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.