Kingsway Villagers

Quedgeley Parish Council are holding their annual Quedgeley Fun Day on June 12th 2010; 12 noon to 6pm at Dimore II in Quedgeley.

This FREE ENTRY event is sponsored by Gloucester South Police and The Orchard Pub’ & Restaurant and will include:

• Host Jakey Zee
• Local Artist – Odile Rault – Modern
• Sling Shot – 60’s-70’s Music
• …Plus other acts
• Funfair
• Traditional Gloucester Cheese
• Vintage Cars
• Crimestoppers
• St. Johns Ambulance
• Tug of War teams
• Ice Cream
• Face Painting
• Crystal Reading
• Live Music
• Food from various countries
• Licensed Bar
• Fuchsia Plant Sale
• Hot Dogs
• Various Craft Stalls

More information about the event (including an article from the 2009 Quedgeley Fun Day – with pictures) and directions to Dimore-II (from Naas Lane go straight over the roundabout into Fieldcourt, then turn left at next roundabout and follow the signs) are available on the Quedgeley Parish Council website.

Public Meeting for an update on the new Police Facilities at Waterwells
 
Location: Quedgeley Village Hall, 208 Bristol Road, Quedgeley
Date: Wednesday 2 June
Time: 7.30pm

Gloucestershire Constabulary is inviting Kingsway residents to attend a Public Meeting about the new Custody Centre and Police Operational Accommodation at Waterwells.

The UNITY consortium has been provisionally chosen to design, build, finance and operate the project. They will join representatives from the Constabulary to update the community on the new builds and answer public questions.

Everybody is welcome. We look forward to seeing you there!

I just received the latest Police Report for May 2010.

Statistics for Kingsway are remarkably similar to last year, as follows:

According to the report, crime is down by 36% from April 1st – May 10th across the entire area covered by the Quedgeley Police Station.

The report also mentions the Kingsway Youth Pod and last Friday’s school leavers celebrations (two of my sons were there – lol).
It also mentions an imminent Police Community Panel meeting (I’m on the panel) which will – as always – help to set local community policing priorities; you can influence this by filling out a Community Police Report every time you witness a crime or public disorder incident.

Previous local Police reports can also be found on our Community Police Reports Page.

Chaired by Barry Kirby (Kingsway Village Residents Association), the meeting on Friday 14th May was very well attended. I’m sure one of my colleagues will have done a headcount, (I didn’t)… but I would estimate that some 50+ people attended. The official minutes will doubtless be published shortly, meanwhile here’s what I noted:

QUVL
Andy Smith (QUVL Project Manager) explained that he shares the role with Alistair Jewell who works in the Bristol office. Andy is based at Avionics House on the (future) Kingsway Business Park (from the Naas Lane roundabout I think it’s the first building on the left as you enter the park). He also added that residents are welcome to call / visit him there or even drop mail there for his attention.
During a discussion about road signs, Andy said that the QUVL also have a compound located on the access road by Manor Farm (off Woodvale). The compound is recognisable by the trailers parked there and can be used to "return" broken / vandalised / stolen road signs and anything else which is too large/unsuitable for delivery to the office.

Building Progress
Andy said that the recession has delayed building work on Kingsway by around 12 months, but that building work has restarted. We are currently about 30-40% complete (1,500 houses built of the eventual 3,000 and still many business premises to be built etc).
He also said that the shops / public buildings (Kingsway Centre / Community Centre/ Pub’ etc) will be situated on the far side of the Kingsway Primary School (off Thatcham Avenue) and most of the building work on the shops should be completed around October this year (Note: I’m a little uncertain on this point as I didn’t make a note, so wait for the minutes; don’t quote me – lol)!

Road Access
Many residents expressed concern over access to Kingsway (in view of recent accidents etc).

In response to requests/complaints about public traffic restrictions through the underpass from Valley Gardens to Matalan Business Park and from Thatcham Avenue to Tuffley, Andy said that the Gloucester City Council have expressly forbidden the use of either route the underpass – or the Tuffley / Thatcham link – for general traffic.

The access road currently used by contractors cannot be enhanced to allow public access because the road position is temporary (it will be moved around as the Business Park is developed).

Finally – the "Woodvale Blockade" is there to stop the flow of traffic through the business park whilst construction is in progress, but Andy revealed that the QUVL are – in fact – negotiating plans to replace the blockades with lockable gates (at either end of that road), so that they can be opened to allow public access when the main road junction is shut.
Apparently a safety audit is required in order to get the plan approved.

Street Lights
Problems have been reported with around 20-30 street lights. Andy said that they will be resolved ASAP.

Thatcham Avenue – Pavements
Surfacing of the pavements along Thatcham Avenue (from Woodvale to Uxbridge Lane) will begin today.

Adoption
Andy explained that the adoption process must follow a set order:
Ponds > Drainage > Roads > Open Spaces.
They are currently awaiting adoption (by the City Council) of the balancing pond (by the underpass on Valley Gardens).

Parking Issues
A lively discussion took place on the subject of parking, restrictions and enforcement and Andy (on behalf of the QUVL) stated that he was very keen to allow us (the residents) a great deal of input into the best "solution". He also said that the new CPS manager was far more approachable than was previously the case.
Andy also said that the recent increased enforcement activity was a response to complaints from local residents.

