Holidays are a time for refreshment and recreation, and my last week was no exception. We travelled to Jamaica, somewhere we never thought we'd see, for a family wedding. During our stay I heard at first hand about the devastating effect of American powdered milk being dumped on the market (Jamaican dairy industry largely destroyed), the effect of the drop in sugar cane sales as more countries have learned to produce sugar from beet and the indomitable Jamaican spirit finding new ways to build the economy. Tourism is now the biggest industry, which is frightening when you consider how fickle it is. I enjoyed the company of the Jamaicans I met and realised just how proud of their country they are, 6 years after independence was won. National and local heroes are celebrated everywhere and the pride and interest in local government has lessons for us. People know just who to blame because the roads are full of potholes in places! It seemed at times as though I was here in Eaglescliffe. However, we don't get quite such stunning scenery around Eaglescliffe I'm afraid.
Although we were staying with the wedding party in a coastal resort I took every opportunity I could to get out and see some of the "real" country, including a horse ride up in the mountains through the rainforest. I declined the many offers of "smoke" or "a visit to Charlie" - I can honestly say that I don't even feel tempted by such things.
Coming home was a gentle let down, as John Fletcher had done such sterling work in the ward in my absence that nothing seemed to need urgent attention. I found that the amended plans for 502-506 Yarm Rd had been passed, as were those for the refurbishment of Splash in Stockton town centre.
Our plans for planting on Larch Crescent are at last near to being implemented but it's irritating that they've taken so long when we've known for at least 2 months what we wanted to do there. It means that the residents around there have had to put up with a further 6 week school holiday with inappropriate ball games taking place there.
We've now been told that there's likely to be a shortage of bulbs to plant for next spring so if we want to get more colour round the ward next spring we need to get our order in quickly. Any residents reading this and wanting to suggest somewhere for spring bulb beds you need to get in touch quickly.

Having taken the weekend off to spend with family, including our new grand-daughter, today was back to work with a vengeance. The morning started with a meeting about what the Environment Committee should review next and decided after some debate that problems of dog fouling should be looked into. It's one of the topics on which councillors get a lot of complaints and it won't be easy to come up with any sure ways of improving things but we'll try.
I discovered last week that the spam filter used by the Council's IT system has occasionally trapped items which are genuine e-mails, not spam at all. Today I found out that one which had been copied to me but not reached me had also not reached the intended recipient. As a result no action had been taken on something which was fairly urgent and the resident concerned had no idea that we didn't know about it. So if you've sent anything in the last couple of weeks and not had a response don't hesitate to resend it. The IT department are looking into the problem now.
The planning application for 502 Yarm Rd (ex MPG petrol station) has been resubmitted with revisions to address some of the issues raised at committee last month. They will be considered at the committee, next Wednesday. Unfortunately a fault on the planning website has meant that I haven't been able to look at them!

Fairtrade needed more than ever

I'm saddened but not surprised to hear that the Geneva talks on World Trade have ended without an agreement. Europe and the USA simply refuse to acknowledge that our subsidies to farmers produce agricultural products at a price with which poor farmers in developing countries can't compete. All that China, India and other developing economies ask is Fair trade on a level playing field. They wanted to be able to protect their farmers too. But that couldn't be allowed could it!
At least for the thousands of producers around the world who are selling under the Fairtrade mark there is hope. They know they have a future. Unfortunately their neighbours may not be so fortunate. So don't just read this, make sure that you look for the Fairtrade mark when shopping and ask when you can't find it. It's the only deal in town at the moment for the poor producers of the world. We can make the difference with a little bit of effort.

Partnerships

I spent a substantial part of today in meetings of partnerships, discussing health, well-being (and how to define it!), some new ideas on regenerating the Tees Valley, and more on the exciting developments for play which I heard about last week. Perhaps the most worrying part of the whole day was hearing that the Primary Care Trust will no longer have any role in providing health care, but will spend all its time and energy commissioning such care from other providers such as GPs, dentists and hospitals. So the wheel turns full circle and procurement and delivery are separated. We just have to wait and see if this latest big idea for the NHS actually gives any better service than at present.
One ray of sunshine in all the meetings was the discovery that the PCT is now serving Fairtrade coffee and tea in all its offices - more producers will be able to send children to school, develop their farms and take control of their own lives to a greater extent thanks to that decision so well done all concerned.

The World comes to Billingham

Today the 44th Billingham International Folklore Festival opened under a glorious blue sky in Billingham Town Centre. The formal opening was preceded by a lunch for representatives of Stockton Council, the Festival organisers and sponsors and the performers. I was fortunate to be one of the council representatives and shared a table with representatives of the German group. This group comes from a village in Saxony and exists to preserve the culture of the Sorbian minority in that area. They give up a week of their holiday each year to attend a festival of folk music and dance somewhere. Their language is related to Czech and Slovakian but they also speak German. In school they learn English, though prior to the fall of the Berlin wall they learned Russian. I was interested to learn that whereas we keep alive the tradition of maypole dancing they have a tradition of maypole tossing!
The opening was performed by the principal of Stockton Riverside College who was keen to tell us about the exciting developments in Billingham to rebuild Bede College and maintain the 6th form provision there through their joint venture. The colleges have long been supportive of the festival and it was good to hear that the support will continue.
There were some unusual acts to watch in the opening concert, including a group of Renaissance Flag Throwers from near Rome (watch a little of their performance on the video clip) and the Sri Lankan drummers who seemed to be very young to perform with such aplomb. They're giving a workshop tomorrow morning in the town centre for children - a really good opportunity to share in the culture of one of the visiting groups. I almost wish I were a child again! When we lived in Billingham Town Centre many years ago it was a real joy to see the little performances which the groups would give at odd times of the day. It made the festival feel very much part of the town.

Glasgow East and all that

A week or more ago the Stockton South Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate, Jaquie Bell, said that she thought the SNP were on track to take Glasgow East from Labour. This wasn't a newspaper pundit looking at statistics, but someone who'd just spent several hours walking the streets delivering Liberal Democrat leaflets. In the early hours of this morning she was proved right. A sliver of a majority, but one less Labour MP in Westminster. I don't suppose many Labour supporters this morning are feeling uplifted by the beautiful sunshine streaming through the windows.
Back here in Eaglescliffe the schools have all closed now for the summer break. No doubt we'll see an increase in the number of complaints about ball games, trespassing and so on from some adults. Equally, there'll be complaints from some young people about the way grown ups talk to them and treat them. All I'll say here is: Please remember that we all have to share the streets. Good manners and tolerance on all sides help us to do that more happily.

Wine, Plans and Markets

That odd mix describes today's meeting round. First up was a planning session for the Fairtrade Wine tasting which is being planned for October 17th - put the date in your diary now if you're within reach of Stockton on that evening. There'll be lovely Fairtrade wines to taste, some nibbles to snack on and fun all round.
This afternoon the planning committee had to decide on a number of applications, including the Allen's West outline application. The report from the Planning Officer was heavy going and then there were presentations by the applicant and some of the objectors followed by a lengthy debate. Today's application was solely for the means of access and the principle of mixed development, neither of which was contentious. The problems arise with the indicative master plan for the housing, and the height of the buildings fronting onto Durham Lane, the distance of the SW corner of the site from the road - evidenced by the plan to put a cycle store at the bus stop!, and the traffic impact. Sadly, this is another example of the developer being able to demonstrate on a computer model something that goes against everyone's gut feeling and local knowledge. But we know from previous appeals that the inspector will only look at the computer modelling. Reluctantly I felt I had no choice but to support the outline application while making it very plain that I did not regard the SW corner housing nor the 15m high flats on Durham Lane as acceptable for the future reserved matters application.
We had an interesting application outside of this ward, which eventually was refused. The applicant wanted to put up small studio flats in an area which allowed them to be relatively low cost starter homes. The design was modern and completely different to the 1930s housing on the other side of the road, but as it was replacing a horrible old commercial building with no architectural merit at all I thought the modern ones were an innovative solution. I actually thought it might regenerate the area a bit and bring some younger people into it. However the majority of the committee disagreed and felt that it was out of keeping with the area so the applicant is faced with either an appeal or a redesign.
Fortunately the Markets Forum was pretty positive. At last the issues around the Christmas Festival and the Stockton Riverside Festival seem to have been resolved and things are progressing more smoothly. I just hope that it continues that way.

