Cycling improvements

Shropshire Council has bid for almost £2million of government funding to improve facilities for cyclists and pedestrians. Projects included in the bid are;-

• Refresh all current cycle lanes in the County, 1,800 miles of existing cycle lanes to be cleaned, repainted, signs and improved surfaces.
• Additional and improved cycle parking in all key towns.
• A 3 metre wide shared cycle and pedestrian footpath to link the Oxon Park and Ride site, Copthorne Hospital and the town centre.

This bid also requests funding to redesign and refurbish Porthill Bridge. Whilst these improvements would be useful this bid is likely to fail for lack of imagination, which was required in the bid. Labour will support a cross party amendment to this at the Full Council in September to try and ensure Shropshire does get this investment

Covid 19

The lockdown brought out the best in volunteers throughout our area in supporting the vulnerable and those that where shielding. Many food parcels and prescriptions have been delivered by a whole host of volunteers, and special mention should be made regarding the Co-op Store at Sutton Farm who in the early days of lockdown organised a telephone ordering and payment system, with community volunteers then delivering the groceries.

A Food Bank has been initiated at Belle Vue Youth Club on Rocke Street and is held on a Monday morning between 10am and 12 Noon. This will be even more necessary over the coming months as those furloughed are at risk of losing their jobs as a result of the economic impact of the virus and pressures on already stretched budgets intensify

Local Election – May 2021

Hello. I’m Rosemary Dartnall, Labour candidate for Column ward – Shrewsbury Town Council and for one of three seats on Shropshire Council representing the residents of Bayston Hill, Sutton and Column in the May 2021 local elections.

My working background includes 32 years in the private sector, as an employee and running my own business. As a mature student I had a wonderful opportunity to return to education, and studied to become a geologist then shared time between research and teaching. My priorities are education and the environment. For me, these two things are linked – I feel they enable us to make the most of what we have in life – fundamentally influencing our ability to improve the lives of all who live in our beautiful town and county, now and in the future.  I’ve always been keenly interested in politics but this is my first attempt to be a Councillor. If successful, I hope my life experience will enable me to be a good representative.

Housing Development

Tony Parsons,  Labour’s representative on the Housing Supervisory Board, was pleased to say that the Council’s first house building project, at Frith Close, Monkmoor was approved in August 2020. This will see affordable housing for purchase and rent be commenced late in 2020 and ready for the first residents in mid 2021.

Weir Hill

Despite attempts to have Stage 2 of this development be considered once more by the Planning Committee on environmental grounds, Planning Officers used delegated powers to approve the stage 2 proposal.

One of the original conditions means that an entrance to the site for construction traffic must be built off London Road by the Emstrey traffic island. This will improve the position on Preston Street, once completed. In the interim I have been in support of local residents in attempting to limit the use of Kingston Drive as a rat run for traffic because of this construction work.

Oteley Road Development – Pub/Restaurant/Hotel

This proposed development was rejected in July 2020 on the grounds of traffic access and overdevelopment of the site. I spoke on this matter because of fears that if a further application for apartments was made on the other part of this site, then emergency vehicles would have great problems in accessing this further development.

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