Seasonal Drunkenness

I read today that, astonishingly, there were a number of churches who held their midnight mass at 6pm on Christmas Eve.

The reason?

Because of the fear of disruption from drunken people.

This fact was used in the context on a commentary about 24 hour licensing policy.

Undoubtedly the introduction of extended licensing hours has played its part in the increasing problem of drink related anti social behaviour and disruption. However, I do wonder how many of those who attend church on Christmas Eve inebriated have at the very least begun their drinking at home, if not completed it there too.

Until we control the sale of cheap alcohol through supermarkets and off licenses we will be unable to control the problems associated with excess alcohol consumption.

Nostalgia for Hartland

I watched part of Sense and Sensibility on BBC1 on New Year's Day.  Good, but not as good as the film version on first viewing.  That's actually an unfair comment probably, the tv version clearly has neither the budget of the film, nor of course the sublime Emma Thompson.

I thought I recognized the cottage to which the family move and indeed my recollection proved correct with this article in the Daily Telegraph today.

I spent my teenage years living on this part of the North Devon coast.  It's near Hartland and made me feel very nostalgic for Summers spent in Westward Ho!, Hartland and Bucks Mills. 

Polly Toynbee

Polly Toynbee was on Start the Week on Radio 4 this morning.  Andrew Marr was asking his guests to make predictions about the year ahead.  

Ms Toynbee made the prediction that we would become wealthier, healthier and safer next year, as we have done in each of the past ten years.  

She also predicted that we would also not feel any of these things and as a result moan more than we had in the previous year.

Surely that's the point.  It's not whether we are, according to statistics, wealthier, healthier or safe, the salient point is whether we feel that way or not.

National GDP may have risen and the economy may continue to grow, that doesn't mean that I am feeling any wealthier at the end of this year than I did at the end of last.  I also know that my taxes have increased, as has my mortgage, as has the cost of running my car.  

I also know that the turnover of my business has decreased, that I am facing greater costs as an employer due to increased legislation, taxation and regulation.

We may be living longer yet that doesn't mean I am feeling any healthier or that my family is any better off health wise.  I know that my family might be healthy, but also that access to NHS services has not improved and that my mother is still facing a month long wait for an appointment at her local pain relief clinic.

Crime statistics may show that the level of crime is decreasing nationally, however my experience this year has been to have my car broken in to twice, two more times than in any of the previous five years.  I hear daily from people that they feel there is no point reporting minor crime because the police are unable to respond quickly and seem unable to offer any prospect that the culprits will be caught.  

Isn't it about time that commentators like Ms Toynbee stopped talking about the national statistics and started viewing the everyday experiences of real people?  Then she might understand why people are likely to complain more in the coming year. 

Councillor West and chairmanship of the Environment Scrutiny Panel

Councillor Roger West is attempting to present the vote of confidence in him as an issue of bullying, attempting to stop his commenting on the state of Southbourne beach.

It isn't anything of the sort.

The deputy chairman of the panel, Cllr Mark Anderson has issued this statement.  I think it explains clearly and concisely the concerns the panel have:

My main concerns and after talking to the rest of the Conservative councillors on the Scrutiny Panel, theirs as well, is that Cllr West is using the Panel for his own political agenda and this became very obvious during the meeting.

He is not pursuing the agreed agenda of the panel and you must realise that most of the members are new Cllr’s and were relying on Cllr West as the chairman, amongst others to guide them. I am concerned that Cllr West has been using the chairmanship of this panel to add legitimacy to his own agenda.

Typically the report on Urban flooding, this is very important to all of the people of Bournemouth particularly in the light of the recent summer floods and we need to be discussing whether the towns drains can cope with the strain that development is putting on them and what we as a council should be doing. What we shouldn't be doing is concentrating on specific issues in Cllr West’s own ward!

This and his decision to ride roughshod over me and the rest of the panel when he decided to question the wrong Cabinet member, despite being told, on the Coastal defence work was the final straw.

To continue on with the coastal defence work, Cllr West was absolutely insistent that his question be answered by the wrong cabinet member, Quite why he tried to do this I’m not sure, he knows as well as I do and as I tried to point out before he overrode my objections, this was Coastal defence not beach replenishment, beach replenishment was merely a beneficially side effect, and as such it is in the remit of environment not Leisure and Tourism and certainly not Resources and I don’t understand how he could expect to get a suitable answer. I can only assume it was because it fitted his own personal agenda, not even a Liberal agenda as they were the administration that actually did the work!

