It's been a strange week, I was prepared for it being busy, and it has not disappointed on that front, work has been manic and finding time for my council duties difficult, however it all fell into place eventually. That with three yes three games of skittles has fully occupied all of my time.
Monday's meeting of MDC Cabinet and the Corporate Management Team went well and plans for the future are progressing, nomination skittles Monday night was an organisational nightmare, and I was on the verge of elimination at the first hurdle when a 15 spare on the last hand saved my bacon and I progressed through to the last 8 to be played in January.
Tuesday evening saw the Central Mendip Community Partnership meeting in Wells. An interesting meeting on several fronts, Mr Dunscombe as is his raison detre, decided to have yet another go at the Partnerships decision to support the Bristol Academy of Performing Arts in 2008. It's very easy to be smart with 20/20 hindsight if only we all had that benefit. The partnership's decision was taken with due care and with the information we had available at the time. The decision of the partnership was unanimous with Conservative and Lib Dem councillors voting in favour, Mr Dunscombe was told that he would not be getting an apology no matter how many times he demands one.
On the other hand the Steering Group of Shepton's section 106 monies put forward proposals to spend some of its funds on refurbishing the town centre seating and litter bins, and to improve the lighting of the Market Square. These proposals, miracle of miracles seemed to find favour with both Mr Dunscombe and Terry Marsh, and will go ahead. Its not often those two agree with me. Later on in the meeting even Gloria Cawood said "I agree with John", well I was shocked, three opponents agreeing with me in one meeting, I left immediately before they changed their mind!!! Skittles Tuesday night was pretty dire and we lost miserably.
Our new Lib Dem councillors website (well he says its not his, but he registered it and told the world about it) is still full of a daily dose of vitriol. Not only that, but its claims to be "independent" are far from the truth. The website regularly sensors comment that it does not wish to publish, I have had complaints that critical comment has been censored and not published. He really should come clean, as its obviously a Lib Dem website then say so, don't be shy, Lib Dems' are not normally shy about negative campaigning, if it is genuinely independent then publish your critics comments as well, but lets not pretend that there is not a political game going on here. As I've said before, and it's worth repeating, I have no problem with robust political debate, and the recently added political discussion forum on the http://www.shepton.org/ website will certainly give all local politicians and members of the public somewhere to air their views, I do however take issue when blatant inaccuracies are published, purporting to be the truth.
For example, our local Lib Dems state on their website that "Mendip District Council are £2 million in debt" when in fact Mendip has zero debt, it is a debt free authority, it states that I have been on the side of Tesco and "big business" in planning applications, when in fact I voted against the Tesco application, against Costa Coffee and against Dobbies Garden Centre, it states that I have been plotting to overthrow Harvey Siggs as leader of the council, when in fact he has had my complete support in the past and will continue to receive it for as long as he wants it, and today I see that it says that I have been attemptng to have their precious website closed down, which is also a complete fabrication. So no more lies please, come clean, stop pretending to be independent when clearly you are not.
Back to the past week, the Town Council Community Development working party on Wednesday evening failed to reach agreement on plans for the coming year, so that will have to be re-visited, and joy of joys we won at skittles, not by many, but a win is a win (bit like elections really!!!).
Busy week again next week, I'll be on the radio on Monday morning, BBC Somerset Sound at 8:30 am to talk about the Bath and West Showground development, then meeting Monday afternoon with the Car Park Team to put the final touches to my voucher parking scheme (more next week I hope), Tuesday sees a meeting of the Full Town Council at 7pm in the Council Chamber, all welcome, and on Wednesday I have an all day meeting between the Senior officers at MDC, the Cabinet representatives and the management team of Capita to discuss the business support contract that Capita has with Mendip. This meeting is a regular occurrence and ensures that the contract is operating as it should, and is providing good services for the public at a competitive cost to the taxpayer.
I think that's all for now, more thoughts soon.
