Compared with Bromsgrove, Kidderminster Parking is cheap!

Michal was in the St. Ambrose Catholic Primary School Team at the Catholic Primary Schools'Swimming Gala yesterday evening.

It was held at The Dolphin Centre in Bromsgrove and we needed to get there for 5.15.

I am used to Kidderminster where evening parking is free! Not in Bromsgrove! Parking for over 3 hours was £3 with charges continuing up to 10pm!

Given how little there is of interest in Bromsgrove (their local papers advertise Kidderminster shops and events!) it was real "rip-off" parking!

County Council, Question Time FARCE!

Question Time at Wyre Forest is "relatively" well organised. Written answers to questions are distributed at the start so that only Supplementary Questions get verbal answers.

At County ALL answers are verbal and you, normally, get the written answer in the minutes. This allows some Cabinet Members to "fudge" their answers.

Last Thursday I put the following Questions to Cllr. Clee, seeking answers on the use of various venues since the opening of the refurbished Council Chamber at the May 2008 Annual Council Meeting:

• Since that date how many County Council launches/seminars etc. have been held at external venues (e.g. Worcester Rugby Club, Stourport Manor Hotel)? Could he please itemise these events?
• What has been the cost of each of these events?
• How many more such events are currently booked for the Current Council Year?
• What is the projected cost of such events for the current Council Year?
• How many bookings for the Council Chamber have currently been received from outside bodies/individuals?
• What is the current estimated income we should receive from external bookings for the current Council Year?
• How much is being spent advertising our newly refurbished facilities?
• Where are such adverts being placed?

I got partial answers to 2 of my questions and NO answers to the rest!

We have had 10 expressions of interest in hiring the Council Chamber. It is too early to say if we will hit the income target of £50,000 per year and we are going to put bookings on the members intranet so I can check for myself!

Meanwhile another function, an Anti Bullying Conference is booked for the Rugby Club!

I am continuing to demand answers, we were told that spending £800,000 on the Council Chamber would STOP us having to spend money on outside venues! The Rugby Club is doing exceedingly well out of the Worcestershire Council Tax Payers!

Just what ARE Brinton's Intentions?

It is not just the over 1000 people directly employed at Brinton's, it is the hundreds of other jobs in Wyre Forest which depend on Brintons which are the reason why we NEED to know what, exactly, the Company is planning.

Some years ago they "persuaded" the Council to give them Planning Permission on their Sports Ground as a way of keeping them in the town! Later that Sports Ground was sold on and is now the Fine Point Business Park development NOT the promised Brinton's HQ.

Now we KNOW that they are closing their Australian Operations; we KNOW they are moving major production to China!

There are rumours that production in Kidderminster, (we believe there are currently over 40 looms, will be cut to around 14 looms) BUT, no-one is officially saying ANYTHING!

We know of long-time employees who have never worked anywhere else, who are applying for other jobs.

Surely the Town and the District deserve better than this from a MAJOR employer?

It would appear that the Council has heard nothing.

Please will someone from Brintons tell us whether or not the company has long term plans for production in Kidderminster? Is it too much to ask?

Lea Castle. To close by end of September!

Today'smeeting of the County Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee was told that Lea Castle Hospital is expected to close by the end of September 2008!

There are currently a total of 14 patients in residence on the site of whom 9 are from Worcestershire. 6 of the Worcestershire patients have discharge plans already in place, 3 are currently awaiting detailed plans; 2 of these 3 are still receiving treatment.

There are still 120 staff officially on the books of the Coventry and Warks Trust and some compulsory redundancies are inevitable.

At Fran's insistence there will be a further report to the Committee in early October when the final destinations of all patients and the final redundancy numbers will be known.

Kidderminster Carnival!

Congratulations to everyone involved in today's Kidderminster Carnival.

Thank heavens the rain cleared up after an awful start this morning!

I took the opportunity to have a chat at the Kidderminster-Husum Twinning stall and renew my membership (and have a sit down!) while Michal managed to acquire 2 plastic guns, 1 plastic crossbow, a coconut, a framed picture of a cartoon Gloucester old spot, a jar of sweets, a toothbrush(!) - very useful for after the sweets I suppose!

Half way round Jennings Fairground I realised that the bracelets for really big rides at the Safari Park mean that that fair is cheaper than the Carnival!

July 5th is the Borrington Bash, Offmore Comberton Action Group Carnival. Let's hope we have a good day!

