Safer Roads for our Neighbourhoods - Community Speed Watch

Do you have an issue with Speeding down your road? Would you like to see something done about it? Due to concern from local residents, the West Midlands Police Harborne Team have conducted some speed checks in the area. The most recent was on Selsey road on Friday 21st June. Heres a photo of the nice PCSOs who helped do the speed check.... The Police are encouraging communities to become involved in speed watches where local residents and the Police join forces to tackle speeding. Volunteers armed with speed guns can monitor and record cars that break the speed limit. That all sounds good, but to begin with, we would like to see what you think about the problem and if you have any thoughts on what can be done to help solve it. We have therefore set up a quick survey online to get some feedback. Click here to access the survey Hopefully we can show the results in the next newsletter. The online questionnaire is completely confidential as we don’t ask for any personal information, so please contribute as your opinion counts! Maybe leave a comment below as well. We really want to hear what you think.

Birmingham Energy Savers Confusion

Introduction	Because we nominated a number of households for Green Deal assessment and work in the "Community Pilot" phase, also known as "Go Early", we feel responsible for trying to keep people informed. The only certain information is posted on https://www.gov.uk/green-deal-energy-saving-measures/how-the-green-deal-works
Warning - telesales offering energy survey	I received a telesales phone call, ignoring my TPS registration, on Thursday lunchtime.  "Adrian" from an un-named company based in Coventry.  They will be doing energy efficiency surveys in Poplar Avenue on Friday.  Would I like an appointment?  The survey takes only quarter of an hour.  "Adrian" rang off when I started asking who he was.  Warning - we do not know if this sales call was from a genuine company or not.  If you want a Green Deal assessment, phone 0800 917 5772 for the Birmingham Energy Savers.  Accept an unsolicited telesales call at your own risk.
Progress Report	Following this telesales call, I rang the BES freephone to ask - again - what progress there was on my own BES assessment. When NWENF first got involved in nominating households for the Community Pilot phase, we were told that Birmingham City Council had a grant of £2.5 million for this, and that it was to be used by 31 March 2013, by giving householders up to 90% subsidy on any energy saving work to be done.  Also, the NWENF was to be given £25 per household for nominations.  Then we heard of a deadline of 24 January, and managed to get 10 nominations by that date.  More nominations were taken at our Public Meeting on 2nd February. My house was amongst the nominations in January.  We had a survey at the end of February, and are still awaiting our Energy Efficiency Certificate. Two weeks ago, I called the freephone number to enquire after progress.  I was told that any households which did not meet the "Golden Rule" (that energy savings would be enough to justify the work) had already been notified.  Other households were to have a "household assessment" as soon as appointments became available. Today (Thursday 4th April) I was told something different.  Firstly, I was told that I could access my Energy Efficiency Certificate and recommendations for work on the internet.  Secondly, I was told that it was now past the deadline for any work under the "Go Early / Community Pilot" phase.  Any work to which I agreed would be paid for out of the savings on my electricity bill.  No information about any of the subsidies which had originally been promised.  Thirdly, after the call centre staff had checked, I was told that my house had not been included in the "Go Early" nominations.  But I know from phone calls during February that we were logged as nominated by NWENF under the Community Pilot phase.
Confusion	We hear different versions about how the Birmingham Energy Savers scheme works. At the BES Launch Event on 4th February, we heard that this Community Pilot phase was a trial for how to run the Green Deal over the whole country during the next 3 years.  One target for Birmingham was to improve the energy efficiency of about 26,000 homes during the next 3 years.  We heard a glowing report from someone in the Sutton Coldfield area whose house was lovely and warm after having had various Green Deal jobs, including exterior wall cladding insulation. So we are left with uncertainty about how the scheme will operate, and how any of the households which NWENF nominated for the Community Pilot will benefit from the Green Deal..

