Meanwhile on Planet Babergh, the District Councillors are being asked on Tuesday 25th June to approve the Collective Agreement on Employment Terms, Conditions and Policies.
The statement about financial implications of the new agreement is weak and flabby. Not for the first time do we have a lack of detail in this area. I have previously expressed my reluctance to sign blank cheques or to trust bland opinions.
It should be case of running the spreadsheets to get the opinion that that new arrangements will either mean more money in the staff pockets or not. Telling us that the savings targets as set out in the Business Case will be met, has nothing to do with salaries. Meeting the business case is a sine qua non. We expect nothing less!
What we do expect is hard robust opinions from the officers. How else can we have confidence in their assessments.
Towards the end of the summary of staff benefits we find that parking available to staff at the Council office car parks will be free of charge. The residents and visitors to Hadleigh pay for their parking, whether they are in employment or not. The same should apply to the employees at Babergh.
Free parking is not a perquisite to be enshrined in the Collective Agreement!
It would seem that the staff anticipate further charging for car parking and wish to be exempt from the realities of the people who pay their wages.
The full paper may be read on http://bdcdocuments.onesuffolk.net/council/ see paper N26.
Local Colour
Polling Day Eve
Tomorrow is polling day for the Suffolk County Council election. My family and friends have worked tirelessly to cover Hadleigh with leaflets and letters designed to remind my supporters that I am the right choice and I need their votes.
Hadleigh needs someone who can ensure that the town gets its fair share of the County’s budgets and who can make a positive contribution to the town’s well being.
The Council is responsible for the following major services:
Transport and streets: maintaining and improving Suffolk’s roads, footpaths and public rights of way, road safety, public transport co-ordination.
Social care: care for older people who are physically or mentally infirm, or have a mental health problem, those with physical or learning disabilities and children and families who need protection and support.
Education and learning: schools, evening classes for adults, youth clubs and higher education grants.
Environment: conservation of the countryside and public access to it, waste disposal and archaeological services.
Business and trading standards: enforcing fair trading laws, protecting consumers and giving advice.
Leisure and culture: library services, archives and support for arts and museums.
Public safety: fire fighting, rescue and emergency services, safety advice.
Registration: births, marriages and deaths.
So, all in all, it’s an incredible job to suggest to the electorate that I am the right choice.
The work has been done, only time will tell whether I have worked hard enough and have been deemed worthy.
Promoted by Brian Riley of Baskwood House, 4, Benton Street, Hadleigh, Suffolk IP7 5AT
Convalescence
A few weeks ago I went to a poetry reading in aid of Success After Stroke. Readings were taken from “Convalescence” a slim volume of poems written by Gerard Melia and performed by a professional actress and Andrew Frolish (head teacher at St Mary’s Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School). The evening raised over £300 for Success After Stroke.
More interesting was the description of the work done by Success After Stroke and how Gerard worked through his communication issues after his second stroke.
In a foreword to the book Margherita Baker, Speech and Language Therapist at Ipswich Hospital writes …
“At first his words had a life of their own, never quite able to match Gerard’s voice. Gradually with tremendous effort and determination, after two years, Gerard managed to express his thoughts and observations on paper as poems … He would hope that in sharing them he is raising awareness of how it feels to be lost for words and then, bit by bit to clamber back”
The book is available from Mr. G. Melia,56B, Aldham Road, Hadleigh IP7 6BP.
Please send Gerard a stamped self addressed C5 envelope together with a small donation (min. £5). Cheques should be made payable to Success After Stroke. The book is worthwhile as is the charity (for which Gift Aid is applicable).
Tessitori (Weavers)
For a few weeks Weavers Spice (one of Hadleigh’s Indian restaurants) has been closed.
In a few weeks time it will open under new management (and business ownership) as Tessitori (Italian for Weavers). Tessitori plans to open early next month as a wine bar/pizzeria. I
t’s good to see this part of the High Street coming alive and I wish Tessitori every success.
Tools With A Mission
On Wednesday evening I dropped into the Churches Together in Hadleigh group. I am a trustee and my duties are not onerous and it’s possible that CTiH will deregister as a charity, in which case I and my three fellow trustees will become redundant.
The various representatives directing CTiH are an interesting group of people and one of the items of business was “What will be the group charity this year?” The answer was Tools With A Mission (TWAM).
TWAM started twenty seven years ago, and has since then provided help by collecting and refurbishing tools and equipment no longer required in the UK and sending them overseas. Tools with a Mission enables people to earn a living and to support themselves.
So it’s not just a case of sending money, it’s a good opportunity to clear out the shed(s) and pass on the duplicate tools and those tools no longer required. The web address is http://www.twam.co.uk/index.html and their location is 2 Bailey Close, Ipswich, Suffolk IP2 0UD.
Out of the Frying Pan – April
Recently Babergh’s full Council discussed and approved a proposal that a vacant piece of land in Lady Lane (just up from The Green) be transferred to a Registered Provider (of Social Housing) and that a four bedroom house be built possibly with a capital contribution from the Council.
At no time were we given an estimate of the land value. Nor were there figures to indicate the financial implications of the proposal.
I dislike giving approvals when I am not aware of the potential price tags. Similarly we were not told why the Council was ignoring its own policy which states that the greatest need in the housing market is for small (one and two bedroom) and medium sized (three bedroom) houses.
If we built two two bedroom houses we could then relocate two families who no longer need their four bedroom houses – their children having flown the nests.
Joined up thinking was not in evidence that day. On the one hand we were being asked to approve a scheme for a four bedroom house. On the other long term Hadleigh residents are being encouraged to move from their “empty nests” to smaller housing elsewhere.