Building Schools for the Future in Eaglescliffe

The long slow process of BSF grinds on, with the next stage going before Stockton Council's Cabinet tonight. Residents of Eaglescliffe will know that I'm often critical of how the council consults residents, often seeming to treat consultation very superficially. This consultation has been different. Many changes have been made to the proposals after residents across the Borough voiced their concerns, worries and objections. For Egglescliffe school the big positive is the fact that the 6th form will stay with the 11-16 section of the school, continuing that special character which is a part of an 11-18 school. The staff, parents and governors are happy about that. The other change is that the school will shrink slightly in size because the school at Ingleby Barwick will expand to reduce the number of pupils needing to travel off the estate. That will reduce the associated traffic problems. However, there are still concerns around the new site - what about the pylons at one end of the site? What will happen to the present site? It has now been identified as a potential housing site though the school and many residents think it's needed for sporting facilities. I raised this at Cabinet tonight and I've been promised a full answer on how much land is needed for playing fields, tennis courts and the like. Unfortunately, the bureaucratic process of such documents means they grind on while such questions are asked and answered.
Recycling revolution: Cabinet tonight approved the action plan for implementation of the new recycling and waste management arrangements, following the review I chaired earlie in the year. Cardboard and Plastic recycling will start with those areas which undertook the trial and then be rolled out to other areas in 2 stages, with everyone having the extra collection by October 2009. At the same time as the extra recycling is introduced the collection of side waste will cease. It will be a few days before ward councillors find out which roads will be included in each stage so if you're impatiently waiting for the cardboard to be collected please be patient for a while longer.

The Mayor Strides out

Today was the first day of the Mayor's sponsored walk, raising funds for his charities (Daisy Chain and Justice First) by walking the Teesdale Way from one side of the Borough to the other. It dawned bright and clear but turned to rain in the afternoon. The walkers were undeterred however, and can be seen here emerging onto the worst part of the walk - the bit that goes through a housing estate up to the main road Preston Park because the Golf Course is out of bounds to hikers. A last minute hitch had prevented my joining them, so I walked a couple of hundred metres to film them instead. Despite the rain they looked very cheery, and John even took his coat off so that his Mayoral chain T-shirt could be seen. Now that's real dedication. He was supported by River Tees Ranger Bob Campbell, leading the way and ensuring that no-one got lost or left behind.
Tomorrow they walk from Preston Park to Stockton and then to the Middlesbrough boundary so if you want to join them turn up, equipped with good footwear, waterproofs and a picnic for lunch at Preston Hall at 10 a.m.
The life of the ward goes on and new planning applications include one for the erection of a new clubhouse and changing facilities for Preston Cricket Club and Yarm Rugby Club, following the fire earlier in the year. They're also going to install CCTV so perhaps that'll help to deter vandals in the future. The club has had more than its fair share of problems in the past.
It's good to see the new footway at last going in on The Avenue outside the McCarthy and Stone development. They really did leave it to the last minute, with the first residents due to move in very soon.

Climate Change and Other Things

I heard a snatch of a radio programme that I don't usually listen to today and found myself laughing aloud. The comedian said (not a verbatim quote so forgive me if you heard the original) "We've put so much effort into causing global warming and what do we get? Cold, wet miserable July". He went on to suggest that we all find another appliance to turn on and warm the world up a bit more! Warped humour, I know, but it suited my mood at the time. I'd managed to find a little dry slot to go out and pick the raspberries which desperately needed to be picked but my legs were wet and cold from the wet foliage rubbing on them. On days like this it's good to remember that global warming doesn't turn us into Stockton on the Riviera, but has disastrous consequences for some of those who can least cope with them. Our wet miserable July is a small problem in comparison.
Today the formal letter came out giving notice of when the appeal will be heard against the refusal of permission for 14 apartments at 690 Yarm Rd. The hearing will take place at 10:00 on 27th August at Stockton Town Hall. I hope for the sake of the residents of the road behind the site that we win the appeal. I'll certainly do my best on the day.

Catching up

A day with only one meeting was the un-looked for bonus of the strike by some council staff. Several meetings were cancelled and so there was a chance to catch up on some phone calls and emails as well as doing a little of the filing and reading which has piled up over recent weeks.
The one meeting which did take place was of a small group of school governors who meet about once a term to discuss innovations in school governance, future training events and to share ideas on how to encourage more people to become governors and to be active and confident in the role. It was interesting to hear the views of some other school governors on the changes taking place in Stockton Council over the next couple of months. After a period of relative stability there is to be a new Chief Executive, a new Corporate Director of Children's services, a new Chief Adviser for schools and several other changes in areas which have an effect on our schools and children's services. Exciting and challenging times ahead as we all strive to ensure that our priorities are put in front of the new management team.

I had a very interesting conversation with a local stamp collector today who told me that there is an increasing problem for stamp collectors with modern post offices. The post office likes to use sticky labels showing the postage paid rather than sticking stamps on parcels and letters, so increasingly he finds them reluctant to sell an entire sheet of stamps to him. It seems to be part of the drive to efficiency over personal service everywhere and the world is poorer for it.
The Fairtrade Borough Group met at lunch time and as usual we all want to do far more than we have the resources to achieve. Oh for more people with the time to commit to spreading the word. We will have our stall at a Family Fun Day in Thornaby later in the month, as well as a wine tasting event later in the year, but we could do so much more with more time and hands.
The council papers that awaited me at home brought me back to earth with a bump - the agenda for next week's planning committee includes the Allen's West development with a recommendation for approval. I need to read the report very thoroughly before Wednesday afternoon. There are lots of suggested conditions in there and if the application is passed those conditions will be vital to keep the impact on current residents as low as possible.
This application highlights the big problem with planning - it's not really planning but reacting to other people's plans. For the council to have make plans for housing or employment or leisure developments takes 3 years of consultation and refinement and reconsultation, but developers can put in their plans at any time and within 3 months the council has to decide what to do about it (less time if it's a smaller application). Residents and councillors find that very frustrating and I know that some planning officers do too.

A Week's A Long Time

And it's been a very long week for me indeed. Our second grand-child's arrival in the big wide world took a bit longer than we'd expected at the beginning of the week and I've seen rather more of the national road network than I'd hoped. But all's well that ends well and she's a beautiful baby (of course!) Many, many thanks to the rest of the Liberal Democrat group for keeping things going so well in my absence.
As some may have read elsewhere a large part of the council meeting on Wednesday evening was taken up with the debate on councillors' allowances. This is a very thorny issue and no-one is ever completely happy with how it's handled. The role of a councillor has changed hugely over the last 25 years, with more and more responsibility for major decisions, needing more and more training. And that's on top of the things which are always there and important to the residents who elect us, like trying to keep the streeets safe, clean and tidy. Years ago I knew councillors who could do the job in their spare time while working full time and fulfilling family responsibilities. This is becoming less common now. People find they need to take time off work for meetings but employers are less willing or able to pay them for the time off. People find that they can't get promotion at work because of the time taken up by council work. Many councillors only stand for election after retirement when they feel they've got time.
The whole process of establishing what Stockton Council's allowances should be for the next 3 years started last year and finally reached a conclusion on Wednesday. A big increase, yes, phased in over 3 years. So it costs the taxpayers less than the Independent Panel's recommendation would have done, but recognises the work done by councillors and puts Stockton much closer to other similar councils. Predictably, some people have been very angry about it, but others have been supportive and understood why it was necessary. Equally predictably the Labour leader made a lot of fuss about the rises being too high. There is of course, an option open to each and every councillor who doesn't want all of the rise - gift aid it as a donation to a charity of your choice. There's a number of local charities which would be very glad of the extra income.
I was very pleased that the amendment proposed by the Liberal Democrats was accepted - that allowances to cover care of dependents while the councillor is at a meeting should be paid as the full cost of any necessary care, instead of the fixed sum which was being proposed that would not have covered nursing care. This is very rarely needed but there are times when a councillor has a dependent spouse or child who needs special carers and this should be taken into account.
Sadly, the local media have contributed to the furore without helping to have an informed discussion.
Meanwhile, other things jog along. The low frequency of buses along Durham Lane is a source of much disappointment to residents on Orchard Estate, but there's no sign of improvement at the present.

