Vote Earth! Switch Off Your Lights For Earth Hour

Vote Earth! Switch Off Your Lights For Earth Hour by Shepard Fairey
Originally uploaded by Earth Hour Global

Is it really a year since Earth Hour 2008? I don't feel as though much has changed in the intervening 8760 hours (or 8729 as I write) to improve things. Governments say the right words and do the wrong deeds. Most of us need constant reminders but then we resent being "preached at". So here's a fun way to do a bit of good - tomorrow night at 8.30pm, wherever you are in the world, have dinner in the dark. OK, light a candle or two so that you can see what you're eating.
Switch off the TV. Turn off the computer. No radio (unless you've got a wind up one). One hour of electricity saved across millions of buildings - could make the difference between life and death for someone somewhere. Maybe there'll be one less flood in Bangladesh than otherwise, or maybe one less hurricane somewhere, or???
Go on - you know you can do it.

Thanks and Congratulations

One of the last engagements of the mayoral year for the present mayor of Stockton was to present certificates to a number of organisations in the borough which have supported Fairtrade over the past year or more. The list included churches, cafes and Queen's Campus of Durham University as well as one of the small shops recently converted to a Co-op store. It was heartening to hear from their representative that they now have as regular customers many of the older residents of their neighbourhood so they're providing a much improved community facility as well as increasing the turnover of the shop and selling a wide range of Fairtrade goods. Win, win, win!
The certificates were presented in the Council Chamber and the mayor gave a very brief outline of its history, which seemed to interest everyone there.
The organisations represented were:
Elm Tree Community Centre
St Peter's Church, Stockton
All Saints Church, Preston
The Oakwood Centre, Eaglescliffe
Stockton Parish Church,
Norton Methodist Church,
St Joseph's RC Church, Norton
St John the Baptist Church, Egglescliffe,
Yarm Methodist Church,
St Mary Magdalene Church, Yarm
Fairfield Garage Co-op shop
Stockton United Reformed Church
Queens Campus, Durham University
Angie's Kitchen at The Five Lamps Centre, Thornaby
Friends of Ropner Park for the cafe in the park

The work done by these people month after month might seem quite small in the global scheme of things but it contributes to a huge movement, helping 7.5m people across the world to work their way out of poverty. From avocado growers to wine producers they are all better off because people buy Fairtrade products.
By way of an indication of how the Fairtrade mark is becoming better known I told people about the evening before when one of the staff in my local Co-op asked me where I got my Fairtrade badge from. The more usual question is "what's that badge for?".
Stockton-on-Tees Teaching Primary Care Trust couldn't send a representative so arrangements will be made to present their certificate soon.
Any readers in Stockton borough who know of places which sell or serve Fairtrade goods please do let me know. We want to celebrate their commitment.

Then it was time to go home, have a quick meal and hurry out to meet with Lib Dem colleagues from the borough and the region to discuss plans for the European Parliamentary election on June 4th. Fiona Hall MEP is seeking re-election and she's done such good work in the Parliament for the North East that we're all keen to ensure success. She's encouraged investment in renewable energy and green technologies in the North East, she's campaigned to cut waste from the EU budget, and worked on cutting red tape as well as on such practical matters as forcing mobile phone companies to stop charging us an arm and a leg for using our phones in another country. A campaigner we don't want to lose!

The day started with a meeting to discuss Member Development - or how to train a councillor. Unlike well behaved dogs we don't always learn the lessons which are taught and there are constant efforts on the part of well meaning officers to encourage us down the "right" path. I did take the opportunity today to congratulate one department (Planning) on producing some very good training and suggested that others should consider taking a leaf out of their book. Unfortunately I and others also had to point out that the quality of some training is so poor that people not only don't learn but are put off training for some time.
The second item on the agenda was the snappily titled "New Executive Arrangements". The Westminster government has a real bee in its bonnet about local government and the need for "strong leadership". As a result we are being forced to consider only two choices for a change to happen in 2011. Either we have an elected mayor who then chooses a cabinet to work with him/her or we choose a leader of the council as we do now but s/he has a 4 year term instead of the present 1 year term. Change for change's sake I fear. We had a lengthy discussion about how to go about choosing and eventually decided that it would become a council vote on whether to go for a referendum or to make a choice as a council. Watch this space!
This evening's council meeting, all about the council plan and service improvement plans, provided a moment of light relief when a fellow councillor noticed in the papers that we would have an improvement strategy for "hard to reach" employees. When she asked me if I knew what they were I replied "The ones at the top of the ladder". Schoolgirl humour which gave us a moment of light relief from strategies and statistics. I hasten to add that we also asked some important questions and were given some important assurances about some services such as those for our most vulnerable residents.
And all that was achieved without being able to send a single e-mail by blackberry because of a fault with the server - technology isn't quite indispensable though we'd have got some things done a lot quicker with it working.

I started the day with an argument (or robust discussion depending on your point of view) about how a scrutiny committee can best spend its time. More specifically, how the Environment Select committee of Stockton Council should spend the next few months in an effort to do our bit for improved efficiency. The outcome of the discussion is yet to be decided but has been escalated to a higher level.
By contrast the library service was wonderfully organised and helpful about distributing our Fairtrade Borough directories around the borough. Which was good because I then went to the Fairtrade Borough Partnership meeting and could report that happy fact, along with reporting the successes of Fairtrade Fortnight. It was interesting to have two new people present and to have the good news that the catering in ARC is being taken over by a company which is committed to using Fairtrade and locally sourced products as far as possible in their menus. Yippee - it's only taken 5 years but at last we'll have a Fairtrade caterer in the centre of town with a good public profile.
Tonight I attended a meeting of a very different kind - planning the celebrations for the 150th birthday of the Catholic church in Yarm. Although it's over the river and in a different diocese to Eaglescliffe many people from this side of the river go down to Yarm rather than through to Stockton.The celebrations will be varied and I'm sure very enjoyable. We also discussed plans for a possible new church hall - exciting stuff but lots of detail to be worked out before it gets even to the planning stage let alone the building going up.

I spent the afternoon at Teesside High Prep school as part of their International week. Discussing Fairtrade with young people aged 9 to 11 I was struck again, as I often am, by the depth of their questioning, their thirst for knowledge and justice. A group of girls expressed their disappointment with a local Town Council which had listened to them and received a petition asking them to promote Fairtrade in the town but then apparently done nothing. We discussed ways of influencing the democratic bodies in the area and they resolved to "have another try".
The school council is committed to forming a steering group to encourage the school on its way to Fairtrade status and two girls have taken on the job of co-chairing that group. I've promised to go in again and discuss with them what support they'd like from the Borough partnership.
Other young people, preparing to move on to the senior school in September, spoke of a desire to encourage young people there to think more about Fairtrade while others talked of lobbying their local shops to stock more goods.
A host of enthusiasts, a pleasure to be with and a joyous way to spend the afternoon.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting Teesside High School's Prep school for the first time. Their splendid new entrance tells everyone approaching "You have the right to be happy", a very positive way to start the school day. I was there to finalise arrangements for my contribution to their International week next week, when I'll spend an afternoon helping the children and any parents who attend to understand a bit more about Fairtrade. The school has been interested in Fairtrade for some time and has now decided to make the push towards becoming a Fairtrade school. Excellent news.
During the afternoon I attended my first meeting for a while of the Positive Contribution and Economic Wellbeing Partnership - quite a mouthful! The council is involved in many partnerships and this one is about enabling young people to make a positive contribution to their community and take part in education or training or employment or any combination of them. For once yesterday we weren't receiving reports and nodding wisely, but were having a real discussion about how to make sure the young people of the borough have the best opportunities we can provide even in a time of economic difficulty. I was sorry to have to leave before it finished in order to get to my next meeting, also very important and interesting. Three good things in one day - wow!

