New Year's Resolutions

Well, the Festive Season is almost over and, thank goodness, so is the round of various parties and dinners.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not really a Scrooge, I thoroughly enjoy this time of year, not least the opportunity to socialise and catch up with friends who you haven’t seen through much of the year.

However, even more than before, this Season has had an expansive effect on my waisteline. Seeing those photos from the Christmas Day Swim has brought that fact in to stark relief for me. So, number one New Year’s resolution this year is to get back to the gym and start getting back in to some kind of shape.

My other New Year’s Resolutions, well

2. Be on time more often (Setting my watch ten minutes fast hasn’t worked as I know it’s ten minutes fast and therefore still think I have time to get places when I haven’t – I have to think of a new strategy).

3. Take Harry for more walks – he’s suffered a bit in that department through the Autumn.

4. Go to the cinema more often – I love it so why don’t I make the time to do it?

5. Write a post a day for this site, after all, if people are going to find out what I stand for then they need to see what I think on different issues.

Have a Happy New Year everyone.

Happy Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone, from Harry and of course me too.

Swimming this morning for charity

This morning I joined the Bournemouth Spartans for their Christmas Morning swim off Boscombe Beach in Bournemouth. In the photo above I'm joined by Cllr David Smith from Central Ward in Bournemouth and by the Mayor of Bournemouth, Cllr Bob Chapman.

We all joined the swimmers and in the process we raised over £1,000 for the Mayor of Bournemouth's Charity Appeal. It was actually very invigorating, if extremely cold! I'd do it again though, particularly if I can ensure we raise that kind of money for local charities each year.

Anyway, for those doubters amongst my sponsors I need to post evidence of actually having been in the water, so here it is:

Warning!

Before you scroll down to the next photo I should warn you it shows me in a partially unclothed state. It's not pretty. I'm definitely starting that exercise regime in the New Year!

Save Dorset's Post Offices

In my new role as the Parliamentary Spokesman for Mid Dorset and North Poole I've set up a web site to campaign against proposed Sub Post Office closures in Dorset.

Be they in rural areas or those like our own sub post offices provide a vital service to the community.

This Government has progressively transferred services away from the local Post Offices thereby cutting their income and making them increasingly less viable financially.

To my mind the current Social Network contribution of £150million is a small price to pay for the service those remaining offices provide. When you consider that the government spent £1.1 billion on the services of consultants alone last year it puts this amount in to perspective.

At a time when the government is also cutting subsidies to our local authorities which in turn cause them to cut back their support for public transport, I would have thought that we should be investing in businesses which provide local access to a range of services.

Sub Post Offices provide services to both residents and businesses. If we are to retain vibrant and diverse rural and suburban areas then Sub post Offices must be part of that picture. The alternative is to force more and more people in to their cars in order to commute to obtain the services they need.

We'd be very grateful of your support for the petition, please sign it by logging on here and following the on screen instructions.

163 Harewood Avenue - another planning appeal

The developers hoping to demolish the house at 163 Harewood Avenue and replace it with six flats have now lodged an appeal against the Council's refusal of planning permission in October.

It would appear that they are hoping that the holiday period will limit the activity of opponents to the application in making sure objections are recieved by the Planning Inspectorate.

We will be delivering letters in the next couple of days as always explaining how you can object and providing a template for you to use if you wish.

Troika Public Enquiry

I gave my evidence to the public enquiry on Friday morning. I made the point strongly that insufficient regard had been taken of the effect on our area of the construction of the office facilities. I took along photographs of the parking problems in Cheriton Avenue as an example of the problems we face. I hope the Planning Inspector will take time to visit the local roads to see the problems we have with workers’ parking.

Our MP, Tobias Ellwood, will be giving his evidence on Tuesday morning, along with one of our other ward councillors, Adrian Fudge. Adrian has changed his position entirely I’m afraid to say, having initially spoken against the office development at the Planning Board hearing he has now decided to back the development.

We can expect a result to the enquiry some time in January I understand.

Mobile Phone Mast roll out plans

I've recieved an update to the roll out plans for telephone masts from Bournemouth Planning. The full details are as follows:

Note: I have extracted from the roll out plans the operators proposals for 2006/07. Where an address is stated I have checked this against the grid reference given. Where there is a discrepancy I have noted this in the end column. Where the operator has not provided an address I understand it means that they wish to locate somewhere in that cell but have not yet identified a site. In these cases I have given the road/location of the grid reference provided by the operator in the end column. Finally I have added the Ward to assist Members although it maybe that the area of search by the operator will cross ward boundaries so it is worth considering proposals in adjacent Wards.

