Slightly better news from the USA.

John got nearly 20% of the vote in the South Carolina primary.

The turnout was over 500,000 compared to 230,000 in 2004.

John did well enough to stay in the race to be the Democrat’s presidential candidate.

The worrying thing is that the exit polls showed 80% of Afro Carribeans voted for Obama, 80% of white women voted for Clinton and 80% of white men voted for John. A worrying sign that the Democrat coalition is solidifying around same gender or same race candidates.

However, the other good news is that very few other states have a 50% electorate of a particular ethnic group like South Crolina does. So hopefully issues will come back to the fore again.

This split in the Tory Group became apaprent last night at Scrutiny Committee.

Some of the “young Turks” (and the not so young” had “called-in” a decision to approve the writing off of over £500k of irrecoverable council tax.

 A “call-in” is the last and most extreme way a Councillor can get a decision of Branston’s Cabinet reviewed. Yet the Tories called in a decision of one of their own colleagues - Barry Huckle the Finance Portfolio Holder.

The atmosphere in the Council Chamber between the caller ins and Barry was tense to say the least. You could “feel” the very angry vibes coming from Nicky Attenborough the Tory Group leader sitting 20 meteres away in the public gallery.

Much amusement was had by the other Groups at the climb down by the “callers-in”. 

The whole episode was just to get Andrew McConnell a few column inches in the local papers. Shame he had to embarrass his own Tory colleagues to do so

A car knocked down the old lamp post in Aug 07. This was replaced with a new one in Nov 07 and connection was promised within the week. A resident received a letter from County Hall advising it would be lit within the next week. That resident rang me yesterday to let me know it is still not lit ! I’ve just rung County Hall and no one seems to know why it hasn’t been lit ! It seems the networks team may not have asked EDF to light it or it may be because the accident caused it not to be part of the replacement programme along the road.

Ummmm……………..left hand and right hand

Some local residents have been in touch asking for a footpath on the evens side of Fields Road.

I have consulted with the residents of that side of Fields Road.  The feedback is mixed at the moment; some are saying it is badly needed whilst others are saying it would cost too much and the County Council are unlikely to do it in the forseeable future. I’ll let you know the outcome and will bear in mind all these views when discussing it with officers, and Judith and Gordon.

I’m in an even bigger state of despair about the USA today.

I began to have doubts about that country when their electoral system ensured George “Dubya” Bush scraped home to a narrow victory in 2000 against the now-Nobel Prize winner Al Gore.

Then they gave him an even bigger victory over John kerry in 2004 - John Kerry being too liberal for the gun-toting rednecks of the good ole boys of the Deep South.

This time the Democrats had a big chance of selecting an electable but also populist Southerrner in John Edwards. But thanks to the big money corporations who run the TV stations in the USA, John was ignored by the media despite beating HRC in Iowa and so he got stuffed yesterday in Nevada.

 In a CNN poll the other day, Edwareds beat all the Republican candidates head to head. But the Democratic electorate are voting for change based on gender or race rather than substance.

Is it any wonder I ask myself sometimes that I am so depressed about the USA and so determined that the UK should become a full and proper parthner in the EU ?

What a weekend we’ve been having.

First the team I’m in finishes only 8th out of 17 teams in the Hastingsbury School PTA Quiz Night….but we beat the team Judith and Gordon were in though More seriously, it was great that 6 Liberal Democrat friends came as a team to support fundraising efforts for Lizzie’s school. Well done to the winning team who had such an obscure name that I can’t remember it. The evening was memorably finished off by our friend Helen telling us how amazing the Take That  concert she went to was.

 After that late night, I had to get up fairly early on Saturday to take PJ and his best mate Josh for their golf lessons at Mowsbury near Brickhill. Tiger Woods they’re not yet but I’m working on it.

We then went out last night for  a few drinks and then a curry with our brothers and sisters - my brother being married to one of Mandy’s sisters ! We just got settled in the Kings Arms when we had a phone call from our kids telling us Mandy’s Dad had had a fall and an ambulance was on its way. Naturally we all hurried round to the Hutchings homestead. Mandy’s Dad was in hospital overnight but is out now and taking things easy. We’re trying to persuade Mandy’s folks to sign up to one of those personal alarm things but I’m not hopeful they’ll do it. Like my folks, they’re very proud of their independence.

Today, I’ve just done an hour of casework catching up before my folks come round for a big Sunday dinner. I’ve just asked the kids to do their Sunday chore of emptying the bins and got shouted at for being a nasty Dad. The joys of parenthood are beyond belief when you have a 13 year old daughter Lizzie who wishes she was 18 and a 12 year old son who doesn’t see why he can’t spend all his waking hours on his new lap top playing World of Warcraft. But I wouldn’t swap them for anything….not even a Liberal Democrat victory at the next General Election.

As well as the hundreds of cases due to the poor maintenance by the County Council of our roads and footpaths, and the ongoing vandalism of street nameplates, I am working on several major cases in our Ward:

Stewartby 4

4) Speeding on The Crescent

When I raised this with the County Council last year, an Officer without any discussion with me strangely decided that this issue is a low priority. This decision defies understanding given the problems caused to the elderly residents of mainly the Sir Malcolm Stewart Homes but also The Crescent by teenagers and young “20s” racing up and down The Crescent and Stewartby Way in their cars.

I’ve asked the County Council to ask the Officer concerned to contact me this time to discuss this further.

As well as the hundreds of cases due to the poor maintenance by the County Council of our roads and footpaths, and the ongoing vandalism of street nameplates, I am working on several major cases in our Ward:

Stewartby 3

3) Problems caused by teenagers gathering in the evenings at the layby outside Marston Vale Middle School.

- We are working with the Parish Council to see what can be done to end this nuisance. This needs both a reactive and a proactive approach.

