I saw this in Hintlesham on Sunday. It seems a great way to reuse old telephone boxes, recycle previously enjoyed books and promote community togetherness – all at minimal cost.
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The Purpose of Marriage
Marriage is nature’s way of keeping us from fighting with strangers. – Alan King
Suffolk Leadership Contest
My colleague Jenny Antill has written on her blog as follows:
“I feel I should probably write something about last week’s ‘leadership contest’ at the County Council. If nothing else it will serve to record what was for me and my colleagues an important event in the growing chronicle that is represented by this website. It also might clarify one or two things for people confused by the press coverage. Many people of course don’t follow, or care about, the to-ings and fro-ings at Endeavour House (Suffolk County Council’s Headquarters in Ipswich). The majority of Suffolk residents don’t know or care who the Leader of the County Council is, and furthermore don’t know any of the members of his Cabinet. This is not altogether surprising…councils only get onto people’s radar when something goes wrong, and they feel that ‘something should be done about it’ by ‘someone’. So for those of you who are unaware, last week the Conservative Group was obliged to hold a ballot to decide who should continue as our Leader. Since we are the largest party in the Council, this was probably also a decision about who will be the Leader of the Council as a whole. A leadership challenge is always a possibility at all levels of political life….remember Mrs Thatcher’s demise shortly after she had promised to go ‘on and on and on….’? Our contest was brought about by a challenge for the Leader’s position, held by Mark Bee from Waveney from the Cabinet Member for Finance, Colin Noble, who comes from Forest Heath. The fact that the rivals came from different ends of the county led some press commentators to suggest that the reason for the party split was due to some sort of East/West rivalry. I do not think that this lay at heart of the matter. While it is true that many of the supporters of both candidates did come from their respective areas, this was only natural. There are plenty of us in between! At bottom I think that the issue was a conflict between a steady, gradualist approach to policy (Bee) and a more radical and aggressive stance (Noble). Bee, it must be remembered took over after some damage was caused to the council’s reputation by fall out from the dramatic root and branch changes initiated by the colourful former chief executive, Andrea Hill, with the support of the previous leader, Jeremy Pembroke. Three years have passed since that time. Many councillors were only elected a year ago, and some among them, along with more long standing members who understood that not all that was done in the Hill years turned out badly, have perhaps been disappointed by what might be seen as a rather pedestrian, low key approach to the challenges faced by the council today. I will leave it to readers of the blog to decide whether, at a time when the Conservatives have a majority of three rather than the double digit margin enjoyed during the last council, a more cautious, conservative, consensual approach is the appropriate one to adopt. Taking on more risk may prove more politically attractive, and win us more votes in 2017, but it is of course, well….more risky. The key of course is to get the balance right, and this needs constant reappraisal. I do not agree with those who say that the contest was an unnecessary distraction. Although Colin Noble’s challenge did not succeed, the result was thought to be close and the Bee administration will clearly now embrace some positive changes. Political groups need to respond to internal demands for change and debate is healthy. Perhaps however it would have been better to have the discussion, and the at times quite fierce conflict, in a less public manner. Now it is all over, I know we will all get behind Mark Bee, both sides having learned a few useful lessons along the way”.
We are of course all behind Mark Bee. That is the nature of these conflicts – the political equivalent of Schumpeter’s “destructive capitalism”. The voting was thought to be 21-18 which means that a number of people said yes (to both parties) but voted for the other side when push came to shove. Colin Noble is now out of the Cabinet and we wait to see who his replacement will be and whether it represents a nuance in our perceived ways forward.
Jennys’ blog can be found on http://jennyantillsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/reflections-on-last-weeks-leadership.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+JennyAntillsBlog+(Jenny+Antill’s+blog.
Budgets
Suffolk County Council have approved their budget for 2014/2015. Whilst there are considerable savings being made, some reserves are being run down and the overall effect is a zero increase in the Council Tax. The vote was 45 to 20 with one abstention. The Conservatives had some support from the Liberal-Democrats and whole hearted support from UKIP. The Labour Party voted against claiming that the reserves should be run down further – forgetting the reason why reserves are needed. They are for planned future capital spending and for emergencies. We can no longer claim that they are for rainy days since in the current fiscal climate all days are rainy days.
Surprisingly, the approval was not unanimous, which suggests that there are still representatives of the public who think that all problems can be solved by throwing money at them.
Many years ago when studying the Theory & Practice of Foreign Exchange I learned that Money has three functions. It is unit of account, a medium of exchange and a store of value. Listening to my Labour colleagues at County I realised that money has a fourth function – it is there to be spent. Let’s all be afraid for the future because this is the thinking that got us into trouble in the first place!
Earlier this week the Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) got his budget approved by Suffolk’s Police and Crime Panel. Again a zero increase. The PCC explained to the Panel his rationale for recommending that there be no increase in the precept, helping financially stretched citizens in the county, and receiving the government’s 1% freeze grant. There would be an underspend in the Constabulary budget this year in the region of £800k, an amount which equated to around 2% of the precept. Funding grants had been received very recently for implementing automatic number plate recognition and enterprise resource projects collaboratively with Norfolk. There were some specific areas within the Constabulary where efficiency savings could be made, and which the Chief Constable is looking to address. The PCC was not willing to put up the precept for citizens when there were still significant efficiency savings that could be realised.
At District level we are once again going for the zero increase option.
Meanwhile, my Town Council is balancing its budgets by outing up its precept. Which is a fancy way of saying that we shall be paying more for our very local services.