Bob Johnson
Planning & Transport
21 November 2006

Mobile Phone Operator: 3

Steetworks on Wentworth Avenue (BH6 3SQ) 413452 91747 BE/WS Grid ref shows Stourwood Ave/Southbourne Grove
Guildhill (Seafield) Water Tower (BH6 3HR) 415617 91553 ES Grid ref shows Braemar Ave/Harbour Road
site not identified 408832 91004 CE Grid ref shows for area between aviary & bandstand, Lower Gardens
site not identified 412321 94429 TM Grid ref for Throop Road
site not identified 408032 90901 WC Grid ref for highway junction Durley Road & Hahnemann Road
site not identified 407082 96428 KN Grid ref for Wicket Road

Mobile Phone Operator: O2

AFC Bournemouth (BH7 7AF) – 2 references 411782 92955 LI Grid ref shows King’s Pk (other side of Bishops Close from football ground)
Exeter Road roundabout (BH2 5BY) 408608 90892 WC/CE Priory Road side of roundabout
Tower Court (BH2 5HJ) 408216 90751 WC Grid ref shows Bayview Mews (next door to Tower Ct)
Streetlamp swop, Dean Park (specific site not provided) CE
6 Dean Park Crescent (BH1 1HL) 408933 91514 CE
BT Exchange, Winton (BH9 1JL) 408716 93597 WE
Warnford Road (BH6 5PF) 413490 92852 LI
Motobitz, Boscombe (BH7 6AF) 411726 92007 BW
Vodafone Co-Loc Rooftop (BH5 1AG) 411195 91510 BW Grid ref shows Owls Road

Mobile Phone Operator: T Mobile

Knoll Manor, St Valerie Road (BH2 6PL) 408580 92132 CE
Iddesleigh Road (BH8 8UW) 409289 92759 TB Iddesleigh Road at junction with Charminster Rd
Bournemouth Central Business Park (BH1 3SJ) 410199 91971 EC In front of Unit 9 (mast nearby already noted on OS)
Lansdowne House, Christchurch Road (BH1 JW) 409754 91377 CE
Somerfield Store, Wimborne Road, Kinson (BH10 7BB) 407158 96631 KN
Clowes Ave. Pumping Station (BH6 4EP) 415620 91319 ES
Castle Lane, Outside St Edmunds (BH8 9UA) 411231 94655 SP
Suzuki, 324-326 Charminster Road (BH8 9RT) 409792 93511 QP
BT Exchange, Wycliffe Road (BH9 1LA) 408711 93626 WE
Homedene Court, Poole Road (BH2 6AF) 407836 91252 WC
St James Court, Owls Road (BH5 1AJ) 411144 91446 BW
Wonderholme Parade, Kinson Road (BH10 4DQ) 406741 94765 WW
846/848 Wimborne Road (BH9 2DS) 408804 94746 MO
St Pauls Road (BH8 8AJ) 409491 91949 CE On highway (nr. Existing O2 mast?)
Seabourne Road (BH7 6DL) 412489 92393 BE On highway corner Seabourne/Christchurch Rds
Redhill Fire Station, Redhill Avenue (BH9 2SW) 408249 94741 WW
Streetlight, Wimborne Road (Dean Pk area) (BH2 6NB) 408985 92456 CE
Cnr Wimborne/Lansdowne Rds (south side)
site not identified 407054 91051 WC Grid ref is for Grosvenor Road
site not identified 408216 93471 TB Grid ref is for rear garden of Talbot Road
site not identified 412809 91680 BE Grid ref is for Montague Road
site not identified 413389 93171 LI Grid ref is for Christchurch Road
site not identified 410482 95404 TM Grid ref is for Harbeck Road
site not identified 407770 95489 RN Grid ref is for Hillview Road
site not identified 409640 95549 TM Grid ref is for Tincleton Gardens
site not identified 407900 92889 TB Grid ref is for Dunkeld Road
site not identified 408360 91059 WC Grid ref is for highway Upper Terrace Road o/s no 8
site not identified 413410 92339 WS Grid ref is for lane between Stamford Rd & Beaufort Rd
site not identified 411610 93189 LI Grid ref is for Gainsborough Road
site not identified 412120 91689 BE Grid ref is for Penrith Road
site not identified 414890 91999 ES Grid ref is for Brightlands Avenue

Mobile Phone Operator: Vodafone

287 Kinson Road (BH10 5HE) 407073 95565 KS
Palm Ct Hotel, 38 Christchurch Road (BH1 3PD) 410000 91450 EC

Mobile Phone Operator: Orange

Bournemouth ATE, Bath Road (BH1 2NR) 409320 91260 CE
Avenue Shopping Centre, Commercial Road (BH2 5RH) 408350 91200 CE

You'll note that there are only a few sites in Littledown and Iford. The Warnford Road mast planned by O2 is already the subject of a planning appeal. The planned mast on one of the floodlights at AFC Bournemouth is also well known.

