PRESENTED BY COUNCIL CHAIRMAN NIGEL CAINE TO STEPHEN HOLT AT THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING ON MONDAY 23rd APRIL 2012.

Perton is a great place to live for many reasons one of which is that we are blessed with local members of the community that respond decisively and effectively when presented with a situation that offers no time to reflect on possible consequences.. One such community minded person is Stephen Holt and we are very pleased to award 'Citizen of the Year' to Stephen in recognition of his valiant intervention in a robbery at Sainsbury's petrol filling station. Chairman Nigel Caine said 'Stephen was selected from the nominations received because it was felt that his intervention in a local serious robbery incident was both selfless and courageous, his action was in the interest of the wider community and in this instance he was required to make a split second decision based on the age old criteria of deciding between right and wrong.'

David Gregory, Manager of the Sainsbury's store at Perton was also in attendance to add his thanks and congratulations to Stephen and said ' In October last year the filling station kiosk had been subject to two separate robberies in one week carried out by the same perpetrators. On the second of these incidents Stephen challenged one of the robbers and put himself at risk and as a result a successful prosecution had followed' David extended a special thank-you to Stephen on behalf of himself, Sainsbury's and especially the ladies in the kiosk.

Congratulations and thanks to Stephen from all at Perton Parish Council.

ALLOTMENT STRATEGY:

For a variety of reasons demand for allotment plots is increasing across South Staffordshire as it is nationwide. Perton Parish Council has no land and therefore an instant local solution is not available. However a way forward is being sought: South Staffordshire District Council intends to prepare and publish a district-wide Allotment Strategy.

An audit of existing and needed facilities is currently underway which will be the first step to finding an appropriate site. Whilst a timescale is not yet forthcoming it would be a useful exercise to know just how much demand exists on Perton. Therefore if you are potentially interested in a future allotment plot please e-mail your contact details to: council@pertonparishcouncil.gov.uk

Click Here to view ALLOTMENT STRATEGY - First Draft for Consultation in PDF format

It is a well known fact that Environmental Crime makes people feel unsafe; graffiti, vandalism, fly posters and litter all contribute to the perception of an unsafe neighbourhood.

Unfortunately, as is often the case, these forms of anti-social behaviour are the acts of the few that impact the many. Whilst the root of these problems is probably a lack of education, discipline and consideration starting within the perpetrators own home the results leave us all feeling somewhat jaded and picking up the bill to repair the damage.

To help alleviate the problem Perton Parish Council have initiated a programme of Bus Shelter refurbishment in conjunction with local company MGD Solutions. MGD are specialists in the field of environmentally friendly solutions to eradicate graffiti, chewing gum and fly posters. On behalf of Perton Parish Council MGD have implemented a quality refurbishment programme at the three worse shelters and have engaged with the local people and schools to increase community surveillance of the shelters. Specialist paint and protective coatings have been used together with a fairly general replacement of the Polycarbonate windows and retaining beadings.

The photo below shows the Bus Shelter on The Parkway at Leasowes Drive prior to the refurbishment.

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Following the transformation by MGD the same shelter now has a new lease of life as shown below.

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Obviously the time, effort and cost for this refurbishment is only worthwhile if these shelters can be kept in good clean condition. We hope that those with a propensity to carry out these attacks of graffiti and vandalism will reconsider their actions before repeating their destructive behaviour.

If you have a comment to make on this project or any items of community interest throughout Perton Parish you can post your comments on this website – just follow the signpost to
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