Letter received from Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP
Romsley Parish Council has received the attached letter from Sajid Javid regarding the 147 Bus Campaign.
Romsley Parish Council has received the attached letter from Sajid Javid regarding the 147 Bus Campaign.
Please see attached the Romsley Parish Council planning response to Bromsgrove District Council regarding the Severn Trent Resilience Project
Following extensive discussions and the presentation of a community petition containing over 1000 signatures by the Parish Council to our County Councillor for the Area Rachel Jenkins and the Transport team at Worcestershire County Council we are pleased to report that Worcestershire County Council have today (March 23rd) agreed to provide additional funding that ensure that Romsley will still have access to the 147 bus service for the next 6 months.
However, our bus service remains threatened and it is vital that we all use the bus as much as possible to demonstrate its importance to our community. The Parish Council will continue to represent residents of Romsley and will work constructively with the County Council and its officials as well as representatives of the Bus company to find a sustainable and long term solution that protects our vital bus service.
Statement : Cancellation of 147 Bus Route.
On the 1st March 2016 Romsley Parish Council were made aware that the 147 bus service from Catshill to Halesowen will finish on 10th April. This is a financial decision on behalf of the bus company (First Worcestershire).
Romsley Parish Council has received no prior information or consultation from First Worcestershire or Worcestershire County Council regarding this change. We were informed at our recent Parish Plan event by our parishioners that bus drivers were passing this information on to them.
This change can be confirmed on the following statement taken from the First Group website “changes page” – select link below and scroll down page…
Route replaced Service 147: Worcester – Bromsgrove – Halesowen. This service is replaced by revised service 144A between Worcester & Catshill. First will no longer operate between Catshill & Halesowen.
Romsley Parish Council are extremely disappointed that this decision has been taken without consultation with us.
As our only form of public transportation, buses are a vital part of Romsley and Hunnington’s infrastructure. They are relied upon by our parishioners to get to the nearest town for vital services or to facilitate onward journeys.
You can find more information on this page or follow us on Facebook and Twitter where we will provide any updates (just search Romsley Parish Council)
Romsley Parish Council
Correspondence Sent and Received on this matter.
Romsley Parish Council has reached the final three to receive a grant to install an outdoor gym on the playing fields.
Voting is taking place between Saturday 27th February and Sunday 6th March at Tesco Express stores on Dudley Road and Stourbridge Road in Halesowen, Audnam Tesco Express and Stourbridge Tesco Extra.
The more votes we get, the bigger the grant we receive.
Please vote, a park gym would give us the following benefits…
Severn Trent Water are currently planning a major engineering project called the Birmingham Resilience Project, that will create a new pipe line between the River Severn at Lickhill near Stourport and the Frankley Water Works near Birmingham. The project will cost circa £250 million and take 3 years to complete and full details can be found at https://www.stwater.co.uk/my-supplies/live-updates/investing-in-local-improvements/birmingham-resilience-project/. The route of the pipeline will take it through the south of the Parish and a significant engineering installation; called a Break Pressure Tank (BPT) is to be located at the top of Putney Lane, close to the Bromsgrove Road.
Below is the only picture of the BPT that has been made available to us and frustratingly no more detailed pictures have been provided to residents. It is difficult to gauge the scale of this facility but we understand it is over 6 metres high and is highly industrial in appearance. It has both high security lighting and fencing surrounding it. During its operation it will be visited frequently by heavy goods vehicles and residents are still awaiting clear information on noise, traffic and other pollution impacts.
The Parish Council recognise the importance of the project to the resilience of the region, however, given the scale of the works to be undertaken there will be significant disruption to our Parish for several years. (The picture of the construction approach below is from Severn Trent’s own planning application and the scale and impact of this type of construction can be seen below). We are also concerned that the BPT design sets an unacceptable precedence for building design within our Greenbelt area.
To date the Parish Council has met with representatives of Severn Trent, with the residents of Day House Bank (who are most likely to be affected by the construction work) and also with the local planning authorities and the District and County Councillors to ensure they understand the views of the community. On behalf of residents the Parish Council have raised several concerns with Severn Trent and have asked for assurances and commitments about several aspects of the project. These include:
Unfortunately, at this time the Parish Council does not believe that residents’ concerns have been properly acknowledged or that we have the assurances the community requires. We are also particularly concerned that the consultation undertaken by Severn Trent to date has not been sufficient to allow people to raise concerns before planning permission is given. Though we acknowledge that two exhibitions were undertaken and a number of leaflets sent, critical information about the size and design of the Break Pressure Tank, as well as the impact on our community of the pipe construction, has not been openly presented. We have invited Severn Trent to a Parish Council hosted public meeting on the 14th March at 7pm at St Kenelm’s School. However, at the time of writing we are still awaiting a response from Severn Trent as to whether they will attend and face your questions; please keep checking the Parish Council website for updates.