It's been a busy couple of days with interviews for a new Corporate Director of Development and Neighbourhood Services, Stockton Renaissance, Ward surgery, meetings about the Western Area Partnership and links with the other areas, and Play Partnership Board. Add to that the continued distribution of the Fairtrade Directory and some "normal life" and there aren't enough hours in the day.
The Development and Neighbourhood Services section of the council deals with Planning, Bins, Recycling, Roads, Footpaths, Environmental Health, Stray Dogs, Animal welfare, Cemeteries, Supporting businesses, Flower beds and countless other things which have a significant and often visible impact on our lives. Finding the right person to head it wasn't easy - more than 20 people applied and we could only appoint one of them. Not for the first time we wished that we could take a bit of one and add it to another to make an even better fit for the job! But Bionic man is still the stuff of fiction so we have to settle on one and hope that we've made the best choice. I'm sure we have in this case and that the new man will do an excellent job at a difficult economic time.
At Renaissance we'd the other end of the scale in a sense - a presentation about the work of the Asylum Support Team in the council and some of the other groups which help asylum seekers and refugees in the Tees Valley including Justice First, one of the charities being supported by the Mayor this year. It was a refreshing change from the slick presentations usually delivered by officers who've done it countless times before. This was in part delivered by a young woman seeking asylum after dreadful experiences in Iran and being thwarted at every turn by the bureaucracy of the UK system. Her English wasn't perfect and her story wasn't smooth and well rehearsed. She was a human being speaking of inhuman treatment and how she copes while she waits and prays for the legal wheels to grind, oiled only by human kindness and charity.
At the Play Partnership meeting this afternoon I heard that the allocations of funding from Playbuilder funds is almost settled so it should only be a couple of weeks before groups like Egglescliffe & Eaglescliffe council find out if they've been successful in their bid for help towards the cost of upgrading St Margarets play area. Fingers crossed.
And in between between us in the ward we've tried to resolve issues around street lighting, parking, HGVs travelling on the section of A67 they're not supposed to venture on to, broken glass on footpaths and so ad infinitum it seems. And the sun shone in a blue sky for most of the time that I was indoors!
This is the variety of a councillor's week and it's what makes life so interesting.

Africa comes to Eaglescliffe

For the last fortnight the children and staff of Durham Lane Primary School have been studying Africa. The whole school has been enjoying stories, art, music, dance, drama, reading, writing, maths, gardening and a host of other activities. This afternoon the school doors opened to let governors and parents see some of the results. Yet again the school exceeded my expectations. The standard of artwork is amazing. I know that my last art report from school (quite a lot of years ago) said "Tries hard but gets nowhere", so I'm probably not the world's most erudite art critic but I know what speaks to me. Some of the art on display today was certainly worth a thousand words.
There were pieces of written work which brought tears to my eyes as well as pieces that made me smile.
Each classroom had a model African hut in it, and in the reception class the baby doll was sleeping peacefully inside! At the other end of the classroom two boys had created their version of an African landscape in the sandpit, complete with zebras drinking from the waterhole.
Outside there were garden bags, proudly shown off by the young children who'd made them and sown seeds in them. They told me that they're going to sell the vegetables to raise money to send a cow to a village in Africa. I've promised to buy some if that idea comes to fruition.
I was delighted to see a stall selling Fairtrade goods, organised by a Teaching Assistant, with tea and chocolate coming from different African countries.
The children had also run a tombola stall to raise funds to sponsor a child in Africa.
The whole thing was a wonderful example of how with hard work, good will and imagination the whole primary curriculum could be brought to life. I know how much research and planning goes into a project like this and the staff can be justly proud of their achievements. I'm sure those children will remember much more of what they've learned about a diverse and fascinating continent than I do having spent a term studying a text book and an atlas years ago.

I'm amazed

I'm amazed at the bravery of people who speak out against injustice even though they've known family members to be hurt or killed. I feel humbled when I see people on TV in far off countries who will risk all for democracy or human rights, but when I meet such a person face to face words often fail me. This week I met such a woman - Iraqi, formerly a university lecturer in Baghdad, she lost her husband when he was kidnapped and murdered. She lived in fear of losing her own life and eventually fled here to relative safety. But did she just hide away and live a quiet life in safety? No - she chose to improve her English, develop her knowledge of the law and her IT skills and to start a campaign for safety for a group of Iraqi women who are, she says, worse off than she is. These women are in jail and are subject to rape by prison guards, often in extremely brutal ways and shaming circumstances. Their fate is made worse by the fact that rape is still seen as something that only happens if the woman lets it or encourages the man. In those circumstances it's very hard to report the crime to the police or to family. Very few people will support a raped woman. The extent of the use of rape is difficult to prove of course, when women are too frightened to report it. But there is evidence around on blogs and other internet sites, if one is prepared to listen.
So this lady is doing what she can over here in England - organising a petition and talking to groups of people who'll listen to her about what is happening. She is hoping that her local MP will take it up through Parliamentary channels and bring pressure to bear on the authorities in Iraq to protect women, some of whom are in prison on what to us would seem fairly minor charges. If you agree that women should not be raped just because they're in prison then writing to your MP asking him or her to add their pressure would be a real help.
Our son-in-law also amazed me this week, being incredibly brave in a different way, by joining in The World's Greatest Shave for the Leukaemia Foundation. So the Foundation is over 2000AUSD better off and Pete has to grow his hair back to a decent state in time for 2 weddings in the next few months!
This morning was the Mayoress' coffee morning, another fund raising event for the Mayor's charity fund. The number of people coming through the door was very encouraging. Apart from enjoying a cup of Fairtrade tea or coffee they spent money on raffle tickets, tombolas, cakes, books, bric-a-brac and naming soft toys. The teddy bear was very popular but a some people needed a little more encouragement to try for the giant gorilla! The photos show some of the activities. The cake stall was briefly manned by the "top team" of the Council Leader and Chief Executive, thus proving that they can do more lowly tasks when called upon! The leader of the Labour group did sterling work in the kitchen and clearing away dirty cups. All in all, it was hard work for a morning but I'm sure that a good amount of money was raised so Daisy Chain and Justice First will benefit.

Building Schools for the Future??

This afternoon there was an update session for councillors on this very important topic, but with not much news to update! It seems that the minister concerned, Ed Balls MP, reads every submission document personally and as he's not been in his office recently the pile has built up. Until he reads the Stockton document it can't be signed and sealed so no-one can say publicly who the potential co-sponsors of our 2 academies are. No-one knows when the documents will be signed so no-one can discuss where the buildings might go, and so it goes on. I couldn't have invented a more frustrating system if I'd been asked.
Meanwhile the money for the South of the Borough schools to be refurbished or rebuilt won't be available until some time in the dim and distant future when all the people currently worrying themselves silly about it wil have left school or ceased to be parents of school age children or retired from the council or the schools concerned. I have uncomfortable visions of Egglescliffe school ceasing to exist because the buildings have crumbled away in the intervening time.
There again, we might have a change of government and the whole idea go back into the melting pot and we have to start all over again. There's got to be a better way of allocating government spending than all this bidding for money. But I'm just a local councillor - what do I know.
I do know that the spring bulbs we've had planted over the last 2 years are giving a beautiful display this month along verges and on grassy islands. Thank you to all the people who suggested places for them.
We're also moving nearer to getting street lighting and surfacing on the path from Yarm Rd to West View Tce and getting better lighting on the path parallel to Yarm Rd leading to St Andrews Close and Wentworth Way. Next winter should see great improvements on those two paths. We still haven't got a solution to lighting the railway bridge at the end of Newsam Rd but we're working on it.