Wedding Congratulations

I know that this isn't anything really to do with Eaglescliffe ward, except that it involves two residents of the ward, but it involves one person well known to many in this ward so the story and photos are here for all. Cllr Julia Roberts who represents Elmtree ward and my former Eaglescliffe colleague, now Preston Parish Councillor Mike Cherrett married this afternoon. It was supposed to be a really quiet wedding with only their two sons as witnesses, but their council colleagues and friends were quite sure that Julia would want us to see her in her wedding outfit after the ceremony. Consequently, we pulled up outside the register office after the appointed starting time for the ceremony, ready to congratulate them. But, sitting on the wall outside were the witnesses! Had we missed the wedding? Had they actually gone off and done it somewhere else without even their sons? No - the young men were taking advantage of some fresh air and sunshine while the preliminaries were going on indoors. Much relief all round. Then we were spotted through the window by the Bride-to-be and much to our surprise were invited in to witness the ceremony too.
It was a beautiful, simple ceremony and hardly a dry eye in the house. I hope they enjoy many happy years together.

Waiting for the Phoenix

In the week that the NHS celebrates its 60th birthday Eaglescliffe Health Centre bit the dust. The demolition squad moved in and the building is no more. Councillor Suzanne Fletcher took these photographs when out with her trusty camera looking for something else entirely.
Residents haven't been deserted by the doctors, nurses, physiotherapist, health visitor and countless other professionals who work in the centre - the temporary one is actually so nice and modern that it made the old permanent one look even more tatty! The designs for the new centre looked great on paper so I look forward to the Phoenix arising from the ashes of the old one later in the year.

Meanwhile, at a meeting of Durham Lane Primary School governors we heard a report on the progress being made in setting up integrated services for children and young people in this area which should help with ensuring that the risk of children "falling through the net" is minimised, that families in need get all the help they need when they need it and that schools get the support they need to support their pupils. It was an encouraging report even though everyone admits that there's a long road to be travelled. Meanwhile it was good to be able to offer congratulations to the school on winning the First Annual Tennis Challenge Trophy of the Tony Blair Sports Foundation. For young people who've only been playing for such a short time it was a fantastic achievement. For the community it's a great indication of what happens when a school is open enough to let in outside help to encourage a new sport. Let's hope these young people are the first of many in Eaglescliffe to take up active sport and continue to enjoy it into adult life.

Planning Committee

The agenda for today's meeting was particularly heavy, containing as it did the draft Strategic Housing Land Allocation Assessment. This document, 2cm thick, contains an assessment of every conceivable plot of land in the Borough capable of having more than 10 dwellings put on it in. It then tries to assess whether they're likely to become available and if it might be possible to develop in the next 15 years. It's been a mammoth task to produce and of course it contained plots which some of us would rather not see developed. There's no guarantee that they will end up with housing but there's a feeling of unease when the possibility is there on the page in black and white.
It includes the sites of the schools which may be moving or closing under the proposals for Building Schools for the Future, something which we in this ward were assured would not happen when we had early discussions on the subject. However much council officers protest that it's prudent and necessary to put the sites in there because they might become available but that nothing's decided, one can't help but feel that there's been some economy with the truth along the way.

Two difficult planning applications helped to prolong the meeting. One in Ingleby Barwick had several of us wishing we could do something to teach wayward developers a lesson but unfortunately planning committee doesn't have that in its remit! As a result the developer will be selling a house which has some quite severe changes in level in the garden and has less daylight in the kitchen than most people would want. The neighbours have to put up with a house which is higher than it should be and has an imposing gable wall facing their properties. All because the builder didn't comply with a basic requirement at the outset - to get the levels agreed before building. It's not rocket science, but some of these companies just think they can ride roughshod over the council and the neighbours.
The second tricky one was in our ward. 502-506 Yarm Rd is better known to long-standing residents as MPG. We were told today by the chairman of Preston Parish Council that it has been there for 70 years. I can vouch for the last 30 of them! Today it serves not just as a filling station but as a corner shop for local people. Sadly the economics of life today mean that the owners want to demolish it and build flats. Because I've been tied up with personal things over the last few weeks I hadn't spent as long studying it as I might have done. When I came to study the report on the agenda for today I was saddened to see that, despite lots of things which were obviously wrong on it, the planning officer had recommended it for approval. Eventually we agreed to defer it to see if a better design can be achieved. I'd like a lower density but I don't know whether that will be possible. I'm just not sure how popular 1 bedroomed flats will be, and I know that local people are worried that if they don't sell it will become a derelict eyesore. The garage isn't a thing of beauty but perhaps better the devil you know? I did permit myself a wry smile at the thought that the flats would be considered sustainable because shops are accessible by bus, but in order to build them the local convenience store would be demolished. Such is life in the planning world these days.

Escape To Safety

This morning I was invited to visit The Norton School for the opening of the exhibition “Escape to Safety”. This is a multi-media exhibition demonstrating the experience of people seeking asylum in the UK. It takes students on a journey from a war-torn part of the world to Heathrow and eventually to a detention centre. Using an MP3 player and headphones each person moves through the exhibition which is set up in a large trailer. Hearing the stories and seeing the pictures and other items in such confined spaces really brings home some of the desperation which drives people to put up with such terrible deprivation in order to seek freedom and basic human rights.
A story from Afghanistan reminded me of the students I taught who’d fled that same regime for those same reasons. Nowrooz, whose house was flattened in a bombing raid while he was at work and who had to leave, assuming that his wife was buried under the ruins. And then I started to think of others and wonder where they are now. The Kosovan whose name I won’t print here who just wanted to be able to go back and help rebuild his country but couldn’t because his village wasn’t there any more and his friends and family had scattered to the four winds. The young man from Sierra Leone who couldn’t go to school because of the fighting but whose friend risked his life to teach him what he had learned before the school closed. The very first refugee I met from Afghanistan who’d paid a fortune to be transported to London with his family only to be deposited in Kiev and told that he was in London. The Turkish Kurd whose wife was killed in a bombing raid on their village and who was shot as he tried to locate her body.
I could go on and on, each story an individual tale of pain and suffering, but each person sustained by a belief that England is the land of the free, the land of safety where people are kind and tolerant. And then there’s the fresh pain when it becomes obvious that the truth isn’t quite as rosy as that. When immigration officers don’t or won’t make allowances for the trauma someone has suffered. When newspapers print untrue “facts” and people read and believe them.
Today’s exhibition reminded me of why I enjoyed teaching those refugees and asylum seekers English language and culture. It reminded me that there are times when I don’t do enough to support now that I’m not teaching and meeting them every day. And it made me determined to do more to support those who do have the time and the skills to give practical help.
Thank you Hilaire and RAPT for inviting me. Well done Norton School for spending the time to help students to understand the issues. Egglescliffe school did the same in the spring. Two different schools serving very different communities but both trying to help their young people to be better global citizens.