Severn Trent have now submitted their planning proposal to Bromsgrove Council (Planning Application 16/0085). We are asking all residents to urgently look at these submissions at http://appuview.bromsgrove.gov.uk/online-applications/ and register any concerns you have. Given that the planning submission contains more than 200 documents and given our desire to hold our public meeting with Severn Trent before responding formally to this planning request, we have asked Bromsgrove District Council for an extension to the closing date for comments. However, at the time of writing the closing date for comments remains the 25th February.
Severn Trent – Planning Statement
Severn Trent – Non Technical Summary – Final 220116
BREAK_PRESSURE_TANK_GENERAL_LAYOUT_PLAN_A5W11215-PW31724_A-743694
BREAK_PRESSURE_TANK_ELEVATIONS_A5W11215-PW31727_A-743698
Parish Council to ST letter (4th Jan 2016)
Parish Council to ST letter (24 Jan 2016)
You are the future of Romsley… make sure your voice is heard. Come along Sat 27th February
We were made aware of the following Scam by our Police Liaison Officer. Please be careful when using your personal details.
Beware of people bearing gifts. The following is a recounting of the incident from the victim:
“Wednesday a week ago, a friend had a phone call from someone saying that he was from some outfit called: “Express Couriers”. ( The name could be any courier company. ) He asked if she was going to be home because there was a package for me that required a signature .
The caller said that the delivery would arrive at my home in roughly an hour. Sure enough, about an hour later, a uniformed delivery man turned up with a beautiful basket of flowers and a bottle of wine. she was very surprised since there was no special occasion or holiday, and she certainly didn’t expect anything like it. Intrigued, she inquired as to who the sender was.
The courier replied, “I don’t know, I’m only delivering the package”. Apparently, a card was being sent separately. ( The card has never arrived! ) There was also a consignment note with the gift.
He then went on to explain that because the gift contained alcohol, there was a £3.50 “delivery/ verification charge,” providing proof that he had actually delivered the package to an adult ( of legal drinking age ), and not just left it on the doorstep where it could be stolen or taken by anyone, especially a minor.
This sounded logical and she offered to pay him cash. He then said that the delivery company required payment to be by credit or debit card only, so that everything is properly accounted for, and this would help in keeping a legal record of the transaction. He added couriers don’t carry cash to avoid loss or likely targets for robbery.
Her husband, who by this time was standing beside her, pulled out his credit card, and ‘John,’ the “delivery man” asked him to swipe the card on a small mobile card machine with a small screen and keypad. Frank, her husband, was asked to enter his PIN number and a receipt was printed out. He was given a copy of the transaction. the guy said everything was in order, and wished us good day.
To our horrible surprise, between Thursday and the following Monday, £4,000 had been charged/withdrawn from their credit/debit account at various ATM machines.
Apparently the “mobile credit card machine,” which the deliveryman carried now had all the info necessary to create a “dummy” card with all their card details including the PIN number.
Upon finding out about the illegal transactions on the card, they immediately notified the bank which issued us a new card, and our credit/debit account was closed.
They also personally went to the Police, where it was confirmed that it is definitely a scam because several households had been similarly hit.
WARNING: Be wary of accepting any “surprise gift or package,” which you neither expected nor personally ordered, especially if it involves any kind of payment as a condition of receiving the gift or package. Also, never accept anything if you do not personally know or there is no proper identification of who the sender is.Above all, the only time you should give out any personal credit/debit card information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or transaction!”
Romsley Parish Council were delighted to receive a Thank You Card from Romsley Pre School Nursery.
The Chairperson of the council receives an annual bursary payment each year which supports the Chair in undertaking their role.
Our Chairman Richard Arrowsmith chose to donate his to the Nursery who used the money to purchase a toy kitchen area.
We are very grateful to receive a thank-you card and hope that you continue to enjoy your kitchen