The day started with the disappointing news that several schools and community centres in the Borough have decided not to provide space for a polling station for the European Parliament election in June. This is becoming an increasing problem and I'm becoming more convinced than ever that we'll need to turn to the supermarkets and such places in the future. It's sad that our public bodies don't see supporting the democratic process as part of their civic duty but it seems to by a sign of the times. Inevitably if we end up with polling stations in supermarkets we'll get even more complaints from our smaller retailers that everything's going to the big guys. But we do need to provide places for people to cast their vote, so anyone who lives in Stockton and knows of somewhere that would be willing - get in touch. It might be somewhere we don't know about.
I spent a part of the afternoon in Nightingale House, starting with a tour of the Bereavement suite. This has two functions. There's a comfortable room where bereaved families, or people preparing for the death of someone with a terminal illness, can discuss possibilities with a sympathetic member of the bereavement staff. They can explore possibilities without any pressure from funeral directors or friends or anyone else and the hope is that people will be able to decide on the kind of funeral which best suits them. The other room is a display room for a number of alternative coffins and containers for cremated remains. The traditional wooden coffin contains glues and varnishes which are not particularly good for the environment and an increasing number of people want something less damaging. There are plain cardboard coffins which can be personalised or left plain, printed cardboard coffins, woven wicker ones and now papier mache. The wicker ones are made in the south of England at present but I'm sure it won't be long before we have a firm in the north coppicing willow for this purpose. The papier mache ones can be finished with a top layer in coloured tissue paper and then decorated or you can go the whole hog for a real bling funeral - gold leaf finished coffin with a feather lining in a choice of colours. So there really is something for everyone. My personal favourite was the papier mache acorn designed to hold cremated remains for interment. It's attractive enough to be used as an ornament in any house, and far too nice to be buried!
Seriously, I encourage everyone to think about this seriously and make some decisions while fit and healthy and able to do it.
The committee went on to discuss the possibility of having a new crematorium in Stockton. One of the issues with the facilities currently available outside the borough is the increasing number of people who need a larger coffin which won't fit into the cremator. I'm not sure if that's an incentive to lose weight or not.
We also agreed our final report on Dog Fouling and Animal Welfare which will go to cabinet in April. All in all, a busy meeting and a very interesting one.
When I returned to the computer I found a photo showing the end of the bananan skins from Friday. They'd all been collected up and taken to the Shaw Trust in Fairfield. There they've been added to the compost heap and the photo proves the point.

Dog Fouling, Animal Welfare & Crematoria

What do they have in common? They're all on the agenda for tomorrow's meeting of the Environment Select Committee. The review of Dog Fouling and Animal Welfare is drawing to a close and the recommendations and report should be finalised tomorrow afternoon. We'll also be following up on previous reviews into cemeteries and memorials.
The meeting is being held in Nightingale House, also known as the Register Office, where the new Bereavement Suite will be open for us to see beforehand. We'll be able to see the selection of receptacles for cremated remains which are on display to help people make their choice, as well as some of the less traditional coffins. We didn't realise that Fairtrade coffins exist until too late to get one in for display but who knows what might come in the future? The Bereavement suite is the latest improvement in such services for the people of Stockton and while it might be a taboo subject to some, death is the only certainty in life for all of us and needs to be planned for in the same way as all the other significant events.
Meanwhile, my preparation consists of reading several reports before tomorrow's meeting! And if anyone wants to see even more photos of the Go Bananas for Fairtrade events in the Tees Valley go to Flickr and enjoy.

Spring Conference

Am I the only Lib Dem Blogger not at Harrogate? It seemed that way when I glanced down Lib Dem blogs a few minutes ago. I'd have liked to have been there, especially as there's a focus on education this time, but circumstances prevented it.
The decision to continue our commitment to education being free at the point of delivery pleased me - it's one of the many things which is distinguishes us from the other two major parties. Clear blue water is widening, and I for one am happy with that situation.
I had an interesting experience when a resident commented on the star rating of Stockton vs other Tees Valley authorities - the first time I've known anyone outside the council show any interest. He commented on the fact that Stockton isn't deemed to be "improving strongly" this time but he was very happy when I said that our star rating might go down in the future because the council is considering whether ticking government boxes is the best use of tax-payers' money. Perhaps the money is better spent on delivering services which our residents really want. That particular resident registered his approval of the idea so I hope he's not unique.
I'm beginning to see the floor and other surfaces in the house today as the posters, leaflets and other things associated with Fairtrade Fortnight are being tidied away. I hadn't realised just how far they'd spread! But I wouldn't have had it any other way - the Go Bananas Event was worth every bit of mess it created.

News from Zimbabwe

I was so engrossed in the escapades of our banana yesterday that I didn't hear any other news. This morning's paper alerted me to the fact of Morgan Tsvangirai's car crash yesterday and the devastating loss of his wife. It's one more tragic twist in the life of people in that country. I don't suppose the truth of the crash will ever be known because the political background means that views are polarised even before the investigation begins and no-one will believe the evidence that doesn't support their view. Meanwhile people continue to become ill and die from easily preventable causes if only the political will was there to put a solution in place.

Go Bananas for Fairtrade - Stockton did!

After many headaches, big and small, it all came together at noon today. Stockton went Bananas for Fairtrade. The Town Crier, one of the council's Democratic Services officers, came out to help encourage a crowd to gather. The sun shone, the wind didn't blow, helpers arrived. Curious passers-by learned something of what the Fairtrade premium means to the producers. The balloons looked good in the sun and people bought tickets for the balloon race to help the Mayor's Charities. Just after 12 the countdown to banana distribution started and within 10 minutes we'd distributed and seen eaten 200 Fairtrade bananas, courtesy of ASDA store at Portrack. The skins were duly collected up for composting by Doreen from The Shaw Trust. The balloons were released by the mayor with the help of a member of the events team, who had previously checked with DTV airport that all was well for the release.
Then the giant inflated banana set off on its travels round the Tees Valley. A walk up Stockton High Street to the mayoral car, a short drive to Stockton Station and we were welcomed by Chris Benson of Northern Rail. The banana had its own seat all the way to Hartlepool and had its ticket checked twice. It also had its photograph taken by a young lady whose sister had gone to school today dressed as a banana, much to the despair of her mother who thought it a crazy idea. When a giant banana appeared on the train it was too good an opportunity to be missed for setting her mother's mind at rest that other people were just as crazy!
A successful handover at Hartlepool Station to Cllr Carl Richardson, chair of Hartlepool council, and then it was back to Stockton on the next train.
The Mayor and Mayoress went off to their next engagement and I went to a meeting about children in the care of the local authority. We have a corporate parenting responsibility and this meeting helps to ensure that we fulfil it to the best of our ability.
A busy ward surgery rounded off the day as a councillor but I took the excuse of being very busy for a few days to avoid cooking a meal this evening. Instead I went with my husband to the award-winning restaurant in our ward which features in our Fairtrade Directory. A good way to end Fairtrade Fortnight.