- The local PC - Jamie Quinney  - and your Liberal Democrat FOCUS Team of Councillors encourage local residents to report every incident. It may seem that nothing is done but every call builds up the case log to help us press the Police HQ to provide more support to Jamie.

- We are pressing O&H to help lcoal residents. After all, they own the land in question and it seems fair to me that an absentee property company should take some responsibility for what is happening on its own land. They are a very difficult company to get hold of.

- We are supporting the Parish Council in its efforts to find a solution before the “peak season” starts in the summer.

As well as the hundreds of cases due to the poor maintenance by the County Council of our roads and footpaths, and the ongoing vandalism of street nameplates, I am working on several major cases in our Ward:

Stewartby 2

2) Dropped kerbs along The Crescent

I have been pressing the County Council’s contractors for some time now to provide “dropped kerbs” along The Crescent.

After swift action by the Parish Council and myself, we managed to use some money from the Parish Partnership Fund to pay teh contractors to do the work last year.

However I am still pressing for them to do one more - just above the top junction with the roundabout. This will make it much easier for the many elderly local residents to cross to the nearby bus stop.

As well as the hundreds of cases due to the poor maintenance by the County Council of our roads and footpaths, and the ongoing vandalism of street nameplates, I am working on several ajor cases in our Ward:

Stewartby 1

1) The obviously big one is the closure of the brickworks.

Following the distribution of our December FOCUS with this as the main story, we were invited to a meeting with David Szymanski the Managing Director of Hanson Building Products to make first contact with him and to find out what Hanson’s plans are for the site. Judith and I met David on Thurs 10th Jan and discussed many issues.

- We pressed our wish that at least one of the chimneys be maintained. We had also asked for Borough Council and English Heritage support for that. We were very pleased to hear afterwards that the County Council were successful in getting English heritage to “list” the site.

- David showed us what the new office block fronting Green Lane should look like when it is finished. Many residents will have already seen work starting on that site.

- David told us of future development plans for the site. We said we would support local residents views on any residential development of the site.

- David has very kindly sent both me and Judith a copy of the book outlining Hanson’s vision for the site.

- Obviously there are plenty of issues arising out of the brickworks closure that we will need to provide a lot of information and support to local residents on.

As well as the hundreds of cases due to the poor maintenance by the County Council of our roads and footpaths, and the ongoing vandalism of street nameplates, I am working on several major cases in our Ward:

Wootton - 2

1) Speeding cars at the junction of Bedford Road, Fields Road, Cranfield Road and Church Road.

- Many residents will know that Gordon presented our petition calling for action NOW on speeding at this junction at the July 07 County Council meeting.

- At the meeting Gordon said “Traffic is steadily getting worse. We cannot wait for more houses to be built before the junction is improved.”

- I am delighted that the County’s Development Committee has agreed to Gordon’s call for an early feasibility study of the junction and to review the speed limit and not wait for more houses first. The County Council Officers had proposed that our petition should be dumped in the bottomles spit of their 5-year Review of the road network. Thanks to Gordon, we may see action sooner.

As well as the hundreds of cases due to the poor maintenance by the County Council of our roads and footpaths, and the ongoing vandalism of street nameplates, I am working on several ajor cases in our Ward:

Wootton - 1

1) Judith and I are helping local residents with the Wootton Youth Initiative.

- The local residents are currently consulting with local teenagers on what they want in Wootton.

- Judith and I have used some of our Ward Councillor Fund to help the initiative provide a skate park on “The Rec”.

- Judith helped at the Initiative’s student consultation day at Wootton Upper School on 16th Jan.

- I am working with Paul Prescod of Wootton Park Rangers on campaigning for a rate reduction on the cost of football pitches by 18-21 year olds.

The County Council has made a reckless decision to withdraw the orange recycling bags.

We believe a bin-only recycling scheme is utterly unsuitable for many people living in rural areas, blocks of flats or densely-populated areas, yet the county council has recklessly decided to withdraw bags completely. Many local residents will now be left with no choice but to stop recycling altogether if they do not have the option of using bags instead of a bin.

Withdrawing bags is crazy. We should be making the scheme as convenient as possible for people in order to increase recycling overall. That is why we are calling on the borough council to step in to ensure that residents are given a choice of an extra bin or bags for recycling. It is a shame that the two councils don’t seem to be able to work together for local residents.

At last nights Borough Council meeting, I asked the following questions about the County Council’s pet Project to put a massive incinerator right on Stewartby’s doorstep:

Regarding the County Council’s proposal for a waste incinerator at Rookery South Pit, will the Portfolio Holder:

a) Report on the progress on discussions with the County Council, including any answers received to this council’s questions regarding the financial implications of the proposed incinerator?

b) Confirm that the incinerator will need to burn a quarter of a million tonnes of rubbish each year to remain economic?

c) Agree that the continuous stream of waste will cause hundreds of lorries to use an inadequate road system that is already poorly maintained by the County Council?

 Despite my personal request to him to speak up, I could not hear a word of the Portfolio Holder’s reply. I have asked for a written copy of it.

I followed up my initial questions by slamming the inadequate and secretive consultation process the County Council has followed and asked the Portfolio Holder to push the County Council to change its mind and look at the much more environmentally friendly and cost effective Mechanical and Biological Treatment option.

I am fed up with Stewartby being used as the dustbin of Europe. I’d prefer it if the County chose a different site but if it is has to be Rookery South Pit then a Mechanical and Biological Treatment plant is the much better option. The Energy From Waste Incinerator is a very poor option for the County Council to choose as it needs a continuous stream of waste to be economic and is much less effective than a Mechanical and Biological Treatment plant at the re-using waste.

We will continue our campaign to open up the secretive corridors of County Hall to ensure Stewartby is not taken for granted yet again.