Age shall not weary them.

Remembrance Sunday – if only for a few minutes, please take time out to consider those that gave, and those who may yet give their lives for us to live in peace and prosperity today. From the fields of Flandria to the jungles of Burma, from the deserts of Iraq to the frozen waters of the South Atlantic, when their time has come, good and noble people have given their all that we may enjoy better days.

Please show your support for those to whom we owe so much by making a donation to the Royal British Legion, who do excellent work. I’m taking the liberty of including a link to the remarkably moving Bill Caddick song ‘The Writing of Tipperary’, performed by folk legend June Tabor, a wonderful tribute to the iconic Great War song and the Black Country man who wrote it, Jack Judge.

The Writing of Tipperary

by Bill Caddick

King Edward the Seventh, whom some called the peacemaker
Died in Nineteen-and-ten
He was buried at Windsor, and in the procession
Were the finest and highest of men
There were nine crowned kings, thirty proud princes
Leaders of many a land
And old Kaiser Bill rode next to King George
With his field-marshal’s baton in hand
Crippen was caught that very same year
Haley’s comet flashed by
The first of the labour exchanges was opened
The year the old king died

The Sidney Street siege brought Nineteen-eleven
When anarchy died in the flames
In London in June King George and his queen
Played the Coronation game
“A place in the sun” said the Kaiser in Hamburg
Launching his new battleships
King George made India, Ireland and Wales
Places for right royal trips
Titanic was launched on the day of the Derby
London’s last horse-bus was shelved
Suffragettes marched, demanding their rights
Then in came Nineteen-twelve

Jack Judge went down to West Bromwich town
To welcome the brand-new year
And he went to a pub to have a little sup
‘Cos’ he liked a drop of beer
And when he had a few he started to sing, and his voice he lifted high
My name’s Jack Judge, I’ll write you a song, from Oldbury town come I

A Brummagem fella as was sitting close by
He heard what Jack did say
A pound to a penny, said he to Jack
Yow cor write a song in a day
Jack he laughed and he sang another song
And he said, I’ll take you on
This afternoon I’ll write you a song
And sing it ‘fore the day is done

Jack laughed again, he sang another song
And he called for a pint of beer
Then he caught a train to Stalybridge
Where that night he was due to appear
And on the very first day of Nineteen-twelve
Old Jack Judge won his bet
And the song he made and sang that day
We never will forget

In March Nineteen-twelve, brave Scott and his comrades
Died while a snowstorm roared
And later that year the good General Booth
Finally laid down his sword
There were riots in Ireland concerning Home Rule
Mrs. Pankhurst was imprisoned again
Wilbur Wright died, the first of the fliers
As the Royal Flying Corps was named
Titanic went down in the spring of that year
Taking one thousand five hundred lives
The Balkan states blazed from border to border
As Death began sharpening his knives

Of the Nineteen-ten monarchs who mourned for King Edward
In Nineteen-thirteen few survived
Though some of them lived to a peaceful old age
Assassains took many a life
Death came calmly to China and Sweden
But elsewhere the murderer’s hand
Struck the Pasha of Turkey and the King of the Greeks
While Spain survived Death’s plan
The armies of Europe paraded and postured
The stockpile of weapons increased
At The Hague, as if in grim desperation
They opened the Palace of Peace

More Suffragettes marches brought Nineteen-fourteen
Then the Archduke of Austria was slain
In less than two months, all of Europe was marching
Death was in business again
Many a young man from many a family
Willingly gave of his all
They died in their millions for dubious victory
Answering Kitchener’s call
As they went off to war in the trains and the troopships
They sang as they hurried along
And their words echo back from the graveyards of Flanders
Singing old Jack Judge’s song

It’s a long way to Tipperary, it’s a long way to go
It’s a long way to Tipperary, to the sweetest girl I know
Goodbye Piccadilly, farewell Leicester Square
It’s a long long way to Tipperary, but my heart lies there

Brownhills murderer Andrew Reeves complains that yobs are out of control

From The Sunday Mercury last weekend, flagged up by The YamYam:

Brownhills murderer Andrew Reeves: Yobs are out of control

I have nothing to add, but thought the article deserved a wider exposure.