Towards the end of a mini Era

Tonight was John's last formal council meeting in the Town Hall. It was a peaceful affair with no rants or major arguments but a number of very important questions raised and either answered or answers promised. As more co-operation is planned in our "city region" we need to know exactly what is being set up and what is being done in our name.
At the end of the meeting a Thornaby councillor who has caused his fair share of rowdy moments in the council chamber over the year stood up and thanked John for being so fair and a real gentleman. It was a lovely gesture which only Steve could have done in that way, took everyone by surprise and was much appreciated by the mayoress, sitting next to me, and I'm sure by the mayor also. Quite a lot of people stayed behind afterwards to have a drink and nibbles - more than have stayed at other times during the year.
John's last full council meeting will be a less formal affair at the education centre when there are lots of presentations and questions to officers about the performance of their sections. And then we move on to the Annual meeting and the appointment of a new mayor and deputy. It'll seem strange not to have a mayor or deputy in the group - Suzanne and John have made history by being the first couple to have served consecutively and so for 4 years the group has had the mayoralty associated with us. The end of a mini-era indeed.

999

One could have been forgiven for thinking that someone had dialled the emergency number tonight at Stockton Town Hall. The mayor, Cllr John Fletcher, held a reception for representatives of the emergency services to thank them for their work in the borough. As leader of a political group on the council I was invited and very much enjoyed meeting the members of the health services, the police and fire services. I was pleased to hear people from the hospital talking about patient centred care with the same determination as there was at the Momentum consultation all those months ago. It was interesting to hear that the views of professionals don't always coincide and that some consultants don't want to see services delivered out in the community because they fear that standards will drop. There's a huge lot of trust and bridge building to go on before everyone can have, for example, their pre-operative assessments near to where they live or work rather than having to go to a hospital for them. If the people I met there are anything to go by it will happen though.
I suspect it's one of the most rewarding parts of being mayor, to be able to recognise the unsung heroes in this way and it seemed to be appreciated.
Driving home afterwards I was surprised to see the security fencing round the new health centre had been damaged and partly flattened by the wind. The security men were trying their best but it seemed to me and my fellow councillor that there was a danger of a serious problem on the road. A phone call to the council security centre made sure that someone came out and assessed the situation better than I could.

Arrest, torture, death

That's the fate awaiting many people who are deported from here to some countries of the world when their claim for asylum here is refused. One such country is the Democratic Republic of Congo. For some inexplicable reason the British Government keeps saying that it's safe to return people there. Yet when people are returned they are immediately known as hostile to the DRC government and treated accordingly. Congolese refugees here in Stockton are constantly in fear of being deported. What kind of life is that - to live in constant fear of being returned to a country where you might be arrested, tortured and executed just because you disagree with the government of that land? And that's on top of not knowing what's happening to friends and family left behind when you fled.
There is an Early Day Motion currently in Parliament asking for such deportations to be stopped. Please write to your MP to ask him or her to sign EDM 814. You can contact them through the Write To Them website. You just need to know your post code. It only takes 2 minutes so please do spend that time this weekend.

Fairtrade Directory Launched

At last Stockton's very own Fairtrade Directory was launched this morning at our Coffee morning. The Mayor of Stockton, Cllr John Fletcher, formally announced the launch and over 100 people who came along to the Parish Church Hall for coffee took away their free copy. It was fitting that the new Chief Executive of Stockton was there, having his morning coffee and enjoying a chat with a number of people. It was his "Yes" which enabled it to happen and I'm enormously pleased that it did.
Lots of people worked hard to make this a success and it certainly raised awareness of Fairtrade. We'd a number of people sign up to be kept informed and one wanting to be involved with the Partnership. The directory proved its worth when one lady discovered in it a vegetarian restaurant which she didn't know existed and couldn't wait to tell her vegetarian daughter about it. Both Suzanne Fletcher and I could assure her of its quality as it's one of our favourite restaurants.
Our next event is on Friday when Stockton Goes Bananas for Fairtrade. I'd like twice as many people there for that!
Meanwhile if there's anyone out there who's got a net for holding inflated balloons do get in touch! The events team need one for Friday.

Budget Day

Not the budget that makes headlines in the national press but one which matters to the people of Stockton - our council budget. Most of the work of course is done by council officers with much better heads for figures than I have, but the final decision is for elected members. We are elected to represent residents and we are the ones who sometimes have to make hard choices.
This year we agreed to keep to what we proposed last year and to spend the year looking carefully at where we can make savings, doing things better and perhaps not doing things at all so that next year we can avoid having either a huge increase or large numbers of redundancies.
As Liberal Democrats we did support the amendment proposed by IBIS to use some of our capital to buy a plot of land in Ingleby Barwick so that if the Building Schools for the Future money comes through we'd be able to build more secondary places in Ingleby. It's only fair - that's where most demand is now. It would need to be very carefully organised so that it didn't have a negative impact on Egglescliffe and Conyers but that's not outside the realms of possibility.
If the worst came to the worst and the land couldn't be used for school places it would be a valuable asset owned by the council in years to come and could be used for something else.
As expected, the Labour-Tory unholy alliance didn't agree and voted against so we lost the vote but won the argument.
Of course today is also Ash Wednesday, a day for Christians the world over to start a period of reflection and reconciliation leading up to Easter. So it was appropriate to take some time out of the busy-ness for a church service. And it felt right to spend some time on detailed arrangements for the Go Bananas event on Friday March 6th to raise awareness of the poor working conditions of the growers of unfairly traded bananas.
In between I even found time to enjoy the walks to and from meetings on a relatively mild spring day.

Coffee and Bananas

Fairtrade coffee and bananas of course! With Fairtrade Fortnight upon us the final preparations are being made for the Coffee Morning next Saturday and the Go Bananas event the following Friday.
The coffee morning in Stockton Parish Church Hall is at 10 on Saturday 28th February and the Mayor of Stockton will launch our new Free Directory - come along, enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, browse the stall and pick up your free copy.
Go Bananas is an outdoor event at noon on Friday 6th March. It's part of an attempt to set a world record for the number of people eating a Fairtrade Banana in a 24 hour period. Right round the world producers and purchasers will be eating their Fairtrade banana. The numbers will be recorded and registered with the Fairtrade Foundation. So far over 124,000 have signed up to be part of it. In Stockton the Mayor of Stockton will be starting the Tees Valley event and taking a giant banana by train to Hartlepool to hand on the baton. The finishing line will be in Middlesbrough's Captain Cook Square on Saturday morning. Do join in if you're anywhere near. Bring your own banana or buy one on the spot.
As well as organising posters and banana costumes there's been the small matter of where to store 20+ boxes of Directories until they are distributed! Problem solved thanks to Stockton Council's officers who found a space in a building I didn't know existed - but I've only been a councillor for less than 8 years.
And of course, in the meantime there's a European Parliamentary election coming up and so leaflets to be delivered and work to be done for that. Being part of a team doing such things spreads the load and the spring sunshine certainly helps.

I haven't been doing a great deal of writing on here recently, having more pressing issues to deal with. That doesn't mean I haven't been doing things though.
Following the article I wrote in Gossip last month I've been amazed and pleased by the number of residents of Eaglescliffe and Yarm who took the trouble to write, phone and e-mail about the footpath in front of the former Funeral Parlour turned restaurant now being converted into flats. It isn't a public right of way at the moment, despite having been used for about 100 years by people.
Parking in Newsam Road reared its head again this morning with a repeat of a complaint I had last year about parking over dropped kerbs. Couple that sort of inconsiderate parking with people dropping litter and generally being antisocial and is it any wonder some residents get upset. Care for Your Area have promised to have a look at the issues around litter and ruined grass verges and parking enforcement will be looking into the parking issues so things should improve at least for a time.
Meanwhile, please don't put up with such problems in silence. If there is litter being dropped in your garden, or glass broken on the pavement ring 391959 and report it. The people on the end of the phone are very helpful and will soon get the message out to the relevant staff.

