On 23rd December the Health and Safety Minister Lord Freud urged a common sense approach to clearing snow from footpaths and pavements. As we brace ourselves for the first arctic blast of the season, Health and Safety Minister Lord Freud is urging a common sense approach to clearing snow from footpaths and pavements. There are no health and safety regulations that prevent people from clearing snow at their home, their business or at their neighbours’ homes, despite newspaper stories in previous winters to the contrary. Now ministers want to pre-empt the usual health and safety myths ahead of the first snowfall that could prevent people from doing a good deed to help stop others falling and injuring themselves on a path or pavement. Minister for Health and Safety Lord Freud said: “People need to be aware that they will not be reprimanded for doing a good deed by clearing ice and snow. The truth is very simple: you can clear ice and snow from footpaths and pavements but always be careful that you don’t put yourself in danger. “Countless lives have been saved and injuries prevented because of robust health and safety practices. But bogus excuses give real safety laws a bad name and stop people from taking action.”
The Chair of the Health and Safety Executive Judith Hackitt said: “Anyone can clear ice and snow from public spaces, so don’t be put off because you’re afraid someone will get injured. Remember, people walking on snow and ice have a responsibility to themselves to be careful. “Health and safety legislation is designed to protect people where there is a genuine danger that someone could be killed or seriously injured, not to stop people from getting on with their lives and certainly not to stop people from reducing the risk for themselves and others by clearing snow and ice.”
More information can be found on https://www.gov.uk/government/news/snow-clearing-health-and-safety-myth-shattered
Photo source: http://bahnbilder.ch/picture/7697
Local Colour
Small Success – Threadneedle Street
I’m grateful to be able to report a small success and an election issue resolved.
Since early 2012 I have been working on upgrading a footpath in Threadneedle Street at the back of the Eight Bells public house. The footpath got missed in the planning process for the houses at the back of the pub. For the last few days the street has been closed off and this morning when I called, the path had been cleaned up and was ready for a proper coating of asphalt or whatever passes as a suitable covering.
What is important is that children and adults on their way to school will have a cleaner and safer path. The job is well under way and it shows what local politicians can do!
Budapest Cafe Orchestra
Yesterday we went to the Apex in Bury St Edmunds to see the Budapest Cafe Orchestra. (http://www.budapestcafeorchestra.co.uk/review.shtml) We were expecting something authentically ethnic but instead their leader hailed from Haringey and the team came from all over the U.K.
Fortunately the orchestra did not take themselves seriously and describe themselves as “the finest purveyors of Balkan music this side of a Lada scrap heap”.
To quote their web site: The BCO is a music-driven phenomenon, a specialist performance-entertainment outfit, certified to enthral audiences everywhere. The infectious energy of the BCO sweeps you off your feet and stays in your heart forever. One journeys from one emotional pole to another: from a desperately tragic evocative heart-rending ancient Jewish melody to a dance from Romania or Russia and all the fiery exuberance that goes with it.
The Budapest Cafe Orchestra share as many blood cells with the folk of Hungary as the Penguin Cafe Orchestra do with the web-footed fellows of Antarctica. Their Magic Potion is a closely guarded recipe of malt, hops, yeast and water, handed down in the secret tongue of Estuary English through generations of Professional Gypsies. With a sole mission: to entertain and enchant audiences, they are undaunted by even the most demanding and wildest village hall crowds, for example those inhabiting the darkest corners of Warwickshire.
We dined at Carluccio’s before the show and it was overall a very good night out.
Old Models – Poor Directions
Yesterday’s E.A.D.T., published the following letter:
New council H.Q. in Hadleigh will achieve the most savings
It’s all very well for the Leader of Babergh District Council to say that it is unlikely for Babergh’s and Mid Suffolk’s headquarters to be based in Hadleigh (EADT 25th October) – but this is precisely the direction indicated by the consultant’s report. Locating the main activities in Hadleigh and disposing of surplus sites and space will achieve a 50% reduction in costs. Relocating activities to the County’s building in Ipswich will achieve savings between 11% and 13%. Putting a new hub in the Ipswich fringe will only yield a 32% saving. The hub and spokes business and governance model is seductively simple but only suitable for banks, building societies and estate agents. It is recipe for senior management to distance themselves from the reality of the everyday lives in the areas they are supposed to be managing and directing. This is not a desirable way forward. Instead, both councils should focus on how value for money can be delivered to the residents because if monies are not spent wisely council taxes will rise.