Saturday 30 October 2010
Tuesday 26 October 2010
Challenge Declined
In my last blog I challenged our local Lib Dems to respond positively to the needs of Shepton Mallet and to come forward with any ideas that they may have. I am prepared to work with anyone who has the interests of the town at heart and who will work without prejudice for the good of the community.
To say that I've been disappointed so far is an understatement. Our new councillors website is still filled with daily vitriol against anything Conservative and against Shepton Mallet as a town, this is especially disappointing, and shows that the lessons have not been learned after being branded "distasteful and un-professional" by the Standards Board last week. It is full of postings that attempt to drive the reputation of Shepton Mallet into the ground, it does nothing to promote harmony in the town and is engaged in a personal campaign to destroy the reputation of Cllr Edward James.
The website also complains bitterly about Somerset County Council, and bemoans the announcements regarding the round of spending cuts that are to come over the next 4 years.
The utter hypocrisy of the Lib Dems is there for all of us to see. When they were kicked out of the County Council in 2009 they left behind a debt of £400 million after 16 years of uncontrolled spending. They now bleat about the cuts that will come over the next 4 years and I have to ask "who is responsible"?
The interest payments on the £400 million of Lib Dem debt equates to very nearly 20% of all of the council tax that the county council collects each year, thats just the interest, it doesn't tackle the debt its self, that will have to be paid down as well. So 20% of all of our taxes go to the banks in interest, that is money that can't be used for social care, road repairs or libraries, then on top of this huge chunk of money the council has to deal with the cuts coming down the pipe from the coalition government.
That's right the cuts are "coalition cuts" which the Lib Dems are fully signed up to and Danny Alexander, Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury is "cutter in chief", he has designed most of the cuts in public spending that are so necessary.
Somerset County Council have massive problems that must be dealt with, 20% interest payments on top of 7.1% year on year savings that must be made. The decisions that have to be made are difficult, and will inevitably impact on the lives of the staff who will lose their jobs and the residents who will see an impact on services, but there is no alternative. The council must live within its means and the only options it has is to either cut spending or raise taxes, it probably will have to do a combination of both, but with pressure to keep taxes low to help boost the recovery, this weapon will be negated for the most part.
If you object to a plan that has been put forward then you must have an alternative to be taken seriously, otherwise you are just another voice of dissention without any responsibility. The situation that the county council finds its self in is largely the fault of the Lib Dems, the Conservatives will take the decisions to sort the situation out over the medium term, it's just a shame the Lib Dems didn't have a thought as to how they would pay back their debts when they went on their 16 year spending spree.
To say that I've been disappointed so far is an understatement. Our new councillors website is still filled with daily vitriol against anything Conservative and against Shepton Mallet as a town, this is especially disappointing, and shows that the lessons have not been learned after being branded "distasteful and un-professional" by the Standards Board last week. It is full of postings that attempt to drive the reputation of Shepton Mallet into the ground, it does nothing to promote harmony in the town and is engaged in a personal campaign to destroy the reputation of Cllr Edward James.
The website also complains bitterly about Somerset County Council, and bemoans the announcements regarding the round of spending cuts that are to come over the next 4 years.
The utter hypocrisy of the Lib Dems is there for all of us to see. When they were kicked out of the County Council in 2009 they left behind a debt of £400 million after 16 years of uncontrolled spending. They now bleat about the cuts that will come over the next 4 years and I have to ask "who is responsible"?
The interest payments on the £400 million of Lib Dem debt equates to very nearly 20% of all of the council tax that the county council collects each year, thats just the interest, it doesn't tackle the debt its self, that will have to be paid down as well. So 20% of all of our taxes go to the banks in interest, that is money that can't be used for social care, road repairs or libraries, then on top of this huge chunk of money the council has to deal with the cuts coming down the pipe from the coalition government.
That's right the cuts are "coalition cuts" which the Lib Dems are fully signed up to and Danny Alexander, Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury is "cutter in chief", he has designed most of the cuts in public spending that are so necessary.