It is not the first time that policies have been pursued without regard to local needs.
One department is busy implementing under occupancy penalties and another does nothing constructive to reduce its incidence.
The paper presented never mentioned why the Council thought there was a need for more four bed room social housing accommodation in Hadleigh. The Babergh Development Framework Core Strategy (2011- 2031) Submission Draft is quite clear as to perceived housing demand. What is the point of having policies and then ignoring them?
I have asked about the intended Registered Provider and why it was so important that they are the recipient of this particular property.
National Mushroom Day is not until October, but I have the feeling that I am being kept in the dark and covered with opprobrium.
This post first appeared in the Hadleigh Community News for April 2013
In Touch
Hopefully there can be few people who are not aware that I am hoping to be elected County Councillor representing Hadleigh on May 2nd. The current weather situation has precluded me and my team of helpers from delivering leaflets. However with just over a month to go it’s time to crank up operations.
I enclose a link to my In Touch leaflet. Can you help by displaying a poster for me and/or by delivering leaflets? Canvassing support on the doorstep is not everyone’s cup of tea but if you fancy that, please come and join me enjoying inter-action with the residents.
The leaflet includes an article on land in Cock’s (Cox’s) Park which is used by St. Mary’s school. I have had an interesting response by the Head of St. Mary’s School advising that the field is not ‘common land’ or public land. The field is owned by Suffolk County Council, for the school (and has been in the County Council’s ownership since the 1960s).
The field is open to t
he public out of school hours (evenings, weekends and holidays). The pedestrian gates are always left unlocked, other than in exceptional circumstances, such as when the playgrounds are being resurfaced. (The gates I saw locked were the double gates for vehicles. These are always locked unless the County Council Grounds team are mowing the grass). It is very uncommon for schools not to have a fence around their land. This is for obvious safety reasons and I have some sympathy for the school in the way in which dogs foul the grounds.
However, none of this moves us from the point that some time in the past, land which was part of Cock’s (Cox’s) Park was transferred from the town to the school via the County and we need to be vigilant that in future (for whatever reasons) green space is not given up without the full consent of the people.
Supporting the High Street
Mary Portas writes how people can be categorized as watchers and doers. Watchers watch (and criticize)
and doers do. There will always be those happier about talking about the death of the High Street than actually doing something about it.
The Hadleigh Chamber of Commerce are only too aware of the situation of our High Street, especially now that Morrison’s have opened and new shopping habits are being formed. The Chamber is working hard to create a High Street for the twenty first century.
Monday evening sees the second of a series of meetings (at Hadleigh Town Hall) with retailers to plan ways forward. Hadleigh now enjoys a population of 8,000 people which roughly equates to 4,000 families. If each family resolved to spend £25 a week in our High Street (and it’s not that difficult to find what you need at a price which is affordable) then we are looking to a boost of £100,000 coming into the High Street shops. We enjoy first class butchers, florists, farm fresh green grocery, wine merchant, bookshop, pet food shop, health food shop,delicatessen with artisan breads and cheeses, picture framer and decent and welcoming pubs. The High Street is one of the reasons why we chose to move here. For that reason alone we should support it vigorously. The High Street also brings social interaction, a chance to meet your neighbours and friends and to catch up on their news.
So tomorrow’s jobs include ordering the Easter lamb from the butcher and also a nice piece of brisket for slow cooking during the week.
Money has to go somewhere and if it doesn’t go in our neighbourhood then it goes somewhere else – not always to our benefit!
Three Cheers for Tendring
Yesterday’s East Anglia Daily Times reports that Tendring District Council’s innovative free parking scheme is being hailed a success after businesses said they have seen a significant increase in footfall. The Council is set to continue the popular initiative which allows people to use their car parks for 12 hours during the day completely free of charge. A survey carried out by the local authority on hundreds of businesses found that around 50% had noticed a higher footfall through their town centres since the free permits were issued to households. Approximately 30% of businesses said they noticed an increase in the number of customers coming through their doors. Tendring introduced the scheme at the end of July last year. Every council taxpaying household in the district was issued with a free parking permit for use at any of the council’s 25 car parks from 10 a.m. to midnight. Tendring District Council’s initiative has seen town centres buck the national trend, encouraging shoppers to visit their local retailers. Business leaders in Suffolk last night said the success of the scheme “bursts the balloon” of those who claim there is no correlation between free parking and increase in footfall. Mark Cordell, chief executive of town centre business improvement group Bid4Bury, said: “This scheme is a great example of the local authority listening to, and acting upon, the views of businesses. It is no surprise to me that it has been a huge success”.
Three cheers for a council that sees car parking as support for commercial well-being and not as some form of cash cow useful for balancing the cash flow deficit The full reports can be read on (http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/politics/tendring_free_parking_scheme_boosts_business_1_1951477
On the Buses (contd)
Last May I reported how together with three “partners in crime” we had persuaded Suffolk County Council to reinstate the evening and Sunday bus service between Hadleigh and Ipswich.
The service was restored on a pilot basis on the 20th August and since then we have encouraged everyone to use the service whether it be for the cinema, shopping, education or participating in the evening economy. On Friday we learned that the pilot has been successful and that the service will be reinstated until February 2014.
For the time being we can rest easy about the people of Hadleigh being connected to Ipswich and beyond. The service still needs to be used because as always it’s a case of use it or lose it.
Success can be seen in many ways. In addition to the “official purposes” the bus service enhances people’s lives in unexpected ways. One Sunday user told me that “…it lets me visit my mum in her Ipswich nursing home.” And one bus driver told recently that romance blooms as young swains can now get back from courting their inamoratas.
The late evening and week end bus service is a success at so many levels.
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