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Notes:
WYRE FOREST DISTRICT COUNCIL
ANNUAL REPORT OF ACTIVITIES 2009/10
COUNCILLOR: Julian Phillips
WARD: Bewdley & Arley
Section 1: Ward Activities (including Surgeries)
During my first two years on the Council I have taken any opportunity I can to learn about local government and how to be effective for the people of Bewdley & Arley.
Between the hours of home working, all of the various committees, review panels, public meetings, briefings and other events, I spend an average of at least 12 hours per week on Council business. All told this equates to one and a half days of work on top of my full time job and other voluntary non-Council related roles.
I sit on the Bewdley Partners and Community Together (PACT) Panel and Bewdley Youth PACT panels. I am also a governor at Bewdley School & Sixth Form. During the town's carnival I have manned the PACT stall along with police officers and Wyre Forest Community Housing wardens.
I have addressed around 50 individual items of casework ranging from highway issues to street scene and antisocial behaviour and have been involved with Community Action projects such as litter picks and ‘tidy days'.
I have volunteered to the Domestic Waste Collection and Renewable Energy and Efficiency Scrutiny Panels. I have also been elected as chairman of the Parking Review Panel.
I also helped with the organising of the Bewdley Christmas Festival and spent the entire day of the event on duty assembling street stalls, marshalling crowds and clearing away the stalls afterwards.
Since I was first elected my flagship project has been the campaign to prevent the closure of Kidderminster Driving Test centre. In Summer 2008, I chaired a Scrutiny Panel that investigated the Driving Standards Agency's (DSA) reasons for the closure, the Panel's conclusions subsequently set Council policy against the closure. Council offered the DSA concessionary alternative accommodation in the district but it declined and the final day of driving tests at Kidderminster was 29th May 2009.
My ward colleagues and I hold a weekly surgery at 10am on Saturday mornings at Three Gables, Hop Pole Lane, Bewdley. We also distribute a newsletter to every household every two months with contact details.
I also regularly patronise the businesses in my ward and attend as many of the public events that I am able to (such as Discover Bewdley, the carnival, Christmas Festival, October Festival, any special public forums etc.) where residents are welcome to talk to me informally. I feel I am very accessible to my residents.
As well as being a member of Bewdley Town Council, I attend between four and six Upper Arley Parish Council meetings each year. Between us, my fellow Ward Councillors and I are present at all of their meetings unless they clash with District Council commitments.
Section 2: Council Meetings
Community & Regeneration Scrutiny Committee, Full Council, Domestic Waste Collection & Recycling Review Panel, Kidderminster Educational Foundation, Parking Review Panel, Renewable Energy & Efficiency Review Panel.
Section 3: Achievements
I am very pleased and honoured to have established a cross-party consensus with the Driving Test Centre issue. Although the Council has no direct control over the service, I feel that we have offered sufficient resistance to the closure and have continued to probe the DSA regarding inconsistencies in their rationale for closure.
As Vice Chairman of the Community & Regeneration Scrutiny Panel I feel that the Chairman, Councillor Mrs Dyke, and I did a good job of contributing to the Council's public relations and accountability when hosting public forums regarding important issues such as flooding and Post Office closures. With the Energy Efficiency and Waste Collection review panels, we established dialogues with external public services and got a greater understanding of how they worked.
I have been involved in the Parking Review Panel and recommendations will be made to the Community and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee in due course.
I feel the Youth Partners and Communities Together (PACT) which is held at Bewdley Secondary School & Sixth Form is now very well established. It meets once every school term and consists of a meeting between myself, the police and the local Community Housing Group warden and two representatives from each year group at the school. The pupils raise very sensible issues that often fall under the ‘radar' of the traditional PACT meetings that are only attended by adults. I have made an effort to raise the profile of both PACT and Youth PACT through my news letters and promoting it at public events such as the carnival and Christmas Festival.
In a motion to full council in May 2009, Councillor Campion and I secured a grant to upgrade the facilities of Wyre Hill play area, the regular maintenance of which is currently funded by Bewdley Town Council from their annual parish aid grant from Wyre Forest Community Housing.
Section 4: Special Knowledge
-
Section 5: Attendance Percentage for 2009/10
81%.
Annual Report as a Representative on an Outside Organisation – 2009/10
Name of Outside Body: Wyre Forest Cycle Forum
Meeting Commitment:
Meetings attended: September (apologies), January and April
Details of any topics of particular relevance to Wyre Forest District Council:
•Promoting cycling as a positive form of transport and viable alternative to the motor vehicle.
•Reducing carbon emissions in the district.
•Improving the infrastructure of the district to accommodate cyclists.
•Promoting cycling as a way of improving the quality of life and health of Wyre Forest Residents.
Details of any significant decisions made:
N/A
Details of any matters in progress:
•Linking up Hartlebury Castle to the national cycle route network.
•Tapping in to the County Councillors' Health Improvement Fund for possible cycling promotion schemes.
•Promoting National Bike Week (19-27 June 2010).
•Consolidating cycling lanes in the district and keeping them clear of obstacles such as parked cars (e.g. Bewdley Hill, Kidderminster).
•Encouraging young people to cycle via the schools in the district.
Information on any allowances received undertaking this role:
None
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