Yours faithfully,
Brian Riley
District Councillor – Hadleigh North
County Councillor – Hadleigh
So far reaction has been favourable
Falling Leaves
October is now upon us, which means the trees will be shedding their leaves over the coming weeks and months. Due to the large number of trees in the Babergh district (there are over 12,000 on Babergh District Council land), there is inevitably an issue with leaf-fall in the autumn, particularly as the leaves fall quicker than they can clear them up and often continue to fall after they’re cleared! The removal of fallen leaves on public highways and Babergh grounds is included as part of the routine street cleansing and maintenance of these areas. Where Babergh receives a report of fallen leaves between routine cleansing of these areas, they will endeavour to arrange an additional cleanse of these, with the priority being leaves which have broken down into detritus. Babergh does not clear leaves from private property (even if the leaves have fallen from Babergh trees) nor do they clear leaves from grass areas – the only exception to this rule are leaves in Babergh parks and Babergh sheltered housing sites. Any enquiries or reports regarding fallen leaves on public highways and Babergh grounds, should be reported to their our customer services, by calling 01473 826622. Alternatively reports can be emailed to public.realm@babergh.gov.uk or reported online http://www.babergh.gov.uk/report-it.
Well Deserved Reserved Results
More of Suffolk’s 16 year olds achieved expected levels of GCSE attainment this year. Provisional results suggest an overall one per cent rise in the number of students getting five or more A*-C grades, including English and Maths. In Suffolk it means that 56% of the County’s year 11s got the expected level of attainment. In 2013, it was 55%.
Included in the schools making significant gains on last year is Hadleigh High School where 69% of students achieved five or more A*-C grades (including English and Maths), up 25% on last year. Everyone agrees that the results are a testament to the hard work and dedication of teachers, heads, governors, parents and, most importantly, students.
The photo is of Hadleigh High School students celebrating getting their GCSE results.
L-R: Tom Blomfield (student), Callum Smith (student), myself, Eric Watts (student), Cllr Lisa Chambers (cabinet member for education and skills, Mrs Gibson (Hadleigh High School headteacher, Cllr Mark Bee (county council leader), Sam Champman (student) and Annabele MacFarlane (student).
Meanwhile the Guardian reports today that figures from the ONS reveal there were 955,000 Neets (young people not in education, employment or training) aged 16 to 24 in the UK in the period between April and June, down by 20,000 compared with January and March, and 138,000 lower than a year earlier.
Brett River Children’s Centre
Earlier this month my neighbour Jane Basham catalogued the activities and services available at the Children’s Centre. The list is very impressive as follows:
Access To Suffolk Library Services;
Autism Suffolk Parent Group;
Birth And Beyond;
Breast Feeding Workshops;
Career Advice And Support Service;
Child Health Clinic And Sensory Babies;
Child Health Clinic;
From Floor To Four;
Inbetweenies;
Infant Massage;
Made Of Money;
Making & Creating;
Marking;
Mini Maulers;
Parentcraft;
Place To Raise Child Protection Concerns
Rise & Shine;
Sing & Sign;
Snap Drop In Service (Housing Related Support);
Swap Shop (For Clothes);
Targeted Family Support Practitioners,;
Targeted Financial Support;
Time For Me;
Time With My Dad;
Walkers & Talkers;
Weaning Group;
And then she tells us that “it all FREE”.
Except that it isn’t. It doesn’t fall like rain from the skies. It must be paid for and if we wish to continue the services then the taxpayer has to put their hands in their pockets. The County’s consultation is about reviewing the way we provide services to the people who need them in the most effective manner possible. It is also about ensuring that residents get the best value possible.
The more responses the County receives to its consultation, the better informed they will be.
Streets Belong To The People, Roads Belong To Everyone – Benton Street
Over the past two days I have delivered letters to every household in Benton Street as follows:
“For a number of years we have experienced increased traffic on Benton Street using the street as a throughway to and from the A12. The incidence of overweight vehicles seems to have abated with the installation of improved signage at Copdock and at the East Bergholt/Hadleigh turn off, but we are still experiencing goods vehicles and private cars using us as a convenient short cut for the surrounding villages. Worse, drivers seem to think that they can drive on the pavements without regard to the residents.
A number of ideas have been circulating for some time. These include a bypass via Hook Lane, railings and a pinch point chicane/ priority traffic system.
Suffolk’s Economy Skills & Environment Department have suggested that we try a pilot programme of installing a priority traffic system between 50 and 60 Benton Street. The priority system would consist of pavement build-outs on each side of the road (see plan below). This will ensure that drivers are aware that it is not possible to pass each other in this narrow section of Benton Street and formalise the requirement to give way to oncoming traffic. Additional parking restrictions would need to be introduced to allow queuing in advance of the build-outs and approximately 7 parking spaces (including 1 advisory disabled bay, which is currently not being used) would be lost. However there would be facility to offset this loss by revoking some of the parking restrictions further along Benton Street.