Somerset County Council have massive problems that must be dealt with, 20% interest payments on top of 7.1% year on year savings that must be made. The decisions that have to be made are difficult, and will inevitably impact on the lives of the staff who will lose their jobs and the residents who will see an impact on services, but there is no alternative. The council must live within its means and the only options it has is to either cut spending or raise taxes, it probably will have to do a combination of both, but with pressure to keep taxes low to help boost the recovery, this weapon will be negated for the most part.
If you object to a plan that has been put forward then you must have an alternative to be taken seriously, otherwise you are just another voice of dissention without any responsibility. The situation that the county council finds its self in is largely the fault of the Lib Dems, the Conservatives will take the decisions to sort the situation out over the medium term, it's just a shame the Lib Dems didn't have a thought as to how they would pay back their debts when they went on their 16 year spending spree.
Saturday 23 October 2010
What a week!!!
Who ever described politics as boring and irrelevant can never have lived through a week like the last one, we've had the long awaited Comprehensive Spending Review, followed by all the analysis a predictions of either a golden future or death and disaster depending on which side of the political divide you stand. We also had a local by-election in Ashwick, Chilcompton and Stratton ward, which the Conservatives in the form of Steven Priscott held on to, albeit by a narrow margin, but all the more remarkable when the backdrop of short term difficulties at a national level, and the incessant negative campaigning at a local level is taken into account.
The Lib Dems were cock-a-hoop at the thought of a sure fire by-election win, so much so they drafted in the entire team from all over the county, for the mandatory photo opportunity as soon as the count was declared, only to go home with their tails firmly between their legs when their hopes were decisively dashed.
Then as if that wasn't enough our new Lib Dem councillor in Shepton Mallet, who has for some reason decided that he must personally assasinate the characters of every hard working Conservative in the district, was castigated by the Standards Committee at Mendip District Council for being "unpleasant, distasteful and un-professional". I think the electorate of Shepton Mallet deserve a councillor who represents all of the community, whether they voted for him or not, and should not have to tolerate this un-professional conduct that brings the office of District Councillor into disrepute.
I have no problem with robust political discussion and differences of opinion, I make my views known and obviously realsie that not everyone will be in total agreement with me. There is absolutely no need for those differences to degenerate into personal campaigns, full of lies, half truths and innuendo and I challange our new councillor to respond to this positively, lets hear his views, perhaps he has an idea that may be of benefit to the town, so far all we have heard from him is that he is against everything, whether it be Tesco, Car Parks, allotments, the Town Council, Mendip Council, the Conservatives et al, not one positive message has been promulgated.
The main story of the week was surely the Comprehensive Spending Review, Chancellor George Osborne laid out his plan to get the country back on its feet after the years of excessive spending by the last Labour government. You would have thought that we are heading back to the stone age if you listen to the Labour sympathisers on the TV and in the Guardian, where in fact we are merely returning to the levels of public spending that last occurred on 2007!! Such was Labour's profligacy, they created very nearly 200,000 extra public service posts, to further increase the country's debt, AFTER the recession started, and spending started to spiral out of control.
It is obviously regrettable that half a million public sector jobs will be lost over the next 4 years, but as a country we can't afford the current levels of spending, and if the chancellor has got his sums right, the private sector will expand over the next 4 years to more than compensate for the public sector jobs that will be lost.
At a local level we now know that the government grant to local councils will be cut by 7.1% per year for 4 years. There will be extra money for those councils who budget for 0% council tax increases, and there will also be extra flexibility as to how councils are allowed to spend the grant that they get, but at the end of the day councils will have to change the way they provide services, and will also have to stop providing some of the services they currently provide, councillors and officers at Mendip have been working on plans for the future for several months, the final shape of those plans will be announced in the next few weeks.
I'm now off for a lie down in a darkened room before investgating a controversial planning application later on today and in preparation for another busy week of Cabinet meetings and Parish Forum on Monday, Central Mendip Community Partenership on Tuesday, Community Development Working Party Wednesday, and training on Thursday.
