LOCAL COMMUNITY PROJECTS

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Derby City Council will re-pave footpaths, install new benches, bins, cycle stands, lighting and create car-parking bays and bus stops along London Road as part of the three-phase scheme, which is expected to be completed in 2011. Work on the first phase will concentrate on the section of the centre in London Road, between Raynesway roundabout and Beckitt Close, on the side of the road where Tesco is located. Workers will carry out the second phase before April 2009, on the opposite side of the road.

The final phase will take the improvements beyond the roundabout and could start at the end of 2009 to 2010. Councillor Ranjit Banwait said getting money for the project was one of his priorities when he took on the cabinet role for planning and highways last year. So far, £85,000 has been spent on designing the scheme and carrying out consultations on it, which resulted in the idea of a bus lane being scrapped following feedback from residents.

The first part of the initial phase, which will see new paving installed from the Raynesway roundabout up to Eden Street, will cost about £60,000. Mr Banwait said the detailed costs of the remainder of the work had not yet been finalised and could change over time but he said the council was committed to ensuring money was available in each budget to carry out the work. Traders have welcomed the start date and said they hoped disruption would be kept to a minimum. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Jan/08)

Proposals were drawn up for a new skateboard park and basketball court on the Willowcroft recreation ground following consultation with local youngsters but nearby residents are angry they were not asked for their opinions about the £87,000 Derby City Council scheme at the same time. They claim the development will be an eyesore and could cause noise problems.

Spondon councillor Evonne Berry said, "We're still in consultation about the plans. We leafleted all the neighbours of the park and there was a consultation meeting. A lot of the reasons against the plans have been blamed on kids who might destroy the park. We do have that problem, but I don't want those young people to win. The main objections are to a skateboard park, but it's only going to have a couple of ramps and not going to be big. We're looking at ways to achieve a happy medium."

Funding for the scheme is coming from £62,200 awarded jointly from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, funds handed to the city council by developers, Derby Youth Service and cash set aside by the police to improve youth facilities for the nearby Asterdale estate. A further £25,000 has been made available from the council budget for improvements at Willowcroft recreation ground.

The council received £2.1m from the Government to spend on lights, street furniture, improved access and car parking in Allenton. Traders say the improvements will allow them to compete with large out of town shopping centres. More than £1m is to be spent in Derby improving youth facilities and playgrounds, buying dog-dirt bins, removing litter and improving disability access.

Derby City Council's cabinet approved a wide range of recommendations on how this year's public priority fund should be spent, which came to £1,451,000. Sports walls, skateboard and BMX tracks and a new youth club will be built in the city, at a cost of £150,000, with £204,000 allocated for playground improvements.

A total of £60,000 has been set aside to install 82 dog-dirt bins in parks and replace a further 100 with new and improved dual-type bins, which will cater for dog dirt and normal rubbish. Of this, £36,000 will be spent on emptying the bins. A total of £150,000 will be spent on removing litter and graffiti, and £450,000 will be allocated to footpath and minor highway repairs. And a further £150,000 will be spent on improving disability access to council offices, which brings a total investment in this area to £300,000 for 2004-5.

But Labour councillors Alan Graves, Margaret Redfern and Barbara Jackson claim that the dog bins are being disproportionately targeted at Lib Dem and Tory-controlled wards. Of 82 to be installed, 22 have been allocated for the Allestree ward, where the Tories hold all three seats, while Lib Dem Mickleover and Abbey have been given nine each. Mrs Jackson, member for Boulton ward, is angry that her ward will receive only one new dog dirt bin and Mrs Redfern's Derwent ward will not receive any new dog dirt bins.

Bendall Green Community Voice (BGCV) is opposed to plans to build a sports wall in the Littleover park and has gathered 120 signatures on a petition against the scheme. The proposal by Derby City Council to install the youth facilities is part of a £150,000 scheme, which includes the "teen zone", a sports wall with goalposts and a basketball net, along with a new small children's play area, a footpath, lighting and low fencing.

The council will provide £25,000 of this money and the rest is being raised by Bendall Green Action Group (BGAG), which was set up in 2002 by people concerned at the lack of children's facilities in the area. The BGAG has worked with the city council on the proposed scheme.

Members of the group have said the council has not listened to their concerns and hope that as a group they will be able to make their point more forcefully. City council spokeswoman Carol Mee said, "Results from our consultation show that local teenagers and families asked for teenage facilities. We're now in the process of going through all the results from the consultation before we make a decision."

The Small Change Fund offers grants of up to £3,000 to support activities that help meet gaps in the way services are provided in some areas of the city. Non-profit making groups based in the Normanton regeneration area, Osmaston and Allenton or any of the 12 neighbourhood renewal priority areas can apply for funds. St Bartholomew's Community Initiative in Osmaston was awarded £2,940 to run two after-school workshops for children in Osmaston and Allenton to develop numeracy and literacy skills and a further £2,600 was given to Derby Parenting and Family Group, in Shakespeare Street, Sinfin, to fund a talent competition for 10 to 16-year-olds in the summer holidays. Mediaworks Trust Film Academy, in Normanton Road, Derby, has also received £3,000 to enable young people in Normanton to take part in film production workshops and to produce and screen a community film.

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