely of their own volition. I'm sure no representative actually said, now the Regal is open and helping to improve Tenbury's night time economy pop over and ticket as many people as possible during the show, but neither did they say don't! Yes, parking is chargeable at night in the pay & display car park, and yes people should pay it, but heavy enforcement only on nights were they know their is a large audience is sneaky at the very least.

POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER - A good idea?

Is the idea of having directly elected Police & Crime Commissioners as good idea.  Is it like the American system whereby local sheriffs are elected.

If like me you don't know, but do care, come along to the meeting to get your questions answered.

POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER 

WEST MERCIA POLICE FORCE AREA

PUBLIC MEETING 

 ADRIAN BLACKSHAW THE CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE FOR POLICE AND CRIME COMMSISIONER and HARRIETT BALDWIN MP FOR WEST WORCESTERSHIRE

7.30 pm, FRIDAY, 19TH OCTOBER, 2012 THE PUMP ROOMS, TENBURY WELLS 

Free entry 

Adrian Blackshaw

Elections for the new role of Police and Crime Commissioner will be held on November 15th
This is a chance to hear what it will mean to Tenbury people from Adrian Blackshaw, the Conservative candidate, and Harriett Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire

• Will it mean more or less local policing? 
• Will the police become involved in party politics? 
• Will it bring down crime? 
• What will be Adrian’s priorities, if elected? 
• What will the Government’s cuts mean to Tenbury’s police coverage?

Tenbury Civic Parade

The annual Tenbury Civic Parade took place the morning.  Although bright sunshine welcomed the marchers, there were fewer spectators than usual.

Tonight's the night

Months in the planning, hundreds of hours in the execution, and now finally tonight is the night of the biggest gala show Tenbury has ever seen.

Tony Christie, Paul Daniels and Debbie Mcgee,  Ceri Dupree, Kev Orkian and a host of other performers gather to entertain Tenbury in a sell out Gala Show.

Tenbury transported to the Royal Albert Hall

The Regal Tenbury, held it's first free to air live streaming event on Saturday night.

The picture and sound quality was amazing, and the audience really engaged with the show, with the traditional singing, clapping, stamping and of course the waving of flags.

Some even commented afterwards that they had been transported to the Royal Albert Hall and felt as if they were at the main event.

One slight technical glitch meant that the volume could not be increased quite a much as they would have liked and when the audience got very enthusiastic the sound from London couldn't be heard above the "local" singing. This has subsequently been resolved.

The Tenbury Town Council received numerous favourable comments about the event so the Mayor said at the Town Council Meeting "The Trust are to be congratulated on a wonderful evening"

The Wheelie Bins Are Coming

Wheelie Bins will be coming to Tenbury by 2015.  The next round on recycling legislation will force local councils to collect glass from the curbside, and MHDC have concluded the only safe way is to use Wheelie Bins.

Unfortunately (some would say) the weekly black bag collection will continue as before (so that the local crow population don't go hungry and can continue to split open sacks all over town every Monday)

Recyclables collection will switch to wheelie bins and be collected every fortnight.

Tesco Tenbury Update.

It seems that the contract to build a new store in Tenbury Wells still hasn't been agreed.

Two further obstacles still need to be overcome.  One is a land ownership query, and the other is about footpath maintenance.

Tesco are still committed to the site and hope to have the store open by Christmas 2013.

The Regal is open at last

It's been years in the planning, months in the execution, and moments in the opening but at last the Regal Tenbury is fully open.

A short opening ceremony was held yesterday to mark a new chapter in the History of the Regal Tenbury Wells.

The ribbon was cut by Tenbury Mayor Cllr Susan Corfield, assisted by former projectionists, Andrew and Ted Wall and Tom Dallow.

After the ceremony over 120 people crowded into the Regal and became part of history as the Regal Trust used the new digital projector for the first time. The picture and sound quality was amazing, and everyone enjoyed all the new facilities.

