Gosforth eFocus No 22

NORMAL SERVICE ON 15TH OCTOBER

Unison, GMB and Unite have decided to suspend strike action planned for Tuesday 14^th October and will consult their respective memberships on new pay award proposals put forward by Local Government Employers. Normal service is restored. Some of our readers have queried the legal position. This is set out in the Environmental Protection Act of 1990. Under Section 45 Collection of controlled waste

(1 )It shall be the duty of each waste collection authority-

(a )to arrange for the collection of household waste in its area

But neither it nor regulations specifies how frequently that has to be - one Labour council collects only once every 4 weeks. Even though a special fee is paid for brown bin/garden waste collection, it's covered by this law. Council officials had however assured your Liberal Democrat councillors that if a collection were missed because of a strike, an extra collection would be added at the end of the contract

BROADWAY WEST FIREWORKS

Saturday, November 1 - Gosforth Round Table Fireworks Night, Broadway West Playing Fields

Visitors are asked to note that there will be no parking available on the evening and organisers recommend the use of the Metro for ease of access. Gates open at 6.15pm. Fireworks start at 7pm. All proceeds to local charities. Entry prices to be confirmed.

And on the subject of Broadway West, the Red House Farm Football Club has applied for planning permission to enclose (with fences up to 5 metres/16 feet high) a substantial proportion of the playing fields to the north of Kingston Park Road, which is in the Parklands Ward. Your councillors have begun distributing special Focus flyers with details, including how to register comments, to all house on the Grange to the north and south of Broadway West.

MELTON PARK CARE HOME

The application to extend the existing permission is due to be presented to Planning Committee on Friday 17 October 2014. The meeting will begin at 9:30am, and officers are recommending approval. Parklands Ward councillors will be speaking to the application. We can email you an extensive document which includes the papers on this scheme on request

PARKING ON GOSFORTH HIGH STREET

High Street is patrolled on a daily basis as part of a wider mobile patrol dedicated to the Gosforth area. Any vehicle parking in contravention to the parking regulations is liable to be issued with a parking ticket or if this is not possible then at the very least it will be moved on. This explanation has been provided to your Liberal Democrat Councillors by City Council officials.

"Parking officers have a very wide area to cover and as such are not able to spend all their time in one place, but they are asked to prioritise the High Street in an attempt to keep the traffic following by deterring drivers from breaking parking regulations or parking inconsiderately. I will continue to remind officers to be particularly vigilant in this area and I can confirm that we have issued around 100 parking tickets over the last 12 months.

"Experience has shown that in those areas where short stay parking is popular due to the type of shops and amenities (sandwich shops, newsagents, ATM machines etc) then there is an element of "cat and mouse". Before issuing a vehicle with a parking ticket our officers must observe to see if the driver is loading or unloading or indeed check to see if the vehicle is displaying a blue badge which provides exemption to the restrictions. For transparency purposes officers must be visible in line with the statutory requirements. Consequently those stopping for short periods have a tendency to look out for officers on patrol.

"Once the officer is satisfied that the vehicle has contravened the restriction then they may issue a ticket, and only then. It is worth mentioning that if officers did not undertake such diligence and provide adequate observation then we would be equally criticised for being overzealous and inconsiderate enforcement."

Proposals to restrict "stopping" on the High Street would restrict loading and parking for blue badge holders. This, they say, would increase the Council's ability to enforce as observation periods would be reduced significantly.

THE NEW STORE AT REGENT CENTRE FORMER ROUNDABOUT

Picture by our local mobile correspondent attached

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CITY CENTRE WATER WORKS

Northumbria Water has set up traffic management on St Mary's Place which involves a bus lane closure (running from Haymarket towards College Street). This section of St Mary's Place will be a no through road to cars for around six weeks in both directions. There are notification boards in place to raise awareness of the temporary change and so drivers can find an alternative route.