Autumn almanac

Fallow deer in domestic garden, Kingsley Wood Road, Cannock Chase, 3:02pm, Sunday 25th October 2009

South Street, north of the old rifle range, Cannock Chase, 3:14pm, Sunday 25th October 2009

Fly agaric - the original spotted toadstool, Anglesey Branch Canal, 3:16pm, Saturday 31st October 2009

Wolseley Plain, Cannock Chase, 3:19pm, Sunday 25th October 2009

Don't touch that oilcan, Draycott Steam Party, Draycott-in-the-Clay, 2:00pm, Sunday 18th October 2009

Abraham's Valley, near Strawberry Hill, Cannock Chase, 3:22pm, Sunday 25th October 2009

Between Haywood Park and Haywood Slade, Cannock Chase, 3:41pm, Sunday 25th October 2009

Boletus fungus, Anglesey Basin, 3:21pm, Saturday 31 October 2009

The Avenue, Tixall, Staffordshire, 4:00pm, Sunday 25th October 2009

Carroway Head, near Canwell, 5:44pm, Sunday 4th October 2009

Rugeley Power Station from upstream, imperious at dusk, 5:09pm, Sunday 25th October 2009

Walsall Council issues statement about Oak Park Leisure Centre

Another good week for m'learned friends: trebles all round!

Last week, some odd news began to circulate about the future of Walsall Wood’s leisure centre, Oak Park. On the 21st October 2009, there was a slightly alarmist piece on excellent Walsall news site The YamYam, and on the same day a report appeared in the printed edition of the Express & Star, which somewhat unfortunately, I neglected to scan. The E&S article was more measured in tone, but still suggested that there was some kind of legal threat to the facility which could well cause issues in the future. The problem was caused by the construction of the leisure centre on land held in trust for the community by Cannock Chase and Pelsall District Miners Charity, who entreated the park to the community in 1932, with a caveat that it shouldn’t be built upon, but used for the benefit of the inhabitants of the area. The fact of the centre’s construction, along with the adjacent football club and a small piece of land sold to the nearby Methodist church in the 1970’s have come come to the attention of the Charities Commission who are not entirely amused. The full picture is outlined in this document presented to the Walsall Council Cabinet meeting on the 21st October 2009.

When I read these reports, I was both concerned and perplexed. The future of leisure centres and other such facilities is already under ‘review’ in the borough, as I pointed out in a previous post, and I wondered if this was a general move towards conditioning the community for the loss of a well loved but ageing amenity. It sits in a huge amount of what must be very valuable land and is now just over the road from a Fitness First gym, seemingly making it ripe for the axe.

I was contacted by a number of readers who were as concerned as I was at this sudden revelation, so without further ado, I requested a statement from the Council Press Office. I asked the ever-helpful Dan Slee if he could obtain a response to the following questions:

• Exactly what stage we’re at here, is there a threat or is it sorted?
• How come this wasn’t addressed when WMBC sold the land for the KFC and the court case that ensued?
• If there has been a land swap, exactly what land has been swapped?
• What will be done with any land swapped?
• Is this a technical paper shuffling thing or a serious threat?
• Why, exactly, has this blown up now when there’s already a review underway into the facility’s future?
• If the land was covenanted for the community, why on earth would there be an objection to three community facilities operating on the land (Leisure centre, football club and church)?

A week elapsed, and after a bit of prodding, today (28th October 2009) I received a statement from Natalie Greenway at the council – apparently the delay was a result of having to run the response past the legal bods, whom I fear may be paid by the hour. Here’s what they have to say:

Councillor Barry Sanders, Walsall Council cabinet member for leisure and culture, said: “Recently we reached agreement with the Charity Commission about a complex and longstanding land ownership issue.

“We would like to reassure residents and users that this issue does not pose a threat to the future of Oak Park leisure centre.

“Dealing with questions that have been raised, KFC in Lichfield Road was developed on a different parcel of land from that in question. This was council and not Trust land.

