Polski Informator...

News & information from the Polish community in Wyre Forest! 

Wyre Forest Holocaust Memorial Day...

...photos online here. 

Speaking at the Wyre Forest Holocaust Memorial Service today Cllr Mike Oborski said…

I want to remind you about Eva Mozes Kor. We talked about her here – exactly one year ago.

Mozes Kor lived in Hungary in a well-to-do Jewish family, but the coming of the Nazis changed everything. In 1944 the 10-year-old Mozes Kor and her identical twin sister, Miriam, were packed into a cattle car with their mother, father and two other sisters, aged 12 and 14, and taken to Auschwitz.

Heartless and irresponsible...

What do you thing of a drver who runs over a six month old kitten and drives off leaving it still twitching and dying in the road in front of a child who owns it? Not much!

What do you think when the car is manned by a professional driving instructor while driven by a learner in the course of a lesson? Even less!

That is precisely what happened in Wordsworth Crescent today! 

 In Hospital...

I've had the "bug" (see story somewhere below). In fact I've still got it! However at exactly 5.00pm last night I was sitting in the living room when I suddenly had a heavy tightness across the chest, a prickly sensation in my left hand and arm and felt as if I was going to pass out. It came on so fast that within minutes I decided to dial 999. The ambulance arrived like a rocket and within minutes they had me connected up to ecg equipment enabling doctors in Worcester to take decisions. The A&E Nurses and Doctors in Worcester were brilliant and I spent the night and this morning in the Coronary Care Ward where both the night and day nursing staff and the doctors could not have been kinder or more efficient and attentive. They were also extremely good at providing information and telling us what exactly was going on and how they thought it was going.

Fortunately I had not had a heart attack - probably just a condition related to the "bug" and, of course, I need to cut the drink and loose a lot of weight.

Yes, of course we need key services restored to Kidderminster Hopital. We need those services here in Kidderminster. However, the quality of care I received was enormously reassuring.

Thanks also to Graham Balloinger for speeding down to Worcester to pickme up and bring me home this morning.

Today we remember - or if we are too young we try to imagine.

Somehow we have to build a better world.
 

 "The bug"! 

A low level of blogging on this occasion means I'm not well. Yes, I too have "the bug" that's going around hereabouts - and it is NOT pleasant. Don't ask! Yesterday I crawled out and managed to stagger through three of the four meetings I was supposed to be at.

We started with the Licensing Committee with applications for taxi licenses which we don't grant because we are waiting for the taxi need survey. I sometimes wonder what we are there for?!

Paul Harrison and I then had lunch with Di and Graham Ballinger at their place - which was lovely. Di is always the most charming hostess and has a gift for getting people to relax. Paul, Graham and I had all been at the Licensing meeting.

Then Graham and I went on to the Task & Finish Group, which I chair, which is looking at the Cabinet's Budget Proposals. This is a good, high powered, all-Party Task Group with everyone working well together. Tory Finance Cabinet Member John Paul Campion has been extremely helpful - so there has been a pleasant working atmosphere.

The aim is NOT to secure political unanimity. It is up to the different parties what final stance they take for or against the budget. The aim is to go through the administration proposals in detail, to make sure that the implications are fully understood, and to flag up and examine areas of confusion or concern. The Task Group can also take on board anything else budget-wise that the opposition might want to look at.

The main problem is that government dictates local government spending levels come in so late that we have only a couple of weeks in which to accomplish the task - which is effectively impossible!

After that there was a routine meeting of the Council Leader with Opposition Leaders and the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of the Scrutiny & Policy Panels - which meant I met up with Fran.

After that Fran and Graham headed of to the Comberton Middle School Governors Meeting. By then that was beyond me and I was in bed about 6.00pm and didn't re-surface until 1.00pm today! Graham, heroically made it to all four meetings.

Today I'm taking as much advantage as I can of a free day although, given "the bug", I'm not up to much!

 Standards in public life...

" GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT Implementing Standards of Conduct in Public Life" (The Graham Report) is now available. Read it here in pdf format!

   Alliance? Well now we know!