So politics is politics boring and irrelevent?
You have got to be kidding!!!
The Lib Dems were cock-a-hoop at the thought of a sure fire by-election win, so much so they drafted in the entire team from all over the county, for the mandatory photo opportunity as soon as the count was declared, only to go home with their tails firmly between their legs when their hopes were decisively dashed.
Then as if that wasn't enough our new Lib Dem councillor in Shepton Mallet, who has for some reason decided that he must personally assasinate the characters of every hard working Conservative in the district, was castigated by the Standards Committee at Mendip District Council for being "unpleasant, distasteful and un-professional". I think the electorate of Shepton Mallet deserve a councillor who represents all of the community, whether they voted for him or not, and should not have to tolerate this un-professional conduct that brings the office of District Councillor into disrepute.
I have no problem with robust political discussion and differences of opinion, I make my views known and obviously realsie that not everyone will be in total agreement with me. There is absolutely no need for those differences to degenerate into personal campaigns, full of lies, half truths and innuendo and I challange our new councillor to respond to this positively, lets hear his views, perhaps he has an idea that may be of benefit to the town, so far all we have heard from him is that he is against everything, whether it be Tesco, Car Parks, allotments, the Town Council, Mendip Council, the Conservatives et al, not one positive message has been promulgated.
The main story of the week was surely the Comprehensive Spending Review, Chancellor George Osborne laid out his plan to get the country back on its feet after the years of excessive spending by the last Labour government. You would have thought that we are heading back to the stone age if you listen to the Labour sympathisers on the TV and in the Guardian, where in fact we are merely returning to the levels of public spending that last occurred on 2007!! Such was Labour's profligacy, they created very nearly 200,000 extra public service posts, to further increase the country's debt, AFTER the recession started, and spending started to spiral out of control.
It is obviously regrettable that half a million public sector jobs will be lost over the next 4 years, but as a country we can't afford the current levels of spending, and if the chancellor has got his sums right, the private sector will expand over the next 4 years to more than compensate for the public sector jobs that will be lost.
At a local level we now know that the government grant to local councils will be cut by 7.1% per year for 4 years. There will be extra money for those councils who budget for 0% council tax increases, and there will also be extra flexibility as to how councils are allowed to spend the grant that they get, but at the end of the day councils will have to change the way they provide services, and will also have to stop providing some of the services they currently provide, councillors and officers at Mendip have been working on plans for the future for several months, the final shape of those plans will be announced in the next few weeks.
I'm now off for a lie down in a darkened room before investgating a controversial planning application later on today and in preparation for another busy week of Cabinet meetings and Parish Forum on Monday, Central Mendip Community Partenership on Tuesday, Community Development Working Party Wednesday, and training on Thursday.
So politics is politics boring and irrelevent?
You have got to be kidding!!!
Monday 18 October 2010
Labours' Cuts
It makes me chuckle to read the musings of various Labour politicians regarding the comprehensive spending review that George Osborne will announce this Wednesday.
You would think to read the utter tripe coming forward, that the Labour Party had absolutely nothing to do with the current financial situation the country finds its self in, and whilst it may be argued that the full scale of the problem is not entirely the fault of the last Labour Government, they certainly made the situation much worse than it needed to be and furthermore did nothing to prevent the meltdown happening.
It was Gordon Brown as chancellor who sold off our gold reserves at the bottom of the market, costing 3 times more that Black Wednesday ever did, it was Gordon Brown as chancellor who removed pretty much all of the controls over the banks allowing them to gamble with our money, it was Gordon Brown as chancellor who indulged in a spending splurge of such proportions that the country was spending more than it was earning in tax even at the height of the boom, and it was Gordon Brown who after stating the he and he alone had ended "boom and bust" then presided over the biggest boom in recent history followed by the biggest bust in peacetime for 500 years.