“A small piece of open space adjacent to the Leisure Centre site is being swapped for the land currently occupied by the Leisure Centre, the Football Club and the car park.

“Trust land being transferred to the Council will be managed, as at present, by the council’s leisure services team.

“The Council is complying with the requirements of the Charity Commission in particular the restrictions that Trust land can not be built on, sold or used as anything other than as open recreation land.

“This is entirely separate, wholly unrelated and has no bearing on our review of leisure facilities across the borough.

“The fact is Trust land is subject to certain restrictions which prevent any development, sale or its use as anything other than open recreational ground.”

I'm sure they wouldn't have minded. A swim might have swilled the dirt off, after all.

The statement is clear that there is no threat from the Charities Commission and that a settlement with them has been reached. I can’t find any online verification, but I seem to recall that the legal tussle over the KFC development at the front of Oak Park was over an access road running over trust land. I could well be wrong, and please do correct me if I am, but I still find it surprising that there were legal issues over that, yet the existence of the leisure centre itself (on whose car park the restaurant was being built) was never mentioned. I’d still like to know why this came to the attention of the Charities Commission in the first instance.

The fact remains that the veiled threat of closure still exists. No facility is safe – unless it’s a golf course, that is – so I recommend that anyone concerned by the erosion of leisure services contacts their councillors and partipates in the following survey, a press release about which was coincidentally sent  from the Walsall Council press office today:

Residents in Walsall are being asked what they think about the borough’s open spaces, sport and recreation facilities. The council has launched a major consultation to capture people’s views on leisure centres, parks, allotments, nature areas, woodlands, sports pitches and children’s play areas. They are also inviting residents to comment about the borough’s cemeteries during the consultation which ends on 30 November.

The council wants to know

* What you think about the facilities and open space you use

* Whether there are enough in your local area

* If these are of a high quality

* Reasons why you use, or do not use them

* Your priorities – what facilities would you like for the future?

Cabinet member for leisure and culture Councillor Barry Sanders said: “The results of this research will help us shape future plans and will be used to support decisions about improving services.”

Giving us your views is easy:

Call FREEPHONE 0800 169 5549 between 9am and 5pm Monday – Friday.

Online, visit: www.strategicleisure.co.uk/walsall.htm and complete a questionnaire

Send your views by email to: returns@strategicleisure.co.uk

Remember, if we don’t make our views heard, we may lose what we have. Generations of kids have learned to swim in that pool, it would be tragic if we lost it in the same way as the unfortunate residents of Coseley lost theirs. In an area such as this, full of pools and canals, swimming isn’t just recreation, it’s a lifesaver.

Since our local Councillor Mike Flower has tentatively started blogging again, it would be good to hear his views on the subject.

Thanks go to Dan Slee, without whose patience this post could not have been made.

Chasewater dam update

Spotted on the excellent Chasewater Wildlife Group homepage, I’d like to draw your attention to the following statement about the coming work on the dam, and the drainage of the lake to facilitate it:

‘The full extent of the works are still not announced but draw down will start early in the New Year and the lake will be emptied by April. It will take up to 18 months to refill. There are ‘interesting’ times ahead but aquatic ecosystems, including wildfowl, are bound to take a long time to recover. Let’s hope that LDC use the opportunity to resculpture the Island in order to make it a permanent feature at all water levels and a potential breeding site for Common Terns, Oystercatchers and Little Ringed Plovers.’

This is interesting news. Just how empty is empty, I Wonder? Will Jeffrey’s Swag be drained, too, or isolated from the main pool? What will happen to all the fish? Will the rumours of a sunken pleasure boat finally be confirmed?

As soon as I receive any more news, I’ll let you know.