The Kidderminster Shuttle reports that speaking of her sacking by the Council from her post as Cabinet Member for Education "Miss Longmuir said the move was to break up the alliance between Labour and the Tories on the county council"!

Since the 2001 County Council election it has been patently obvious that there was some sort of arrangement between Labour and Tories to keep the minority in office as right up until the Longmuir vote the Tories have always been able to rely on Labour votes to keep them in business.

There have also been rfumours that County Labour MPs and  County Labour Constituency Parties have been growing increasingly frustrated and angry that their Labour County Councillors are so "close" to the Tories. 

However at every stage Tory and Labour County Councillors have totally denied the existance of any such pact, agreement, deal or alliance.

Thank you for the confirmation June!

 Councillor backs call for post-natal services

Kidderminster Shuttle Reports...

Councillor backs call for post-natal services

 Mini motor bike problems...

We are having problems with the vogue for mini motor bikes being driven on roads and pavements sometimes by very young riders indeed. If something isn't done we are going to have a serious accident!

The legal position is perfectly clear. Here is how the Warwickshire Police web site explains...

Mini motorbikes which may also be called monkey bikes or go-peds, which can travel over 5 mph, are classed as mechanically propelled motor vehicles and as such are subject to the Road Traffic Act.

To use this kind of bike on the road you need to: - register the bike with the DVLA using for V555 from a main post office - make sure the bike has European Whole Vehicle Type Approval by contacting the Vehicle Operator's Standards Agency - tax the bike - make sure the bike is fitted with a number plate, lights and brakes. The rider must hold a valid driver licence - the rider must be insured - the rider must wear a kite marked motorcycle helmet

Warwickshire Trading Standards add "These scooters may be great fun but are simply not appropriate nor legal to use on public roads or pavements. They could pose a real threat to the riders themselves or other road users - particularly in the dark or poor weather conditions".

By way of background the site also explains:-

The Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle Regulations 1983 exclude relevant vehicles from road traffic legislation, but to satisfy this exemption the vehicle must have pedals by which it may be propelled, have an electric motor with no more than 200w output, and only benefit from electrical assistance up to 15mph.

The Use of Invalid Carriages on Highways Regulations 1988 similarly exclude mobility scooters from road traffic legislation, but impose an absolute maximum speed of 8mph which must be switchable to 4mph when used on the pavement. Use of mobility scooters is restricted to people suffering from some physical defect or physical disability.

Battery powered scooters tend to be slower than petrol ones, often with a top speed of about 15 mph.

Scooters with a top speed of 5mph may be classed as toys and be allowed for use in public places provided they are under the supervision of an adult.

If YOU have problems or queries please do get in  touch!

 Good, but it could be much, much better... 

The planning application to put 14 new homes on the site of the Comberton Arms and its Car Park are welcome news!

Sadly, however, the developers are NOT interested in a deal with Wyre Forest Community Housing to develop the old adjacent garage site between Doverdale Avenue and Somerleyton Avenue. That leaves the Housing Company with a very difficult "land locked" site that will be extremely difficult to develop in a cost effective and sensible manner.

If that old "garage site" isn't developed sensibly we could be in for real problems there!  

 Categories....

We have just started to us the new "categories" facility offered by Motime.

 If you scroll down the left hand column below all the links you will find that a series of "categories" have been added in the "Archive" below the list of past months. The relevant categories will also appear under each individual posting so you can pick up related postings from there.

This means that as well as searching for past postings by month you can now search by "categories" such as "Education & Schools", "Housing" or "Roads" or by areas such as "Greenhill". There is no way that we have the time to go back and ascribe categories to every past story so in reality the system will build up from now.

Rescued....

A little bird tells me that the cats (see "Grimly Depressed" posting below somewhere) have been rescued. I can't post full story here but I'm very pleased to hear the news. 

 Why was there no serious rescue bid?

In the aftermath of yesterday’s sacking of Cllr June Longmuir as County Cabinet member for Education (see postings below) there has been growing speculation about what the Conservative Group were really playing at.

