A week in the life of a councillor - a very personal view

It’s been brought to my attention that another councillor is castigating me for not attending meetings earlier this week, saying that he’s sure people expect their councillors to attend meetings.  All I can say is that meetings are only valuable if we learn something or contribute something to them.

As a council group leader I attend a lot of briefing sessions with senior officers and pass on the information to my group.  At those briefings I can raise the questions that I want to, get answers and discuss them in some detail.  I don’t find it productive to sit through the same briefing being given for other councillors.  I do find it productive to respond to the phone calls and emails from residents with real concerns about their day to day life, and to go out and knock on doors to see whether those concerns are shared by many others.

As it happens, over the past week I've had meetings about transport, about the local library, about inconsiderate parking, about the changes to the electoral registration system which will have a huge impact over the next 3 years, about what’s happening in the surrounding area including the crime figures but also road safety concerns and the problems of the youth & community centre in a neighbouring village, discussions on the impact of some of the savings identified in the Cabinet recommendation on the budget for Stockton Council and whether to oppose any of them or suggest alternatives, plans for the summer event being organised jointly by the parish council and the Egglescliffe Area Residents Association, discussions on the impact of storm surges on sewers that are already at or near capacity, and more.

But much more importantly, in my opinion if not in the opposition councillor’s opinion, I’ve sat with a very frightened, sick relative, holding her hand and trying to bring a little comfort.  I’ve had meetings with health staff and carers.  None of this is a part of being a councillor, but it’s a part of being me.  And I hope it helps me to understand when someone else needs to be somewhere other than where I might have expected them to be.  It certainly helps me to understand when residents contact me with problems relating to sickness and disability.

And now, having said all that, I shall get on with chasing up the repair to the broken manhole, the two consultations that need to be carried out in parts of the ward and following up the problems with disability living allowance for a resident without family to help her.  All in a day's work for a councillor and not a formal meeting to be seen there.

Egglescliffe Library

Last night’s meeting of Stockton Council's cabinet approved the cuts in Library services that we’ve been expecting.  For the next 12 months or so Egglescliffe will be guaranteed at least 17 hours a week of opening.  That’s a reduction of 50% on our present opening hours, but at least there’s still a library.  It’s a sign of changing times that many people prefer to read from electronic gadgets rather than paper books, and those who like paper books often find that picking up a paper-back in the supermarket is preferable to a special trip to the library.

Egglescliffe library doesn’t have enough people using it for the amount it costs to run and maintain the building.  We’re in the situation of having a sizeable share of our population which uses cars to go most places, and perhaps Yarm or Stockton library is more convenient for them.  But we also have a significant number of older, less mobile people and young children for whom a trip to the Library at Egglescliffe is a lifeline.  

Stockton Council would like to cut their costs by finding a more suitable location.  Perhaps if they’d thought ahead they could have included a newer build on the new Junction Farm School extension but it’s too late for that now.  They had their sights set on the Allen’s West development but that’s at least 10 years away if it’s ever built.  

Meanwhile, use it or lose it is the catch phrase. 

Area Transport Strategy

Twice a year a group meets with the rather grand title of Western Area Transport Strategy Steering Group.  It's made up of representatives from Preston, Eaglescliffe, Yarm, Kirklevington, Long Newton and surrounding areas - elected ward councillors, parish councillors, police and residents' groups.  At the first meetings some years ago the participants were asked to set some priorities for travel and transport in the area.  Each year Stockton Council allocates a budget to it and the money can be spent on any projects which will help towards those priorities.  Perhaps not surprisingly, road safety and the movement of HGVs through Yarm and Eaglescliffe have been high on the list for years.
Tonight's meeting allocated almost £45k - some to studies in order to see what if anything can be done to improve safety on Yarm Rd and the A67, mostly in Eaglescliffe but also in Western Parishes ward and a little in Yarm; a look at Long Newton lane to see what can be done to try to keep it as safe as possible bearing in mind the increasing amount of traffic likely to flow along there when new housing is built in Eaglescliffe; consultation on and possible installation of traffic calming in Muirfield Rd; the possibility of closure of a little used and poorly maintained road in Kirklevington parish, and a contribution towards a major scheme to help pedestrian access to Levendale School in Yarm.
Unlike some areas of the borough our budget was adequate for our needs, so there was no haggling needed, no arguments over who should have what in their ward.  As always in the Western Area meetings party politics seem to be left at the door and people in the room are willing to listen carefully, share ideas and support schemes in parts of the area they don't know or have any personal interest in.  Long may it continue so!
We also made a little list of things that need to be looked at and tackled outside of this budget - Network Rail to paint a fence at Allen's West, Vehicle activated signs to be serviced or replaced as their useful life draws to a close, and a bollard to stop inconsiderate parking.
In the autumn we will reconvene and hear more detail of some of the schemes, progress reports and decisions that might have to be taken in the light of the work being done between now and then.
If only all meetings were as productive as that.

Margaret Thatcher - a personal view

It has taken me some time to write anything about the life or death of Mrs Thatcher since her death was announced last week.  Unlike many who have spoken loudly in praise or condemnation I lived through her premiership.  I saw at first hand the changes that took place and I wept at some of them.

I cringed on the day she first entered 10 Downing St as its rightful occupier when she quoted the prayer of St Francis, not because the prayer doesn’t contain laudable sentiments, but because it sounded as though she saw herself as some kind of messianic figure who was going to bring peace and harmony to a disturbed world.  A bit of humility at the size of the task in hand would have been more to my liking.

