The Holiday is Over

The paucity of postings in the past few weeks is indicative of the fact that I've dared to take a holiday! Thanks as always to my fellow councillor, John Fletcher, for keeping up the work in the ward while Alan Lewis and I took time off.
Obviously it's not something to advertise in advance, so apologies to those of you who might have tried to contact me during August. I did pick up some of the emails and Facebook messages while away but didn't work every day, spending much more time enjoying the company of our family on the other side of the world. Getting to know our grandson was far more important than anything happening in Eaglescliffe!
And now it's back to the relative warmth of a British Bank Holiday weekend, though the rain did seem to follow us home.
The rain which in other circumstances might have spoiled a holiday was a very welcome and necessary "weather event" for the local population - the end of a 10 year drought is worthy of celebration. It's hard here in the North East of England to imagine living through a drought, thanks to Keilder Water, but in Melbourne they've had 10 years of lower than needed rainfall. No washing of cars, severe restrictions on watering the garden, taking a shower in 4 minutes flat, no charcoal barbecues, are just some of the privations which have been suffered. Next month for the first time in 10 years, washing of cars will be allowed outside of automatic car washes which only use recycled (grey) water. Hose pipes will no doubt be popular purchases once again!
One issue which was raised while I was away was the appearance of a crane and various other pieces of equipment in Preston Park. The rumour mill started immediately but we have had it confirmed that the equipment is related to the construction of the new jetty and nothing at all to do with bridges, schools or any of the other things imagined by residents.
I've spent most of the day opening post and reading emails, so hope to catch up on responses over the next week.