Ridgeway Ramblings: Mike Preston

Time does fly when you are enjoying yourself; this has certainly been true of the last few weeks. I am now settled into my new jobs at Charnwood and the County Council. As I reported last month Charnwood is starting the new waste contract on the 1st August, I have already explained some of the changes but the following detail more changes.

New Waste Vehicles
The existing fleet of Waste and Cleaning Vehicles will be changed over the course of the next three years. Most of the non-specialist vehicles will change around the start of the contract. I will not bore you with the details but we will have 17 large waste collection vehicles, two Caged Vehicles, two footpath sweepers, two large street sweepers and a number of vans and transit type vehicles. The main dustcarts will have a new livery so keep your eye out for them; I assure you that you will not miss them.

Community Champions
I mentioned in last month’s Ramblings that we were committed to improving the quality of the street cleaning, this will be achieved by some new equipment and a team of inspectors who will be out and about around the Borough finding areas which need treatment. Charnwood and SERCO want to get local people more involved in the improvement of the local environment. Community Champions are local volunteers who, whilst out and about are happy to take digital photos of environmental defects such as litter, graffiti, fly posting and fly tipping. The object is to develop better community engagement, open up improved channels of communications with residents and demonstrate the quality services provided by the council, as well as to continually improve the level of response to grot spots throughout the Borough. The champions will be equipped with state of the art communication equipment so they can directly lodge their information on the company’s database thus allowing cleanup operations to be planned. The champions will of course be trained and suitable equipment supplied. If you are interested then please watch the press in September for advertisements or keep an eye on the Ramblings for more details

Traffic Calming Barkby Road
The County Council has been requested to provide traffic calming measures on Barkby Road to address public concerns regarding the number and speed of vehicles using the route. As part of the housing development underway at the eastern end of Barkby Road, funds have been secured for these measures. Barkby Road has differing characteristics within its length. Towards the town centre, on-street parking levels are higher and there are a large number of vehicle movements. East of College Road (towards the development), on-street parking levels are lower and there are fewer driveways and vehicle movements. The measures are primarily aimed at deterring through traffic from using the route and reducing speeds. The proposed scheme will provide: physical features (speed table/cushions) where on-street parking levels are lower, alterations to side road junctions to improve visibility for pedestrians and vehicles.
We would now like to know your views on the proposals so keep your eyes on the local papers or my Ramblings again.

Green Flags
Two of Charnwood Borough Council’s most popular open spaces will be flying the flag after being nationally recognised as shining examples of outstanding green spaces. Queen’s Park in Loughborough and The Outwoods has been accredited with the Green Flag Award, which is the national standard for parks and green spaces. Keep Britain Tidy officially made the announcement on Wednesday, 22nd July. Officers from Charnwood Borough Council and a representative from Friends of Queen’s Park and the Outwoods Management Committee attended a special presentation ceremony in Bournemouth on Thursday, 23rd July to receive the flags. It is the second time that Queen’s Park has been awarded the Green Flag and comes on the back of a number of improvements to the popular attraction situated in the heart of Loughborough town centre. It is the third year the Outwoods has been awarded Green Flag status, which is the park and open spaces equivalent of the Blue Flag that is handed to clean beaches across the country. To ensure it continued to meet the high standards set by the Green Flag judges, the Outwoods Management Committee has purchased two Trampers, an all-terrain mobility scooter, which gives better access to the 45-acre site of Special Scientific Interest to people with disabilities.

Contact Details:
If you want to get into contact with me then please use one of the following methods:
Telephone:       01664 424647    Fax       01664 424647 (Please Telephone First)
E-Mail Mike@mepreston.com or Try www.telmike.com