The new Regal Cafe also opened for the first time, with patrons eager to sample the authentic hot dogs, the popcorn and a full range of drinks and coffees. The cafe is open daily from 10am to 5pm and from 6.30pm on show days. (Update - Cafe daytime opening delayed until Monday 10th)

The night couldn't have been such a success without the small army of volunteers who ran the box office, sold sweets and ice creams and showed people to their seats. They all did a marvellous job.

Films and live shows can be booked online at regaltenbury.co.uk or by visiting the Box Office.

The trusts Gala opening is on Sunday 16th September, when Tony Christie, will be joined by Paul Daniels, Debbie Magee, Ceri Dupree, Kev Orkian, The West End Musical Stars and a few surprise guests. This is Tenbury’s biggest ever show and is not to be missed. A few tickets are still available.

Fireman playing with fire!

Tenbury Firefighters are holding their annual Barbecue this Saturday 1st September, starting at 4.30pm until late, in aid of The Fire Fighters Charity.

Free Admission – Meet your local firefighters and see the equipment.

Attractions include : Licensed Bar, Barbecue, Tombola, Main Draw and sidestalls.

The event is to be held at the fire station, and will be under-cover if the weather is wet.

All welcome.

Regal Tenbury What's On Brochure Now Available

The new Regal Tenbury What's On brochure is now available from the Regal, the Library, the TIC and many other locations, or you can view all the shows on-line at regaltenbury.co.uk

A door to door drop is also under way in Tenbury & Burford and surrounding areas.

The brochure is also available to view/download.

Tenbury Advertiser causes confusion about the Regal

The Tenbury Advertiser published the wrong article this week leading to concern & confusion.

Under a new photo, and the banner headline Project manager moves to smoothe delay fears for Tenbury's Regal Cinema they then publsihed an article which had previosly been published 12 months ago.

The online version appeared Wednesday night, but attempts to contact the journalist concerned and newquest proved unsuccessful. So on Thursday morning, expecting coverage of the recent highly successful gala opening members of the Town Council and volunteers for the Trust that will take over the running of the cinema in September, found a very confusing article instead.

Negotiations have been going on all week between the Town Council and Newsquest about the publishing of an apology and redress for the damage caused.

There have been an increasing number of errors in the advertiser, with inaccurate reporting, factual errors and incorrect adverts being run.  This is most likely due to the paper being produced by fewer and fewer staff, who don't work in this area so are unable to spot the mistakes. Although why they didn't spot that they were running Christams adverts is no clear.

Rather than the delays mentioned the project is forging ahead with a very full programme of entertainment due to be published on the 15th August.

Co-op Bank take over of Tenbury Lloyds confirmed

The Co-operative Group has agreed terms with Lloyds Banking Group to buy 632 Lloyds TSB and Cheltenham and Gloucester branches including the branch in Teme Street Tenbury Wells.

The sale was demanded by European regulators after Lloyds bought HBOS during the financial crisis.

It is thought that existing customers will be given the choice of transferring their Lloyds account to another branch or convert to a Co-operative account.

Co-op were voted as the best current account provider 2011 by money supermarket.

Flooding on the Teme at Tenbury Wells

There is limited flooding in Tenbury Wells this morning with parts of the Riverside walk and Kyre Brook footpath under water.

The river level appears to have peaked for now, but Worcester News is reporting flooding further down stream especially at Newnham Bridge.
The EA Tenbury Gauge shows the increase in the rise in height of the River appears to be levelling off.

Read about other local flooding indents on the tenburyfire.co.uk website.

Tenbury Advertiser

More photo's Credited at Tenbury Wells but not sure where.

The Show Goes On

The Tenbury Country Side Show organisers have confirmed they have no intention of cancelling the show at this stage.

The show is scheduled to run from 9 am to 6 pm on Saturday 4th August and will include "The Adrenaline Tour" display team, a Steam Engine tug of war and all the usual countryside features.