Additionally the story he gave to both the Echo and Meridian bares no resemblance to the discussion and questioning that took place in the panel’s meeting.

I have always felt that it was useful for the people of the town to have an opposition Cllr chairing the scrutiny panel and in fact I was the person who approached Cllr West and actually asked him to chair the scrutiny panel, I was also the person who proposed him as chairman.

The Conservative groups number one policy is improving our Environment and ALL the other Cllr’s on the panel are committed to doing the best for Bournemouth and its environment, I’m not Sure that Cllr West is! I for example have been involved in environmental issues since the late 1980’s.

Land adjacent AFC Bournemouth and 51 Thistlebarrow Road Planning Appeal

A short note to thank everyone who has responded with letters opposing the planning appeal made by the developers wanting to demolish 51 Thistlebarrow Road to gain access to build housing on the land adjacent to AFC Bournemouth.

We copied and sent off over 80 letters this afternoon and I know many more have been sent directly.

It's unlikely that we will hear a result this side of Christmas, but we will of course keep you up to date with any news.

Planning application updates

AFC Bournemouth Planning Application

AFC Bournemouth have now lodged their appeal against the rejection of planning permission for their planned development to the side of the stadium. Those of you who objected originally will have received letters informing you of the Appeal. We'll be preparing letters of objection for distribution as previously and will deliver these hopefully over the weekend. I'll also ensure that they are e-mailed to everyone once they are ready.


Planning Application – 163 Harewood Avenue

Once piece of news we heard during the quite time in August and early September was that the planning application for demolition of 163 Harewood Avenue and replacement of the building with flats was finally withdrawn. The property has now been sold and we're hopeful that no further applications will be forthcoming.


Planning Application – 1 Littledown Avenue and 1 Thistlebarrow Road

We have heard this week of a new application however, this is to demolish the properties at 1 Littledown Avenue and 1 Thistlbarrow Road and build a block of 14 flats on the site with underground car parking. The situation of the site, the proposed demolition of the two properties and the size of the development are in our opinion unacceptable. The proposal is out of keeping with the other properties in the area and we will be opposing the application. As usual, we will be delivering letters explaining how residents can object and assisting those who wish to object. As usual, I'll e-mail copies of the letters to you once they are ready later this week.

Civic honour for former Bournemouth councillor

Last week I was one of the few Conservative Councillors who voted in favour of ex councillor Adrian Fudge being made an Alderman of the town. For me the situation is very simple. While I may have disagreed fundamentally with Adrian over his policies and more particularly over those issues effecting the ward for which we were both councillors, Littledown and Iford, I could not fault his commitment to the role of councillor either in terms of time or energy. I believe it’s necessary to divide the personal from the political and that is why I voted the way I did and will do so again if the matter comes before the Council.

While I was disappointed that a majority of my colleagues did not see the situation in the same way, I was more disappointed by the fact that opposition members chose to boycott the subsequent Council meeting after the vote had been taken. We are all elected to represent the residents of our wards. They expect us to carry out the role to which they elected us and for which we are paid. What more fundamental duty is there than to attend a meeting of the full Council? The vote was, after all, democratic. I may not have liked the result any more than my Lib Dem and Independent colleagues, however by choosing to leave the chamber they left their electorates disenfranchised and failed fundamentally in their duty to the people who elected them.

There are far more important issues facing the town than whether an ex councillor is made an Alderman. We politicians are left in a poor light by the affair and I would urge my colleagues of all parties to draw a line under it and move on to concentrate on the important issues they were elected to address.

Proposed Yellow Lines – Ovington Avenue

We received confirmation on Friday that our suggestion that further consultation about the installation of yellow lines in Ovington Avenue be undertaken has been accepted by the Council. The proposal was splitting opinion in the road and now a proper consultation will be carried out by the Council prior to any further proposal for yellow lines is put forward.

Telephone mast update

Old Bridge Road Telephone Mast

I'm very pleased to report that the appeal against the Council's rejection of planning permission for the mobile phone mast on the corner of Old Bridge Road, opposite the Iford Bridge pub. Thanks to everyone who wrote to object.


Castle Lane East Telephone Mast

I'm also pleased to report that finally operators trying to site the mast on Castle Lane East outside Tescos have made an application to site it behind the store, where we suggested they should site it all along!

Travellers in King's Park

The clear up has now been completed, including the area of copse which they used as a toilet! Jane has lead on this one and is pushing for a meeting between the Council and Police to understand fully how the incursion happened and more importantly why the police instructed the opening of the park to additional travellers and how we can ensure this doesn’t happen again. We’ll keep you updated on how this progresses, but suffice it to say we’re all angry about the situation, Jane in particular as it was she who was driven at by the travellers in the park when there with her baby son.