Rainy Thursday commute…

Non-cyclists find it hard to understand that cycling in the rain can be an enjoyable experience. With some waterproof clothing, and a little extra care, bad weather isn’t necessarily a problem. The rain this afternoon gave rise to some wonderfully contrasting views of sun and rain, autumnal colour, a rainbow and a gorgeous golden hour over the Swag and Ryders Hayes. It was so lovely I took the long way home…

Walsall Canal at Reedswood, 5:04pm, Thursday 22nd October 2009

Goscote Valley toward Pelsall, 5:15pm, Thursday 22nd October 2009

Brownhills and Shire Oak across Ryders Mere, 5:33pm, Thursday 22nd October 2009

Flatlining

Way back in the early days of this blog, I covered the thorny issue relating to the condition of Humphries House, Brownhills’ last remaining large tower block. In the original post, I highlighted the fact that the fabric of the building seems to be in a very poor condition, and that the owners, Walsall Housing Group (WHG), seemed reluctant to act to remedy the issues raised by it’s long-suffering tenants. There was some talk from the housing provider at the time that Humphries House was to undergo a program of refurbishment, but there are still no references to that end on their website and in fact, there is no reference to that block, or the smaller Severn House complex nearby, anywhere on their site.

Some weeks ago I noticed that scaffolding had been erected against one side of Severn House. Severn House is an odd, truncated structure of eight floors built using the same discredited system building method as the three major Brownhills towers, but much slimmer, and is given over to housing older residents. Taking the opportunity to ask, I enquired with workmen what was being done. It seems that core samples were being taken to establish the condition of components that constitute the main fabric of the buildings, both inside and out. The tests apparently concerned the concrete facing panels and metal joints interlocking them together. Further enquiries suggest that WHG have been in contact with tenants, looking for volunteers to allow technicians to drill from within their flats, to enable a fuller assessment of the structure’s condition to be evaluated. WHG would compensate those concerned with vouchers for decorating materials to make good any damage caused.

People living within both Humphries and Severn House are concerned about the condition of their homes and what the implications are for their future. This has not been helped by the feeling amongst residents that WHG’s talk about the potential refurbishment has all but ceased, and the tone of any discourse on the matter with them has changed to if, rather than when, the blocks may be refurbished. To this end, the residents have involved their councillor, Barbara Cassidy, who has been doing stirling work on their behalf, but the uncertainty about their future remains.

Walsall Housing Group owe it to their tenants to come clean about their intentions for these flats, as in the information vacuum that results from their silence, rumour grows. It cannot have escaped many observers attention that whilst Waine House and Bailey House were considered appropriate candidates for the crusher, little has happened to improve the lot of those dwelling in Humphries or Severn Houses since the demolition of their sister towers. As there seems to be little structural difference between them, one wonders if there can be any viability in these remaining prefabricated edifices when so much money would have to be spent to bring them into a satisfactory condition.

In light of the fact that Walsall’s largest social housing provider seems to be able to afford the exorbitant 6.5 million pound price of a new headquarters in Walsall Council’s planned Gigaport development, one would hope that they could find the resources to keep the residents of some of their most dilapidated residences informed about their condition. Judging on past performance, I’ll not hold my breath.

I have little to add, but…

Regular readers with sharp minds may remember that way back in August, I took umbrage at Express & Star columnist Peter Rhodes, following his smug, snide snipe about all this ‘new’ citizen journalism not being as diligent and honourable as the old inky stuff he and his employers purvey. Well, I soon forgot about that until I read the paper tonight; I noted this piece near the bottom of his nightly column.

Do Les Dawson's family know his joke book has been stolen? From the Express & Star, 20th October 2009

It’s interesting that the venerable journalist picked up on the Trafigura thing rather than say, the Green Uprising in Iran (where Twitter was key) or the pro-NHS campaigns. I’d say also that Twatter and the blogosphere in general has been giving the inky press a bloody nose for some weeks – think about campaigns to skew biased newspaper polls or the continual outing of outright lies by Badscience and the like. The whole Jan Moir/Stephen Gately affair was so sudden and ferocious that the journalist and Daily Fail have been muttering darkly about orchestrated campaigns to persecute them, as if they didn’t know that they’d just published an outpouring of hateful bile masquerading as journalistic opinion. All in all, with collapsing sales and failing titles, it’s time for the Fourth Estate to sharpen their game. Let’s face it, inky media other than Private Eye would not have dared to out Trafigura or their injunction, for fear of the consequences and the commercial harm it may have done them. Today’s consumers of the news media require sharper focus, and won’t stop until they get it. If old media won’t deliver, there is now the technology to channel people power into a useful, intimidating tool to fight those who would rather sweep public opinion under the carpet. Professional media types should ignore that at their peril.