The two other locations being considered do cause me some concern. It looks as though T Mobile want to place masts in the areas around Christchurch Road and Gainsborough Road. Both are residential areas, particularly Gainsborough Road, I can't think of anywhere that would be suitable in either locality. I'll keep an eye on any planning applications and let residents know as soon as there is any movement on any application.

Troika Public Enquiry

I'm just off to give my evidence to the Toika Development Public Enquiry.

Most other community groups and councillors will be giving their evidence next Tuesday. Unfortunately I am going to be working away from Bournemouth then, so have been allowed to attend this morning.

It was great to see so many people there yesterday registerring to have their opinions heard. Representatives from the local community forums, action groups, Conservative and Labour parties and local councillors all put their names on the list.

Town Centre Car Park Sales

One of my colleagues, Councillor Dave Smith from Central Ward has obtained this list giving the current position with regard to the sale of car parks in the town centre:

The following is a list of town centre car parks where development briefs have been produced or are currently being pursued:

Terrace Mount - conditional contracts exchanged, planning application awaited.

Lansdowne Road/Madeira Road (corner of) - conditional contracts exchanged, planning application awaited but a boundary issue with the Police HQ is causing a problem.

Priory Road - marketing commenced.

Madeira Road East & West - consultation has been completed on a draft planning brief and Cabinet will be asked to approve a revised brief in December or January.

Leyton Mount - consultation has been completed on a draft planning brief and Cabinet will be asked to approve a revised brief in December or January.

Glen Fern - consultation has been completed on a draft planning brief and Cabinet will be asked to approve a revised brief in December or January.

Durley Road - a draft planning brief has been produced and Cabinet will be asked to approve public consultation on this document at its December meeting.

West Hill - a draft planning brief has been produced and Cabinet will be asked to approve public consultation on this document at its December meeting.

Central - a draft planning brief is being prepared and Cabinet will be asked to approve public consultation in the new year.

Berry Court - a draft planning brief is being prepared and Cabinet will be asked to approve public consultation in the new year.

Richmond Hill - a draft planning brief is being prepared and Cabinet will be asked to approve public consultation in the new year.

10 St Stephens Road - a draft planning brief is being prepared and Cabinet will be asked to approve public consultation in the new year.

It begs the question: If all of these car parks are up for sale where on earth are people going to park when they come to the town centre? It seems that this administration's head long rush for cash could well result in the death of our town centre. Shameful!

Green Waste Collections

Comments about green waste collections form the largest part of my mail bag at the moment. Many people in Littledown and Iford are truly struggling with the issue of disposal of their garden waste.

When setting up the recycling scheme it seems the council completely ignored the need for green waste collection and as a consequence the system we see now is, to my mind, an after thought.

There is some good news in that we have obtained agreement from the Council that the collection schemes at Kings Park and Slades Farm will now continue through until the end of the financial year (late March). It had originally been due to finish on DEcember 22nd. At the moment there is no news of their continuance beyond that point because no budget has been approved for them as yet.

As you are probably aware, I’m a Conservative councillor and therefore not of the ruling party on the Council at the moment. We have criticised the lack of green waste collection facilities from the start of the scheme and have now placed a commitment to introduce green waste collection in a similar manner to that practised in Poole, as soon as possible if we win control of the council in May. I’m afraid that in practical terms that probably means nothing happening until the autumn at the earliest.

Mid Dorset and North Poole

Yesterday the Conservative Association in the Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency chose their candidate to fight the seat at the next general election.

The selection process was rigorous including interviews, speeches, tests in practical campaigning and questioning by a public meeting.

Mid Dorset and North Poole chose me. I'm honoured and delighted to have been chosen as the parliamentary candidate for the constituency.

Proposed development - 22 Exton Road

A planning application has been made to demolish the property divided in to two maisonettes at 22 Exton Road (on the corner with Ashford Road) and replace it with seven flats.

I understand that the residents local to the site are unhappy with the proposal and therefore we'll be distributing letters this week to help people object to the application.

There are no other developments of this type in the locality and, in common with similar recent application, it would appear to be totally out of keeping with the neighbourhood.

Street Trading in Bournemouth

There was a special meeting of Bournemouth Borough Council last night to discuss a proposal to promote an Act of Parliament which will place control of street trading anywhere in the borough with the council.