If these proposals are pursued, SCC will introduce an experimental priority system, using temporary water filled barriers, for 6-12 months to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed treatment.
If you feel that Benton Street should remain the same, please tell me. Similarly if you want change, then please let me know which of the choices is most acceptable and if you have other ideas please share them with me.
A larger version of the plan will be on display upstairs in the Library at 10 a.m. on Saturday 13th September when this informal consultation will end. “
So far the feed back (on the street) has been positive.
However I would like written feedback so that we can go ahead with firmly based actions.
Faux Sans Culottes
Readers of this blog will be aware that Suffolk County Council are reviewing the provision of Children’s Centres and are consulting on the proposal to merge the Hadleigh service with that of East Bergholt and close the building in Hadleigh.
A number of Hadleigh residents contacted me asking me to vote against the proposals and Jane Basham, Labour Party Parliamentary Candidate for South Suffolk has criticised me for not speaking at the Council meeting and for voting for the proposals to consult.
Now to anyone who is interested I will explain how democracy works. Basically every lead party holds pre meeting meetings. These are for the members of the lead party to ask questions particularly those which might be awkward and which could provide unnecessary comfort to the opposition. The system lets matters of concern to be dealt with, so that the necessary majority can be obtained. For the lead party the Council Chamber is for decision making. For the opposition parties it is a forum to advance their views and where necessary embarrass the lead party. The purpose of opposition is to become a lead party. The purpose of the lead party is to retain the voters’ confidence and hold on to office.
Thus the criticism of me is unwarranted. To anyone who asks I will tell them that prior to the pre-meeting meeting and the Council meeting itself I obtained from the Leader of the Council a firm undertaking that the consultation would be genuine and not an exercise in giving democratic legitimacy to a decision already made. I received the same undertaking from the Portfolio Holder.
I like criticism of me to be unfounded in reality. What I do not like is for the Labour Party Parliamentary Candidate for South Suffolk complaining that the documentation has been hard to find. Why not then ask the County Councillor where the documentation is to be found and if necessary obtain hard copies? Instead we have a campaign based on noise and dust. Beyond saying that the Centre should not be closed, there are no arguments or articulated facts to substantiate that view. Instead a large number of parents and families are destabilised and unnecessarily stressed.
I am more than willing to work across parties. With the help of others I obtained the restoration of the later evening and Sunday bus services to and from Ipswich. I took a major role in resisting (and defeating) the application from Tesco to build another supermarket in Hadleigh. And so on.
There is an on line petition and last time I looked it had 189 signatures. The Bus Service team gathered over 4,000 signatures. The petition complains about the consultation taking place over the summer holidays. Well, if your summer holiday extends to the 16th October then you probably don’t need the services of the Children’s Centre. Then again the petition support preamble states “I am going to speak to Suffolk County Council and find out how to make representation to a consultation which does not appear to have any point of access”. But page 12 of the Consultation Documentation clearly states that you can respond on line or by Freepost Mail (and gives the addresses concerned).
And what of the Labour Party Parliamentary Candidate for South Suffolk?
I can find no trace of her having ever held elected public office. She ran for the office of Police & Crime Commissioner in 2012 and was a candidate in this year’s European elections. She was unsuccessful in both contests. She was Chief Executive of ISCRE (Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality) in 2010-2011 during which time the organisation ran a deficit of £77,907 by spending £496,556 when there was only £418,649 coming in.
So I won’t be taking criticism or advice from Ms Basham. She is not my kind of politician as she obviously prefers to shoot from the lip rather than from the hip.
Brett River Children’s Centre
How to have your say
• Visit: http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/consultations and complete the online questionnaire
• Hard copy questionnaires are available from local children’s centres from the beginning of August, or on request by calling: 0845 603 1842. They should be completed and returned it to:
Children’s Centre consultation
Freepost
RTAC-HSKL-CSAY
SUFFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL
IPSWICH IP1 2EB
If there are difficulties in obtaining a paper copy of the consultation document please let me know.
• Email: ChildrensCentre.feedback@suffolk.gov.uk
All responses must be received by the end of Thursday 16 October 2014.
What happens after the consultation?
Once the consultation closes, all views will be analysed and the results reported to Suffolk County
Council’s Cabinet at its meeting in December 2014.
In the meantime I have delivered a copy of the consultation to the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for South Suffolk so that she can be fully informed.
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