Around the ward

With the help of some lovely volunteers I’ve been delivering leaflets letting people know what I’ve been up to. Having help with this makes a real difference. Please let me know if you’d be able to help out. Even delivering a single road or a close frees me up to get out and talk to residents.

A lovely group of loal residents came together to pick litter across the College Estate. The estate is not that bad but litter can build up and an occassional blast like this makes a big difference. We were also assisted by a local police constable and some Police Community Support Officers who combined litterpicking with talking to local residents about their concerns. It was such a success we’ll do it again. Put 6th July in your diary.

I also met PCSO Julie Slatter and PC Lyn Johnson to talk about anti-social behaviour. College Ward is a pretty quiet and lovely place on the whole but there are occasional problems and, if I’m informed about them, I do make sure the police follow them up.

We had another successful litterpick in Churchill Gardens. So far, I think you’ll agree, we’re keeping on top of litter there (though the almost constant rain probably helps as well).

And I’ve been dealing with a range of inidvidual concerns on all sorts of topics. If you have any issues you’d like some help with please do get in touch with me.

At the councils

I attended a meeting of the full Herefordshire Council. At that meeting we formally agreed the council tax bills. The council tax increase had been agreed at our previous meeting (see my Ward report for Feb 2024). You can read the papers for this meeting and view a video of the whole meeting online.

I attended a meeting of Herefordshire Council’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee. We were looking into the work of the council’s “Corporate Parenting Board”. Corporate Parenting is the idea that children who are looked after by the local authority should be thought about by the council, by all councillors and all staff in the same way that a parent would think about their children. The Corporate Parenting Board is the main focus for this at Herefordshire Council. We made several recommendations. You can read the papers for this scrutiny meeting and view a video of the whole meeting online.

I also attended a meeting of the full Hereford City Council. We agreed funding for vital local causes including Close House: the youth centre in the centre of Hereford, Citizen’s Advice and the River Carnival. The agenda is available online.

Other things

Like many of you I have been enjoying the art that has been appearing in the city centre. I think it’s really brightening up the city and is something we can all be proud of.

I watched quite a lot of films at the Borderlines Film Festival. I creative an interactive map for them as a volunteer and in return they gave me several free tickets. Bye Bye Tiberias was the stand-out film for me.

The Town Clerk, Steve Kerry retired this month. He had been the clerk for many years and had conributed to the City Council being a robust and important part of the city’s life. I wish him every joy in his retirement. The new Town Clerk, Karen Davis, takes up her post soon and I look foward to working with her.