Thursday 25 April 2013
Sunday 21 April 2013
Its time for an update!
This week I have mostly been…
: Mislaying my Blackberry, meaning that I haven't been able
to pick up my emails as quickly as I could have and thus making it much harder
to write my weekly round up. Thankfully I have found it later in the week, but then promptly left it
at home on Friday! Sometimes I think I would forget my head if it weren't screwed on!
: Monday saw a good meeting with the Leader and Solent
Stevedores in the Docks, kindly arranged by Derek. We talked all things
Biomass, Sulphur, City Deal, Development Opportunities and discussed Dave
Shields’ suggestion of a Consultative Forum for the Docks. Meeting with Business can be incredible refreshing in terms of their attitude. On too many occasions in council business I seem to be getting no as an answer even before I've asked the question. |
| This is what my desk looks like at the Civic Centre. All cabinet members share an office; one of our changes from last May. |
 |
| A different world, beyond the Millbrook Road and Railway lines... Into the docks... |
: Getting things progressing in terms of a mobile application for Environment and Transport Services, whilst also giving officers a kick with regards to increasing the ease and ability of making purchases online through our own antiquated website. Whilst other councils move far ahead based on years of experience, yet again we find ourselves playing catch up; what did the last administration actually do? All of their work just appears so short-termist.
: Having some fraught conversations with Balfour Beatty over
a perceived reduction in standards. As such, the first area I will be shining
the new Strategic Performance Management torch will be in this area. Suffice to say that in terms of the recent local article in the "press", they didn't write up my whole response, but really should I be that surprised? My comments in red.
Millbrook Conservative candidate Steve Galton has been complaining about pot holes in the Prince of Wales Avenue and Tilbrook Road areas for more than 18 months. Strange - he must have been complaining since the very day he was chosen as a candidate; if not before...
I am very pleased that Steve has joined my campaign to improve the state of road repair in Millbrook. Readers will be pleased to know that I often challenged the previous Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport on claims that potholes had been eradicated across the city. From memory, I believe that one of my first questions at Full Council was on the issue of Potholes. Unfortunately at the time neither Councillor Fitzhenry nor Councillor Smith accepted my requests to visit the area.
The council has patched up some of them but more and more keep appearing and when they are filled in the contractors often leave stones and debris in the street which potentially damages cars.
The number of potholes which appear is unfortunate particularly given the weather we have been having recently. What I do urge is that local people report these to the council so that they can be repaired. What the Council needs to get better at is letting residents know that officers are aware of a problem and that something is to be repaired in the near future.
What is not acceptable is when private contractors, working on behalf of the council do not get things right first time. We need to evolve into a council which gets thing right first time and every time. Leaving work sites in a messy and dangerous condition is not acceptable as was the case in Regents Park Road and why I have campaigned on behalf of the local community to put right road problems.
I would urge anyone who sees a pothole in the road to contact Actionline to report it. It is only with the support of residents that we can continue to tackle this ongoing problem.
He says the area is a heavily used rat run and needs to be improved – he wants the road to be completely resurfaced to prevent the problem.
Councillors of all parties across the Council have been advised as to the major resurfacing which is taking part this year so that they can inform their residents on the doorstep and through leaflets.
In addition, we have committed £200,000 to invest on reducing the number of trips and slips for our older populations - this will be carried out in targeted areas based in what local people tell us and what hospital admissions show. This is the first time in which the Council has specifically put money aside to work on this important issue.
In the coming weeks I also hope to bring forward proposals for testing a 20mph pilot zone in an area of the city. Following an evaluation of this pilot, we may see further 20mph zones appear if it is a success.
I thank Mr Galton for raising this issue with the Daily Echo and thank him for the publicity which his story may attract. It is only by politicians of all sides acknowledging that funding for roads are vitally important that we can lobby Government for appropriate funding settlements and thus Standing Up for Southampton.
: Checking out whether I could refer Peter Baillie for his inappropriate comments on the short story competition. Suffice to say that the Echo did not use my press release. SHAME!
Millbrook Conservative candidate Steve Galton has been complaining about pot holes in the Prince of Wales Avenue and Tilbrook Road areas for more than 18 months. Strange - he must have been complaining since the very day he was chosen as a candidate; if not before...
I am very pleased that Steve has joined my campaign to improve the state of road repair in Millbrook. Readers will be pleased to know that I often challenged the previous Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport on claims that potholes had been eradicated across the city. From memory, I believe that one of my first questions at Full Council was on the issue of Potholes. Unfortunately at the time neither Councillor Fitzhenry nor Councillor Smith accepted my requests to visit the area.
The council has patched up some of them but more and more keep appearing and when they are filled in the contractors often leave stones and debris in the street which potentially damages cars.
