A resident contacted us this weekend to warn against a leaflet she had through the door in Combe Down asking for old clothing etc to leave out for collection. The Company is “Helpmates”, and a number of Councils and MP’s, Jo Swinson in particular, have warned against putting out goods for this company, which is a commercial business which, instead of passing your donated items for charity, actually  sells anything it collects for its own profit.

Click on these links to learn more:

http://www.joswinson.org.uk/news/000330/watch_out_for_fake_charities.html http://www.southsomerset.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=2672 http://www.joswinson.org.uk/speeches/000015/westminster_hall_debate_on_bogus_charity_collections.html  http://www.headington.org.uk/news/items/clothes_collection.htm 

Don Foster is calling on local families to claim over £500 in tax breaks under a little publicised government scheme before a 31st January deadline.    Before the current system of ‘child tax credits’ was introduced in 2003, the Government made payments in 2001/02 and 2002/03 under a totally separate scheme known as the ‘children’s tax credit’.     Many people were not aware of the scheme at the time and did not claim the money, and the deadline for claiming runs out at the end of this month.   The credit was worth £529 per family in 2002/03 and was available to parents who paid tax in that year and who had a child under 16 in that year.   The money was paid at a flat rate except for higher rate taxpayers who got a reduced level of help. Don said, “In these difficult economic times, I am urging all families who are eligible for this tax credit to fill out a form and send it back to the tax office before 31^st January. “This tax credit was not very well advertised at the time, but now there is a chance for many families to claim back over £500 as long as they act now.” The forms are available here but Don has added a direct link on his website at www.donfoster.co.uk as well as making the claim form available to download directly from the website. 

Don said, “I urge those without access to the internet to contact my office as soon as possible on 01225 338 973 so that we can arrange to post them a claim form.”

This is really worth doing, please pass on the details to any families who might benefit.

The fact that we have been waiting for well over two years for the completion of the Pedestrian Crossing on the Bradford Road just past the junction with Entry Hill, is well known by local residents, who take their lives in their hands in trying to cross this fast moving, dangerous patch of road.

This is a saga of broken promises, stretching back a considerable length of time. Early last year it looked like a channel for the electrical work had been done, but then nothing else happened. A delay in getting the electrics completed so we were told. In June last year at Cabinet the Member responsible, Cllr Charles Gerrish, promised the crossing would be done in September ‘08. When that didn’t happen, we were yet again assured it would happen in October, but… still no crossing to date, and no up dating on the situation, information only found out by our persistent chasing up of Cllr Gerrish.

At last weeks Cabinet meeting, Cherry raised again with Cllr Gerrish this dangerous and totally unacceptable delay, and was told work would begin 9th March (what year you might well ask…) The next day he corrected this and said actually it would not start until 23rd March ‘09. However I will not hold my breath. 

I do find this alarming in terms of the management of surely a simple piece of highways work. Coupled with the fact that it took again more than two years, plus a petition to full Council, to get a Bus Shelter installed at the Hadley Arms stop, begs the question of whether this is competant administration. These works do affect the every day lives of residents, and this is definately not good service.

(Picture shows local residents and ourselves braving the traffic last week)

Until later this evening there is a display of photographer Neville Gabie’s work at the Forester and Flower, of photographing people above the mines and connecting with what is going on beneath their feet .

Neville is part of the Art Project, but cannot be present because he is on an assignment in the Antarctic.  His photos show different aspects of the work that is going on underground.  It is significant that there is very little to be seen in his photos of the original condition of the mines.  A demonstration that the infill project is drawing to a close.

Neville was to photograph Roger, but he forgot and was out at a Stone Mines meeting when Neville called (not like Roger to miss out on a photo opportunity), so he took a photo of Nic, Roger’s partner, lighting a fire.

You can also see Wags Firman working at the garage and activity under the garage and Phil Bishop on the telephone while work continues underneath.  There is still time to have a look at the photos until closing time tonight.

The “Hadley Arms” Bus Shelter finally installed last October after a two year wait, including a petition from residents presented to Full Council the previous year by Maureen Traynor, has come under criticism from local residents using it. The Shelter does not keep out the wind and rain, and some do not like the uncomfortable narrow seat. Residents have told us they want a full shelter with two end panels and a proper roof, such as at other stops in Combe Down. Part of the problem is the siting of the shelter at the top of the slope, where there is not enough width for adequate weather protection.

I have requested modifications /replacement of the shelter, and have received the following explanation from the Council Officer;

“The shelter provided at the Hadley Arms site was the best that could be achieved within the constraints of cost and space, and unfortunately the shelter design cannot be changed without considerable expense and remodelling of the bank. There are two reasons why the shelter is designed like this. Firstly the shelter cannot go any closer to the road than its current location as this would interfere with the visibility turning out of Ralph Allen Drive. Secondly there cannot be an end panel at the other end as we need to a keep a minimum footway width to allow disabled bus passengers to use the shelter,  waiting platform and also to access the bus. By having an end panel this would cut the width significantly.” 

Roger and I intend to meet with the Officer on site to see if we can get any change to the shelter, which is not adequately doing the job it is meant to do.