Progress in Mapperley ward over the last 3½ years
I'd cite as the top 3 achievements -
- the fightback on tackling street prostitution; and the associated support work for victims;
- road safety improvements and transport works; road safety is often the top of residents' concerns on the doorsteps and over the years, we've implemented a lot of measures; most recent work has been on Mansfield Road, Woodborough Road and Porchester Road; construction of a significant road safety scheme for the northern half of The Wells Road has begun and a further refuge is planned for Mapperley Road;
- "MyBus"; a demand responsive bus service that can collect people from the door, serving homes between Sherwood and Mapperley Plains shopping centres; particularly helpful for older people and the less mobile; carries over 2,000 passengers a month;
Other progress includes –
- improved school results, in often improved and / or more secure premises; Elliott Durham posted its best ever results in August 2006; one value-added measure places the school in the top 27% of all secondary schools;
- the extra support for parents with young children (Sure Start); a new children’s centrehas been built & opened at Walter Halls school;
- Mapperley Sports Village; a new sports hall, with a fitness suite, also serving the very popular all-weather pitches; with repaired lighting for Ransom Drive;
- the introduction of housing patch managers, a dedicated doorstep service taking on the range of housing management functions; had a particular impact on Pearmain Drive estate (esp. sorting out an ASB family); most of the estate has also had new fencing and improvements to the windows & exterior walls (the estate is to be finished over the next few years);
- campaigning against Millennium planning application; Tories have since complained that it wasn't a serious proposal & just ventured for a planning gain; we were pleased to support the residents’ view on this application and help people object effectively; we've also supported the development of a Management Plan for the Mapperley Park and Alexandra Park Conservation Area;
- introduction of the brown bins (for collection of sorted waste for dedicated re-use); the Friday Mapperley round is now collecting over 47% of waste for re-use and the Friday Mapperley Park round is collecting over 45%;
- tree pruning, especially in Mapperley Park; the demand is still huge but tree pruning other than for emergencies was stopped during the years of the Tory Gov’t;
- Nottingham in Bloom continues to grow - extended to include displays along Woodborough Road and in Mapperley Park; and huge investments lined up for the allotments;
- better parks - improvements at Coppice Grove Recreation Ground including new fencing and gating, cleaning, clearing trees and undergrowth;
- cleaner streets - less occurrence of dirty streets in Mapperley ward, although we still have problems in certain streets, for which extra bins have now been installed; public satisfaction with cleanliness of local streets was surveyed at 86% for Mapperley and Sherwood wards;
- lower crime, lower fear of crime and higher levels of confidence in local neighbourhoods; although such progress is undermined by national press coverage prompted by badly researched league tables; CCTV for the Kildare Road estate; more gating and fencing; regular community safety (panel) meetings;
- lots of repairs to pavements and lights, graffiti removed and tipping cleared; many such jobs done as a result of hundreds of reports submitted by local Labour Councillors;
- more pavements refurbished, including the Springwood Gardens estate;
General progress, more usually the result of progress by the Labour City Council and the Labour Government, includes -
- a number of derelict sites now developed for housing and causing less problems;
- modern buses, new bus shelters, easier access for our buses when getting into town;
- more help for older people, including the free City Card, more support for living at home longer and the most needy;
- more people in work; people better off; more help for the most needy (including a much improved Housing Benefits service);
- better health, longer living, shorter waiting time for operations;
Finally, Mo has represented the city as Lord Mayor and been a great ambassador for the city; it was a pleasure to support his work.
We know there is more to do. Make more progress on tackling crime, help people out of dependency, improve housing management further and release more investment for the council houses, improve educational attainment for the most challenged communities.
But a lot has been done.
[Last updated 2006-12-23]
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