Pathways to Healthcare again

Tonight's meeting of the Western Area Partnership Board was taken up to a large extent with a discussion on the Momentum project. This had been mentioned last month but this month we had a presentation and debate which could have gone on for a lot longer. People have real concerns about concentrating services in too few locations, about how the villages will be served when they can't have a GP service, let alone any of the wonderful new services being proposed. There were worries about private sector involvement and some confusion over the difference between the health centres being proposed and privately operated polyclinics being talked about in some parts of the media.
There was a glimmer of hope for Long Newton Post Office, when we heard that the leader of the council has asked council officers to look into the possibility of the council keeping it open. It doesn't seem like a lot to ask - a part-time worker for a few hours a week, purchase the second hand redundant equipment from the Post Office and pay a bit towards the upkeep of the Wilson Institute. We shall see. I'll keep reminding him that it's important to the village community of the Western Area and we don't ask for much from the council.

A Day Off

A rare opportunity this afternoon to just drop everything and go out. The initial intention was to walk along to Preston Park and see something of the Fire Engine and Vintage Vehicle rally, but a sudden downpour changed our minds. We drove out to the moors and enjoyed the scenery even though it was grey and rather more wintry looking than we might have hoped for this time of year. Our walk was a very short one along the river bank in Great Ayton, catching a brief spell of sun, and enjoying an ice-cream. We're very lucky to have such beauty on our doorstep and don't always appreciate it. One of the oldest hostelries in the village was looking particularly beautiful and just for those few minutes the colours looked quite summery.

Another Threat to the Post Office

The Government still hasn't made up its mind about who will run the Post Office Card Account after the present contract expires in 2010. This is the account which replaced the Pension book for many over 60s, allowing them to go to the Post Office as they always had and draw the money out each week. For people like my mother who can't get into her bank branch it's a godsend, helping her to maintain her independence. It's also used for benefit payments and often is the only sensible way for someone on a very low income to manage their money. Because the account doesn't allow overdrafts it's impossible to spend more than you have in the account. But this Labour Government, elected because so many people thought it would look after them better than the previous Conservative one, is failing the people who need it most. They've made it really difficult to find out that such a card is an option, assuming instead that everyone will want to use a bank account. And yet many people, even though they use a bank for other things, value the social networking that goes on in the Post Office. Even those of us who can't imagine needing it at the moment don't know what's going to happen to us in 10 or 20 years time. We might be glad of an account which someone else can draw from and do our shopping but we can ensure that it only gives access to a certain amount of money.

The National Federation of Sub-Postmasters is running a postcard campaign to try to ensure that the Post Office keeps the contract. All you need to do it ask in the Post Office for a card, fill in your name and address and give it back to them. They will send them to the right MP. If you think the card account is important, please do ask. Liberal Democrats strongly believe that only the Post Office can do this job. It's the only body with a wide enough network to support all the people who want to use the card. So please do support the campaign and write to your MP or ask for a card at the Post Office.

Retirement Living

The McCarthy and Stone development on The Avenue which was so unpopular as it went through the planning process last year is nearing completion. Timothy Hackworth Court sales office is open for business and today a range of people from local businesses and the community were invited to see for themselves what is on offer. John Fletcher and I went along as ward councillors because we will represent the residents once they move in. It was useful to see the building and the kind of flats which are being constructed. More helpful was to meet the House Manager and discuss some of the possible ways of helping new residents to fit into the community in Eaglescliffe and Preston. The new vicar of All Saints church was there with some members of the church, as was the Methodist minister so I'm sure the churches will be helping those who wish to become involved to settle into new congregations quickly.
Looking at the amount of work going on around the grounds and in the building it was hard to envisage the first residents being in there in July.
Sadly, now that we've got them, the prices mean that they're not affordable for a lot of the Eaglescliffe residents who would like to move to something smaller and more manageable. We'll just have to keep trying to get more affordable housing for all ages when other developers come wth applications for our area.
Tonight the democratic accountability of the planning system took another blow with the passage of the Planning bill through Parliament. 16 Labour rebels weren't enough to defeat the government and so yet another quango will come into being - The Independent Planning Commission will decide on applications for big infrastructure projects, not the councils elected to represent the people of the area. I know that the planning system needs some reform, but it doesn't need to be taken out of the hands of local people. And this same government wonders why people lose the will to vote in local elections!

A day without meetings - a rarity indeed. So what does a councillor do on such a day? Well, we do have a life other than council of course but multi-tasking is common place for us. Thus a walk to do some shopping, rather than a quick call in the car en route to somewhere else, was a chance to check up on the state of some little problems reported earlier in the year. Some things never seem to change - the amount of litter which is deposited on the grass along the route taken by pupils to and from Egglescliffe school never ceases to amaze me. I'm not suggesting that the young people are responsible for all of it, but the preponderance of soft drink cans and sweet wrappers does seem to implicate at least some of them. Yet these same young people can be incredibly concerned about pollution, deforestation and other global issues. There's a connection missing somewhere. The Care for Your Area team were busy picking up litter from the grass near the railway bridge, but it's slow work when there's so much.
Then a trip to Municipal Buildings so that I could print off copies of the plans for the Tesco roundabout along with letters to tell those residents who aren't on our e-news list and live near to the roundabout.
A few personal and family matters to deal with and then time to catch up on e-mails, preparing Focus and all the other jobs which have slipped behind in the last couple of weeks.

Allen's West & Urlay Nook Road Update

Stockton Council's engineers asked the people applying to develop these two sites to calculate the effect of not only their own traffic but each other's, especially on the roundabout near Tesco. Those calculations are done using standard computer programmes that are accepted right across the country and it's very difficult to argue to a Planning Inspector on appeal that they are wrong, even when local knowledge suggests strongly that they are.
The calculations have shown that the approach to the roundabout would need to be modified to accommodate the extra traffic. A senior council officer has described the proposal thus:
Both developers have combined a proposal for an improvement scheme on the Tesco roundabout to mitigate their impact from development. In summary, the improvement scheme includes local widening to the approaches on the Durham Lane and two A67 legs of the roundabout. This will allow two formal lanes for traffic queue and therefore more traffic through the roundabout more efficiently. There is of course a complication to this, as we are aware the wider highway network (Yarm High St) is the bottle neck. Under the legislation, the developer must mitigate their own impact on the affected junctions and existing problems on the wider highway network remain the responsibility of the Authority.
We know that car drivers now tend to form two lanes close to the roundabout but the width of the road from the north and the west indicates that this can't happen, hence the requirement for widening. What this means is that if the planning applications are approved on July 2nd these changes to the roads will go ahead without any further consultation, so as ward councillors we're busy trying to consult with the people who live nearest to the roundabout to see what their views are. Street letters will go out in the next few days as well as an email news. If readers know anyone who might be affected please let us know.

Magnificat - The Challenge to Women Today

That was the title of a conference I attended this weekend. I'd been asked to speak at the annual conference of the National Board of Catholic Women about being a Borough Councillor and a woman of faith. The other speaker was Prof. Tina Beattie (photographed with the NBCW president, Mrs Yogi Sutton), a wonderful theologian with the gift of being able to express deep thological concepts in language which ordinary people can understand. It may not seem at first glance that a Stockton Borough Councillor and an eminent Catholic lay theologian have a lot in common, but as our talks unfolded it became obvious that what she was saying was as relevant to the challenges facing women today as it had been in the times described in the Christian Gospels. We still face the issue of ensuring that women have the self esteem and self confidence to do what they believe is right, even in the face of pressure to do otherwise. The review which I chaired two years ago on Teenage Pregnancy showed how much that is needed. And that's just one small example. I'm sure there are men who need the same support, but this was a conference about women so I make no apologies for concentrating on us, just for a weekend.

