Mike Rouse's BlogThere will be a road closure in place from Monday 17th April 2023 for 5 days to facilitate works to repair drainage systems in FOREGATE STREET in Astwood Bank.
Whilst contractors will strive to keep disruption to a minimum, and will always facilitate access to properties, some inconvenience is expected.
All highways works are very dependent on the weather, which may cause delays.
Any problems let me know by emailing mrouse@worcestershire.gov.uk and/or cwarhurst@worcestershire.gov.uk
County Councillors Craig Warhurst and Mike Rouse are delighted to announce that WESTERN HILL CLOSE in Astwood Bank is now scheduled for resurfacing works.
The works are due to commence on 17th April until 21st April 2023, and will require closure of the carriageway and for any vehicles to be moved. Signs and notices will be posted in the coming weeks to prepare for these works.
BEWARE: All highways work is weather dependent, along with other factors including supply and staffing. The exact dates for the resurfacing job is subject to change – and if we’ve learned anything from the pandemic it’s that nothing goes as smoothly as expected these days.
ALSO: Be aware that preparation works may start in early April – this will be patching works, mostly likely on the footway next to the road, but you should not be alarmed that this is the full extent of the works.
Craig and Mike have worked closely with Redditch Borough Councillor Brandon Clayton to bring forward these works. It has taken us some time to get the job on the work schedule, which is priority-scored. We have sought assurances that the work will definitely be done this spring.
Subscribe to this blog to get notifications about new posts sent straight to your inbox. Any problems with the works, or any questions, please email mrouse@worcestershire.gov.uk and cwarhurst@worcestershire.gov.uk so we can help.
Craig Warhurst, Mike Rouse and Brandon Clayton as local Councillor team want to provide an update for concerned residents and what we hope will be some welcome news regarding tipping activities at Blaze Lane.
We have been working on this issue since it first arose, and it has taken up a significant amount of time and attention, not just from County Councillors Craig Warhurst and Mike Rouse but also Brandon Clayton and Matt Dormer at the Borough Council, and we also need to pay tribute to the huge amount of time, effort and energy local residents have put into this too, all whilst having to live with an excessive number of HGV movements on roads that are unsuitable. Many people in the local area have played a massive role gathering data, analysing documents and reporting their concerns.
The Environment Agency has now carried out a further inspection of the waste transfer notes for the site in question and have concluded that the volume of material deposited to the site is in excess of the U1 waste exemption that was registered. The Environment Agency has (as of 26th August 2021) served a ‘stop with immediate effect’ letter and will be working with Worcestershire Regulatory Services and the local councils to look at next steps. Alongside this work the Borough Council is moving forwards with enforcement of planning controls.
The Environment agency emailed Cllr Rouse with the following update:
Officers visited the Blaze Lane/Feckenham site, near Hunt End on Tuesday 17th August and met with the site owner and operator.
The material brought onto site was in compliance with those waste streams allowed under the U1 exemption. However further waste transfer notes were requested during this visit so we could audit the materials entering the site. In light of this further analysis of the additional transfer notes, the site have now exceeded the quantities of material that they are allowed to bring on to site under their U1 exemption. Therefore we will be serving a stop with immediate effect letter on 26 August 2021. We will also be deregistering their U1 exemption. We will be working with our partners at Worcestershire Regulatory Services and the Local Authority to look at next steps. We would like to reassure you following our site inspection that activities on site, were posing very little risk environmentally.
We as your local Councillor team very much hope that this situation will now be drawn to a close and we thank residents for their patience and persistence.
Your local Councillors will now focus on the various enforcement-related activities to ensure these are undertaken as we have been promised and we very much hope that the owner and operator of the site will now come to the table and work with the council to find a way forward that works for everyone.
We will try to update you as much as we can, but please appreciate that when we are dealing with enforcement and legal matters there will be a limit on what we can share in the public domain so as to avoid jeopardising anything.
If you have any questions or concerns please email mrouse@worcestershire.gov.uk, cwarhurst@worcestershire.gov.uk and/or brandon.clayton@redditchbc.gov.uk.