A shuttle bus will run from the town centre from 12 noon, but please note that only assistance & participating dogs are allowed on the showground.

If wet weather continues and final decision will be made about the show one week before the event.

Kyre Brook - No Flooding

There was a strong flow on the Kyre Brook tonight after persistent rain all day saw 12mm rain fall in Tenbury.  Heavier rainfall towards Bromyard has caused extensive run-off and the Kyre Brook has been steadily rising all day.  This video was shot at about 9.30pm at the stepping stones.  So far the Environment Agency are not predicting floods in the Tenbury area, but heavy rain fall in parts of Shropshire & Mid Wales may increase river levels in the days to come.

You are invited.....

Click for more details

Tenbury's Jubilee Celebrations end in a blaze

Tenbury joined in with over 4,200 other locations in lighting a beacon as the finale of their Diamond Jubilee Celebrations.  Although it appears that someone didn't read the instructions and lit the Tenbury beacon ahead of the nationally allotted time of 10:15pm.

10pm:

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Beacons.

10.01pm:

The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (R.A.B.I), along with farms, Stately Homes and Private Estates, English Heritage and the National Trust etc.

10-10pm:

Beacons coordinated by the Marine Society and Sea Cadets, Air Training Corps, Army Cadets and Combined Cadet Forces, along with the Scout Association, Girl Guiding UK and Boys Brigade.

10.12pm:

The Beacons along Hadrians Wall, coordinated by Hadrians Wall Heritage Ltd.

10-15pm:

Local Authorities including Borough, District, Unitary, Metropolitan, City, County, Town, Parish and Community Councils, Associations, Societies and Committees.

Earlier in the evening Tenbury got a taste of "live streaming" with the Diamond Jubilee Concert from the Mall being shown live on a large screen in a marquee on the Burgage.

The ability to "live streaming" will be a feature in the Regal when it fully opens in September.

Tenbury's Jubilee Celebrations Continue

After a 24 hour rain break, the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations continued this afternoon in Tenbury Wells Burgage..

Tenbury Town Council's Jubilee Picnic

Crowds turned out for the Picnic and entertainment which included the Town Band and dancers from U3A.

Meanwhile the beacon has been prepared on Palmers Meadow for lighting at about 10pm this evening.

Tenbury's Jubilee Parade

Participants in the march outnumbered spectators for the Tenbury Diamond Jubilee Parade this morning. A brief break from persistent rain, allowed the parade to reach St Mary's without everyone ending up drenched.

The rest of the days Jubilee events where then either cancelled or postponed, and even the bunting in Teme Street looked miserable and failed to brighten the Town.  The Burgage looked like it had more than a slight hangover from the previous nights beer festival, and the resident scout camp looked very depressed.

More photos

Tenbury postpones Jubilee Events

Due to the lovely weather we have taken the decision to postpone the picnic and disco planned for today, Sunday until tomorrow , Monday 4^th as the forecast is so much better.  Please tell everyone to come along on Monday instead.  Rather than the evening disco on Monday there will be the live televised concert from Buckingham Palace and then the beacon lighting to round off the evening.

Fun games and picnic should hopefully work well together.

Best regards

Mrs Dawn G. Worgan

Town Clerk

Tenbury Town Council

Tenbury's Latest Video

Tenbury celebrates the Diamond Jubilee

 

Fuel Prices in Tenbury Continue to Fall

Diesel price update from PetrolPrices.com

	146.9p	Swan Garage Worcester Road, Burford,  last updated on 13 May

	145.9p	Co-op Foldgate Lane  Foldgate Lane, Ludlow,   last updated on 13 May

	146.9p	Bypass Garage The Bye Pass, Bromyard, last updated on 13 May
	149.9p	Top Garage Hereford Road, Bromyard,  last updated on 13 May

MHDC Council Leader to step down

It is reported in the latest issue of the Teme Valley Times published today that Tenbury's District Councillor Phillip Grove is to step down as leader of Malvern Hills District Council.

