After the local elections earlier this year, we invited our newly elected ward councillor,
councillor Dave Conway to one of our committee meetings. We wanted to know what
could be done about a number of issues that are being raised with us by residents
of our estate.
Litter / Fly tipping is an issue constantly reported to us. Councillor Dave Conway
and a senior environmental officer from Stoke-on-Trent City Council plus QRAT members,
walked the estate on 18th May 2011. The litter problem centres mainly in and around
the King William St area. The environmental officer said “this area is among one
of the top 10 worse litter hotspots in the city”. The area is monitored and fly tipped
rubbish is removed, the estate is litter picked once a week but the problem still
remains! Alleyways were also inspected, again the alleyways either side of King William
Street were found to contain substantial amounts of rubbish. The environmental officer
noted that as we walked away from the vicinity of King William Street the litter
decreased dramatically, the remainder of the estate being in a reasonably good condition!
One last comment from the environmental officer was to tell us that weeds on road
edges and paths were being dealt with by an ongoing program of treatment. The council
advise residents to report all issues of fly tipping to their environmental crime
unit 01782 234234 - environmental.crime@stoke.gov.uk
Alleyways, Roads, Drains & Pavements were all inspected on the 27th May 2011 by Councillor
Dave Conway, a Senior Engineer from Stoke-on-Trent City Council Highways and Drainage
Dept, QRAT members and residents. The Alleyways between Queens avenue and St Chads
Road are in a bad state of repair, residents have requested that something is done
to make them more even, cleaner and safer to walk on. The council has stated that
the alleyways are all unadopted and not maintainable at public expense. However there
are other options available to the council and we are informed that the matter is
waiting on Stoke-on-Trent City Council Chief executive, John van de Laarschot to
decide what can be done. More information to follow when we have it!
Roads within our estate only have a few minor defects that should have been repaired
by now, a further inspection will ascertain if the work has been completed.
Drains: The inspector noted the drainage problem near the entrance to May avenue,
this could take a while before remedial work can be arranged, but we are assured
that work will be carried out. We will continue to monitor the situation, plus ask
the highways department for an update with regard to when this work is scheduled
to begin.
Pavements: The pavements throughout the estate, while being poor only need minor
work done according to the council, a couple of potential trip hazards where identified
and have been repaired. We as a Residents Association have a different opinion, in
our view the majority of pavements are in a disgusting state of repair, given the
amount of cracked and broken slabs, the paths look like crazy paving. We have had
numerous complaints from disabled users and their carers. Almost all the pavements
are un-usable by wheelchair users because at most driveways there are no dropped
curbs. There are also road junctions within the estate that have no dropped curbs.
Because of the condition of the pavements, wheelchair users and elderly people have
to use the roads to walk on, which in our view is totally unacceptable as well as
being potentially dangerous. Disabled people suffer enough stress for their own various
reasons without having the added risk of using our roads because the pavements are
not fit for purpose. The council should be ashamed of this situation! Are they going
to wait until an accident occurs, then take another look at the problems and then
continue to do nothing? We will be making further complaints to the council through
our ward councillor.
Up-dates on these issues will be published here when we have more information.
