Having been variously damned with faint praise and savaged by a dead sheep in recent days over the lack of *proper politix* on this blog of late, I vowed yesterday to devote some time to blogging about serious matters in coming days.
But I didn't expect things to become quite so serious quite so quickly.
This afternoon I got a call from The Argus. There has been a stabbing incident at Hove Park School today.
I have been campaigning with Prestonville parents over the last few months over many issues at Hove Park - poor GCSE results, an inadequate school bus service, discipline problems - but this is a terrible new low.
Thankfully the child on the receiving end isn't seriously injured, but nevertheless this is still an extremely serious and distressing incident. I have demanded and expect to get some answers from the LEA over the next day or so regarding an urgent plan of action on this.
Very, very sad and shocking news.
Showing posts with label prestonville. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prestonville. Show all posts
Last week I was mostly...
I've just returned from a long weekend Up North seeing my folks, which was lovely. I've been without broadband for a few days (insert your own joke about Northerners here), so I thought I'd do a quick round-up of last week's happenings before getting on with this week's work.
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London Road CPZ
The majority of correspondence I received from residents last week concerned controversial proposals to introduce a new Controlled Parking Zone in the area around London Road station.
Residents in the affected streets have now received consultation packs - whether they're for or against, people need to make their voices heard, so I hope the response rate is good.
I think my fellow ward councillor Cllr Kevin Allen is trying to set up a meeting with Highways officers about the proposed scheme - hopefully I'll hear more in the next few days.
The Bra Recycling photocall finally went ahead on Tuesday morning!
Dramatis personæ from l-r in first pic: Cllr Dee Simson, Leonie Petrarca of The Pink Dolphin Appeal, Cllr Jayne Bennett, Cllr David Watkins, me, and Cllr Gill Mitchell with the first batch of bras to be donated to the collection point at The Level (Pictures: Hannah Brackenbury 16/06/09)
I'll leave it to readers to come up with their own captions...
On Tuesday I also met with Marek from the Prestonville Community Association to discuss an idea floated by residents for a 'Town Square' for the Prestonville community.
We met outside the Chimney House, and were joined by Lee Davies of Conran & Partners and Ben Meekings of Project Centre, a highway design consultancy and landscape architecture practice who have worked on a number of award-winning street schemes.
Marek has blogged about this, but the basic idea is along the lines of the Home Zone model, where cars are still allowed to use the road, but don't have priority over pedestrians or cyclists.
This is a really exciting idea. As you'll see from the pix below, there's loads of space where Upper Hamilton Road meets Buxton Road, so there'd be no need to lose any parking, and hopefully better siting of the bicycle racks too.
This is still very much an embryonic idea at the moment, but it was an excellent meeting - thanks so much to Lee and Ben for giving up their time to come and discuss it with us.
Green New Deal at the UNISON Fringe
Also on Tuesday (it was a bit of an epic day), I took part in a panel on the Green New Deal at the UNISON Conference Fringe, organised by David Arnold (UNISON National Policy Officer for Green Issues).
My fellow panellists were Paddy Tipping MP, Lucy Pearce (Stop Climate Chaos coalition), Caroline Fife (UNISON South East Business & Environment officer), and Sarah Pearce (TUC Green Workplaces Project).
I was really pleased to be invited to take part, and enjoyed the Fringe session immensely. The other members of the panel spoke very passionately about the work they're doing in their respective fields in trying to advance some of the ideas contained within the Green New Deal, and the audience asked some excellent questions. It was also really heartening to hear just how much work the Trade Union movement is doing in engaging members with promoting sustainability in the workplace.
The hour passed very quickly, and I would have really liked more time for the questions, especially from the Planners present. I hope I get asked back next year!
The majority of correspondence I received from residents last week concerned controversial proposals to introduce a new Controlled Parking Zone in the area around London Road station.
Residents in the affected streets have now received consultation packs - whether they're for or against, people need to make their voices heard, so I hope the response rate is good.