Victorian Bush Fires

I've been following the news on these with a personal interest, having family living in Melbourne. I've visited one or two of the affected areas in the past but what can anyone from outside say? Thank God, the family is safe and although some of their friends have lost property or been too close for comfort none of them has lost life or limb.
Photographs convey some of the enormity of the problems. The local newspaper gives a flavour of the human stories. If you want to help the British Red Cross is working with its Australian counterpart on an appeal so please donate if you can. Maybe that's what we should encourage all those bank bosses to do- donate their huge bonus payments to help all those people around the world displaced from their homes by natural disasters or wars. That would put some sincerity into their apologies wouldn't it.

Vandal Drivers!

Another piece of grass is being spoiled by drivers too lazy to go a few yards round the corner to the access road. This time it's at the end of Dalmuir Close where someone has driven over the grass to or from the garages instead of using the correct route. Not only is the grass spoiled but the pavement isn't reinforced for vehicles so the services running underneath can be damaged. Unsuspecting pedestrians are at risk - need I say more. If you know the guilty party please ask him or her to stop!

I heard today that a young woman who's been living happily in the area for the past few years after moving here from South Africa to join her mother and sister is under threat of being sent back because would you believe she was born in the years when apartheid ridden South Africa was not part of the Commonwealth. So though the rest of the family can make their home here, she can't. How crazy is that? She's working, paying taxes, contributing to the community in all sorts of ways and yet the Immigration service go after her. Why don't they concentrate on the people who are causing us problems - the criminals who slip in illegally. But no, a law abiding productive happy member of a community is much easier to find and deport. Her appeal hearing is later this month so I hope that justice is tempered with mercy on this occasion.

In a few minutes of relaxation today (it is Saturday after all) I caught up on what's been happening in other parts of the Tees Valley by reading some of the local Lib Dem Blogs. I was particularly taken with the description by Mike Barker of Darlington Council's cabinet meetings. It seems that Darlington have something to teach Stockton on how to extend the debate on important issues. Although Stockton's cabinet meetings are open to the public and I usually attend my opportunity to contribute is at the chair's discretion. To be fair to the current leader of the counci he does always allow members of council and other members of the public to have their say, but there's no right for other parties to have a representative sitting at the table. And of course, there's no opportunity for other parties to join in the pre-cabinet briefing sessions at which the awkward questions can be asked and often answered in confidence. Having said that, there is a more open attitude under the present leadership than in the past.
I read with something nearing despair reports of the extreme weather around the world at the moment. Parts of the UK under a foot of snow with more on the way and salt for the roads running out while parts of South Eastern Australia suffer temperatures of 46 and wildfires running out of control. Climate change seems to be producing some mad, bad weather at the moment.

I had a meeting this morning to put in place some plans for our contribution to the International Go Bananas event from noon on March 6th to noon on March 7th. Stockton High Street is the place to be - just before noon on Friday March 6th when we'll have a countdown to the world's biggest ever consumption of Fairtrade Bananas by individuals in one day. Anyone and everyone will be encouraged to bring along or buy on the day a Fairtrade Banana to eat when Stockton will launch the Tees Valley Banana Relay. The Mayor, Cllr John Fletcher, always keen to join in anything to promote Fairtrade in the Borough, will transport the relay baton - a giant inflated banana- to Hartlepool by train for their events later in the day. The serious point behind a fun activitiy is to raise the awareness of and demand for Fairtrade Bananas around the world but especially here. We'd like 500 people to join in - will you be one of them?
The evening was also about eating, but this time it was a very enjoyable meal as part of the Annual Mayor's Fundraising Ball. The Wynyard Rooms do a very good job of transforming a functional meeting area into a banqueting hall for the evening. Lots of people from the council, industry, the university, further education and local organisations enjoyed a meal together. We spent money on tombola and raffle tickets and some even danced when the band played. Young musicians welcomed us with string quartet music and the heating kept the freezing cold weather at bay. A very enjoyable way to make money for the charities supported by the Mayor this year - Justice First and Daisy Chain. And I think that for the first time this year, one or two of the men almost outshone some of the women in the colour and styling of their outfits!

It's snowing!

This is the sight that greeted me when I opened the curtains this morning. I don't think I'll be rushing out! Fortunately I don't have any council meetings today so the only trip needed is for hospital visiting time this afternoon, followed by some much needed shopping.
There's a down side to every beautiful sight of course, and this one is the cost of gritting the roads. Stockton has already used more grit in December than for the previous 10 years or more. These variations can't easily be built into Council budget calculations but residents, understandably, expect us to keep the roads clear. I expect emails and calls today about places that haven't been gritted, mostly because they're not on primary gritting routes. Knowing that your street isn't a main thoroughfare doesn't make it any easier to get out to work on a morning though, and I can understand the frustration.
I hope the snow stops for long enough for the children to be able to enjoy building snowmen and making giant snowballs - that's what makes the travel difficulties worthwhile to me.

Beside the Sea with Friends

A day away from the ward today, discussing plans for forthcoming elections with other party members. We chose to go right away from our homes, from our phones and our computers and do our thinking by the seaside in Redcar. During the morning session the view of the sea was beautiful and very calming. By the afternoon the wind was getting up, the sky was greyer and the sea was definitely rougher, but still beautiful.
It was good to spend the time together thinking about the future. Knowing that others share the same Liberal Democrat values and want to spread them is always inspiring.

I laughed till I cried

There haven't been many funny moments in the last 4 weeks but thanks to my daughter on the other side of the world this produced one. Only read it if you have tissues at hand (or no sense of humour).
On a more serious note the possible improvements to the footpath between Yarm rd and West View Terrace moved slightly nearer today.

Today I'd a real hotchpotch of meetings. The first was about scrutiny reviews and how they're progressing as well as the future work programme. There seems to be a consensus in the council that the next 12 months is a time for examining all of our services and seeing where we can make savings so that we don't need to have big cuts in essential services or big job losses. It won't be easy to make those decisions but they'll have to be made unless there's a huge economic turn round. The reduction in interest on money invested until needed runs into millions and that would have paid for some of our services.
At lunch time the Fairtrade Partnership met though there had been some confusion over the date of the meeting so a few people didn't make it. We were lucky to have Cllr John Fletcher, mayor of Stockton there. He wasn't there in his official capacity but it did make it easier to discuss our plans for Fairtrade Fortnight with him there instead of others having to guess what he might think. I could pass round the proofs of the directory and they were very well received. I'm looking forward to the launch on February 28th.
The third meeting of the day was about progress on the recommendations from the scrutiny reviews of cemeteries and memorials. A great deal has been done and the new leaflets available from Bereavement Services are very attractive and easy to understand. Apparently some of them are flying off the shelf faster than the staff can replace them. Particularly popular are ones on arranging your own funeral and on alternative coffins. It's good that people are starting to think ahead and plan for their death. It does make it so much easier for those left behind. Some of the work out in the cemeteries is behind schedule, partly because of the weather and partly because we didn't realise just how long it would take to do some of the things. However, we hope to get back on track over the summer. The feasibility study on whether Stockton should have its own crematorium is ready to come to the Environment committee and I was pleased to see in the report that the quality of the experience for the mourners was discussed, including longer time slots than are currently available at Middlesbrough being suggested as desirable now. There's still a lot of work to be done before any decisions are taken but at least something has started moving.

The quarterly meeting of the Health and Wellbeing partnership today spent some time trying to work out how a new strategy could avoid repeating what is already in other strategies! If we didn't spend so long writing strategies maybe we'd have more time to implement them, or is that wishful thinking?
A serious question to which we found no easy answer is how to change the habits of the increasing number of obese people in the borough in order to improve their health. It seemed to us unlikely that government initiatives such as free swimming sessions would help much because those who want to swim will use them and those who don't but perhaps need the exercise most won't. Lots of education in all sorts of guises seems to be the answer as long as it's properly targetted but it's expensive and time consuming to deliver such help and not always possible to get it to the right people. It was interesting to hear just how much is being done though.