The rest of the conference was taken up with workshops and discussions on a number of topics. I was very interested in London Citizens, a strong alliance of people in London who seem to be succeeding in making sure that the Mayor of London does implement some policies for the real benefit of the citizens. The London Living Wage is one example, and they're now campaigning for community land ownership as a way of helping to tackle the shortage of really affordable housing in the city for ordinary workers. I was told that Birmingham now has a similar organisation starting up and I wondered why other big cities didn't follow suit. It seems to be a way of bringing together a huge number of disparate communities to work for things which affect them all. We talk a lot about Community Cohesion, building sustainable communities and so on. Here is a group which is actually doing it, not just talking about it - widely different groups working together. Where else do we see real partnership working of faith groups, trades unions, schools, residents' groups and more on practical actions, not high level strategies?
So, much to think about and some new ideas to ponder and share with colleagues.

Declaration of Human Rights

This year is the 60th anniversary of the declaration of human rights and a group of eminent people including Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu have launched a campaign to celebrate and strengthen the declaration by getting a billion people to sign a personal commitment to uphold the Declaration. When I signed there were over 21,000 signatories so there's a long way to go to get the billion. Please think about signing and spreading the word.
The personal declaration reads as follows:

I choose to sign this declaration because:

I wish to take responsibility for upholding the goals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in my daily life and in my community. I will do my best to speak out to protect the freedom and rights of others in my community.

I affirm the following principle: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

I believe Every Human Has Rights.

Larch Crescent

Residents of Larch Crescent have been plagued for a number of years by teenagers playing football on the patch of grass in front of their bungalows, kicking the ball into their gardens and causing damage. It's the age old story of the patch of grass available being too small for what the young people need. Quite why they won't go over the road to Preston Park I don't know.
Tristar have done the consultation for us and we're prepared to spend some of our Environmental Improvement Budget on doing some planting in the area, but it's proving tricky to work out which department can do the design. We'll get there in the end!
Meanwhile we've chased up a request that was made 3 years ago by the then councillor for Preston Ward to have some goal posts erected in Preston Park with the aim of encouraging teenagers to go there rather than these small patches of grass. The goal posts never appeared but we'll see what's said this time.
Stockton Council's engineers told us today that the developers of Allen's West and Urlay Nook Rd warehousing proposal have agreed on a package of road widening measures at the Tesco roundabout to mitigate the impact of their developments. According to the wonderful computer programme which calculates these things for local authorities if they widen the splay at the roundabout everything will be fine, except for the bottleneck caused by Yarm High Street which isn't their problem. So the engineers have no option now but to accept that these developments can be accommodated, despite the fact that we all know that the Yarm High St issue is the biggest problem for this area and won't be relieved at all by any of these measures.
Planning committee on July 2nd will be a difficult one. Decision day for both of these developments, both the subject of serious objections by residents but both looking increasingly as though they're proving able to answer the material planning objections.

Grrrr!

A complete waste of time was my reaction to the morning's event. I went to a workshop which I'd been led to expect would be useful in my role as Chair of Western Area Board. Unfortunately this was one of those rare occasions when I found absolutely no value at all in the session. In fact I don't think I've ever been to something where I've come away feeling quite so cross about wasting time. To add insult to injury, the lunch which was on offer consisted of sandwiches and chips! That's twice in three days that I've had that sort of offer. So much for healthy eating. So I left and went home to make a salad!
A visit to an elderly relative in hospital showed up some of the poor communications that are all too prevalent there. The doctor had said "you can go home" so the patient had packed her bag and was expecting me to take her home. What hadn't been said to her was that a number of other things needed to happen first including work by other staff than doctors to make sure her return was safe, comfortable and with the right medication. You can imagine how upset we all were at that muddle. Just a bit of thought and careful choice of words would have made such a difference.
The bright note of the day came in a pre-meeting for the Environment committee meeting next week. It looks possible now that we'll complete our work on Customer First comfortably by September and be able to start on something with a bit more relevance to our residents. Hooray!

Tuesday

A breakdown in "the system" meant that I realised this morning that minutes of a previous Fairtrade meeting hadn't been sent out, nor the agenda for today's. Consequently no-one but the two of us responsible for doing that had remembered the meeting! We took the opportunity to sort out some things which we've been meaning to do and not done because of pressure of other work, so it was a very productive 45 minutes but not what we'd intended when we set the date a month ago.
My second appointment of the day was to discuss the agenda for the next Western Area Partnership meeting on 30th June. We're trying out a new venue, using Challoner House in Yarm, so it'll be interesting to see how it works. One of the items on the agenda is the Momentum consultation and as part of the proposal is to extend services in Yarm it should provoke an interesting discussion.
I had a quick meeting with my two ward colleagues, John Fletcher and Alan Lewis, before our ward surgery, to discuss the proposals for Larch Crescent green space. We need to try to stop the older children playing football and kicking the ball into the pensioners' gardens but still leave a pleasant place to look out onto and perhaps some space for any young children to play. Not easy but we're arranging a meeting with the Tristar staff involved to come up with some designs.
Ward surgery brought another intractable problem - the poorer bus service which now operates up Durham Lane past Orchard estate, compared to what it used to be. Sadly, the council has no power to make the bus companies provide a better service and can only encourage. In our experience encouragement doesn't produce results and our residents continue to be frustrated.

Pathways to Healthcare

As residents know, the health service in this area has been looking at changes to hospital provision for several years. The latest scheme involves building one new hospital to serve Hartlepool, Stockton and parts of Easington and Sedgefield, closing both North Tees and Hartlepool hospitals and having a lot more services available "in the community". Of course that phrase means different things to different people and in different circumstances so there's much debate about what sort of clinics, health centres or hospitals are needed and where.
Over the last couple of weeks leaflets have been distributed in doctors' surgeries, with free papers, in dentists' waiting rooms, hospitals, council buildings and everywhere anyone could think of leaving them. There's a questionnaire included but if yours has been chewed up by the dog or coloured in by the toddler there are plenty more available! It's a way of having your say about where you think services should be located, what you think is important about the new services and where you think the new hospital should be built.
Today there was a "summit" consultation and I was there as a representative of the Western Area Partnership Board. The discussion was very animated and well informed because everyone there was involved in some way or another - patients, doctors, nurses, NHS support and managerial staff, carers, councillors and others. We were all passionate about trying to ensure that what we have in 5 or 10 years time is better than what we have now, not just in terms of the buildings but in terms of how patients are treated. What was really interesting to me on a personal level was just how much agreement there was when people could discuss general principles. Clinicians were able to admit that things don't always run smoothly, that care isn't as good as it could be at times, that people are discharged or admitted too soon sometimes. If what was said today really is listened to then the service will improve, but we shall see.
It was particularly appropriate for me today, following my recent experience of hospital care and discharge procedures for my mother-in-law. And it was very interesting to have professionals telling me what should have happened!
So, if you haven't already had your say do go to the Momentum website and complete the questionnaire or e-mail them if you've got comments that don't fit on the form. Don't say in 10 years time that it should have been done differently (unless of course you've had your suggestions ignored!)

Two Very Intensive Days

Liberal Democrats have always been the party which most values local government and our local government conferences are always well attended. This weekend was no exception. Councillors from all shapes and sizes of local authorities gathered in Birmingham, along with MPs with a special interest in local government.
Although not of direct and detailed interest to the residents I mention these things because some of what was discussed will help us to be better able to do our jobs as councillors.
I spent Friday afternoon in discussions with other group leaders about what is happening in the towns and cities around the country in terms of economy and quality of life, and what can be done to ensure that everyone benefits from improvements. That intense discussion was followed by a very pleasant dinner in the opulent surroundings of Birmingham Council Banqueting Chamber, a legacy of Birmingham's enlightened Victorian entrepreneurs and councillors. The photo shows the outside of the Council building because I forgot to take my camera to the dinner!
Saturday was the conference proper, held in one of Birmingham's prestigious venues, the ICC. I was a little thrown as I walked towards the door, following behind a group of very elegantly dressed people who looked more likely to be attending a wedding than a Lib Dem conference. All was revealed when I stepped inside to find that the Open University Graduation ceremony was also taking place that day.
Speeches from Andrew Stunnell MP and Simon Hughes MP set the tone for the day. The rest of the day flew past before it was time to walk back down to the railway station for the trip home. On the way I passed the "Celebrating Sanctuary" events in Victoria Square and the surrounding areas. I confess I'd forgotten that Refugee Week started this weekend but Birmingham certainly were celebrating in a big way. The photograph shows a Latin American group performing on the specially erected stage. Sadly I didn't have time to visit the mock-up of a refugee camp set up by Islamic relief and based on the ones they set up for crises around the world. Maybe next year.

