Thursday, September 29, 2005
Parish Council Fail To Lead on Children's Home Doubts
Once again a local community is under siege from young people who are either residents of, or friends of residents who live in a home for children with behaviour problems. Like many other similar homes this house, which is on the outskirts of Ranton, is just a normal house which has been brought by a commercial organisation which specialises in this sort of accommodation.
The problem of anti-social behaviour around the house was raised by two local residents who came tonight’s meeting of Ranton Parish Council. This certainly is not the only case, but the fact this type of home does not need planning permission means the local community is never warned that the home is opening. I am torn over this problem as I do feel the local community should know, but then again if they are warned no doubt they will object and try to force the home to move elsewhere. This will then become a vicious circle and the house will never be welcomed. However something must be done at a National level to try to square this circle and at least find ways that ensures local people are not kept in the dark over what is happening.
One disappointing thing to come out of tonight’s meeting was that, given the length of time the house has been in existence, the Parish Council members did not seem to have many facts about the situation. A number of members were asking fundamentally simple questions about the process of who the house was established, how the residents get there, and how the house is monitored and controlled. I would have hoped, given the experience of some of the members, and the fact that one is also a Borough and County Councillor that more knowledge was available and a more thought-through and positive strategy to deal with the situation was in place. At the moment I fear the Council are being reactive rather than being proactive and until that changes the problem will dominate the agenda for many months to come!
The problem of anti-social behaviour around the house was raised by two local residents who came tonight’s meeting of Ranton Parish Council. This certainly is not the only case, but the fact this type of home does not need planning permission means the local community is never warned that the home is opening. I am torn over this problem as I do feel the local community should know, but then again if they are warned no doubt they will object and try to force the home to move elsewhere. This will then become a vicious circle and the house will never be welcomed. However something must be done at a National level to try to square this circle and at least find ways that ensures local people are not kept in the dark over what is happening.
One disappointing thing to come out of tonight’s meeting was that, given the length of time the house has been in existence, the Parish Council members did not seem to have many facts about the situation. A number of members were asking fundamentally simple questions about the process of who the house was established, how the residents get there, and how the house is monitored and controlled. I would have hoped, given the experience of some of the members, and the fact that one is also a Borough and County Councillor that more knowledge was available and a more thought-through and positive strategy to deal with the situation was in place. At the moment I fear the Council are being reactive rather than being proactive and until that changes the problem will dominate the agenda for many months to come!
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Question Time Whitewash
I’d tabled two questions at tonight’s meeting of the Borough Council. One was seeking to get more information about the planned low-cost housing attached to the recent planning permission for the Riverside development, and the other seeking to get information about the town’s homeless since the Bethany Project hostel had burnt down. I don’t think anyone except the Conservative Councillors expected anything but the answers I was given. In fact I was told nothing. Judith Delgarno, the Leader of the Council answered the first question on low cost housing, and despite a number of supplementary questions from both myself and other Councillors gave only vague answers.
However worse than that was the effort made by Cllr Trevor Reeves – the Cabinet Member for Housing. He got the job of answering my question on the effect of the Bethany Project Hostel burning down. Part of my question asked for details of the number of people sleeping rough in Stafford. Again Trevor tried to give very vague answers and when it came to the question about rough sleeping he pointed out that in a survey carried out in 1999 nit was found that 10 people were rough sleeping in Stafford. He then went on to say that a survey had been carried out in March this year and rather than giving the result said I could read them in the report that was attached to his notes if I wished. I was amazed at this answer and the only reason I could think why he had made this statement was that he either did not know what was in the report or it contained a number he did not want the Councillors to know. However I did press the matter with him and asked him a direct question was the number in the report greater than ten? This he admitted, but I’m still wondering if this is right as the more I listened to him the more worried I was he did not have full command of the subject under debate. Anyway I won’t have long to wait to find out the truth as the Council agreed that a copy of the report in question should be sent to everyone.