This evening the Western Area Partnership had a very interesting presentation on the work being done around the River Tees corridor to ensure an accessible enjoyable green corridor through the borough. Fingers were crossed all round the table for the success of the lottery bid to get some funding to start the ball rolling at Preston Park.
Then we had another very interesting discussion as part of the scrutiny review of Neighbourhood Policing, Neighbourhood watch and CCTV. The question of whether people know who their Neighbourhood PC and PCSO was received with some bewilderment. It was obvious that the message hasn't penetrated the community far beyond councillors and some well established groups. It was also clear that the plethora of numbers given out to contact the police is a deterrent in some instances. It'll be interesting to see the report when it is completed.

Deep Cleaning?

Visiting our local hospital the other day I saw a yellow sign on the main thoroughfare through to the wards "Warning. Deep Cleaning in Process". I could see no sign of any cleaning happening, deep or otherwise but I could see loads of people walking too and fro en route to and from the wards, restaurant, X-ray etc. It set me to wondering just what it meant and whether it does any good. I found that the Lancet had an article when the idea was first brought in which says:
"Brown also plans to double the number of hospital matrons, to check on ward cleaning and accost doctors wearing long sleeves. They would be better employed making sure doctors, nurses and visitors wash their hands properly, the proven way to stop hospital-acquired infections."
Strangely enough, my own non-scientific research supports this. Walking into the ward over the last 3 weeks and making sure that I wash my hands properly I've been passed on numerous occasions by medical staff ignoring this simple procedure. I've seen doctors go from one bed to another without washing hands. And unsurprisingly, I've seen someone go in with one infection and end up with a totally different and unrelated one.
I also had a nurse tell me that they're so busy covering their backs now they haven't time to do the things that really matter. That's what happens when politicians interfere in medicine, setting targets, telling people what they have to do today, instead of making sure that the basics are in place and being checked on regularly. No-one wants to go back to the stiff starched uniforms and hands red raw from scrubbing with carbolic soap but there's a half way house which is healthier than what we've got at present.

Great excitement and relief for me today when I checked and "signed off" the proofs for our Fairtrade Directory. I know that some Fairtrade towns have had them before but this is our first and it's exciting! I just hope that it encourages lots of people to buy and use the products as well as more shops, cafes etc to get involved. It'll be launched in Fairtrade fortnight (Feb 22nd - March 7th) so watch out.

Town and Gown

On Friday evening I was at the annual Town and Gown dinner. This is a small scale dinner, an opportunity for political group leaders on Stockton Council, senior council officers and senior membes of Queen's Campus of Durham University to meet in a relaxed atmosphere and discuss issues of mutual interest. The event began 3 years ago when Cllr Suzanne Fletcher was mayor and has already led to better and closer working together. This year it was again the turn of the mayor and council to host it and the Town Hall was the venue. I must admit that the long conference tables of the committee rooms are more suited to a dinner than to a committee meeting! The table was beautifully laid out and the food was excellent, provided by the civic catering section, Tees Cuisine. There was much useful sharing of ideas about student accommodation, events we might share together, ways of working more closely in the future and the benefits which might come to the town if the university's proposals for a new style of medical teaching facility come to fruition.

Another sad decision

A couple of planning committee meetings ago we heard an application to demolish The Rookery on the basis that the foundations were substandard. The planning committee asked why underpinning or some other means of strengthening the foundations wasn't being considered and asked for evidence that it wasn't possible to save the building before making a decision. I thought it was quite obvious that if the proof were to be provided the committee had no option but to grant permission whereas if the building is capable of being saved there's no need for demolition. Rather than provide the proof the applicant appealed against the fact that the council hadn't made a decision. As a result, today's committee meeting had to determine what it would have decided on the evidence available. Not that it makes any difference to the decision except that the inspector might take it into account when making his decision. I couldn't be there because I needed to be at the hospital with my mother. My colleague, Cllr Julia Cherrett, substituted for me and after much debate the decision was made in favour of allowing demolition by the casting vote of the chairman.
So another landmark is likely to bite the dust unless the appeal inspector makes a very exceptional decision. Sadly, I fear that the new build won't take place but that demolition will be followed by another application for something cheaper to build and therefore probably not in character with the area. However, maybe I'm being too much of a pessimist.

Honours for Fairtrade Campaigners

Congratulations to Bruce Crowther and Sophi Tranchell, both awarded MBEs in the New Year Honour.
Sophi is Managing Director of Divine Chocolate, the Fairtrade chocolate company while Bruce pioneered the idea of the Fairtrade Town and still supports people up and down the country trying to bring Fairtrade to the forefront of the public consciousness. Well done and well deserved congratulations to both.

Bouquets and Brickbats

This morning's newspaper reported that the Chairman of VisitBritain has castigated Britain's hotels for the poor standard of service they provide. Grumpy staff and dirty rooms were just two of the things mentioned. His point was that this poor service is putting jobs at risk, not only in the hotels themselves but in tourist attractions which need people to visit them. In typical british fashion the newspaper then went on to invite its readers to send in their own stories of hotels from hell. I couldn't help wondering if it wouldn't be more constructive and interesting to collect the stories of hotels from heaven? I was reminded of the lovely little B&B in the Lake District where a stroll in the garden to watch the birds feeding was a wonderful start to the day, where breakfast was plentiful and well cooked, where the bathroom even contained spare toothbrushes and shaving kit, and the comfy chairs in the room were ideally positioned to watch the sunset through the bay window. Not a grump in sight and certainly not a grubby towel!
So how about it? Instead of complaining about the bad examples let's praise the good ones to the hilt. I'm sure I'd feel better surrounded by people talking about how good something is.

I started the day with a very useful meeting on our plans for a Go Bananas event for Fairtrade Fortnight. It looks as though we'll get good support from Stockton Council's events team this year along with the town centre management team. It's so refreshing to work with people who are used to listing all the people who need to be involved in something and thinking about how to get the press interest that we need. I hope it all comes to pass! Now I have a list of people to speak to or email and get their agreement to doing things and the promise of another meeting in a couple of weeks.

There was just time for a quick visit to Municipal Buildings to check on e-mails and print off papers for a meeting on Friday before returning home to do some work there. I walked into the house to the sound of the phone ringing - a local radio station wanting an interview on the report published by Lib Dem MP Julia Goldsworthy on the number of people being taken to court for non-payment of Council Tax bills. As she says, it's really important that councils distinguish between those who can't pay and those who won't pay. It's also important for those who are paying, even when it means going without something else, that everyone who possibly can pay does. Otherwise the bills have to go up for the rest and it becomes a vicious circle. Either that or service levels go down, and not many people would be happy with that solution.

Stockton Council does have a policy of pursuing non payment and if necessary taking people to court. Although no-one would claim that it's a perfect system it's certainly not a bad or nasty system.

Of course, if only the local taxation could be based on income rather than one asset (a dwelling) it would be much fairer. But only the Liberal Democrats promote fair taxation so we won't get it for a few years yet.

Just a thought

I came across this thought for the day while looking for something else entirely, such is the serendipity of the world wide web:
" The average woman would rather be beautiful than smart because the average man can see better than he can think. "
I couldn't possibly comment!

I'd like to hope that the men and women at the forefront of politics in the Middle East are not average by that definition and are thinking very hard and very creatively about how to establish peaceful co-existence for all the inhabitants of that troubled region. It's fairly easy for me to look at history and say "If only they hadn't done that" or "If they'd done that then this wouldn't have happened" but given the situation today I have no idea how to get out of it. The leaders involved need to have the courage and the faith to take steps which no-one else can force upon them. All we can do is pray, hope and support those who are managing to get humanitarian aid to those in need.

