This morning, following our surgery, Kirsten and I went for a stroll around Hexham Road estate in the sunshine. It was good to be in the open air, talking to constituents and picking up issues. It's something we like to do as often as we can and people really do like to see their local councillors in the area.
The photo above depicts a grass verge on Newcastle Road which we got the Council to protect following problems with cars parking there. This is an ongoing issue on the estate due to lack of adequate parking for residents.
There has been an outbeak of graffiti on the estate, and fly-tipping of bulky waste continues to be a problem. Sadly, some things don't change. I have requested extra bins on Hadrians Walk East. There was a lot of litter in the area, in particular on the alleyway between Newcastle Road and Cintra Park. This path has been a known hot spot for some time, although we have had some success getting additional lighting installed.
People in the area are always really friendly to us (particularly old ladies!) and it was really nice to catch up with various people we hadn't seen for a few months. One elderly lady I spoke to asked if the fence on the front garden could be painted, another asked me to check and see when the Council would be carrying out works to her house to make it easier for her to get in and out in her wheelchair.
One bit of good news was the long-awaited improvements to the security of alley-gates on the estate (see below). This was an issue I campaigned on last year and it's good to see the gates properly secured.
Kirsten and I left with a long list of things to raise with officers, a number of them environmental issues. We are happy to do this as it's all part of our ongoing campaign for a better quality of life for everyone on the estate. This is something we took on after years of neglect of the area by Labour.
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