However worse than that was the effort made by Cllr Trevor Reeves – the Cabinet Member for Housing. He got the job of answering my question on the effect of the Bethany Project Hostel burning down. Part of my question asked for details of the number of people sleeping rough in Stafford. Again Trevor tried to give very vague answers and when it came to the question about rough sleeping he pointed out that in a survey carried out in 1999 nit was found that 10 people were rough sleeping in Stafford. He then went on to say that a survey had been carried out in March this year and rather than giving the result said I could read them in the report that was attached to his notes if I wished. I was amazed at this answer and the only reason I could think why he had made this statement was that he either did not know what was in the report or it contained a number he did not want the Councillors to know. However I did press the matter with him and asked him a direct question was the number in the report greater than ten? This he admitted, but I’m still wondering if this is right as the more I listened to him the more worried I was he did not have full command of the subject under debate. Anyway I won’t have long to wait to find out the truth as the Council agreed that a copy of the report in question should be sent to everyone.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Busy Night
Tonight’s been rather busy. I started off at an extraordinary meeting of St. Giles School Governors. The meeting had been called so that Kate Griffiths the Head Teacher could ask the Governors to support her application for early retirement. This we all did with great sadness. Kate has been Head at the School for fifteen years. In that time the school has gone from strength to strength and certainly Kate will be missed, and will be a hard act to follow.
After the meeting had finished I went onto the Parish Council. This meeting went quite smoothly and was finished just before 10.00pm – quite a record for Haughton. Once again the relationship between the Local Safety Initiative and the Council was discussed. As time goes on it clear that the boundaries between both groups are getting more and more blurred. What is worrying is that the LSI group is not elected and is made up of self selected people – so their legitimacy as a group purporting to represent the village must be questioned. To try to help establish how this group should relate to the Council I suggested that Steve Wilson from Staffordshire Police should be invited to the next Council meeting. I also suggested the invite should be limited to just him and should not include a representative of the Group as it is important the Council hear the official view of what role a LSI Group should take within the community, and what its terms of reference are. I’m looking forward to next weeks meeting!
After the meeting had finished I went onto the Parish Council. This meeting went quite smoothly and was finished just before 10.00pm – quite a record for Haughton. Once again the relationship between the Local Safety Initiative and the Council was discussed. As time goes on it clear that the boundaries between both groups are getting more and more blurred. What is worrying is that the LSI group is not elected and is made up of self selected people – so their legitimacy as a group purporting to represent the village must be questioned. To try to help establish how this group should relate to the Council I suggested that Steve Wilson from Staffordshire Police should be invited to the next Council meeting. I also suggested the invite should be limited to just him and should not include a representative of the Group as it is important the Council hear the official view of what role a LSI Group should take within the community, and what its terms of reference are. I’m looking forward to next weeks meeting!
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Woodseaves Bus Service Cuts
Once again one of the local villages is going to loose some og their bus services. This time it is Woodseaves. I found out when one of the residents telephoned me to ask what could be done to stop the cuts. She told me her son used the buses to get to Stafford where he worked and it now looked as if he would be forced to drive. She was also worried that many local people used the bus to get to the doctors in Eccleshall and that for many people, especially the elderly who did not have a car the cuts would mean they would have great difficult in making the journey. To make matters worse there appears to have been very little publicity about the change to the service.
This news comes just a few days after the late night service to Gnosall was also scrapped. Again no publicity was given to this change!
It’s clear that Arriva are cutting every service that is not making them a profit. As a commercial business I can understand why they are taking this stance, but that certainly does not help the community. The move just highlights problems brought about by the deregulation of bus services, which means profits come before service provision. However the lack of publicity for the cuts must lie firmly with the County Council who are responsible for providing timetable information. They will have held discussions with Arriva and would have known of the cuts and it they who should have told Woodseaves residents. The County Council also holds the key to the reinstatement of the services as they will have to provide funding to subsidise the loss making route, unless of course they can find another operator to run the route knowing full well they might well make a loss. What is needed is political pressure to ensure the services continue, but I am worried that this will not materialise. The losers in all this will of course be residents of Woodseaves.