I think my fellow ward councillor Cllr Kevin Allen is trying to set up a meeting with Highways officers about the proposed scheme - hopefully I'll hear more in the next few days.
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From Bra Wars to Bosom Buddies
The Bra Recycling photocall finally went ahead on Tuesday morning!
Dramatis personæ from l-r in first pic: Cllr Dee Simson, Leonie Petrarca of The Pink Dolphin Appeal, Cllr Jayne Bennett, Cllr David Watkins, me, and Cllr Gill Mitchell with the first batch of bras to be donated to the collection point at The Level (Pictures: Hannah Brackenbury 16/06/09)
I'll leave it to readers to come up with their own captions...
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Prestonville Town Square?On Tuesday I also met with Marek from the Prestonville Community Association to discuss an idea floated by residents for a 'Town Square' for the Prestonville community.
We met outside the Chimney House, and were joined by Lee Davies of Conran & Partners and Ben Meekings of Project Centre, a highway design consultancy and landscape architecture practice who have worked on a number of award-winning street schemes.
Marek has blogged about this, but the basic idea is along the lines of the Home Zone model, where cars are still allowed to use the road, but don't have priority over pedestrians or cyclists.
This is a really exciting idea. As you'll see from the pix below, there's loads of space where Upper Hamilton Road meets Buxton Road, so there'd be no need to lose any parking, and hopefully better siting of the bicycle racks too.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Also on Tuesday (it was a bit of an epic day), I took part in a panel on the Green New Deal at the UNISON Conference Fringe, organised by David Arnold (UNISON National Policy Officer for Green Issues).
My fellow panellists were Paddy Tipping MP, Lucy Pearce (Stop Climate Chaos coalition), Caroline Fife (UNISON South East Business & Environment officer), and Sarah Pearce (TUC Green Workplaces Project).
I was really pleased to be invited to take part, and enjoyed the Fringe session immensely. The other members of the panel spoke very passionately about the work they're doing in their respective fields in trying to advance some of the ideas contained within the Green New Deal, and the audience asked some excellent questions. It was also really heartening to hear just how much work the Trade Union movement is doing in engaging members with promoting sustainability in the workplace.
The hour passed very quickly, and I would have really liked more time for the questions, especially from the Planners present. I hope I get asked back next year!
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Preston Park Access
On Thursday I met with Preston Park Avenue residents to discuss their continuing campaign for a pedestrian access ramp into Preston Park at the northern end of the street.
Last October I presented a petition about this to the council (signed by over 300 residents), but little progress has been made since then, partly due to the uncertainty surrounding the implementation of plans for a parking scheme and associated landscaping works (which were due to include the access ramp) within the park itself.
I'm now trying to get to bottom of this, and will be putting a question to the Cabinet Member for the Environment at Full Council on July 16th.
The bottom line is that, with two Nursing Homes at the northern end of Preston Park Avenue, an access ramp is sorely needed . The photo above shows the nearest ramp, opposite no. 20 - about halfway up a very long road, and hundreds of yards away from the Nursing Homes.
Are residents going to have to wait another summer before access into the park is improved?
On Thursday I met with Preston Park Avenue residents to discuss their continuing campaign for a pedestrian access ramp into Preston Park at the northern end of the street.Last October I presented a petition about this to the council (signed by over 300 residents), but little progress has been made since then, partly due to the uncertainty surrounding the implementation of plans for a parking scheme and associated landscaping works (which were due to include the access ramp) within the park itself.
I'm now trying to get to bottom of this, and will be putting a question to the Cabinet Member for the Environment at Full Council on July 16th.
The bottom line is that, with two Nursing Homes at the northern end of Preston Park Avenue, an access ramp is sorely needed . The photo above shows the nearest ramp, opposite no. 20 - about halfway up a very long road, and hundreds of yards away from the Nursing Homes.
Are residents going to have to wait another summer before access into the park is improved?
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This week is set to be a bit quieter, but having been away for a few days I've got some catching up to do (*eyes exploding Inbox*). And I am now going out for this evening's Green Group meeting.
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