All Change!

Some say change is inevitable or that change is a good thing or my own favourite, that change is as good as a rest. As I've said to a number of friends and family, the learning curve in becoming a Councillor is very steep. I knew that it would be hard work and time consuming, but until I was emersed into this world I only had a vague understanding. Please don't misunderstand me, I am really enjoying the challenge and even going to all of the meetings!

As regular readers will know, my family life will change again in a little under 5 weeks as my wife is due to give birth to our first child. Many thanks to those on twitter who passed on their congratulations. So family life and political life are progressing nicely. My only hope is that my working life becomes sorted out. The threat of redundancy is never nice. What is important to remember is that I have worked in McDonalds as a teenager and I would have no issues with working there again.

Context is important, as all it takes is one email. I was having a really rough day at work and came back to the office to slump at my desk. Up pops an email to let me know that I'd won £100 in our organisations lottery!

But enough about my life, you want to know what I have been doing for you. On Wednesday evening I went along to the new City Depot based at Dock Gate 20, just off the Millbrook roundabout. Now I have to be careful about welcoming developments to our community, just in case some Tories are reading this and fancy having a pop in The Echo again! Laughs aside, the building of such a new council facility within our community is welcomed. The right investment in the right places are long overdue for Millbrook. What was sad was the first comment on the Daily Echo website said that iot was apt that the new depot would be "a dump for a dump". I reported the comment and thankfully it was removed. However, this is one of the challenges for the future; we must challenge peoples perceptions of our community.

On thursday evening I met up with our Deputy Leader to discuss my progress as a new Councillor. It was a really useful chat and very welcome as a new kid on the block.

Yesterday morning I was out and about in Wimpson Lane chatting to residents about their concerns. Myself and Councillor Furnell picked up on a number of issues to work on. What has been nice is to demonstrate across the city that local Labour members are concerned about their communities now, not just at time of elections. The overriding message from the people was that they wanted the industrial action sorted out. Me too! My bins are overflowing again, and this will only get worse when nappies need to be changed. My fear is that this management dispute will rumble on and on. Surely not long left until the end of the line. All change!