I've been campaigning for some time for some control to be placed on the pedlars in Bournemouth Square who sell goods from the moveable barrows. Normally these are cheap clothing accessories, mobile phone accessories or fake sunglasses and the like. The Council are unable to police them at the moment because they are able to obtain a licence from the police, for something like £1.25, which places them as a pedlar in the eyes of the law. This means that as long as they keep moving their barrow every hour or so, even if that movement is only a few feet, they can go essentially wherever they like in the town centre.

The consequence is that on busy Saturdays in the Summer and around Christmas you can end up with anything up to a dozen of them cluttering Bournemouth Square.

I'm very pleased to say that the motion to pursue the Act of Parliament was approved unanimously. This means that hopefully the Act should be given Royal Assent by the Summer of 2007, allowing the council to police this issue from July or August onwards.

Super Nannies?

The Government is apparently going to announce this morning that they are going to set up a network of 'Super Nannies' to assist parents with unruly children in the 70 most deprived areas of the country.

No, they're not going to be clones of the wonderful Jo Frost (see photo). Rather, child psychologists to whom parents and children will be 'referred'.

I can't think of anything more patronising than this idea. I heard an interview this morning with a spokesman from the NCH (National Childrens Homes) who said quite rightly that you can not force parenting skills on people.

A few months ago I spent the afternoon with two of my Labour council colleagues, Ted Taylor and Beryl Baxter, touring their ward, Kinson North. An area more different to Littledown and Iford you could not find in Bournemouth.

They took me to a number of fantastic community initiatives, not least amongst which was the Sure Start centre in West Howe. There, in a centre run in part by the community, parents are encouraged to engage with their children and, slowly, are introduced to parenting skills if needed. They aren't referred there, rather go along because they know it to be a useful source of help when they are having problems and because the rest of the community is so visibly supportive of it.

Surely the Government's investment should be in more of this kind of centre rather than employing psychologists to whom parents are forced to go.

Super Nannies? Just another symptom of our Nanny State.

Dorset - the government's forgotten county?

Did you know that Dorset receives less money from Central Government per head than any other shire county? That doesn't effect us in Bournemouth, or indeed in Poole, because we are separate unitary authorities.

However, the amounts that the two unitary boroughs receieve from Central Government are equally at the bottom of the heap when it comes to that league table. The issue has been raised by Cllr Brian Leverett, leader of Poole Council and his deputy, Cllr Ann Stribley. The issue is covered in a very good Echo article, available here.

We've long known that the South West and Dorset in particular gets a rough deal from Central Government. Under Labour distribution of national finances to local government has smacked of the worst kind of American pork barrell politics. The majority of the money has been sent to the Labour heartlands of the Midlands and the North.

And yet, the government seems to expect that we here in Dorset should be accommodating a disproportionate number of new homes. The reason? 'Because that's where people want to live and where the opportunities for employment are'.

Our infrastructure is already creaking under the strain of the influx of people. The concerns about gridlock around Castle Lane West at Christmas here are a great example of that.

A fair local government grant from Central Government would give Dorset's local authorities the chance to provide infrastructure appropriate to cope with the population growth. Yet the Labour Government appear to send money to areas where population is falling and where houses are being demolished because no one wants to live in them.

Dorset's local authorities need a fair grant settlement, and we need it now.

Labour appear to have forgotten that Dorset's on the map. I wonder if politics and where the majority of their seats are has anything to do with that?

Under age means under age. Doesn't it?

I don't normally comment on national issues on this blog, I try and keep it local as you probably know, however I just noticed this story on the BBC website, which made me do a double take.

Chief Constable Terry Grange of Dyfed - Powys police has suggested that sex between young men aged 16 - 20 and young girls under 16 may not necessarily be paedophelia, rather it's a 'grey area'.

How on earth can a Chief Constable be suggesting that sex between an older boy/man and a girl who is under age is any way acceptable?

If a young person is under age, then they are under age. Suggestion that a young man as old as 20 may not necessarily be doing something wrong by having sex with a girl under 16 seems to be opening a can of worms to me.

To my mind young people become sexually active way to early anyway. Talk like this only suggests that it may be OK for this kind of thing to happen. I can't see any circumstance where it is. I hope Chief Constable Grange withdraws his comments post haste.

Ward Improvement Funds - Who's used what

Talking about the ward development fund, I thought that I should do a bit of digging to see who has actually used their money.

Each ward in Bournemouth has had £5,000 per annum for the past three years to spend. Therefore these figures show how much is left out of that £15,000. The note in brackets denotes which party the ward's councillors, who sign off on the grants, come from.