Bus petition

Michael has done a great job collecting signatures for the petition against the removal of the number 2 bus from Littledown Avenue, Harewood Avenue and Petersfield Road and asking the council to pursue replacement services with alternative operators. He’s going to present the petition this coming weekend so if you haven’t signed up but would like to then do please let him know direct: Michael.Griffiths@bournemouth.gov.uk

Parking Orders

New parking orders have been issued for the area. They are essentially a tidying up exercise, extending yellow lines in a few limited locations either at individual residents’ requests, our requests on behalf of residents or to even up parking restrictions where they were not quite properly implemented earlier this year. The list of roads with changes is as follows:

Clingan Road
Holdenhurst Avenue/St Saviours Close
Iford Lane
Newlands Road
Ovington Avenue
Petersfield Road
Southwick Road

The one that stands out is Ovington Avenue, where there are some substantial additional lines and we’ll be putting a consultation leaflet around about this.

AFC Bournemouth Housing Application

You may know by now that the application to build housing next to AFC Bournemouth has been refused by planners. Part on the ground on which the housing was to be built is landfill and there are concerns over the environmental safety of building in this location. We’re waiting to see whether the club decide to appeal and will keep you up to date.

Garden Waste Bins

We have now had confirmation that dedicated green waste bins will be introduced at the latest by next April. The new scheme will be rolled out first to those people who have been registered for the current green waste bag scheme. I know there are a number of people who have not registered for this scheme, preferring to wait for the bins. If you would like a bin then I urge you to sign up for the bags, because it will be those households registered for bags who get their bins first. The alternative may be a wait of some months before the wider roll out of the scheme.

You can order your garden waste bags by calling 451199.

Bus Route Changes

We’ve been contacted by a large number of people unhappy with the withdrawal of bus services, particularly from Littledown Avenue and Petersfield Road. Michael is working on a petition to show public opposition to the changes.

If I am honest as a consequence of a meeting our cabinet member for transport and planning, Bob Lawton, had with Transdev last week it looks very unlikely that we can get Yellow Buses to change their mind on the withdrawal of the service. We are working though to see if we can persuade one of the other bus companies to introduce a replacement service.

Zebra Crossing – Christchurch Road by the Iford Bridge Pub

Michael has been working with the Highways Department to push ahead with the upgrading of this crossing. They have now agreed to carry out this work and again this should be completed sometime in the autumn. We’re pushing for a new crossing as well by the end of the new Iford bridge where the Stour Way crosses the main road.

Road Improvements to Iford Lane

We hope to provide a wider pavement and some traffic calming around the railway bridge in Iford Lane - the plan is that this work should be carried out before the end of the financial year. Your comments would be appreciated in order that we can feed them back to the Highways Department of the Council.

As you may remember this was one of our pledges from the election and we’re pleased that the works are going to proceed in the near future, it’s important though that the proposals are approved by everyone.

Casino

I’ve been asked to update you on the Casino issue. The short answer is that we are still negotiating with the Trevor Osborne Group who are the developers with whom the Council signed the contract on election day. I honestly don’t know at what stage the negotiations stand, but I do know those involved in the negotiations are hopeful that a differently designed development with more acceptable content is achievable.

Beaches

I have been asked to give you an update on the beach clean up. This has begun, and in the next week or so the specific equipment that was ordered to deal with removing the stones should arrive which will speed up the process considerably. The target is to have all the beaches cleared of the shingle by the beginning of the school holidays.

The design of the mural to be painted on the Land Train Garage has been approved and again this will be painted, hopefully disguising it a little, by the beginning of the school holidays.

Bournemouth Post Offices

You may have seen the publicity over the last couple of days about the relocation of the main post office in the town centre. We’ve been working to persuade the Post Office to think about their plans to relocate the facility to the first floor of WH Smith.

I’ve been leading the councillor team working to persuade the Post Office that this is a completely inappropriate location because of the difficulty (indeed, impossibility) of access for disabled and elderly people and for those with push chairs or prams.

The Post Office have not listened to our concerns and indeed curtailed the consultation period. We are therefore running a petition to show public opposition to the scheme. It’s available to sign In the Square today and tomorrow between 10 and 4. I was there all day yesterday and we raised over 800 signatures during that period, despite the rain.

If you are unable to make it to The Square this weekend but would still like to sign up then do please let me know and I will get a petition form over to you.