For full details collect a copy of the paper from the usual outlets.

Worcester News

Tenbury not on Flood Alert (Yet)

Flood Alert for River Teme and its tributaries downstream of Ludlow

TENBURY & BURFORD NO ALERT

At 9:45pm today; the level at the Tenbury Gauge was 3.44 metres and rising. A peak level of between 3.5 and 3.6 metres is expected to occur tomorrow morning.

Flood Warning for River Teme at Stanford Bridge.

River Teme at Tenbury

Click here to open this in a new window

Petrol at 6p a litre.

For petrol at £0.0164 a litre visit Tenbury Online

Tenbury MP calls for fairer local fuel prices

Harriett Baldwin MP

Local MP Harriett Baldwin has called on local petrol companies to keep prices under control as pump prices reach record highs.

Harriett has referred the issue to the Office of Fair Trading in recent months and is keeping a close eye on pump prices as supply issues ease. 

150.9p Diesel 2/4/12 Tenbury

She commented: “I would be very angry if petrol companies have used this situation as an excuse to lift prices and keep them high.

“As supply levels are back to normal, I hope that prices will return to the pre-budget levels and no company starts profiteering.

Full article

Local to Tenbury - Diesel Prices

prices update from PetrolPrices.com

	150.9p	Swan Garage Worcester Road, Burford,  last updated on 2 April

147.9p

Tuffins Foldgate Lane  Foldgate Lane, Ludlow, last updated on 2 April

	149.9p	Bypass Garage The Bye Pass, Bromyard,  last updated on 2 April
	151.9p	Top Garage Hereford Road, Bromyard, last updated on 2 April

	147.9p	Morrisons Leominster Barons Cross Road, Leominster,  last updated on 2 April
	148.9p	Total Leominster Mill Street, Leominster, HR6 0AL last updated on 2 April
	148.9p	Bengry Motors Bargates, Leominster, HR6 8EY  last updated on 2 April
	149.9p	Mrh Northside Hereford Road, Hope Under Dinmore, Leominster, HR6 0PJ last updated on 2 April

Get a taste of Tenbury this Easter!

Local residents and visitors can enjoy a "Taste of Tenbury" afternoon on Easter Saturday, 7th April, from 12 noon to 4pm. Tastings will be on offer during the afternoon and people can sample some great deals in Tenbury's shops.

Other activities during the afternoon include Live Music from Banjanova at the Royal Oak, from 1pm, Storytelling for Children at the Pump Rooms, from 2pm, and the Golden Apple and Windfall Draw presentations will take place at the Pump Rooms at 3.30pm. Sponsors are G E Bright Electrical and Frank P Matthews Ltd.

Another Easter attraction is a Car Boot Sale on the Burgage (behind Tenbury's Teme Street car park) on Easter Monday, 9th April. It runs from 8am to 1pm.

The popular monthly 'Grand Windfall' Loyalty Scheme will continue until the end of June, with a first prize of £1,000 each month, plus the chance to win an iPod touch! Businesses and shoppers in Tenbury Wells have embraced the Loyalty Scheme with enthusiasm and apple stickers can be earned at a wide range of locations, including shops, pubs, hairdressers, cafes and supermarkets, making it easy for shoppers to earn the 15 stickers that are needed to complete a Card.

Traffic Lights return to Tenbury

Traffic will be controlled by Temporary Traffic lights in Tenbury's Market Street starting on Tuesday 10th April whilst kerb stones are renewed.  There is also a plan to resurface part of Market Street overnight starting Friday 13th April.

Pay by Phone Parking in Tenbury

Malvern Hills District Council is introducing cashless and ticketless parking from April 2nd across all of their public car parks, including the one in Tenbury Wells. This means that in all of the district’s public car parks customers will not have to find change for parking as they can pay by credit or debit card. Using the system is easy – there are clear instructions on the location signs around the car parks. Cash will still be accepted.

Click here for more details.