I have been following-up various issues in and around St. Peter’s ward on behalf of residents:

• Earlier this week I reported traffic collision debris on the road and pedestrian islands at the traffic lights on Wigston Road and Brabazon Road. Some of this debris was sharp and potentially dangerous. The street cleaning team of the Borough Council has tidied this up.
• A large panel of the wooden traffic safety fence at the racecourse roundabout in the central reservation of the A6 has been damaged for several weeks, possibly as a result of a traffic collision. County Councillors Dean Gamble and Jeffrey Kaufman have made the County Council aware of this issue.
• A shrub, possibly on private land, is encroaching on the shared cycle/ footpath on Wigston Road by the bus stop prior to the Washbrook Lane turn. The shrub has completely covered the bus stop sign and halved the width of the path, which is heavily used during school times. Again, County Councillors Dean Gamble and Jeffrey Kaufman have made the County Council aware of this issue.
• Defective street lights on the A6 London Road just outside the ward in Leicester have been reported to the City Council who are aware of them. I have also reported a further flickering street light in the ward, just before the petrol station by the racecourse roundabout, to the County Council.

If you see problems in the ward please contact myself, David Carter or one of your County Councillors via the form on the Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Liberal Democrats site. Alternatively you can report the issue to the relevant council which broadly speaking is:

Street cleaning/graffiti: Oadby and Wigston Borough Council

Highways (street lights, traffic signals etc.): Leicestershire County Council.

The quarterly meeting of the Oadby Residents’ Forum is on this Tuesday 15th October at 6.30pm. The venue is the The Barnabas Centre, St Pauls Close, Oadby, Leicester, LE2 4LZ.

From 6.00pm residents can have (confidential if required) meetings with their Borough Councillors (if present). Both myself and David Carter will be available.. No appointment is required. If you can’t make the meeting you can contact us here or by using our details on the Borough Council web site (scroll down to the Oadby St. Peter’s ward heading).

The Forum’s agenda and other documents can be found here.

The Forums were introduced by the Liberal Democrats several years ago to transfer some decision-making and limited spending powers directly to residents and community organisations in Oadby, Wigston and South Wigston.

They have been highly successful as a way of residents improving Oadby and as an effective means for residents, officers and councillors to communicate.

Please do come along on Tuesday.

Have your say on county council consultation

Conservatives on the county council are proposing further cuts to our tip opening times, with the hours in summer (April to September) being reduced to 9am to 5pm. The Oadby tip will still be closed on Thursdays and Fridays.

A few years ago the Conservatives cut winter opening times, closed the Oadby tip on Thursday and Fridays and started charging for disposal of “hard-core” waste (soil, rubble and crockery).

In the following years, fly-tipping incidents rocketed by a quarter across the county.

Further cuts will make it even harder for businesses and residents to dispose of their waste properly. Some may fall prey to unscrupulous operators who offer to take rubbish away, only to dump it illegally.

Please have your say in the County Council’s consultation on this plan by 23rd September.

The cuts are due to huge reductions in funds for local services. The Conservative MP here has twice voted in Parliament to make cuts to the money that central government provides to local councils.

Liberal Democrats believe that the busiest tips like Oadby should remain open longer and that Conservative County Councillors are wrong with their plan to cut opening times across the board.