Green Deal - Birmingham Energy Savers

Green Deal	We nominated some households for the Community Pilot phase of the Birmingham Energy Savers programme under the government's Green Deal project. My energy efficiency survey was at the end of February.  Having heard nothing for 3 weeks, I phoned the freephone contact number .  A helpful person at the call centre explained that households which had been surveyed but failed the "golden rule" had already been notified.  For the rest of us, they were waiting for "household survey" appointments to become available.  This is the second stage, when someone comes to assess whether your household income qualifies you for additional grants towards the cost of energy efficiency work.
"Golden Rule"	This is a calculation method which decides whether or not any specific energy efficiency task is worth spending the money.  That is, for an item such as loft insulation, there is a cost of doing the job.  If the likely savings on the fuel bill are big enough, compared with the cost of doing the work, it is counted as passing the golden rule.  If the fuel savings are small (this would be the case if you already have at least 4" of insulation) it may fail the "golden rule".  Subsidies and money from the energy supply companies are taken into account.
ECO	"Energy Companies Obligation" The energy supply companies (British Gas, E-on, nPower, etc) have an obligation to help their customers reduce energy consumption.  One estimate if that there is about one and a half billion pounds available under ECO.  That is why they were giving away low energy light bulbs a few years ago.  This money is said to be one of the subsidies available under the "golden rule" calculation.
Notes	We hear different versions about how the Birmingham Energy Savers scheme works. For more information, use the freephone service 0800 917 5772
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Transport in Brum - Views

E-mail enquiry	We have received an e-mail to say that views are being sought about what we - ordinary people - think of transport in Birmingham. "Fareeda Aqbar is part of smarter choices-city council road safety/cycling/walking initiatives and she would appreciate responses to the following questions from local residents."
Topics	What do you like most about your area ? How well do you feel connected to your area ? What makes you feel that ? Do your neighbours help each other ? If yes -how ? If no -why not ? What are your transport difficulties in your area ?
Contact for response	All responses by e-mail, please. fareeda.akbar@birmingham.gov.uk
Notes	We have not been told the timescale for this, but we suggest that you respond by mid-April if possible. NWENF is going to send them our Survey results, in summary, but it would be useful for as many people as possible to respond to this invitation.  If you want the Council departments to know what our neighbourhood is like, we need to tell them.
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Portland Centre Consultation - URGENT

Portland Centre Plans	The Portland Centre site has been acquired by the David Wilson Homes division of Barratt Homes.
Consultation	A consultation event was held on Monday 18 March at which drawings of a proposed site plan for detailed planning permission were displayed. David Wilson Homes have an open consultation process and invite comments. The deadline for comment is 1st April.
Link to plans and Consultation Feedback	David Wilson Homes Consultation. The e-mail address for feedback is feedback@consultation-online.co.uk Telephone for feedback (given on printed feedback form) 0800 298 7040
NWENF Comment	The NWENF is NOT taking an "official" view on this. The comments here are what some people have said as private individuals. The plans which DWH have drawn up are in many ways an improvement on the outline planning permission which the Council "granted themselves".  That is, the houses in this latest site plan are more attractive as an asset to the neighbourhood. But these plans fail to take into account the local opinion expressed in various ways during the past 2 years.
Specific Comments	*  Many people are disappointed that the departments of the Birmingham City Council have passed on to David Wilson Homes this outline Planning Permission for such a high number of houses.  This ignores the feedback through a variety of channels during the past 2 years; these include the residents meetings, and hundreds of responses sent to former Councillor John Alden when he canvassed the area following the original flawed consultation exercise by DTZ. *  Area plans (published by the Council) in the 2005 Unitary Development Plan proposed that this site should have a split of about 2/3 open space and 1/3 housing following the layout of areas occupied by the (former) school building and playing fields. *  The outline Planning Permission consolidated the open space towards The Ridgeway - good - but included a row of houses adjacent to The Ridgeway - bad because it reduces the open space. *  The new plans split the open space into 2 areas very much associated with the new housing, and in such a way that this looks "private" to the new housing estate. *  The children's play area in one of the open spaces was proposed (by some of the visitors to the display on 18 March) to be moved so that it is easily visible from Bernard Road. *The road layout, as proposed by Council departments and passed on to DWH, ignores previous public comment.  It makes an easy short cut from Portland Road to Bernard Road, to avoid the traffic lights at City Road.  Previous feedback comment said that this should be changed so that the through route through this site is very much longer, to discourage use as a "rat-run". *  Road safety issues - a)   The Portland Road entrance is too narrow to have a footway on both sides, which creates a safety problem whichever side the footway is on.  It may also be too narrow for the volume of traffic going in and out at peak times. b)   Residents on Bernard Road have expressed concern that this development will create a lot more traffic on Bernard Road - they want to Portland Road entrance to be the major access to the site, and the Bernard Road entrance to be a  minor access. c)   An idea considered by former Cllr Alden was whether the Scout Hut could be re-located, built to modern building standards, so that a one-way road system could be built for the Portland Road access.  Entrance on the present gateway, exit on the present Scout Hut site.  (Possibly financed by some of the Section 106 money.)  This would make the Portland Road access very much the major access compared with the Bernard Road access.  This one-way loop would make the Portland Road access very much safer for the probable volume of traffic compared with 2-way traffic on the present gateway.