So when I hear Labour politicians, Chris Inchley among them, spouting about the inevitable public spending cuts to come, and how they will hurt everyone, and how unfair it all is, I will just remind them that the current situation is largely their fault, as the last Labour Government did what all Labour Governments have always done and that is they spent all the money, (ask Liam Byrne), they screwed up the economy for a generation, then left it to others to pick up the pieces and put the country back on track.
They should all be thoroughly ashamed.
You would think to read the utter tripe coming forward, that the Labour Party had absolutely nothing to do with the current financial situation the country finds its self in, and whilst it may be argued that the full scale of the problem is not entirely the fault of the last Labour Government, they certainly made the situation much worse than it needed to be and furthermore did nothing to prevent the meltdown happening.
It was Gordon Brown as chancellor who sold off our gold reserves at the bottom of the market, costing 3 times more that Black Wednesday ever did, it was Gordon Brown as chancellor who removed pretty much all of the controls over the banks allowing them to gamble with our money, it was Gordon Brown as chancellor who indulged in a spending splurge of such proportions that the country was spending more than it was earning in tax even at the height of the boom, and it was Gordon Brown who after stating the he and he alone had ended "boom and bust" then presided over the biggest boom in recent history followed by the biggest bust in peacetime for 500 years.
So when I hear Labour politicians, Chris Inchley among them, spouting about the inevitable public spending cuts to come, and how they will hurt everyone, and how unfair it all is, I will just remind them that the current situation is largely their fault, as the last Labour Government did what all Labour Governments have always done and that is they spent all the money, (ask Liam Byrne), they screwed up the economy for a generation, then left it to others to pick up the pieces and put the country back on track.
They should all be thoroughly ashamed.
Saturday 16 October 2010
Getting Started
After several years of constant nagging I have finally succumbed to the pressure and started this blog.
Over the coming weeks and months I will try to keep you all informed with what is happening in Shepton Mallet, Shepton Town Council and Mendip District Council from a Shepton Conservative perspective, so if anyone has any queries or suggestions for future posts that they would like to see just drop me an e-mail at john_parham@btconnect.com and I will try to oblige.
For this first attempt, I thought I would try to put to rest the rumour that Mendip District Council is going to be leaving the town in the near future.
Over the coming weeks and months I will try to keep you all informed with what is happening in Shepton Mallet, Shepton Town Council and Mendip District Council from a Shepton Conservative perspective, so if anyone has any queries or suggestions for future posts that they would like to see just drop me an e-mail at john_parham@btconnect.com and I will try to oblige.
For this first attempt, I thought I would try to put to rest the rumour that Mendip District Council is going to be leaving the town in the near future.
Can I state categorically, for the record, that there is absolutely no plan for Mendip District Council to move from its current site. I think that that is unambiguous enough, even for the local conspiracy theorists that abound in the town. I have no idea where this rumour came from, but it is untrue.
Mendip is conducting what is known as a accommodation review currently, as with any operation that employs hundreds of people, you have to periodically take steps to ensure that the buildings and internal layouts are not only fit for its current usage, but are sufficiently flexible for any likely changes that may occur in the near future.
With rapid changes in technology, changes in our clients’ requirements, and still to be announced changes in funding, Mendip District Council must be able to adapt to those changes that it will be required to make. The current survey is doing just that, and a report will be published next month which will bring into focus what changes, if any, will be necessary.
If changes are required, decisions will have to be made how they are to be funded, and over what timescale they will take place, however, moving to another site will not be up for consideration.
Furthermore, not only is the future of Mendip District Council safe in Shepton Mallet, we are currently engaged in advanced negotiations with Capita, other local councils and other public service organisations, to bring more jobs to the town, and they too will be largely based around the current campus. So far from jobs leaving the town, we are extremely hopeful that new jobs will be coming into the town in the near future. All this in addition to the statement I made last week that Mendip have assured the Town Council that their needs will be fully accommodated in the future.
So there you have it, I have stated clearly on three occasions that there is no plan to move, the council has confirmed that statement, and Councillor Harvey Siggs, leader of the council has also confirmed that position, maybe now the rumour mill will find another target for a while.
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