So, thanks for your nod, Peter, it fair made me smile. I know well that this blog occasionally has things to offer, if it didn’t, your newspaper wouldn’t have recycled them as their own. The whole point is, like hyperlocals up and down the country, I’m doing this because I’m passionate about my community, the place where I live and the things that I’m interested in. The prose may be rambling, unprofessional and lacking in polish, but it has something to say. Unless printed media gets back that feeling of passion, interest and participation, the downward spiral will certainly continue, and we’ll all be the poorer.

I was right about the exam howlers too, wasn’t I?

Scum

Dumped in a field gateway: the remnants of somebody's life

Note the bag of coat hangers amongst the smashed furniture

The entire content of a home seems to be here

Next time you give something to one of the jolly tat-men who seem to proliferate the streets these days, or hire that handy bloke with a van (but no MOT) from that card in the newsagent’s window, think on this. Whilst cycling down Whitacre lane in Sandhills yesterday, I came upon this  dreadful sight. Flytipped in a field gateway, secluded  by a small copse and well out of view, the remnants of a house clearance dumped illegally. The dumped items seem to be almost the complete contents of the flat of an older person, from bags of wooden coat-hangers to a sofa and cutlery. The material was clearly dumped from an open truck, as it surrounds the sides and rear of a vehicle sized space, and the gate has been propped open with an old tire.

Did you pay some chancer to clear out Grannies flat? Did it enter your mind to consider why they did it for fifty quid in cash? Ever wonder what happens to the plastic bits on the fridge you just gave to the tatters? It all gets dumped like this. These people are operating illegally, have no morals and are trashing our back lanes and laybys to make the price of a pint. Not far away, in Gravelly Lane, there’s a dumped pallet of asbestos roofing. Elsewhere, I saw old cookers, domestic refuse and piles of rubble, all discarded by the pond scum that evolved in the shallow end of our gene-pool.

When you call people in to remove waste or carry out work on your property, check they have a waste transfer licence. Use real companies, with a published address – or go to the local tip… there’s identifying material in this heap, and not only the tippers will be prosecuted, but the people who hired them. It’s a prosecutable offence to give rubbish or scrap to an unlicensed operator, whatever the circumstances.

I’ve reported this on the excellent fixmystreet.com who have notified the appropriate council. I recommend you do the same for any such tipping you see. It’s easy and free.

People make excuses for this behaviour, they say the tips are too restrictive, that commercial waste should be free, and all kinds of other justifications for those who would defecate in their own drinking water. There is a simpler explanation; these people are the dregs of society, with no respect for their environment, for others, or the law. They’re lower than a snake’s knees and don’t deserve to live among civilised human beings.

Trucking absurd

There’s been a vehicle park on the corner between Beechtree Road and Brookland Road in Walsall Wood for as long as I can remember. I’ve tried to find out when the small patch of hardstanding was first laid, and folk I’ve spoken to certainly remember the area, and the cafe nearby, as existing back in the fifties. Back then, the establishment was rumoured to be host to activities involving women of negotiable virtue, but the overnight parking of lorries and commercial vehicles has continued there for decades. Maintaining a village atmosphere, despite straddling the A461, Walsall Wood sits on one of the primary freight trunk routes that heavy goods vehicles traverse on their daily schedules, and the lorry parking and abundance of food outlets clearly provides a valuable service to these latterday warriors of the road. In fact, Walsall Wood is unusual locally (and possibly, nationally) in that it has just one empty retail unit in it’s High Street – there is food of every description, as well as more regular enterprises like the convenience stores and newsagents. The local businesses and residents have coexisted in this manner for decades, with only occasional bouts of irritation.