Essentially they were faced with two opposition proposals: a motion (Liberal, Lib-Dem & Health Concern) to sack her and an amendment (Labour) to rap her knuckles but leave her in office.

Given the reality of the political composition of the County Council all the Tories had to do to actually keep her in office was to vote FOR the Labour amendment (Tory and Labour votes easily defeating Lib-Dems, Health Concern and Liberals) on the grounds that at that point the Labour amendment was the lesser of two evils.

The Labour rap her on the knuckles but leave her in office amendment would then have become the substantive motion. Tories could then have voted AGAINST it on the substantive vote.

Voting for the lesser of all evils to become the substantive motion and then voting against it anyway on the final vote is a standard practice in similar circumstances in Councils up and down the country. That is how, in those circumstances, you get the outcome you desire if you have the votes to do it and it is the only viable practical solution.

That final vote would have left Labour voting for the rap on the knuckles, Tories voting against and Liberal Democrats, Health Concern and Liberals stranded high and dry.

If Liberal Democrats, Health Concern and Liberals had voted FOR that substantive motion (as the best of a bad job) in sufficient numbers then her knuckles would have duly rapped but she would still have been in office.

If Liberal Democrats, Health Concern and Liberals had voted AGAINST that substantive motion (on the grounds that it was insufficient) then the Tories would have won the day and Cllr Longmuir would have escaped unscathed and indeed strengthened and still in office.

So why didn’t the Tories do exactly that?

Pay your money and take your choice.

Either:-

(a) The Tory leadership were not sufficiently bothered about saving her;

(b) The whole of this highly experienced Tory Group from top to bottom couldn’t figure out how to do it;

(c) The Leadership didn’t understand what to do and those of their members who actually understood, for whatever reason, couldn’t be bothered to tell them.

From what we picked up at County Hall today we are somewhat inclined towards (c) but we would be interested in an informed explanation.

County Cabinet Member sacked today...

Tory County Councillor June Longmuir was sacked from her post as Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning at a meeting of the full County Council today.

The motion, drafted by Liberal Councillor Mike Oborski, was moved by Health Concern Leader Cllr John Gordon and seconded by Liberal Democrat Cllr Liz Tucker and carried by 29 votes to 23 with 2 abstentions after a two word Labour amendment was accepted by the movers. The motion was supported by Liberal, Liberal Democrat, Health Concern and Labour members and opposed by the Conservatives.

An earlier Labour amendment which would have removed mention of speific issues and only given Cllr Longmuir a reprimand instead of sacking her was heavily rejected by 38 votes to 9 with 6 abstentions.

The final Motion (the Labour amendment is in red) declared...

Following a variety of issues concerning the handling of Redditch and Wyre Forest Reviews of Schools and the Review of Special Education provision, this Council no longer has confidence in Cllr June Longmuir as Cabinet Member with responsibility for Education and Lifelong Learning and hereby removes her from that office with immediate effect.

Liberal Councillors Fran and Mike Oborski supported the no confidence move. In a joint statement afterwards they said "It had been clear for some time that Cllr Longmuir had lost the confidence of the majority of the Council. It was time for her to go."

Cllr Longmuir is replaced on the Cabinet as Member for Education and Lifelong Learning by Worcester Councillor Andy Roberts who was, until today, her "Adviser".

  Cinema latest...

Fran moved approval at the Planning Development Control Committee for proposals for a 4 screen cinema in old carpet factory buildings in Green Street. The privately operated 300 seater cinema is due to open in March.

 Telephone Exchange to become flats...

The old Kidderminster Telephone Exchange is to become flate. With the building of a new block between the Exchange and The Red Man there will be 35 flats of which 10 will be low cost "affordable housing" developed in partnership with a registered social landlord. Greenhill Liberal Cllr Paul Harrison moved acceptance of the scheme at the Planning Development Control Meeting.

 "Creation of improved access to land off Bridgnorth Road, Kidderminster"...

After a lot of debate the Planning Develpment Control Committee agreed to allow a new access off this most dangerous road to be sited on the other side of the road to the Wolverley Road junction. The Committee took on board Fran's comments that the Highways Authority should be asked to bring in a 30 or 40 MPH limit in this area and also to erect warning signs on the Bridgnorth side of the brow of the hill to alert motorists to the possibility of there being heavy vehicles stationary waiting to turn right ahead of them.