The number of potholes which appear is unfortunate particularly given the weather we have been having recently. What I do urge is that local people report these to the council so that they can be repaired. What the Council needs to get better at is letting residents know that officers are aware of a problem and that something is to be repaired in the near future.
What is not acceptable is when private contractors, working on behalf of the council do not get things right first time. We need to evolve into a council which gets thing right first time and every time. Leaving work sites in a messy and dangerous condition is not acceptable as was the case in Regents Park Road and why I have campaigned on behalf of the local community to put right road problems.
I would urge anyone who sees a pothole in the road to contact Actionline to report it. It is only with the support of residents that we can continue to tackle this ongoing problem.
He says the area is a heavily used rat run and needs to be improved – he wants the road to be completely resurfaced to prevent the problem.
Councillors of all parties across the Council have been advised as to the major resurfacing which is taking part this year so that they can inform their residents on the doorstep and through leaflets.
In addition, we have committed £200,000 to invest on reducing the number of trips and slips for our older populations - this will be carried out in targeted areas based in what local people tell us and what hospital admissions show. This is the first time in which the Council has specifically put money aside to work on this important issue.
In the coming weeks I also hope to bring forward proposals for testing a 20mph pilot zone in an area of the city. Following an evaluation of this pilot, we may see further 20mph zones appear if it is a success.
I thank Mr Galton for raising this issue with the Daily Echo and thank him for the publicity which his story may attract. It is only by politicians of all sides acknowledging that funding for roads are vitally important that we can lobby Government for appropriate funding settlements and thus Standing Up for Southampton.
: Checking out whether I could refer Peter Baillie for his inappropriate comments on the short story competition. Suffice to say that the Echo did not use my press release. SHAME!
 |
| Time for a change of career? |
: Other items bubbling along include: H&S across the
portfolio; washing up the Millbrook bus incidents; Driving a bus in First Bus Depot; Roll out of glass
collections (October); Body cameras for Traffic Wardens; Evening Parking
Charges; Letting agents boards; Home composting; Residents permits; Recycling
reward scheme; Smart ticketing; Carlton Crescent conservation area; Flood risk
management funding; and further Pinch Point bids…(gather breath).
Sunday 14 April 2013
Opps! My Mistake!
Always the first to hold my hands up if I've made a mistake - guess who wrote, but forgot to publish last weeks blog? Guilty as charged. So better late than never...This was last weeks blog, covering the first week of April.
: This week I have mostly been…enjoying a four day bank holiday. The first time in a number of years where I didn’t do any door knocking or leafleting, albeit that I did have to field a number of phone calls from our friends at the Daily Echo. For those of you playing Chaos watch, yes, another headline to add to the collection.
: Discussions with Officers and Councillor Jeffery on the future of bus subsidies and impacts on routes. The unofficial statement is that we have taken just shy of £400,000 out of public subsidy. I am trying to develop better relations with bus companies and so I will not comment on the withdrawal of considerable public funds with minimal change to routes as a result. We will see maintenance of 95% of routes and even an increase in frequency for some routes. This was another gamble for the administration, but due to diligent work of officers and support from Councillor Jeffery we have secured considerable savings for very little loss.
: Wednesday saw me developing ideas for a joint bid with Portsmouth for government funding on bicycle networks. Fingers crossed for another announcement in the coming months. This bid would be for the West of the city and would complement the work being conducted on the East of our city;
and would aid us in the modal shift we need to see from cars to other more sustainable forms of transport.
: After that meeting it was a case of spending a considerable amount of time getting to grips with the Sulphur Plant fiasco. Lots of discussions with officers, scratching of heads and strange noises. Suffice to say that another press release went out which corrected the ill thought out comments from Planning Officers, but the Echo declined to use it.
: Yellow lines seem to be dogging me currently, as does any form of work on the new Costco development within Regents Park Road. Another example of where Balfour Beatty's contractors have not adhered to amended plans…leading to hand delivered apologies from Balfours alongside lines
being removed less than 24 hours after being laid. Importantly without cost to us.
: This week I've also spent some time with planning Councillors from both Hampshire County Council and Test valley Borough Council. They are an exciting lot. This was in relation to the development of Bakers Drove (in Rownhams) to accommodate extra housing and our new Academy School in the area. As Councillor Letts put it, it sounded like the script out of an episode of "The Thick of It"; basically me arguing that I didn’t want to lose a large swathe of our field for their filter road due to it being used to house our Slow Worms. Suffice to say, another game of Poker ensues; original proposal from TVBC at 90 metres, then 70 and now 45 metres. I'm waiting for their next offer.
: This afternoon (Friday) will see me meet with Dave Ross, who recently appeared at full Council in relation to his development of the learning centre at City depot and his subsequent national award.