A Day of Shame

So Brown and his cronies have done it - 6 weeks without charge, just for being suspected of terrorist involvement. 40 Labour MPs can hold their heads high tonight, but not the member for Stockton South. Ms Taylor showed again that she meekly follows wherever her leader goes. It's been proved over long bloody conflicts that interment doesn't work. In my lifetime Northern Ireland proved the point. Yet here we go again - lock them up just in case.
And somehow, Parliament is going to be able to decide whether to give the police permission to extend beyond 28 days (which shouldn't have been introduced anyway). Quite how is this going to work? Debate in camera with everyone sworn to secrecy? Debate with no evidence? Vote with no debate? Heaven help the mother of Parliaments. Senility seems to be taking its toll.

The Good, The Bad & The Boring

Monday brought some good news following on from the Wastes Management review carried out earlier this year. The officers concerned have worked so enthusiastically on ways to implement the recommendations that the action plan is ready ahead of schedule so the recommendations will begin to be implemented sooner than we'd thought. Watch this space!
It seems also that the plans for Billingham Town Centre are coming on nicely so I look forward to seeing some detail in them. It seems likely to include a new medical centre and perhaps a customer contact centre for Stockton Council.
The insulation of Municipal Buildings cavity walls was cracking on, noisily but efficiently. However, the sun was so hot that I suspect staff working in some of the rooms had ventilation on their minds rather than insulation. It's a difficult building to improve with its lovely big windows - hot in sunny weather and cold in winter though the insulation should help with the latter. One day perhaps we'll get a nice energy efficient office building, but not yet!
Less good is all the public consultation starting about the new hospital for North of the Tees. The idea is that there's to be a lot more care in the community including some procedures that are done at hospital at present. This means that new medical centres need to be built and old ones refurbished but there's no clarity from the PCT about where these facilities will be nor what exactly will be available in each one. But without knowing this people are being asked to say which site they prefer for the hospital! Both sites are out of town, not readily accessible by public transport and no guarantee that they ever will be. The NHS seems to have decided that they can't please everyone so they're better to please no-one. There doesn't seem to be any sense to their choice of sites other than the fact that the land is likely to be cheaper and more readily available than some of the other sites which have been suggested.
The afternoon saw a further meeting of the Environment Select committee to review the Customer First Programme of Stockton council. Whilst I agree that it's important to give customers the best possible service I still am utterly unconvinced that there's going to be any useful outcome of this scrutiny. Maybe I'll be proved wrong?

Greener Living

Stockton council held a Greener Living Roadshow today at Preston Park. There were exhibitors showing all manner of renewable heating systems, public transport, recycling, real nappies, plans for the regeneration of the Park, cycling, lower emission cars and even an electric motor bike which produces no emissions at the time of use (because they're all produced at the power station making the electricity). I hope that others will have written more about what they saw because I didn't get much chance to look round as I was helping to man the Fairtrade stall. By showcasing the huge variety of Fairtrade products available we hoped to encourage people to ask their local shops to stokc more. A number of people did take a postcard to do just that so we hope it will have an impact. We also had a lot of interest in the Fairtrade group, in converting local businesses and in giving talks to schools and other places. Definitely worth going and giving up a Sunday afternoon and a huge thank you to those who covered Sunday morning while the councillors among us were at the Civic service.
The civic service is the opportunity each year for the people of the Borough to share with the new mayor in prayer for the borough and to hear the new mayor commit to serving the people of the borough during the year. This year's mayor, John Fletcher, is well known to the people of Eaglescliffe and they were strongly represented in the congregation and in the choir. But John hasn't been a councillor for over 20 years without forging links in other parts of the Borough and of course there were representatives from neighbouring authorities whose links with Stockton extend long past the tenure of any particular Mayor. We were blessed with a sunny day and very little wind for the traditional parade up the High Street to the Parish Church and back again after the service. Sadly, the number of young people from the different organisations in the Borough has decreased over the years, no doubt for complex reasons, but those who do march, old and young, are a credit to their peers and to the Borough.
The Civic service has a number of common elements year by year but each Mayor and chaplain choose some parts to reflect their particular feelings for the role. John's readings and hymns gave a deep sense of the vocation involved in public service, of being a servant to all across the Borough regardless of their background and of trying to work with all the different groups in the Borough. His chaplain spoke of part of his role being to give pastoral care to someone in a very exposed public position - not something which is discussed around council chambers but very important none the less.

Who can help?

I haven't commented on the Mugabe/Zimbabwe situation this week, mainly because words failed me. But reading this morning's newspaper I just felt so sick, physically ill, at what's going on there. I'm not qualified to say whether Mugabe is mentally ill or something else but what he and his henchmen are causing to happen in that country should be cause for shame to all around who might be able to help and don't. Diplomats and Politicians in power around the world surely must be able to do more than our esteemed Foreign Secretary this week (Comment on the illegal treatment of UK and US diplomats this week: This gives us a window into the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans). Where are the powerful who have the courage to stand up to Mugabe? The words of Christ seem quite apt here: Whatever you do to the least of my little ones, you do to me. The efforts of ordinary people in Zimbabwe to have a free and fair election are being battered and beaten out of existence and the so-called democratic governments that could surely band together and make a difference turn a blind eye. God help us all.

A grey morning started with our quarterly estate walkabout - councillors, Tristar patch manager, Enforcement officer and a Highways officer walking round the streets to check on problems and giving residents a chance to chat to us about anything they want to raise. Today's walk gave us the chance to talk in situ about the possibilities for work on Larch Crescent and Cedar Crescent. One needs something to stop football being played too vigorously and causing problems for the residents and the other needs something done to provide more parking spaces. We had a good discussion and look forward to seeing some suggested plans drawn up.
It was a pleasant experience on the second part of our walkabout to have residents of the Millfield estate telling us how pleasant it is to live there, how little trouble they have and what a good neighbourly spirit there is.

The afternoon was spent at a seminar for members on the partnership working between Stockton and Darlington on providing "back room services". These are the things like IT services which keep the work of the council ticking over but which don't impact directly on members of the public. Stockton and Darlington councils took a very brave step a few years ago of looking into the possibility of working together to work more efficiently. The partnership took over 2 years to bring to birth but it's working well so far and the managers believe it will go from strength to strength.

From there, via a quick sick visit and a trolley dash round the supermarket, to ward surgery. No customers, other than someone needing a witness to a signature, but a chance to have a brief look at the plans for the refurbishment of Preston Hall. We got 8 envelopes of plans today so it's too early to say much about them but we'll certainly study them carefully and comment as appropriate. One good thing, at first sight, is the idea to demolish the sheds and replace them with proper storage buildings designed to fit in with the surroundings.