Onward and Yeoward
Yesterday’s EADT (contained details of a letter of support from six Conservative Members of Parliament based in East Anglia promoting Tim Yeo’s cause and concluding with “We greatly value the contribution that you make as a dedicated community campaigner and experienced Parliamentarian and hope that the members of The South Suffolk Conservative Association will make the right decision”.
The article can be found on http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/politics/ south_suffolk_yeo_gets_backing_from_the_county_s_mps_1_3167446).
The full letter is attached see: Suffolk MPs letter Dec 2013 (1)
Tim has also set up a web site (www.timyeo2015.net). Among the endorsements are one from Ian Dowling MBE, (former Association Chairman and President). Ian wrote “Tim has served his Constituents in South Suffolk with diligence and skill for 30 years. Over this time he has demonstrated considerable Political expertise and leadership, attributes which have been recognised by several Conservative Party leaders with appointments to several senior Ministerial and similar posts over those years. All this continues, and Tim’s energy to deliver not only on behalf of his Constituents but also as a senior Parliamentarian respected by his colleagues, is undiminished. I have no hesitation in supporting his application to be the candidate in South Suffolk in 2015.”
High praise indeed!
Benton Street – No More Excuses
As we finish the year, I thought I would share a success story.
The B1070, Benton Street, Hadleigh, Suffolk is infamous for its road problems. It was not designed for a lot of traffic. It is a classic horse and cart road from Manningtree to Stowmarket and Bury St. Edmunds. The volume of heavy traffic on the road has increased as a result of Felixstowe becoming a major port. We now have over 3,000 vehicle movements a day. Much of this is personal vehicles accessing and exiting the A12. But there is also a significant volume of Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV’s).
For over twenty years Benton Street has enjoyed a weight restriction due to the number of old buildings – some dating from Tudor times. HGV’s are banned because they damage the old brickwork, overhanging buildings and lime washed walls.
Traffic coming from the West is properly advised that there is a weight restriction on the road into Hadleigh. No such warning was on the road from the East (Ipswich and Felixstowe) only an advice to avoid East Bergholt.
Coming off the A12 on the Eastern side there are now four signs within a hundred yards, pointing out the weight restriction and HGV traffic is now directed back onto the A12 to find a more appropriate route.
Full marks to the County’s , Skills and Environment Department.
There are now no excuses for dragging an HGV through Benton Street.
Eternal vigilance is price of liberty and I fully expect the Benton Street Squeeze supporters to continue monitoring the situation and reporting (a much reduced volume of) incidents to the County’s Trading Standards.
Limoncello Cake
Saturday’s Daily Telegraph restaurant review contains the following:
“(The) Limoncello cake appeared to have been baked , as a displacement activity, by a frustrated would-be assassin”
The full review can be found on http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/restaurants/10260127/Restaurant-review-La-Famiglia-London.html
Amazon Again
The Daily Telegraph on 21st May had some cogent comment on the Amazon lack of taxes paid in the U.K . debate.
The article begins:
The criticism, of Google, Amazon and even Marks & Spencer for seemingly trying to lower their corporation tax payments threatens to take the focus away from the real tax issue in retail – business rates.
For all the focus on how little Amazon pays in corporation tax, it is how little they pay in business rates that is really hurting the high street Their business rate bill is negligible while Home Retail Group, the owner of high street rival Argos, pays £140m.
There is no complex tax avoidance scheme by Amazon to avoid paying business rates, their low payment is simply because they have little physical presence as a business compared to the 700 high street stores of Argos.
Therefore, if the Government is serious about making online companies pay taxes and also about saving the high street it must focus on revamping business rates.
One of the reasons Amazon appears to pay little corporation tax is that its profit margins are wafer thin, reflecting the fact that online retailing is not yet as. profitable as high-street retailing. In 2012, for example, the company posted a global operating profit of $676m (£444m) on sales of $61.lbn; That is a profit margin of just 1.1 p.c.
However, business rates have no relation to profitability – they are simply measured by the rentable value of a commercial property and inflation. This means that struggling high street’ retailers have been spending millions on business rates while start-up online retailers have been free of the tax. This imbalance threatens to distort the future of the retail industry.
The full article is enclosed as a PDF Freeze on Business Rates (since the on line version has been truncated).
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.
Away with the Pylons
I was reminded this week of The 4 Disciplines of Execution (by Stephen R. Covey) which talks about prioritizing goals and achieving results with excellence The first of the four disciplines is to focus on the wildly important (goals).
Thursday saw me at Babergh’s Strategy Committee meeting where we were to discuss the Council’s position regarding the National Grid’s proposals for pylons across our countryside. One of the speakers (Michael Woods, Chairman of Layham Parish Council) reminded us that 
National Grid had described our landscape as “small and unremarkable” …”not particularly noted for its scenic qualities”. These are not opinions shared by the populace. The National Grid seems to regard our Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty as fenced off theme parks with some form of rural or urban dystopia outside their boundaries! The Committee was unanimous in resolving that each and every section of the line should be placed underground …(and) that in addition to requiring the new line to be placed beneath ground the emerging opportunities for undergrounding the existing lines through the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the Stour Valley should be exploited fully with the ambition of securing and maintaining a landscape free of high voltage electricity transmission pylons. Babergh will be working with Suffolk County Council and other district councils to present a unified response and approach to the issues.
A fantastic example of the Council plugging into the needs and wishes of the populace. Forward with the people!
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