Comments / complaints were made about the general lack of parking, the appalling state of the double-yellow lines and lack of clarity around “permissable parking spaces”, as well as the inconvenience and danger caused by inconsiderate parking and the lack of CPS signs in some places.

One resident suggested asking for help/advice from the City Council (on the basis that they will ultimately be responsible for defining / policing parking in the area). Andy didn’t seem to think that this would be possible (‘though a new Kingsway resident who is also a member of the Highways Department spoke to me later saying that she was pretty certain it would be as cooperative safety audits of this kind are quite common for new developments).

Andy said that the QUVL plans to examine all the roads and have the double-yellow lines repainted so that they’re clearly visible. He also asked if we were in favour of allowing some parking areas, or would like the entire Village to be restricted and whether we thought that the existing clamping fee (£150) was excessive.

It was suggested (and – I think – generally agreed) that – since Kingsway most definitely does suffer from an appalling lack of public parking areas – the QUVL should examine the roads with a view to including as many safe on-road parking areas as possible, make sure that those areas (and restricted areas) are clearly marked, forewarn all residents and then re-commence regular enforcement activities (clamping).
We also agreed (with Andy) that the residents (via Baz_k and the Residents Association) should be closely involved with the QUVL in carrying out these plans.

Residents Assocation
David Clough (Treasurer) gave a summary of our financial activities to date.
Barry Kirby (Chairman) spoke about our plans to create a constitution prior to the next committee election, mentioned some future planned events (The Big Lunch in Kingsway’s big park and a Fun-Day at Waterwells), and remarked about plans for a Kingsway Football Team; which prompted another resident – Ian Gladding – to mention that he is Vice Chairman of Hardwicke Rangers Youth Football Club, and that they are holding a Football Match on 3rd/4th July (details to follow asap).

Summary
The meeting was very well attended and the presence of Andy Smith was very useful and much appreciated.
My Verdict: The best-attended, most interesting and most productive meeting so far.
Disclaimer: I’m not the RA secretary (for good reason)! The official minutes will contain the real story, this is simply my recollection (and since I left the meeting promptly to rush off to an all-night party, my memory may be less than perfect – lol).

Edit – 12/05/’10:
Minutes are now available from our Residents Association Home Page

We purchased our “new-build” home from Taylor Wimpey on the development just over a year ago, and it was clearly the biggest mistake of our lives as we continue with this nightmare!

The property was sold to us with a gas leak, and the ground floor was flooded as we were expected to take ownership!
The kitchen was poorly designed and damaged, lumps of mortar regularly fall from the roof along with sharp sections of tile.
The loft-space was constructed with standard nails and not as regulated.
We have no internal wiring for the TV ariel, just the sockets on the walls!
We have wet patches on the wall and puddles on the inside of the windows.
Some sections of floor which are not secured and patches cut-out of many rooms which were simply glued-back after adding more pipework (as the central heating system switched itself on & off whenever it wanted – even when it was completely disconnected)!
Wash basins & pedestals don’t match and are out of line with each other.
The top floor master bathroom is like a Turkish Bath when used due to poor ventilation.
Cracks/large splits in walls.
Doors which will not close as the frames have dropped.
Stair case moves away from the wall and makes a very worrying noise when you place your first foot on the step.
The gas cooker was installed incorrectly and in front of the original gas leak (without even discovering it)! The leak was found by accident when carrying out the refit of the poorly designed kitchen!
The water pressure is extremely poor. If you are having a shower, and a tap is turned on elsewhere in the house, the shower simply stops!
The floors on different levels of the house have excessive movement when walked across.
Tiles on the roof of both the house and garage (in limited areas) do not overlap each other in order to link them. Some just butt together with a gap underneath because they are not a correct match.

When the gas leak was declared by Wales & West Utilties’ Emergency Call-Out Service, they declared the property “Immediately Dangerous” via a formal safety notice which was never issued to ourselves as the owners. The notice was stuffed behind our gas meter (which was also exchanged without our knowledge or supply of final reading of removed meter) only to be discovered some weeks later when we attempted to gain readings which couldn’t be matched-up with previous readings and began an investigation into our accounts as the supplier was equally unaware of the meter being exchanged!

The details of ownership of our home (as declared whilst work was being carried-out to address the defective condition of the kitchen which uncovered the gas leak) was that of the on-site manager for Taylor Wimpey Bristol Ltd and not ourselves as the official owners for over a month at that time.

I have an independent gas transporter and can’t have a pre paid-meter fitted!

When I moved into my new home 4 weeks ago, British Gas supplied my gas and electric. I stayed with them, as they would fit pre-paid meters in.

Now I’ve been told they are unable to touch the Gas Meter as it an Independent gas transporter!

How do I get round this?

I like to know how much I put in the meter and how low it gets, and I bet there are many tenants who would like to go with this method of payment, due to the current finanicial climate.

I don’t want to go on a direct debit methods, as I don’t use Gas in the summer months, and I don’t want a large bill arriving either.

What happens if you can’t pay your bills?

Most energy suppliers say they will fit pre-paid meters if you go with them, but don’t mention at the time that – for some meters, they are unable to.

Please can anyone help with some advice.