The results of the local election are below (source: Derby Evening Telegraph).
Darley
Martin Repton (Lab) 1,198
Roger Jackson (Lib Dem) 1,168
Lorraine Radford (Con) 964
David Clasby (Green) 338
Turnout: 40 per cent
LABOUR GAIN
Our new councillor is Martin Repton (by 30 votes…..a very close run race). We’ll be on to him regarding all our local issues, then 😉
In our last issue of the LCRA Review we held a wordsearch competition. Out of the many entries we received back, only one actually contained all the correct answers (most people missed either “chocolates” or “valentine”)!
The lucky winner of the box of chocolates was Dawn Foote…..well done. We will be getting your prize to you soon 😀
The slide on Chester Green has now been repaired….hooray 🙂 Speedy work by the council, well done!
The slide on Chester Green is out of action as it has been vandalised. It is currently fenced off so as not to cause injury. There have been a few problems with vandals in the area lately, and if you see anything, whether it’s vandalism or just general anti-social behaviour, please report it to the police on 0845 123 3333.
A couple of days ago the council took away our recycling centre from the car park next to the Aida/Bliss building. They had threatened to take it away the next time it was vandalised (after the last time we spoke to them), so I guess it was just a matter of time. However, the problem is that streetcare have no other site to house the recycling bins as yet, so we’ve lost them (note that the council still have them listed here.
We will try and find out what’s going on, but in the meantime streetcare can be contacted at streetcare@derby.gov.uk or 01332 715000.
The LCRA have been sent a flood report for consultation along with a questionnaire to fill in. As flooding has/could be a major problem for Chester Green, interested parties are invited to take a look and fill pass back comments. I’ve not read it myself yet, but if any questions arise, perhaps they could be posted on the forum. The report can be found here, and the questionnaire here.
You may have noticed new grey posts and signs being errected over the last few days in and around Chester Green. These have been installed without any consultation with the councils Built Environment, and the local conservation officer was unaware of the work. They stick out like a sore thumb!
The local conservation officer has now been informed and we’re working to get the posts replaced with something a little more fitting for a victorian conservation area!
The dates and times of various services, soul cafe and other events at St. Pauls Church in Chester Green can be found here.
The Blackout article in the latest Lib. Dems. leaflet caught many of us by surprise. All of the comments we have received abouts the new lights are complementary, and all have prefferred the victorian look which fits in with a victorian conservation area well!
When the councillors were approached at their last surgery (in the church hall) we did receive an apology for the inclusion of this article. Following our survey of the residents of Chester Green Road, none had complained to the Liberal Democrats about the lamps. Apparently only one person had complained about the lights that did not live on Chester Green Road! Clearly our councillors hadn’t achevied anything this quarter for the residents of Chester Green and so jumped on the first complaint they got!
We are now pressing ahead to try and get these lamp tops installed at the other end of Chester Green Road and St. Paul’s Road following, of course, a survey in the very near future to make sure these are what the residents do definitely want.
We are sorry to report that after letters by members of the Committee and several residents also the speech given by our Chairman at the Planning Control Committee Meeting on the 8th March, 2007, development on the Bristol Street Motors site was given the go-ahead.
There is a serious concern in Chester Green regarding the lack of family housing in the area and the consequence that couples and young families are reluctantly being forced to look outside of the area to find suitably sized family accommodation. The majority of the Victorian housing stock in Chester Green is two bedroom terraced, with only a small proportion of larger three bedroom houses.
The recent developments in Chester Green in Drage Street, in Caesar Street, the development in progress at the junction of City Road and Mansfield Road and the proposed development on the Coach and Horses car park are all one and two bedroom apartments. None of these developments have addressed the serious lack of family housing in Chester Green i.e. three bedroom houses.
In fact these recent developments being popular with investors in the buy to rent market are significantly changing the balance of the community towards short term renting and away from long term family ownership. This is resulting in an adverse effect on the “village community” in Chester Green, an area which is particularly suited to young families with its open spaces and access to parks and recreational areas.
Paragraph 10 of PPG3 Planning Guidance requires Local Authorities to
encourage development of mixed and balanced communities by avoiding the creation of large areas of housing of similar characteristics, thereby offering a choice of housing and lifestyle. The density of this proposed development at 145 dwellings per hectare is four times the minimum level of 35 dwellings per hectare that the Local Plan requires as an efficient use of land.
It is regrettable that our Councillor Finbar Richards did not raise any objections to this development and voted in favour, only one Councillor on the Planning Control Committee voted against this development, Lucy Care, unfortunately she was not from our Ward. Chester Green will, therefore, be inundated with another 116 apartments and only 9 houses on this site.