Illegal parking on Wade Street

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. For me, this picture speaks only two: miserable failure.

It shows ten (yes, ten) vehicles all double parked and sat on double yellow lines. No APCOA tickets were present on any of them and that shiny looking police car you see driving through the middle of them subsequently drove straight past and into the station, completely ignoring the mass flouting of traffic laws.

The APCOA scheme has been introduced to crack down on problem parkers. As Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for road safety said when launching the Clear Streets scheme which saw the introduction of the wardens:

“No-one likes to get a parking ticket but the majority of people do understand that we can’t have a parking free for all. We have to have regulation to protect public safety. Yellow lines are there for a reason. Poor parking can kill.”

Given this shocking example of a complete failure to reign in illegal parkers can we really believe that the introduction of APCOA will really change anything? Situations like this certainly don’t inspire confidence.

Lichfield Needlecraft Centre

The store, on Tamworth Street, sold embroidery items as well as carrying out sewing machine repairs.

A note on the door of the premises pointed visitors to insolvency experts Irwin & Co of Sutton Coldfield and added:

Due to circumstances beyond our control, this shop is now closed.

The Woolworths store in Lichfield. Pic: Rachel Groves

The future of the site has been clouded in mystery ever since the demise of Woolworths, but despite reported interest from the likes of Primark, there have been no concrete plans laid out for the store.

But is it any surprise? After all, any potential new tenants would be relatively short-term given that the premises and the surrounding area are set to be redeveloped once the Friarsgate development finally sees the light of day.

In the current climate there aren’t likely to be many companies wanting to invest money in a store which is already a dead duck.

And if the redevelopment wasn’t enough to put potential tenants off, the potential of Friarsgate to draw shoppers away from that area of the city would shorten the store’s shelf-life even more.

Comments made by Councillor John Walker to the Express & Star hit the nail on the head as he calls for the Woolworths area to be redeveloped before Friarsgate, rather than after. He told the newspaper:

“When the Friarsgate opens up it will affect the lower part of the town and if we don’t move now, then they’ll be left high and dry.”

Quite right too. Yes, the city needs a long-term plan, but surely the short-term should see us sorting out the problems we already havewith empty premises rather than planning to add even more retail units?

Rev Patrick Comerford

It’s often difficult to judge somewhere that’s right on your doorstep and that’s definitely the case with Lichfield.

There’s so much to complain about (as readers of this here blog will know!), but it’s easy to forget why so many visitors make the journey to the city every year.

One such person is Rev Patrick Comerford, a former writer at the Lichfield Mercury, who now runs his own blog from his base in Ireland.

It turns out he’s been back to Lichfield recently and has put together a great introduction to the city, as well as highlighting why it has such a special meaning to him.

Rev Patrick told The Lichfield Blog:

“It was wonderful to return to Lichfield for a few days last week. Although my family connections with Lichfield are dim and distant, and it’s many years since I lived or worked in the city, it remains home from home and I love being able to get back two or three times a year.”

The Lichfield Mercury

The regional newspaper industry has been hit hard over recent years, with advertising on the slide and cuts being made left, right and centre.

And now the Daily Mail and General Trust have announced that they expect around 1,000 people to leave the company over the next 12 months at their regional arm Northcliffe. That’s double the number predicted back in November last year, although they have claimed that many of that number have already left the company.

As Northcliffe own the Lichfield Mercury series, we can only hope that this news doesn’t impact too heavily on a newspaper which has managed to keep producing a decent product despite the turbulent market conditions.

Given that the Mercury has the still-lucrative property advertising market sewn up in Lichfield, it would surely be self-defeating for them to drive the editorial quality of the product down and jeopardise this position. But as a former regional journalist, common sense rarely seems to have any bearing on the thought process when it comes to this sort of news.

The usual line that’s trotted out whenever newspapers make cutbacks in staff is that businesses are being streamlined to meet the demands of a new digital media world. But regardless of what processes you put in place, newspapers still need news – and the only way to get the good stuff is to put bodies on the ground.

The last thing Lichfield needs is for the Mercury to become nothing but a press release re-hashing factory like so many other regional newspapers have.

The report has been used to highlight the way the current financial downturn has hit hard in places not usually noted for their unemployment rates.

However, the report also notes that the areas mentioned – which include Aldridge and Sutton Coldfield – have lower numbers of unemployed in total. But nevertheless, it’s still a worrying figure.

It’s not difficult to see first hand that the financial downturn is biting hard even in ‘leafy Lichfield’ and this report is further confirmation of that. You only have to have a wander through the city centre to see the number of shops closing and the fewer people in those that are left than usual.

Let’s just hope that Lichfield can sail through these turbulent waters without too many residents falling overboard.

Pic:bucklava

I know, another post about rubbish but trust me, it’s worth it.

I watched this video that Lichfield District Council put out on Twitter the other day. It’s by Greenstar, the company (presumably) behind Lichfield’s waste management.

One thing that Greenstar talk about in the video is their ability to take all recyclable waste in the same container, saving time sorting the waste at source (i.e. you and me at home). So why is it that Lichfield District Council are asking us to separate our waste at home?

I’m gonna take a leap of faith and say that no-one enjoys sorting their plastics from the papers or even trying to figure out what’s recyclable or not. Granted, that sheet that the council sent out a couple of months back helps but honestly, that’s just more work everytime there’s a new piece of used packaging in need of a ‘green’ home.

So why not make our lives easier and just collect it all in one go. Greenstar can use their ‘advanced sorting technology’ to sort it out. That’d probably increase the likelihood that we’ll actually be bothered to recycle, too!

What do you think, am I just trying to be too lazy or should the council ease the burden of recycling on residents?

We’ve heard a lot about what these wardens are and aren’t going to do, but there have only been a handful of sightings of them on the streets – and those we have been told about have been in quite a small area, leading us to launch our APCOA Parking Warden Watch which you can scroll around by clicking on the map and dragging:

View Lichfield’s traffic wardens in a larger map

As you can see we’ve already got plenty of sightings of these rare beasts in the wild and now we want to see if we can fill our map with them.

So if you’ve seen one, let us know about it and we’ll keep you updated with the latest whereabouts of the APCOA wardens.

A Mr Neil Morton (a quick Googling threw up an Architectural firm but nothing more) has applied to Lichfield District Council to convert an empty shop front on Wade Street into a wine bar and restaurant.

The application is for a simple change of use so I’m guessing it’s the empty furniture shop next to the late Couch Potato.

The agent involved, GMP Designs, specialises in bars and nightclubs so expect the end product to be an up-market Apres-style digs for the Yuppies of Lichfield.

I know what to expect in the comments but, what do you think about having another bar in Lichfield? Do you think there’s the market for it in the ‘current climate’? Do you dislike the increasing trend towards shops closing to be re-opened as bars and restaurants?

Of course, you can always comment on the application on the Lichfield DC web site.

Ian Astles

A warm welcome to Lichfield’s newest firefighter Ian Astles.

Ian has passed the nine-week phase one stage of the Firefighter Development programme. As part of his training he has acquired the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding in core skills, breathing apparatus, hazardous materials diversity and traffic collisions.

Following his arrival at Lichfield earlier this week, Ian said:

“What first attracted me to joining the Fire Service was how varied and dynamic the role of a Firefighter was. I wanted a job that could be extremely challenging and rewarding. Although the training course was physically and mentally demanding I really enjoyed it. It was very hard at times, with a lot to take in, however it’s all worth it now I’m here on station. Everyone has made me feel really welcome and I’m happy to be part of such a well experience team.”