What a start!

The first call of the new year from a constituent came this afternoon. Obviously some local dog owners didn't make it their New Year Resolution to clean up after their dogs. This resident told me that he's put up his own notices near the pile of dog dirt on the path between Hazel Slade and Brae Head, but still the piles appear and grow. Do these people ever stop to think about the school children using this "safe" traffic-free route home from the primary school? Or the older students travelling in the other direction from the Comp? Why should they have to look down at where their feet are going - time enough for that when they're old and need to be wary of trip hazards.
So please, dog walkers, pick up after your animal. And if you see a pile of dog dirt, please report it to Care for Your Area (391959) and let's keep Eaglescliffe clean in 2009. Meanwhile, I've asked for some extra patrols by the enforcement officers in the area. Dog dirt isn't only unsightly and a health hazard, though that's bad enough, it's also an offence punishable by a fine.

It's not rocket science!

Once more I've had the opportunity to observe the NHS in action in recent days. Sitting for hours in a hospital while someone you love is waiting for treatment gives an unrivalled opportunity, though not one that I'd wish on even my worst enemy.
I've got 3 New Year Resolutions that would improve the NHS no end, and not cost a penny:
1. Train managers to manage people and work properly rather than to tick the target boxes
2. Give all ward staff a little notebook and pencil so that they can write down requests from patients as they're made. At each shift change they could then pass on those which hadn't yet been answered. That might avoid an hour's wait for a commode, a drip which isn't checked for hours, and maybe even avoid a five hour wait to see a doctor on admission. Who knows, patients might get treatment in a timely manner and even feel better quicker.
3. Be honest when answering the phone. Don't say breezily "She's fine" of someone who 6 hours earlier had breathing difficulty, acute abdominal pain and serious dehydration. It doesn't help!

It's hardly rocket science - honest, well managed and caring health care is what we pay our taxes for.

Love Food, Hate Waste

I wasn't planning on blogging during the holiday but just had to share this website with anyone who's bothering to read. According to this morning's newspaper a local district council is promoting the site to help people not to buy too much food for Christmas or more importantly, not to throw it away at the end of the festive period. I've just had a little look and found some interesting recipes for using up leftovers. Cranberry chocolate brownies anyone?
Of course, this year, if you only found out about it through that newspaper article it's too late to save money or food waste, but for anyone who's faced with cooking for a bigger than usual group of people it's got a super calculator for how much meat and veg to buy. Maybe next year it'll be promoted earlier. It may come into its own as the recession deepens and more people turn to cooking for themselves rather than eating out or buying ready made meals.
Now back to that Christmas Holiday!

The last council related meeting of 2008 was this morning, looking at progress on the various scrutinies that are taking place as well as a brief discussion of some of the pressures that are looming on the council's budget in the next couple of years. When people think about the credit crunch they perhaps don't realise the impact it might have on council services. Fewer planning applications means lower income from the fees, but we still have to maintain the planning service. General belt tightening means fewer people bringing cars into town and paying parking fees, but we still have to maintain the car parks. More importantly and much more sadly, worries about jobs and household income mean more stress in families, more demand for help with housing, more family breakdown, more children needing foster homes, more health problems. These aren't things that worry most people until they're personally affected, but they are very real effects of the economic problems in the country. And they have to be dealt with by the council, the health professionals etc without any increase in funds.
All isn't doom and gloom, though. The sun shone for a goodly part of the day, the washing dried out on the line and I found the Christmas present I'd hidden almost too well. On top of that the skips were removed from the open space in front of 661 Yarm Rd and the pedestrian route between Stoney Bank and Yarm Bridge was cleared in time for Christmas.
So now the Christmas dinner ingredients are all safely bought, presents are wrapped and all that remains is to take down birthday cards and put up Christmas cards.
A very happy Christmas to one and all and my best wishes for Peace in 2009.

Christmas is Coming

I love the final preparations for Christmas: the carol services, the Advent candles, the cards and greetings winging back and forth around the world. On Friday we had the Civic Carol Service in Stockton and the Mayor had bravely decided to start out of doors. So it was that at 1.30 quite a gathering could be found around Dodshon's fountain in the High Street. The Mayor and Mayoress of Thornaby were there, wearing the chains so recently returned to Thornaby, as well as a number of councillors and council officers. But more importantly, by the time the band struck up the first carol, quite a number of non-council people had braved the damp and cold to stand or sit and sing. Several people passing by stopped to join in for a few minutes including a lady who used to attend an English class I taught years ago. For the first time to my knowledge a "civic service" really reached out to the ordinary residents of the Borough in a way that didn't depend on special invitations. A brave choice and a right one from our Mayor, John Fletcher.
After 3 carols and some prayers we walked over to the Parish Church where even more people were waiting and there sang more carols, heard again the timeless story of the first Christmas and received the Peace Light - a reminder of the need for peace in the world and a sign that we can all do our bit. A light shared is a light that grows and spreads - it cannot be dimmed.
Then it was time to finish off the shopping and preparing the house for the arrival of grandchildren to celebrate a Christmas visit with us. This meant putting up the Christmas tree, usually a Christmas Eve activity, but done early to fit in with the festive mood of a family weekend. It was a joyful weekend with a gathering of nearly 20 of the family on Saturday - with ages ranging from 5 months to 91 years the house was alive with conversation and laughter. Presents were exchanged, news was shared and a good time was had by all.
Today was much quieter! Time to catch up on case work and bits that needed doing for the Fairtrade Directory which is now well under way at the publisher. There was even time to read the papers for tomorrow's committee meeting and mark up the questions to be asked. Council work continues right up till Christmas Eve, but the number of meetings reduces in this period as councillors and council officers take time off to to do what they want to do over the Christmas period.

The Grumpy Sheep and other tales

My first task today was a totally enjoyable one - attending the Foundation stage Christmas performance at Durham Lane School. The Grumpy Sheep baaed and grumped around the field until the birth of Jesus, the joy of the shepherds and wise men and the singing of the stars cheered her up and she became the Very Smiley Sheep. Parents wiped away tears of pride, the children sang their hearts out and the staff breathed sighs of relief that everything worked on the day. One more bit of the right sort of Christmas preparation, away from the bustle of 50% off sales on the High Street.
There was time for a bit of casework before going off to Planning Committee where the plans for the new building for Stockton 6th Form College were being considered. There had been lots of work over a number of months to address problems in the original plans but at last all seemed to have been resolved and the plans were approved. Sadly, the architect thought that going for a Very Good BREEAM rating was a plus point. I told him that excellent is what needs to be aimed at to combat rising energy costs and climate change. So many developers don't seem to have got the idea of investing now to save in the future. Let's hope this particular one sees the light before the building is completed.
Tonight I should have been joining with a group of friends to write cards to prisoners of conscience and unjustly imprisoned people in countries across the world. Sadly, my cough has returned and although I've no other significant symptoms of anything infectious I decided not to risk it. I shall write my cards at home and miss out on the good company and the mulled wine.