View Larger Map

It’s against this backdrop that Walsall Council plan to commission a red route along the length of the A461 through Walsall Wood, under the guise of regeneration. Despite traffic usually flowing pretty freely through the Wood, parking on the High Street will be limited after the scheme, and in mitigation, the council offered to resurface the Beechtree Road Park and offer a selection of solutions for the site afterwards. Traders and residents were polled, and consultations were held. The result was apparently decisively in favour of banishing lorries from the Beechtree Road facility and resurfacing it as a ‘24 hour shoppers car park’. The people were consulted, and they spoke. Job done, publicise the change, act on it and move on. Who could argue with that?

2:44pm, 29th August 2009

I, and a few other folks have a number of issues with the plan, although it’s certainly too late now. Planning permission has been applied for the change in use, duly granted and the scheme is certain to go ahead as and when the red route does. However, I think it’s worth looking at some of the facts and subsequent publicity that have circulated over the issue. My position here is simple; I think the reason that the village retains a bustling commercial centre is because the HGV trade contributes to the financial wellbeing of the businesses here, and I think that such a longstanding facility, although probably affecting local residents to some extent, is the kind of price a community pays for its prosperity. Most of us live near something that irritates us and we’d rather see removed, but unpopular stuff simply has to go somewhere. Indeed, a petition was raised against the removal of HGV parking, consisting of 200 signatures, but to no avail.

8:08pm, 18th August 2008

Alerted to the issue mainly by the local press, I watched and participated in discussions on Councillor Mike Flower’s blog, in which the Lorry Park was always described in the terms of a problem that needed to be ’solved’ in some way. Mike Flower has certainly worked very hard – with the best of intentions, I’m sure – for his projects in Walsall Wood. It’s true that his early tenure was marked by a difficult planning process which generated no small amount of public ire over the plan to build accommodation for people with Learning Disabilities in Brookland Road. This confrontation between planning and residential issues certainly seems to have informed later council work in Walsall Wood, and I suspect that an eagerness to please was developed by all concerned. There is also a side issue ongoing, that of the Private Hire business operating from Walsall Wood High Street, many of whose vehicles use the park while waiting up. One of the matters colouring the council position seems to be that the business is somehow undesirable, and should be controlled.

Since the consultation took place, the council has been talking up the planned changes quite heavily in the local press. Articles like this one, from the Express & Star of 11th August 2009 appeared extensively, and several also mentioned a figure of 80% public support for banning the lorries, as quoted in associated planning documentation (PDF file, Adobe Reader required). Since I had voted in the online poll myself, I was interested to see the actual numbers involved in the consultation, and subsequently submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act to find out the exact data. From this data, it appears that there were 18 participants in the original consultation with 15 in favour, and of the fuller, later process, just 83 votes were received, with 61 voting in favour. Thus it would appear that 76 people in total – assuming that nobody participated in both, or voted multiple times in the online survey – dictated the future of this major facility in Walsall Wood. A petition signed by 200 people was raised in opposition. Bear in mind that the recorded population for the ward of Aldridge North and Walsall Wood is nearly 13,000. Local democracy seems to be a somewhat patchy experience.

From the Express & Star, 4th August 2009

Once the changes had been approved, a rather strange article appeared in the Express & Star on the 4th of August 2009, which is scanned here. In the article, the changes are trumpeted, along with a statement attributed to council leader Mike Bird. In the statement quoted, he curiously asserts that the park is ‘…very rarely used by lorries these days and tends instead to be full of taxis.’, with the article also stating that Taxis would be forced to pay and display to park there.

I’m sure a man of Mr. Bird’s stature and position would not knowingly tell outright lies, but one must question the observational skills of the person who produced the information forming the basis of that statement. Pictures within this article – taken in the weeks after it appeared – show the park in use by HGV’s, even early on a summer evening. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen it empty, most nights there are four or five wagons parked up there. The plan to persecute the local taxi firm, by making them pay to park whilst the facility is free to everyone else seems rather peculiar, too. A less gentlemanly commentator may suggest there are base reasons for this, but that would clearly be a gross supposition with no basis in fact. Such a charge wouldn’t have any effect on the perceived nuisance, so one must assume that it’s mere mischief making by a hard-up council. Since many of the vehicles parked along the High Street on any given day are those of employees of the various businesses located nearby, one imagines they will end up in the car park when the red route comes to pass. It seems rather iniquitous to charge taxis for using the car park but not other local workers.