Boscombe East (LD:2 C:1) - £15,000
Boscombe West (LD:2 C:1) - £11,500
Central (C:3) - £13,320
East Southbourne & Tuckton (C:3) - £ 5,000
Eastcliff & Springbourne (C:2 Ind:1) - £ 3,117
Kinson North (LD:3) - £12,400
Kinson South (Lab:3) - £13,078
Littledown & Iford (LD:2 C:1) - £13,066
Moordown (LD:3) - £12,285
Queen's Park (LD:3) - £11,276
Redhill & Northbourne (LD:3) - £ 4,100
Strouden Park (LD:3) - £11,689
Talbot & Branksome Woods (C:3) - £11,400
Throop & Muscliff (Ind:2 C:1) - £ 4,608
Wallisdown & Winton West (LD:3) - £14,000
West Southbourne (LD:3) - £ 7,576
Westbourne & Westcliff (C:3) - £11,082
Winton East (LD:3) - £ 4,000


Looking at the detail of some of the grants that have been made is also interesting, for example £8,000 of the £11,000 spent in Winton East has gone to the Winton Carnival. Whereas, the grants for Redhill & Northbourne have gone to 13 different causes and those for Throop & Muscliff have gone to 9.

If you live in any of the wards with substantial amounts outstanding, I would urge you to contact your ward councillors to ask whether it is already allocated and perhaps provide them with ideas for how the money can be spent.

It's a shame

Littledown Centre in need of funds

You may have read in previous posts that the Littledown Centre is in need of additional funds due to their exceeding their budget for the year by £550,000.

At the Area Forum meeting on Thursday evening, my ward colleagues Councillors Fudge and Ketchley put forward a request for funding of new picnic facilities by the childrens play area at the site. The cost of this is likely to be £4,000 - £5,000. As we have around £12,000 left in the fund this would be a substantial amount from it.

My immediate reaction was that while it is a good cause, it's another of those expenditure items that benefits people from across different wards rather than just those of us in Littledown and Iford. The ward fund is specifically to improve our facilities, if other wards want to chip in along with us, then that's fine, but to bear the cost entirely ourselves seems to me a little unfair.

I'd appreciate your comments on this one before making a decision as to whether to support the application for funds.

Littledown and Iford Forum

Thanks to everyone who came along to the Forum meeting on Thursday night.

Some interesting points were discussed, and a few new issues were raised. I'll try and address some of these in the next few posts.

Speakers from the Council gave updates on the recycling scheme and social services changes.

There were questions on Troika and parking (of course), but also a good discussion about what projects should be put forward for grants from the ward improvement fund. Unfortunately, it would appear that there are going to be more projects than grants.

More about this issue later.

Troika Development - Letter from Cllr Adrian Fudge

Some of you may have recieved a letter from one of my ward colleagues, Cllr Adrian Fudge, about the Troika development.

I've been asked by a number of people to clarify its contents, as it's largely about me, and I'm happy to do so.

In it there is a comment about my letter saying the Troika development was rejected on officers’ advice. This statement isn’t correct.

What Cllr Fudge is referring to is the proposed pro forma letter which we put out allowing people to object. In the letter it said: “I concur with the Planning Officer’s opinion, in his decision notice, that the proposed development is of an unacceptable scale and will have a detrimental effect upon the surrounding area.”

Essentially it is quoting from a letter which comes from the Chief Planning Officer each time a planning application is rejected and refers to the two reasons the planning board gave for refusal of the application. The Head of Planning asked me if I would change the term ‘Planning Officer’s opinion’ to ‘The Council’s opinion’ in case there was any confusion over the fact that the officers had recommended acceptance. I was happy to do this and the second half of the 2,000 letters we put out about the issue carried the amended version.

Otherwise my position remains the same, I believe that the expansion of the hospital alone on to the site would be the best use of it. Access arrangements would have to be improved, but in general it is the best use.

The alternative that Troika put forward and that Cllrs Fudge and Ketchley back is for 3,500 workers and 900 parking spaces. To me that simply doesn’t stack up, it would cause chaos locally.

The interesting points come in their sudden conversion to residents parking permits, which is something the Liberals have been quite opposed to up until now. The other issue is that the original plans did not offer the maximum number of parking spaces for the office development,

Fran Ketchley voted for that scheme and Adrian Fudge now supports it. They do seem to have gathered that this is going to be an issue. However, that maximum would still only suggest parking for around 1,100 out of 3,500 as far as I understand it.

I hope this clarifies any concerns people have about the letter.