This news comes just a few days after the late night service to Gnosall was also scrapped. Again no publicity was given to this change!
It’s clear that Arriva are cutting every service that is not making them a profit. As a commercial business I can understand why they are taking this stance, but that certainly does not help the community. The move just highlights problems brought about by the deregulation of bus services, which means profits come before service provision. However the lack of publicity for the cuts must lie firmly with the County Council who are responsible for providing timetable information. They will have held discussions with Arriva and would have known of the cuts and it they who should have told Woodseaves residents. The County Council also holds the key to the reinstatement of the services as they will have to provide funding to subsidise the loss making route, unless of course they can find another operator to run the route knowing full well they might well make a loss. What is needed is political pressure to ensure the services continue, but I am worried that this will not materialise. The losers in all this will of course be residents of Woodseaves.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Church Eaton Let Down Over Village Grass Cutting
Tonight I attended yet another meeting of Church Eaton Parish Council. The main item of discussion was the work the council are planning to carryout to the village playing field. For a small council they certainly have some big plans, but of course these do depend on finding sources of funding. However a more pressing problem is simply getting the grass cut. Trevor Houghton – the Council Chairman – broke the news that the maintenance contractor had just informed him he no longer intended to carryout the work as the mower he uses had broken. This has really left the Council in a mess. At this time in the season they felt they would probably not find another firm to carryout the work, or at least one they could afford to pay! I was asked if the Borough Council could cut the grass. I told them I thought this might be a possibility but again I would not guarantee the Parish could afford their prices. After a lengthy discussion the Councillors decided to investigate a number of ways out of the problem. The Clerk was asked to get quotes from as many local firms as she could find, while at the same time an approach would be made to the Parochial church Council to see if the Parish could hire the mower used to cut the church yard. If this is possible a Villager has already volunteered to cut the grass. In the short term this should save the Council money, but I am worried that the long term the cost will rise considerably over what the Council is currently paying. What is also disappointing is that the contractor who has just quite lives in the Village and could not find away to keep cutting the playing field until the end of the season
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Radical Plan To Reduce Heavy Vehicles Through Doxey
The news has just broken that another planning application is to be made to extend the workings at the peat extraction site next to the M6 maintenance area on the Doxey to Seighford road. I’ve already had a number of calls from Doxey residents worried that the new works will mean more heavy lorries passing through their community. Before the elections I had already started to talk to the County Council about how the existing problem could be alleviated, but this new application has moved the problem up a gear. To me the answer is simple. Allow the heavy lorries going to and from the site to have access to the M6 through the maintenance area. In one stroke this would take the heavy vehicles out of Doxey and make the area much safer and quieter.
However I’m not holding my breath over this idea, which incidentally I’ve written to both County Council and Department of Transport about. No doubt they will come up with some excuse why it can’t be done. The one element in its favour is that the maintenance area is already used by the DOT to carryout heavy vehicle checks – with lorries being taken off and put back on the motorway at this point. Also the area is the base for a number of lorries used for motorway maintenance – so I do think the principle of using the site to get to and from the motorway has already been established. I’ll have to wait for a reply, which for the sake of the residents of Doxey I hope will be a positive one!
However I’m not holding my breath over this idea, which incidentally I’ve written to both County Council and Department of Transport about. No doubt they will come up with some excuse why it can’t be done. The one element in its favour is that the maintenance area is already used by the DOT to carryout heavy vehicle checks – with lorries being taken off and put back on the motorway at this point. Also the area is the base for a number of lorries used for motorway maintenance – so I do think the principle of using the site to get to and from the motorway has already been established. I’ll have to wait for a reply, which for the sake of the residents of Doxey I hope will be a positive one!