I wept when privatisation of one national utility after another was carried out.  I could not then, and cannot now, understand why making a profit for shareholders should automatically make a body more efficient.  I am convinced that with the right approach and the right people in place it should be possible to run state-controlled industries efficiently but with the best interests of the country at heart.  Now we’re in a position where no ordinary person knows quite where our electricity, water, gas come from nor who controls our transport; where fragmentation rather than co-ordination seems to be the order of the day and where global shareholders are more important than the British citizens who need and use the utilities.

I didn’t like the way that the right to buy a council house was introduced, with no corresponding mechanism for building replacements.  The legacy of that is all around us now, with property owning seen as the only real way to have a home, and affordability a joke in wards like Eaglescliffe.

I hated the confrontational attitude to the rest of Europe, and I’m still not convinced that the lives lost in the Falklands war were in any way justified.  Sure, the residents of the Falklands might not have enjoyed being under Argentinian rule but were they really at serious risk of death or torture?

So at the end of her life what do I feel?  To be honest, not a lot.  It’s a long time since she was Prime Minister.  Her legacy isn’t changed by her death.  Living out her last months in an expensive hotel room seems a sad reflection of her life - no such thing as society?  Yes there is, but it seems that in death as in much of her public life she wasn’t part of it.

Wheeled sports at Preston Park

The first consultation with probable users of the proposed skate park was today.  For the first time this month the weather was spring like, which was just as well considering the amount of kit set up outside and the number of people of all ages watching the demonstrations.  Lots of young people tried out the jumps themselves, at times perhaps surprising themselves at what they could achieve.

It's about 20 years since I first became aware of a desire in Eaglescliffe for such a place, and it's taken a long time and a lot of personnel changes at Stockton Council for it to be taken seriously.  For too long we were told that skate boarding or BMX was only a passing fad.  Patience is a virtue we're told.  We've certainly been able to practice!

The skills that these young people demonstrated today have to be seen to be believed - not just amazing physical strength, courage and coordination but sharing, cooperation, courtesy, helping those less skilled.  All really useful skills for life.  As one mum of 4 young boys said, it's so much better for them than spending all day with computer games.

And one 80 year old said she wished they had something like that where she lives because she so much enjoyed watching them.
The next stage is to get some proposed designs from skate park builders and to let people see them and comment on them, before one is chosen and the building starts.  This time next year we'll be looking forward to the opening.

The Shape of Schools to come

Yesterday I was one of a group of councillors taken on a tour of the new North Shore Academy.  The school holds a particular interest for me, not just as the first completely newly built secondary school in the borough for a number of years, but also because one of the schools which closed to form the new academy was the one at which my husband had been among the first to gain his school leaving certificate shortly after it opened as Roseworth Secondary Modern School.

Main hall & dining space

Something like 40 years later the old school has seen its last pupils.  The furniture is being moved into the new building and after an extended Easter break of 3 weeks the staff and pupils will follow it.

Gym, with mirror wall

School design has come a long way in 40 years.  This school has no hidden corners where errant pupils can avoid supervision.  I has a huge ground source heat pump to warm the building via radiators in winter and a large array of photovoltaic cells on the sports hall roof to provide some of the electricity needed.  Although the school is very well insulated and will not need a lot of gas to top up the heating it will need a great deal of electrical power to feed all the computers and other technology.  Every teaching space has the facility for using laptops or desktop computers.  White boards are screened from the sun so that they can be better seen.  CCTV watches staircases and open spaces even when teachers are otherwise engaged.  There are big open areas as well as individual classrooms so that staff can choose the best environment for the kind of lessons they are teaching.  There's a wonderful technology suite with up to the minute woodworking tools and machines.  There's drama space and a recording studio, a music suite and comfy dining area.  Certainly people can't blame the building if teaching and learning doesn't happen.
Adjoining the school is MyPlace, the youth and community centre for the borough.  People using that area during the day are securely locked out of the school, but the school can use parts of it and securely lock out the public.  In fact it's hard to tell which parts of the building are for community use and which are solely for the school's use.
I'll be interested to go back in 2 or 3 years' time to see how the spaces are actually being used, as opposed to how the architects think they'll be used.

National Apprenticeship Week

More than 2600 people were on an apprenticeship last year in Stockton-on-Tees thanks to the Liberal Democrats in government. That is a huge increase of 111% compared to the last year of Labour’s government.

These figures are a big boost for apprenticeships and young people in our borough which comes as National Apprenticeship Week is underway, aiming to raise awareness and celebrate the successes of the apprenticeship scheme.

Apprenticeships are a brilliant way for young people to learn the skills and get the experience necessary for a successful career but successive recent governments have pushed university education at the expense of apprenticeships.

Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government have promoted and invested heavily in apprenticeships because they are one of the most effective ways of helping young people get jobs. Apprenticeships also allow us to build a stronger economy, with a highly-skilled and flexible workforce.

Apprenticeships rely on employers making opportunities available.  Where they do, as in Nifco, the company benefits as well as the young person.  Someone who serves an apprenticeship doesn’t just know the theory of the job but understands how to put it into practice in that workplace.

National Apprenticeship Week is another opportunity to celebrate the success of our apprentices and for businesses to see how valuable apprentices can be to them.