Worthen News – January

First of all can I wish you all a Happy New Year! Let us hope that 2013 does not bring any further major problems for the Worthen and Brockton area- such as pylons, turbines or major road works!

Much of my work over the last couple of weeks has been focused on marshalling opposition to the proposed removal of 7 miles of hedgerow near Chirbury. The public meeting I arranged at short notice still attracted over 100 people. I’ve also campaigned hard in the media (Including ‘West Midlands Today’ on the BBC) and got Phil Bennion , a Member of the European Parliament and a farmer himself, to visit the site.

In the 21st century the wholesale destruction of such habitat and of our traditional landscape is wholly unacceptable. This would change our treasured landscape forever and eave it looking more like Wyoming than the Welsh border. That the Council received hundreds of objections including some heavyweights like a Ecology Professor from Cambridge.

I was very glad when all this hard work paid off and the landowner bowed to community pressure and withdrew his application.

speedingin Marton, Worthen and Brockton will again be a priority for the police. I hope this means that they come a little more often than some times. I will also be asking the Community Road Safety Partnership for the Camera Van to operate in our area.

At my request, Glyn Shaw, from the Council Highways Department and the Police Traffic officer will be touring the area to investigate traffic and safety issues in the next few weeks. They will visit Blackford, Brockton, Worthen, Marton and Stockton . I will report back on their findings in the near future.

The gulley’s inAston Rogers and Pigott have been found to be very badly blocked here and the contractor has spent far more time than expected getting the drains working. They may have been blocked for some considerable time. The gulley’s for Rowley are yet to be done.

I have also asked Contractors to redo the drains in Brockton as water is still pouring down the road.

If you have problems on these or any other issue then don’t hesitate to get in touch.