  Birthing Centre...

Fran is still waiting for a reply from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust Chairman John Rostill to her letter demanding information on his plans for the Midwife Led Maternity Unit at Kidderminster Hospital. The news that the post-natal beds in this unit are also to close will come as a bombshell to many local mums to be who were expecting to give birth at Worcester and then immediately transfer back to Kidderminster. Closure of these beds is going to cause very major inconvenience for many local families.

 Godson Crescent Mobile Phone Mast...

Liberal Councillors were delighted to support the decision to refuse permission for a phone mast on such a prominent position in a residential area. Cllr Fran Oborski told the Planning Development Control Committee that a similar mast had been approved less than 500 metres away at the "Charlie Brown" site. Surely the phone companies involved could share that. 

 Grimly depressed...

Call centres and telephone switchboards have long been a major frustration for many of us.  A few, very few indeed,  work well. Banking online at MBNA is actually a pleasure. The system is simple and easy to follow. I just glide happily through everything they want me to press and enter and the desired results are quickly and painlessly achieved.

The West Mercia Police switchboard is, by contrast, a nightmare - "and where is  Kidderminster?" I was asked during one mind destroying call during which I heard nine differnt call tones (as my call was passed from absentee to absentee) twice each.

A Polish TV sketch showed a new arrival in Hell faced with just a telephone and finding that he could only get through to Hell's very own call centre. His exchange with the call centre involves the usual frustrations, hassles and set backs. At the end of it he gets through to "complaints" and berates the inadequacies of the system only to be told by the rather pained and saddened Devil at \the other end of the line "...but Sir, I don't see why you are complaining - since the moment you picked up the phone you have indeed been going through Hell"!

Today I picked up on a very complex and difficult piece of family casework. As a side issue on a set of horrific human problems there were also issues relating to an inappropriately treated dog and to rejected cats. I am not going to repeat the story here in detail. Our own beautiful black cat Janusz is sitting by me purring happily and I am abject with misery at the thought of what those other cats are suffering at this moment.

My discussion with the human problem agengy I needed to talk to was mercifully brief, succinct and to the point. That agency will, as always, do what it is suppose to do to help people. That is hopefully all in hand.

I then phoned the RSPCA national animal cruelty line in order to pursue the animal issue. Of course I then went through the rigmarole of supplying lots of details about me before we got to details of the case. When I was eventually allowed to explain about the animals I was gently told that I couldn't be taken seriously as my information wasn't first hand. I explained that I have been a Councillor (District & County) for about 30 years. I explained how close I was to the information. All to no avail.

It strikes me, thinking about this afterwards, that the RSPCA are NOT prepared to accept the standards on information on which the Police, Social Services, District Council and Wyre Forest Community Housing will initiate inquiries and action.

At this moment I simply detest the RSPCA. The whole business makes me feel sick. I hope somebody finds those poor terrified young cats before they die terrified and neglected. I hope someone can help that poor dog.  I know I'm very wound up at the moment but I will never trust the RSPCA again. This isn't the first time we've run into problems with them!

I find it almost impossible to reconcile the lack of interest and concern from the RSPCA today with the routine overwhelming kindness and efficiency of the Blue Cross. We have had three cats from them - our late beautiful little lamented Ryba and currently our young, but far from small, black thug Janusz and his beautiful tiny sister Malgi.

Tonight I'll write a cheque to the Blue Cross in memory of two little terrified cats for whom the RSPCA did not give a damn! I hope that they survive - despite the RSPCA.

 County Councillors signing no confidence motion...

...in County Council Cabinet Member for Education June Longmuir (scroll down to story below) are:-

• Liberals: Cllrs Mike & Fran Oborski;
• Health Concern: Cllrs John Gordon, Howard Martin, Mike Shellie,Frank Baillie, Jim Parrish;
• Liberal Democrats: Cllrs Liz Tucker, Jeannette Davey, Diane Thomas.