Down Your Way, for Mon 21st May

St. James Church will be holding a Table Top Sale on Saturday May 26th starting at 10.30 a.m.  If the weather is good the stalls will be outside in the Church grounds, inside the hall if rain is forecast. Please come along and support this annual fundraising event.

On 22nd June, in the morning, Lyncrest Primary School are hosting a fun run that will be ran around the local streets. Neighbouring schools have been invited and so far, St James, Earl Spencer, Hopping Hill, Duston Eldean and Chiltern have agreed to take part. The Lyncrest Micro-Marathon is to celebrate health and friendship amongst the local schools and community, as well as marking this Olympic summer.  There will be approximately 500 children taking part and they have received permission to close the roads on the route (Cameron Drive, Ellesmere Ave, Lyncrest Ave, Malcolm Drive, Lovatt Drive and Trevor Crescent). If you need further information please feel free to ring the school on 01604 751336.

You may remember at the start of this year the County Council carried out a consultation to find out your views on how well the residents parking scheme is working in your area. I can now inform you that this consultation has been completed and proposals have been drawn up in consultation with your local County Councillor and residents association based on the feedback residents gave us to the questionnaires.

Residents were given the opportunity to answer a number of questions on the permit scheme within your area and these were based on things like the operating times/days, number of spaces available for permit holders etc. A more detailed analysis of the results can be found by visiting the consultation register at:

http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/en/councilservices/Council/consultations/pages/register.aspx

But a summary of the results are; 86% of residents still want permit parking in your area, a majority of 58% want the operating times changed to apply 24 hours a day, a majority of 59% want the days of operation changed to apply 7 days a week, a majority of 45% of residents want the number of permits limited to 2 per property, a majority of 66% of residents want to keep the number of permit spaces available the same as they are now. In response to the feedback received the County Council is now looking to make a number of changes, and it is clear from the majority of responses that residents want to see a change to the hours and days that the scheme currently operates. Further details of the proposals including plans of the changes are available by visiting:

http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/en/councilservices/Council/consultations/pages/register.aspx

 A summary of proposals for the area include; The permit scheme will change to be in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, generally there will be no change to reduce the amount of limited waiting available within the zone, a limit shall be imposed to allow only permit 2 residents permits per property (unless spare capacity is available), the operating hours of the visitor permit and business permit will change to allow them to be used for the full operating hours of the scheme, double yellow lines will be reduced in Lincoln Road, Spencer St and Sharman Road to create more free parking or permit spaces, all 2 hour limited waiting bays currently in operation will become permit holders only from 10pm to 8am (unless specified), the introduction of a loading only bay, Mon – Sat 7am to 6pm (permit holders only at all other times) is proposed on Glasgow St near the junction of Weedon Road. The County Council will now begin the formal process to allow the changes to come into effect and this includes giving the public the opportunity to object to the changes should they wish to do so. The proposals have been developed based on what residents have told us but if you disagree and would like to comment please put your objections in writing to:

Traffic Orders Section, Riverside House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road, Northampton, NN1 5NX. The closing date for comments is the 7th June 2012, after this date all feedback will be reviewed in accordance with the County Council’s procedures which includes consulting with your County Councillor before a final decision is made.

For those of you concerned that the current proposals to relocate the bus station are flawed and that ordinary residents views are being ignored, can now sign an online petition that calls for a public debate on the issue. The Labour group has tabled the petition and it reads as follows: “Labour Leader calls on the Conservative Leader of Northampton Borough Council to hold a public meeting to listen to comments and take questions regarding the proposed Bus Interchange. We believe, 1. Such a public meeting should be widely advertised including posters in Greyfriars Bus Station. 2. Advertising must start three weeks prior to the public meeting. 3. The meeting to be held on a Saturday morning or afternoon in the Great Hall, Guildhall. A weekend means more people can come along and have their say. 4. Open to all members of the public with seats allocated on a first come first serve basis. 5. Give a presentation and take questions from those members of the public present. Northampton Labour believes a planning application on the proposed Bus Interchange must be delayed until a public meeting has been held.” The petition can be found by entering the following:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/a-public-meeting-on-the-proposed-bus-interchange/

Carol Whiteley from the Jumpz Gymnastics Club has contacted us to advise residents that their group has Gymnastic sessions for over 5’s your child can attend sessions at St James CEVA Primary School on Tuesdays 4.30pm -5.30pm and 5.30pm -6.30pm, sessions are 1 hour at £4 per session with a 15% sibling discount and a 20% multiple session discount. They are also hoping to open sessions at The Doddridge Centre on Saturdays when they have enough children attending to cover costs. For more details contact Carol 07941849728 or 01604456674 or visit http://www.jumpz-gymnastics.co.uk/ for more information.

A planning application, N/2012/0290 has been lodged for the construction of three terraced houses on Ross Road. The plans would see the rear garden of the bottom house on Peverel’s Way given over to three two bedroom houses with associated parking spaces. The plans can be viewed online at www.northampton.gov.uk/planning or in person at the one stop shop in the Guildhall. This is the fourth application for houses to be built in Ross Road, in the Peverel’s Way gardens. The previous ones have controversially been granted permission for one house to be built in each garden, although no work has actually taken place.

After many reports to the council, more “tidying” work is taking place in Victoria Park on trees and bushes. It has taken Enterprise nearly nine months to come back and do some more work since the SJRA requested they do some tidying in the park but at least it is continuing thanks to the efforts of local people and Cllr Wire. Unfortunately some people still spoil it for the overwhelming majority of good people who use the park; reports are still coming in from local people, of men urinating in full view of the public. When challenged the offenders hurl verbal abuse at the person complaining. The residents association have made representations to the police on the matter and are awaiting their response of what they might do to bring the matter under control.

Many of you will already be aware that the Olympic torch will pass through the streets of St. James as part of the Olympic torch relay. This will be on Monday July 2nd at around 10:20 am and should provide a bit of a spectacle. Organisers are hoping that as many people as possible will line the route and that individuals will organise events around it as “Local Leaders”. In addition they are also encouraging people to plant Olympic themed gardens and planting areas, even window boxes! More information is available from http://www.london2012.com/. Several organisations are intending to do something to mark the occasion, such as local schools etc.

The Foundry and the Thomas ’A Becket will both be hosting celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend in June with BBQ, face painting and live music etc. McManus Pub co. Director Paul McManus informs us that if any St James residents would like to fund raise for a particular community project or local charity they can contact him direct on pmcmanus@mcmanuspub.co.uk or through the SJRA details below to have a cake stall or similar at the event. For the Olympic Torch parade on July 2nd both pubs will be open from 9am serving tea coffee, bacon butties and soft drinks the licensed bar will be open from 10am. Both pubs have meeting rooms which can be made available free of charge (pre booked only) for community events/gathering.

For the Queens Diamond Jubilee in June the council is encouraging residents to celebrate with a street party. All relevant information is on the borough council website at http://www.northampton.gov.uk/.

Don’t forget, also for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, a local resident Mr A Barratt informs us of an event he is organising to be held in Victoria Park, itself named after Queen Victoria for her Diamond Jubilee, on Monday 4th June from 12.00 – 16.00. He tells us there are lots of activities planned so why not come along and support it? The event is being promoted by Mr Barratt so for more details of exactly what he has planned, contact him directly on 01604 585447,  anthony.barrat@ntlworld.com or 0792 0880460.