World Environment Day

If you're one of those who's not sure about climate change or not sure what to do next, have a look at this site, and be prepared to laugh. There's a drawback of course - you've got to sign up to do something first, but that's painless and they do offer advice on how to keep your pledge.
On the other hand, if you really want to see how much Carbon Dioxide your home and lifestyle is responsible for, there's a very handy and easy to use calculator here. Just make sure you've got your gas and electricity consumption figures handy before you start. Like all these things it's a rather blunt tool. For example, it doesn't allow the chance to say that one door has draught-proofing but the other doesn't. It suggests that I should install underfloor insulation, which might be a tad difficult in a house with a concrete floor. But at least it gives some idea of where I stand in relation to the national average and some sensible ideas on what to do next to lower my emissions. I have to confess that the biggest single contributor to my carbon footprint is visiting my daughter on the other side of the world and since I'm not going to give that up if I can help it, I'll just have to carry on with contributing to carbon offsetting programmes which sound as if they'll help. Not a cure, but a treatment which delays matters until the cure is implemented.
One of the things I'd really like is someone to work out and publish in an easily understood form, the relative costs in carbon and money of keeping a fairly elderly but still functional appliance or scrapping it and buying a new energy efficient one. It goes against the grain to scrap something that still works but if I could be absolutely sure that the carbon footprint of scrap and replace is really less than that of keep going till it drops then perhaps I'd do it.
I know that these calculations have been done on housing stock - demolition and disposal of the debris from our old housing stock followed by rebuilding with more energy efficient stock means that the new houses have to last over 50 years before they start saving carbon! That's something which I'll be factoring in to my considerations of planning applications in future.

Maps, Governance and Young People

What do they all have in common? Mainly the fact that they were the topics of my three "council activities" today. I actually started with an early session to arrange some dates to make progress on getting a report through the relevant stages in the right order. Then a brief session to ask a couple of officers for help with practical issues arising out of yesterday's climate change event. Then to the first "proper" session of the day, a training on using the council's Geographic Information Service. This is a really useful tool for finding out all sorts of information about the borough based on the geographic location. Things like how big a plot of land is, who's responsible for land in council ownership (education or leisure or any number of other departments), the location and ID number of streetlights are all there if we know how to find them. I already use the system quite a bit but this was a session to explore the more advanced tools within it. I found it interesting, and I learned what a few of the tools are which I haven't yet used but very well might in the future. There's a public version on Stockton's website which readers might find useful or interesting, or even both.
From there it was back to Eaglescliffe for a meeting of colleagues to discuss some issues around future governance in Stockton. Central government is pressing for change although with no clear reason as to why we should change something which works well enough to have Stockton assessed as Excellent for a number of years running. There's also no clear indication of how changing governance would improve on this excellence. Change for change's sake it seems. Nevertheless I'm not and never have been a King Canute caricature, nor am I the little boy with my finger in the dyke. If change is inevitably going to be pushed upon us it behoves us to be as well prepared as possible and to have taken note of all the information and suggestions coming out on the subject, hence our meeting today.
And so to youth! Unfortunately the Youth Worker we were expecting didn't arrive but it was a constructive meeting with the local beat bobby and as ward councillors we're better informed than we were. We could also alert him to things we'd been told by residents and decide on some small things we can try to do while the longer term plans for improved play areas which are being made by the Parish Council are brought to fruition. Nothing very comforting for residents who're being plagued by the few bad apples but at least we know we've done what we can.

Inspiring our communities...

...to act on Climate Change.
That was the title of a regional conference today which I attended with Stockton Council's Environmental Policy Manager. There were some very interesting presentations and some very challenging facts from public opinion surveys. There's a great deal of confusion in people's minds about whether climate change is important or even real. Even amongst people who think it's important there's confusion over what to do about it. "Saving the planet" has become a catch-all phrase and people don't distinguish between what they can do to save precious resources (like recycling glass and metals and paper) and what they can do to prevent serious climate change (like using low energy light bulbs and driving the car less frequently). People really don't trust the idea of environmental taxes because they think the government is just making an excuse to get more money out of motorists or whoever is being targetted. All the studies show that people look for fairmess -they want to feel that whatever is being asked of them everyone else is going to be asked to make the same sacrifices.
The big challenge for us as councillors is how we lead our community forward to combat climate change in Stockton, given this desire for fairness and this lack of understanding of all the complex issues. Real food for thought and we hadn't come to any conclusions at the end of the journey home. We did agree that, difficult though the problems are, Stockton has already made a good start by doing the relatively easy things and that the biggest challenges are left to meet. Watch this space!
From South Shields and climate change to Kirklevington and Renaissance. Stockton's Local Strategic Partnership had a unique session this evening to consider itself, how it works and how it can improve. There was a lot of discussion about the fact that most people outside the partnership probably don't know it exists or what it does, and yet it's a very important part of life in the borough. It brings together the council, big voluntary sector organisations, small community groups, major bodies like police, fire and NHS alongside business links to try to join up the way services are delivered to people. Possibly the fact that people don't know about it means it's working extremely well? Whatever the reason, there's to be a lot more thought put into exactly how it operates and how it tells people about its work.
And finally, almost 12 hours after leaving home this morning, time to return to domestic matters!

Raising Expectations

A few months ago the Environment Select committee which I chair produced its report on managing cemeteries and memorials. While carrying out the scrutiny we asked lots of people visiting the cemeteries for their opinion of what we currently do and how it should change. At the end of the review we wrote to everyone who'd given us their address telling them what had been decided. Unfortunately we didn't put in the letter that it would take months to draw up an action plan and then a long time to implement it because so much needed doing! As a result I've had a lady contact me now, complaining that she'd read the letter and the article in the press and acted accordingly, removing things from her husband's grave but the family with the next grave along haven't. As a result her husband's grave is suffering from the effects of some of the artefacts on this over-embellished plot. Why haven't we done what we said we were going to do and enforced our new policy? The explanation that it takes so much time to set the enforcement in place sounded like a feeble excuse to her, and I can't blame her. At times the council is like a huge tanker at sea - it takes an awful long time between deciding to change course and seeing it happen. Meanwhile people get frustrated and think we've forgotten or they're being mis-led. Fortunately the officers who worked with us on producing the new policy are among the best in the council and one of them is going to speak to the lady concerned and see what can be done in the short term until we've got the enforcement system up and running.
On a much brighter note a happy coincidence of timing of a visit and weather meant that instead of just collecting some Fairtrade goodies from a friend and dashing off again we sat out in the garden and had coffee (before dashing off to our respective next jobs). The birds were singing, the flowers were beautiful and just for half an hour the world seemed to be at peace.

Young People in Need

One of those humbling days today, when people who have a lot of needs also prove to have a lot to offer the rest of us. I had a meeting as Chair of the Western Area Partnership with a young man who doesn't let severe dyslexia hold him back. He's currently doing a degree but in his spare time is working on a number of projects as a volunteer. The one we were officially meeting to discuss is "Twisted Headlines", a project led by the YMCA to overturn the perceptions that young people are all knife-toting, anti social, badly behaved, loud mouthed etc etc. At present the project can't expand at all because there's a lack of funding, but the young people involved aren't deterred. They're busy collecting good news stories from the local press so that they can eventually use them in the creative ways they have in mind. He was hoping that members of the Partnership Board would join in collecting stories so that they gather a huge library of cuttings. I was able to say that we'd put it on the agenda of the next meeting. It seemed like a very small thing to do.
He also told me about work he's doing with Community Campus on homelessness. Again a very creative project is being planned if only they can get funding to carry it out. From what he told me it would involve some discomfort for those of us wh agreed to take part, but should give us an insight into the causes and consequences of homelessness for young people in the Borough. Because of his enthusiasm to tell me about the various things he's involved in the meeting lasted longer than we'd planned but it was worth every minute. He was pleased too that I could get the Cabinet decision from last week about using the Parkfield Hall site to put a purpose-built unit for homeless young people on, something which was news to him.
So a very productive hour in which we shared information on a number of issues of interest to us both. I hope it's going to be the start of a productive relationship.
Then this afternoon it was the bi-monthly meeting of the MALAP, the partnership which tries to ensure that children being looked after by the local authority get as many life chances as children being looked after by their birth or adoptive parents. The council is known as Corporate parent to these children and it's a role that some councillors and many officers take very seriously. We meet every two months to check on what is happening to "our" children, though we don't know them by name and this is not a meeting about individuals. Today we heard the alarming news that the number of young people in our care being placed outside the Borough has risen significantly in the last few months - lots of issues around the accommodation we can provide and lots of questions to be asked. The next meeting is going to focus completely on this topic with the aim of deciding some actions to take to improve the situation. The lighter moment was provided by the news that one of our children has won through the introductory stage of The X Factor, so who knows - we may have a budding star in our corporate family.