NWENF Committee needs you

Your Neighbourhood Forum is preparing to serve this area during the next year.  But the committee needs more people to represent your street.

What this involves is to come to the Committee meetings and contribute your ideas for Forum activities.  There are usually 2 committee meetings between each public meeting.

You do not have to take one of the main offices (Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, etc.) unless you want to.  Just come and help the Forum during the coming year.

There is no upper age limit, and younger members are invited to get involved so that all viewpoints are represented.

If you want to join the committee, just get in touch as soon as possible.
nwenfcommittee@gmail.com

Give your name, address, and contact details.  The Committee will contact you with information about the next meeting.

Green Deal

Update Monday 28 January	We have received an e-mail from Groundwork West Midlands which clarifies that the phase of the Green Deal which has now closed is the "Community Pilot".  Any new referrals will be passed on for consideration in the next phase.  It is not too late to apply.
GREEN DEAL Government website Green Deal information	The background to this is a government initiative to reduce carbon emissions across Britain.  This is seen in our area as action to see how the homes which are less energy efficient can be improved. Report in Bournemouth Echo.  This gives some of the background to Green Deal.  In our area, this is the Birmingham Energy Savers pilot project.  Community groups were asked to refer 40 possible homes for the initial survey.  Originally we thought the deadline was the end of January, and that we may also be able to have referrals accepted at our meeting if the target numbers had not been achieved.  This is now uncertain because a deadline of 23rd January was applied.  We hope that we may still be able refer homes for survey since we understand that the 23 January deadline relates to the government's Green Deal funding for energy efficiency work.
	New applications are being invited at a BES Launch Event on Friday 1st February, to be among the first to have the free survey.
Referral Form	The BES referral form is available here.  Please download this and fill it in, and return it to the NWENF.  We will then forward it to the BES contacts. If you are used to editing MS Word, you can fill in the form on your computer and e-mail it to NWENF.  We have added a tick graphic by the question at the foot of Page 1, so that you can copy and paste this to answer the tick-box questions.

AGM and PUBLIC MEETING	The next Public Meeting will be at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday 2nd February 2013.
VENUE	Portland Pavilion (former M&B Sports and Social Club) Portland Road.
TOPICS	Annual General Meeting Reports from the  retiring NWENF Committee reviewing the past year. The Committee retires and new Committee members are invited to come forward.  Do not rely on any members of the old Committee continuing for another year.  They may volunteer for another year.  They will welcome new people on the Committee.  The Neighbourhood Forum is better for having new people. Green Deal In association with Groundwork West Midlands, the Council is looking for homes to have an energy audit. This is part of the Birmingham Energy Savers pilot project.  The main deadline was Wednesday 23rd January.  Our original information was that this would be 31 January.  There is to be a launch event on Friday 1st February relating to the local project under the government's Green Deal programme. We hope to have someone from Groundwork West Midlands at our meeting to meet residents and bring the latest information. Consultation There will be a summary of the results from the Survey.  The consultant, Dr Stephen Williams, is working on a report, and will be able to present some or all of the findings.