What HAVE they done to The Shuttle's website? (and where the ----! is it?)

Like many other people I have used the on-line Kidderminster Shuttle website regularly and bookmarked it as a favourit! Acouple of days ago it got revamped (BUT not improved in my mind!). Today it has been replaced by a bland load of Newsquest JUNK!

Shuttle readers are generally NOT interested in who runs Newsquest we NEED our on line news service!!

 Hartlebury Castle! What the County Council is up to!

The Tory controlled County Council Cabinet has agreed to:

42 Days! And encroachment into OUR cherished freedoms!

Freedoms that have been a part of our British heritage since Magna Carta are being eroded by this horrendous Government!

Congratulations to Dr. Richard Taylor for his principled vote AGAINST the ludicrous decision to allow 42 day detention without charge!

As Nick Clegg (Lib Dem Leader) so rightly said it will do NOTHING to prevent terrorism, it will be opposed by the House of Lords, The European Human Rights Commission and the Judiciary and is (thank God) NEVER likely to reach the Statute Book!

Congratulations to all those principled Labour rebels who held their nerve and stuck to their principles and particularly to Diane Abbott MP for a superb speech!

Now we have David Davies (Tory) resigning to force a by-election on this "Single Issue"!

Time was when the Labour Party had principles! Now they just have incompetence and spin!!

Appointment as Polish Honorary Consul for the West Midlands.

I received a letter today notifying me that, on 28th May 2008, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland appointed me as Honorary Consul.

I shall be attending a Ceremony at the Polish Embassy, in the next few weeks, at which I will receive Seals of Office etc. but am empowered to act with immediate effect!

Labour Government Consultation on moving the scheduled date of County Council Elections!

In an attempt to minimise the forthcoming debacle of another electoral defeat in next May's scheduled County Council elections, our beloved Government are consulting on moving tyhe County elections back to June and holding them on the same day as the European Parliament Election (which is held via a pseudo Proportional "Party List" system of voting!)

Today, at a meeting of the National Executive of the Liberal Party, held in London and attended by representatives from Scotland, Wales, Devon, Cornwall, Worcestershire, London, Oxfordshire and Liverpool, the following response to the consultation was unanimously endorsed:

To Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP
Secretary State for Communities and Local Government
Eland House
Bressenden Place
London Sw1E 5DU
 
e mail to 2009elections@communities.gov.uk
 
Firstly may we thank the Secretary of State for communities for consulting The Liberal Party over the proposal to combine local and European Elections in 2009
 
It is the robust view of The Liberal Party that there are considerable benefits reducing the numbers of times electors are expected to attend for voting in any reasonable period.
We have long held the view that there should be a democracy day whereby all elections are held on one day in any calendar year.
However if we are to combine elections on one "Democracy Day" there is a real danger that the local aspect" of the elections is unduly influenced by national political considerations. 
 
Therefore we would only support this change as part of a more fundamental reform to energise local democracy.
This should include:
 
Consideration should be made for this to be a National (Bank) holiday
 
The Government should consider facilitating a public information booklet, whereby each and every candidate/party contesting that electoral area is able to make one modest election address in one booklet, paid for and distributed as a booklet to each household
 
Local Councils should be able to vary the electoral systems to enable voting to take place by the Single Transferable Vote, this would ensure there are no safe seats on any council and every vote has equal value wherever the resident lives
 
We believe if councils were allowed to be elect by STV many would switch from annual elections to a four year cycle
This option should be given to all councils operating the current multi member 3 ward system.
 In the longer term it would allow more stability for wards whereby the numbers of councillors for the same ward could be increased or decreased to reflect population changes, rather than redrawing ward borders cutting across historic communities
Again this would reduce the number of times electors are expected to vote whilst retaining a degree of stability that the annual local election system provides
 
 Lastly we have found the party list system used in the European Elections alienates many voters.
We would urge you to change this system to STV with the option to reduce the size of regions to areas more meaningful.
 
We would oppose the combination of Local and European Elections, as it would have an unhealthy influence
of national political issues blurring the local elections, unless it was part of a radical democratic reform of local government
including allowing communities to opt for STV.
 
We strongly urge you to broaden the remit of your consultation to include alternatives strategies.
 

Liberals and Liberal Democrats Publish joint Regeneration Prospectus for Kidderminster.

We have published our joint Kidderminster Regeneration Prospectus which we have worked up with the local Lib Dems!

Copies have been sent to WFDC and The Shuttle.

We will welcome constructive comments!