The week that ended.....3 February 2013.

I guess the first thing I should mention is last Saturday I went enjoying the snow with my family last Saturday morning. This included sledging. As a result I ended up breaking my wrist which has meant I have tweeted less and put less posts on my Facebook page than normal.

This week saw our surgery resume after we had to cancel our surgery last Saturday,  due to the bad weather. This saw a number of residents attending asking for help on a number of issues including planning matters and bins. In fact the surgery is between 10am and 11am but I had to extend the this to 11.40 so I could see everyone.

ASHFIELD

The Council wrote to me this week saying that they think there should not be a public hearing on Ashfield as a Village Green. Before I say why this is I think it would be right to explain a serious point. When you apply for a Village Green you are saying that you have used the the land without the permission of the owner, rather than asking the owner to use the land. This is important because what the Council are now saying is residents use Ashfield because the Council has given permission to residents.

I will now be reviewing their argument to see if I agree or not. I have written to a QC to see if he would be able to give me their opinion to the Council's argument as well.

If the Council say they want to keep Ashfield for recreational purposes why are they objecting to my application for a Village Green unless they do want to sell it off at a later date or at least keep the option to sell it at a later date.

RESIDENTS MATTERS

Bins - On the matter of bins this is because some residents are not putting away their bins after the collection of them. This leaves an unsightly mess and with the heavy winds this has blown a number of them over making the situation worse.

Parking - Some residents are complaining about people parking and blocking access or making it hard for others to use roads and/or access their property. This seems to be a growing problem as I now have a number of residents in different areas complaining about this matter.

Library Services - A number of residents rang the Council to see if it was open and say they could not get in because of the bad weather and to renew their books and/ or DVD's. This is a good idea as they are being proactive in stopping charges but now the Library are charging people another week charge for the DVD's even though they could not get in last week. I will be making representation to Wigan Leisure Culture Trust, who operate the Library's on behalf of the Council, asking them to refund customers who could not get in