BRIEFS
LITTER BIN Purchase of an extra litter bin for a new location opposite Byland Close was unanimously agreed. Now installed.

CASH REFUNDED The South Wye Foundation, having withdrawn from the project to develop the Northolme Community Centre, has refunded £823.75 of the £1000 provided by the PC for this work.

GRITTING Although Herefordshire Council’s Transport Plan suggests all bus routes will be gritted in winter, the reality is that only rural roads (ie, not those within Belmont Estate) will get priority. Dist Coun. Glenda Powell has discussed this with an official and says the possibility of gritting Northolme Road may be reconsidered.

HEART START The PC voted to support a two-hour Heart Start CPR training session on June 6 at Belmont Community Centre. Up to £70 will cover room hire and a donation to Heart Start.

MOBILE BOUGHT To improve service to residents a mobile phone (07722-872180) has been bought for use by the parish clerk.

SIGNS After many delays, not of the PC’s making, Children Playing signs have been erected near the play areas on Dorchester Way, Northolme Road and near the pavilion, plus two Parish Map signs near the Tesco roundabout.
CAB The PC is to donate £100 to Citizen Advice Bureaux.

NEXT MEETING
On May 2 the annual parish council meeting will be preceded (at 6.30 pm) by the annual parish meeting. Please come!

Cash for Northolme Centre
Following an application by the Northolme Community Centre Association the PC is to make £10,000 available to cover Phase One of the capital works on the centre.
Should the NCAA not proceed with the work, for any reason, it is a condition that funds provided by the PC will be repaid in full. Thanking the PC for this commitment, the Rev Clive Evans, a NCAA trustee, said the association viewed itself as a facilitator in getting the building into an acceptable state for community use and would be discussing the future running of the building with stakeholders.
At the January 2006 PC meeting, Mr Evans reported that the NCAA is now a company limited by guarantee and is moving towards charitable status. A detailed specification of the work has been drawn up and the NCAA is working with contractors to finalise this as the basis for quotations.

...and for Belmont Centre
Because it had not been possible to set up an Appraisal Panel to consider an application for funds from the Belmont Community Centre the application was dealt with at the December 2005 PC meeting. After some discussion it was agreed to fund replacement lighting in the main room up to a cost of £600 on receipt of a copy of the invoice for the work done.

...and for SHARP
A donation of £150 is to be made to SHARP (South Hereford Area Regeneration Project) to cover the cost of monthly meetings at Belmont Community Centre.

Bench a magnet?
Three Chichester Close residents who wrote to the PC asking that the Northolme Road bench be removed on the grounds that it was a magnet for youths responsible for anti-social behaviour within the Close were invited to attend the December 2005 meetings.

Since members of the police, present at that meeting, were unaware of any issues relating to the bench, the PC had not received any further comments about the bench and none of the residents were present, the PC considered the matter closed.

Policing the estate
LOCAL MATTERS Six crimes were reported in the parish during the three months before the January 2006 PC meeting, said PC Andy Larkin.

Allegations in a resident’s letter concerning the activities of youths have been investigated by the police. Children playing football in the streets had caused some disturbance but neither the police nor the council were considering issuing ASBOs.
Allegations about under-age drinking in open areas had been investigated but it turned out the drinkers were adults.

THE WIDER PICTURE Police present at the March meeting were Inspector P. Gebbie, Acting Inspector J. Mclaughlin and CSO S. Powell. D. Nicholas, Herefordshire Council Health and Trading Standards also spoke.

Insp. Gebbie provided background to changes in local policing resulting in local beat manager PC Andy Larkin moving to another area and PC Paul Greenwood covering Belmont and Newton Farm with three CSOs. Extended CSO powers are being considered locally and enhanced partnerships between the police and community bodies are envisaged

Mr Nicholas explained proposals for areas where it will be an offence to drink alcohol in public. One of these is near the Belmont Community Centre but Dist. Coun. Phil Edwards is concerned that the area near Northolme CC is not included.

Chairman Ian resigns 
After taking over as chairman of Belmont Rural parish council from District Councillor Phil Edwards in May 2001, Ian Robinson will resign as chairman at the annual meeting in May. Apart from saying he felt he’d done his stint after five years, Ian cited increased pressures at work and a growing involvement with the Hereford Sea Cadet Unit as reasons for the decision. A new chairman will be appointed in May, too late for this newsletter. See website for latest news.

HOME