Farmers Come to Town

There was a mini Farmers' market in Stockton High Street today, organised entirely by the town centre manager rather than by a commercial organisation. She'd only invited a small number of people who fulfilled rather tight criteria and it seemed to have worked. There was a lovely array of meats, Yorkshire cheeses, pickles, preserves and an almost empty cake stall whose occupants said they'd bring twice as much next month! Everyone seemed to have had a reasonably successful day and were looking forward to coming back next month. One more small step in the regeneration of Stockton High Street.
I concluded yesterday that something was definitely needed. I'd made a long overdue appointment to have my hair cut but the stylist was busy and running late so I sat in front of a mirror which reflected a view of Stockton High Street. Alarmingly, no-one who walked across my field of vision over a period of 10 minutes looked happy! At first I thought it was just coincidence, but after a while I started watching continuously, actively seeking the happy people. They didn't exist! I saw sad faces, weary faces and angry faces but no smiling faces. Regeneration of Stockton needs to regenerate the people, based on my very unscientific survey on one warm Wednesday afternoon. There's a challenge for the Town Centre manager.

Cluster Bomb success

OK, it's not a perfect agreement. America and China aren't part of it yet. But campaigners, including those of us who signed on-line petitions and wrote to the Foreign Office, can feel a sense of relief today that the UK is going to stop using all versions of this horrendous weapon. Gordon Brown and his Cabinet stood up to the military chiefs and said NO! Well done Gordon. That's the kind of thing which makes me proud to be British. Let's have more of it, and quickly.

The importance of play

I spent some time today at a meeting about Play in the borough. Last year the council put together a Play Strategy, describing how we would try to make sure that children and young people will have access to suitable play areas and opportunities, including the chance to enjoy adventurous play and learn to manage risks. Nothing is ever easy of course, with many play areas being described as boring by the children who use them. A bid went in to the Big Lottery for funding to start expanding the opportunities and fortunately we've been successful. Some of it will go to Romano Park at Ingleby Barwick to help provide much needed play facilities on that play-deprived estate. Other money will help with two small projects in Thornaby and in Thorpe Thewles. The biggest chunk of money is going to an exciting scheme to provide a mobile play facility which can tour parts of the borough lacking in facilities and have a play leader to encourage the children to enjoy the equipment. I hope it will also encourage communities to take some responsibility to ensure that the project continues beyond its 3 year funding.
We also had confirmation of an award of Play Builder funding which is designed to enhance play areas. The detail of exactly what it can be used for hasn't been published yet but I hope that we can have some help towards enhancing St Margaret's Play area from it. No chance to make an application yet though!
I also managed to get across my point that someone from the Planning Department should be on the Play Partnership so that they're aware of what's needed in new housing developments. It remains to be seen whether they act on the information when they've got it or whether they say it's not covered by a planning policy!!!

Gordon doesn't get it

Listening to the on-going debate on whether fuel tax should be increased this year as planned, now that fuel is expensive, and whether the VED on older cars should be increased as planned, now that Labour isn't popular, I do wonder whether Gordon and his troops will ever get it where Green Taxes are concerned. (Mixing green and red produces the colour of mud - is that relevant?)
The whole point of raising fuel tax was to make people think about whether to use the car for every journey. It's meant to put the price of motoring up - get it? OK, there's been a shift of balance in the price of petrol and diesel and perhaps the Treasury needs to do some adjustment in the balance of the taxes so that buses and lorries aren't unduly disadvantaged, but that's not the same as changing direction totally. Flexibility is good, backtracking is not!
As for VED on older cars - since when was taxation in this country introduced retrospectively? Most people don't own older cars because they dislike new ones. They own them because that's what they can afford. People on lower incomes who can't get to work on public transport often want/need to be able to get to work in wet weather clean and dry enough to start work. Maybe they need to drop the kids at school on the way! If they could afford a shiny new, less polluting vehicle they'd probably jump at the chance. So what does the "labour" party do - penalise them. What happened to Gordon's favourite "hard working families"? How can it be fair to introduce this tax increase without providing the infrastructure to allow choice?
When it comes to public transport and sustainable development language takes on a whole new meaning. A bus service every half hour to one of the two centres near a proposed new development becomes "good public transport links". A walk of 1km along a busy road which only has a footway along part of it becomes "easily accessible". When will central government put its money where its mouth is, stop wasting money on ridiculous projects like ID cards and going to war in countries we've no right to be in, and start funding high quality rail and bus links as well as research and development funding for newer forms of transport. Sadly, not in my lifetime if the present regime continues, and as for the chances of my grand-children enjoying a decent quality of life .....
Come the revolution!

Caravans & Camping

Bank Holiday weekends often bring caravans out on to the roads in large numbers as people decide to enjoy their break away from home. This weekend has brought caravans to us, as Travellers have set up camp on the grass verge near Hunters' Green. For the moment it's not a problem - 5 caravans only. Certainly I don't think it's worth taking any action over a holiday weekend, especially as we're woefully short of transit sites in the Tees Valley, including Stockton. However, if they're still there next week we will have to start the proceedings for moving them on. We're fortunate in Eaglescliffe that we don't get the large encampments which occur regularly in Thornaby and cause such problems with litter and worse.

Bits and Pieces

Today was a day for catching up on some of the bits which had been left behind - emails unanswered, phone calls unmade etc. Very often on such days the end result is not very satisfying, but today several things fell into place. A meeting of ward councillors, police and youth workers to discuss ways in which we might help both the residents and the young people who plague them by playing football in the "wrong" place is finally in the calendar. Having two lots of people who work different shift patterns makes it difficult to match their diaries but at last we've succeeded. It remains to be seen of course whether more pressing police business arises at the last minute.
The last empty slot for looking after the Fairtrade stall at the Greener Living Roadshow was filled by a volunteer (better than 10 pressed men!). I managed to gather the necessary information together to be able to make a reasonable response to a strong complaint from a resident about the Just 10 event in Preston Park. Add to that sorting a time for a meeting of the Lib Dem group on the council to discuss an issue on which we need to take a view, some filing and a few personal jobs like the shopping and washing, and a relatively productive day emerges!
I was pleased to be able to spend 5 minutes of the day signing a grant application for the Wilson Institute in Long Newton - not in our ward but within the area covered by the Western Area Partnership Board which I chair. The board has met in the Institute and so I know how good it would be to get funding to upgrade the heating, access and other things. I do hope their application is successful.

Crewe and Nantwich

Well, the by-election is over and the predictable result is in. People were cross with Gordon Brown's Labour party and decided to give them a bloody nose. How to do that? Change and vote for the party which came second last time. As a result they now have a Tory MP. Will life change for the people of that constituency? Not a lot! To parody an old saying, one MP does not a government make.
Well done Elizabeth Shenton and team. Keeping going in the face of such relentless yah boo, first past the post, negative campaigning takes a lot of guts. And to those who think it's not worth the effort, just remember - to get to a parliamentary majority you've got to start somewhere. The real losers are going to be the electorate of the UK next year or the year after. Until we get a fair voting system in this country the government is going to be chosen by about 8000 voters in swing seats. What kind of a mandate does that give anyone?
And speaking of democracy, what an excellent article by Nick Clegg in the Independent this week. For various reasons I didn't read it until 2 days after it was published but I was impressed and wished that more of that reasoned debate could be heard around the country. What are the other two parties afraid of? What have they got to lose, apart from their "majority"?