Fairtrade Apprentices Set Out Their Stalls

Back in November I went to All Saints school in Ingleby Barwick for the start of their "Dragons Den meets the Fairtrade Apprentice" Day. Tonight was the finale - the successful groups set out their stalls and tried to make a profit by selling Fairtrade goods to parents and visitors. I was invited back to speak about the importance of Fairtrade.
A group of young students sang a song they'd written about making a difference by buying Fairtrade. Another group showed their skills with African drums and dance, which they'd practised on the day with the help of Melting Pot Arts. Yet more students performed extracts from dramas they'd produced during the day, stressing what a difference Fairtrade makes. At one point I was reminded of the opening line of "Little Women", a favourite book of mine as a child: "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents". At the end of their drama the workers got the best Christmas present possible - Fairtrade prices for their goods and fair working conditions.
I was impressed by the entrepreneurial skills of some of the teams. Buying Fairtrade ingredients and making Christmas gingerbread men to sell seemed to me to show a grasp of the value that can be added to goods. One or two teams had supplemented their offer by organic or ethically sourced goods where Fairtrade isn't yet available but they had clearly stated that on the stall. By the time I was leaving some stalls were selling out, the raffle had been won by a suitably supportive local resident, staff looked worn out and the students were still on a high. Well done All Saints, and I hope to be invited back when the school declares that it has achieved the goal of Fairtrade status.

Eaglescliffe Post Office

The Evening Gazette has picked up the story of the Post Office closure now, and the fact that over 4000 homes in the ward don't have a Post Office. About 20 people braved the cold wind on Friday afternoon to take part in a photo for the Gazette and to tell the reporter their tales of why they need an accessible post office. Yarm PO being overcrowded, difficulties with parking, problems with the buses all featured in their tales. One couple, unable to face the traffic queue and parking problem in Yarm had followed the Post Office's advice and gone to Ingleby Barwick. Once there they couldn't find the post office so they turned round and drove to Hartburn!
Meanwhile we're pursuing a couple of possible locations for a replacement though with little help from the Post Office.

Busy, busy

There's been a lot about Fairtrade in my diary this week, but the highlight was a visit to the Tristar Carbon Savers' meeting. Along with their commitment to saving on carbon emissions at work and at home they are interested in other ethical and environmental issues including Fairtrade. So along I went to tell them a bit about the work in the Borough and suggest ways they might get involved. My inbox has been fizzing ever since - they're so keen to come up with suggestions for Fairtrade Fortnight that we'll have a great time even if we only implement half of them. My difficulty is going to be to ensure that we only take on those things we can cope with. But watch this space for progress!
Today is the deadline for sending in the editorial items for the Borough Fairtrade directory which is to be published in February. It's the first time we've done a glossy, professional one and trying to make sure that catering establishments send us the right material on time has been an interesting exercise. It's coming in now and I'm hopeful that I'll get it all out on time tonight.
Wednesday evening and Thursday were taken up with the appointment process for the new Chief Executive of Stockton. There was a very strong field which we whittled down to a short list of 4 over a period of more than a month. They spent Wednesday being grilled by members, stakeholders including the local press, the PCT, Fire & Rescue, Police and voluntary bodies and having a long session with the Leader of the Council. Then all members were invited to meet them informally over a buffet supper. That gave an opportunity to see how they coped with meeting people for the first time without a structured agenda and proved very interesting.
Yesterday we had the formal interviews and the final decision to make. It wasn't easy but in the end I believe we chose the best for Stockton. The decision was unanimous, which isn't a bad sign when every party on the council except for the Billingham Independents were represented and they'd had their chance to feed into the process the day before. This isn't the place to express my views on the unsuccessful individuals. Suffice to say that it was a long tough process and we're all confident that we've got a good man in place. The remainder of the Cabinet who were not part of the interview panel have to ratify our decision but I can't see that they'll object.
So, congratulations Neil. It's very satisfying that we have such high calibre officers in the council who can stand against the best applicants in the country and win. It's probably very wicked of me to say the name before the official press release goes out but such things can be notoriously slow and all council members have been notified this morning. I'm sure there have been some comments over the breakfast table and that word is spreading fast especially as it wasn't marked confidential.

Another local service bites the dust

A day after the Post Office closed its host for several years, Martins Newsagent, also closed. It's fallen victim to the inexorable rise of the supermarket as stockist of newspapers, magazines, chocolate bars and birthday cards. But they don't stock the variety of magazines, nor do they take special orders, nor deliver them to the door in all weathers. Unfortunately our paper this morning was delivered to the wrong door so I didn't even get chance to say thank you to the boy who has faithfully delivered it over the past year. I'm not sure where I'll get my paper now, or even if I'll get one at all as my two main times for looking at it are first thing in the morning before I'm dressed and last thing at night before sleep.
I spoke with more of the traders on Stockton market today and heard that they hadn't enjoyed the Christmas market at all. They did have constructive suggestions for improvement though and I've passed them on to our party representative on the Markets Forum so that they can be properly discussed at the next meeting. There are definitely some lessons to be learned if it's to be a better event next year. And that includes making sure the publicity is clear - these people told me that customers weren't expecting the usual market stalls but were searching for the "Christmas stalls".

Eaglescliffe Post Office RIP

Our Post Office closed today at lunch time and although Post Office Counters say it's only temporary till someone else takes it on in suitable premises the options for that are few and diminishing. So residents are faced with the choice of travelling down to Yarm which is already busy and has long queues or into Stockton High St which always seems to have huge queues or driving (if they can) to one of the more outlying offices. It's hard on those pensioners who have a Post Office Card account. It's hard on people who need to have something weighed to get the correct stamps. These are things which the supermarkets don't offer, yet their sales of newspapers and sweets have put the newsagent out of business. Is it the fault of the supermarket or of the shoppers who choose to shop there? I leave it to you to apportion blame. Either way, we've lost our post office and the supermarkets aren't interested in giving up some of their space to accommodate one.
If by any remote chance someone reading this would like to know more about how to take over this successful Post Office the information is available on line or? Post Office doesn't actually give any other way of applying, and just like when the Station Rd office was being closed, it only seems to advertise on the website. It took me almost 5 minutes to find the relevant site so no-one's likely to spot the advert by mistake! Service to the community? I think not.

Partnership Working

Today saw a good example of partnership in action. Earlier in the year Stockton Council decided, much to my surprise, that a small amount of money would be allocated in the Western Area to help with employment related issues. We were told that we could be quite creative in how we handled it but it needs to be spent by the spring of 2011. The Western Area Partnership Board set up a working group to make some recommendations - two Borough Councillors representing the 2 complete wards in the Area, a Parish councillor with experience of representing the community for many years on panels relating to health matters, and a community member representing a group which spans the whole area.
The group was supported by officers from Stockton Borough Council who have a lot of experience of handling funding across the Borough. The second meeting was yesterday and thanks to an idea taken from another area we came up with what we hope will be a really useful way of working in our area, supporting people who are starting to struggle with debts including mortgage payments but also the debts incurred probably by trying to have the same kind of family Christmas they had last year even though this year money is tight. By all sitting round the table and talking frankly about the area in which we live and the problems that some people will experience over the coming years of the recession we were able to leave party politics and cross-community issues to one side and come up with a really inclusive plan.
When I put it to the full board at last night's meeting it was welcomed by all, including those from villages which sometimes struggle to have their voice heard at Borough level. So the officers will now put together invitations to tender for the project and we move forward in January all being well.
At the same board meeting we heard of a rare success story from the Youth Service, with the youth club workers in Eaglescliffe going out to talk to older teenagers who didn't attend the youth club with the result that they're now part of the club and applying for funding from the "Playing Out" fund to access sports training and encourage other young people to take part in active play. The number attending has almost doubled - a real achievement especially as this is young people wanting to take an active part instead of hanging around outside. Well done Chris and others. There was also good news about the numbers attending the other clubs in the Area so perhaps we're going through that part of the cycle where young people want to belong to clubs, or perhaps the clubs are now providing the sort of activities the young people want. Only time will tell.