The imminent closure of the HGV facility came to the attention of freelance transport journalist Chris Tindall, who writes articles for various trade journals within the freight and haulage industry. Chris contacted me after spotting my freedom of information request on Whatdotheyknow.com, and pointed out that the continued loss of such facilities nationwide was affecting the security and wellbeing of drivers, who prefer to lay up overnight in designated parks where other drivers are nearby. Lorry hijackings are on the increase, and lorries parked in remote laybys and industrial estates are vulnerable to robbery and attack.

Chris received an initial, somewhat pointed statement from Walsall cabinet member for regeneration, Councillor Adrian Andrew:

“Through several local consultations led by local residents and local councillors local people who live in the area on a permanent basis have expressed the view to have the lorry park changed into an ordinary car park. The council is duty bound to listen to the taxpayers of this borough. Its unfortunate that those who are now lobbying to have this decision reversed did not engage in the consultation process at an earlier stage. I want to congratulate and thank all those Walsall Wood residents for getting involved in the process at an early stage to determine the future of their community”

It seems rather presumptuous of Mr. Andrew to assume that those who oppose his worldview are neither permanently resident in the borough, nor taxpayers here. I certainly registered my vote, but I doubt many in the wider area were aware of the consultation. Chris Tindall’s first article appeared on roadtransport.com, here.

Subsequently, Chris also queried Walsall Council as to whether they had any intention of providing an alternate facility, and Councillor Andrew issued a second statement:

“There are no proposals to provide additional or replacement lorry parking facilities in the borough as we feel there is sufficient parking on other sites located nearby. The council does not have a statutory duty to provide any lorry parking facilities but we do have a large site in Willenhall and in addition there is overnight parking for lorries on the M5 and M6 and other parks which are easily accessible from the A5 north of the borough.

We are duty bound to listen to our taxpayers and both residents and traders in the local community took part in the consultations held at Walsall Wood library which was well advertised. All those who took part in the questionnaire did so anonymously and it is the council’s policy not to give out the names of people who respond to questionnaires or attend public consultations.

Planning permission to change the site to a car park only was granted in August but it is unlikely any changes will take place for approximately six months as the off street parking places order needs to be amended, advertised and approved before anything can happen. Notices will be erected on the site advising lorry drivers of the changes and the need to find alternate facilities.”

I can almost picture the cabinet member tapping the desk pointedly when he dictated that, possibly whilst sighing impatiently. The irritation is almost tangible. A second article by Chris was published on roadtransport.com, here.

It seems to me that whilst modern society relies on freight transport, we don’t actually want to think about it, or the people who do it for us. Haulage related crime is increasing, as often lone drivers marshall valuable cargoes between distribution depots with minimal protection or security. These are real people, with real concerns, who provide an essential service to us – yet we don’t want any evidence of their occupation near us, even if it does provide a small corner of our borough with much-needed trade. It would not be so bad if Walsall Council were so keen on consultation in planning matters where the result affected them; I bet there won’t be a public vote on moving the council depot to the former Wagon site, nor was there on the new Ring Road. The mess that was the Chuckery Youth Centre debacle illustrates this duality well. In this case, our authority seems happy to sacrifice the trade and wellbeing of HGV drivers for a little nimby stroking. Next time your laptop gets lost by the courier, or your new TV doesn’t arrive, try not to imagine that it could have been taken from a terrified driver in a lonely lay-by at knifepoint.

8:13pm, 18th August 2009: not a traffic warden in sight...

Meanwhile, on the evening of 18th August 2009, a familiar scene was in evidence further along the A461 opposite Oak Park. Here we have real parking issues causing a hazard to pedestrians, yet the council are strangly silent on the matter. I wonder why?