: This week I have mostly been…enjoying a four day bank holiday. The first time in a number of years where I didn’t do any door knocking or leafleting, albeit that I did have to field a number of phone calls from our friends at the Daily Echo. For those of you playing Chaos watch, yes, another headline to add to the collection.
: Discussions with Officers and Councillor Jeffery on the future of bus subsidies and impacts on routes. The unofficial statement is that we have taken just shy of £400,000 out of public subsidy. I am trying to develop better relations with bus companies and so I will not comment on the withdrawal of considerable public funds with minimal change to routes as a result. We will see maintenance of 95% of routes and even an increase in frequency for some routes. This was another gamble for the administration, but due to diligent work of officers and support from Councillor Jeffery we have secured considerable savings for very little loss.
: Wednesday saw me developing ideas for a joint bid with Portsmouth for government funding on bicycle networks. Fingers crossed for another announcement in the coming months. This bid would be for the West of the city and would complement the work being conducted on the East of our city;
and would aid us in the modal shift we need to see from cars to other more sustainable forms of transport.
: After that meeting it was a case of spending a considerable amount of time getting to grips with the Sulphur Plant fiasco. Lots of discussions with officers, scratching of heads and strange noises. Suffice to say that another press release went out which corrected the ill thought out comments from Planning Officers, but the Echo declined to use it.
: Yellow lines seem to be dogging me currently, as does any form of work on the new Costco development within Regents Park Road. Another example of where Balfour Beatty's contractors have not adhered to amended plans…leading to hand delivered apologies from Balfours alongside lines
being removed less than 24 hours after being laid. Importantly without cost to us.
: This week I've also spent some time with planning Councillors from both Hampshire County Council and Test valley Borough Council. They are an exciting lot. This was in relation to the development of Bakers Drove (in Rownhams) to accommodate extra housing and our new Academy School in the area. As Councillor Letts put it, it sounded like the script out of an episode of "The Thick of It"; basically me arguing that I didn’t want to lose a large swathe of our field for their filter road due to it being used to house our Slow Worms. Suffice to say, another game of Poker ensues; original proposal from TVBC at 90 metres, then 70 and now 45 metres. I'm waiting for their next offer.
: This afternoon (Friday) will see me meet with Dave Ross, who recently appeared at full Council in relation to his development of the learning centre at City depot and his subsequent national award.
Monday 1 April 2013
It's no April Fools
Starting on a positive note, I have had a really enjoyable weekend. For the first time in three years I have spent the Easter weekend with my family. I have not delivered a single leaflet or knocked a single front door. I hope you don't think less of me because I have really enjoyed having a break from politics for the past few days.
That's not to say that the weekend has been devoid of issues; Good Friday is always a fun time to be receiving phone calls from the local newspaper. I don't know why, but it does always seem to be confrontational and always with the word chaos in the headline. Like anything, I think overusing a term can devalue its impact.
Criticisms this week have included the chaos on the roads. I appreciate that if there are lessons to be learnt that we as a Council will learn them. However, there is never a good time to have road works and if you've driven around the Redbridge Roundabout (as I do almost each and every day) you'll notice that it has needed a bit of work for some time now.
As your local councillor, I am always happy to take those decisions which others have put off for a rainy day. Well, in 2013, at Southampton City Council, it is raining. But we are making progress on turning the ship around, rather than just cut cut cut, ready for wholesale privatisation of services.
Other areas for criticism, which I did mention last week was in the area of Green Waste. Not everyone agrees with the difficult decision to charge for this non-statutory service. Some have claimed that I lied to the Department of Communities and Local Government; strange as we're being hailed as good practice...If something is a good idea, I don't care which political party came up with the idea, I'll use it. It's a shame that our local opposition parties seem to only be interested in clinging on to political dogma. On the upside, 5000 people have now signed up to the service; making it financially viable going forward. Thank you to everyone who has stuck their hand in their pocket to pay for this service.
Last weeks highlights include:
*Attending the Corporate Parenting Committee as a Cabinet Member. Taking my social services commitments seriously and challenging officers and colleagues on actions in safeguarding our young adults. I hope its refreshing as I can come across as being difficult in these meetings, but I like to think that I'm flying the flag for common sense!
*Invited two officers into the Civic Centre to say thank you for their hard work on training for young people in using transport independently. And yes, I did but them some Easter eggs out of my own pocket.
*One of my neighbouring ward colleagues, Councillor Whitbread, called for an urgent meeting to discuss the bus issues in Millbrook; which I chaired on behalf of those present. Suffice to say that conversations were honest, illuminating and productive. A five point plan is being put in place. The most important thing to realise is that we are all powerless to act unless the community comes forward with names and are willing to back that up with a statement.
And so to toady. My last day of my minibreak (at home) and I'm waiting for the April Fools Jokes to come in on twitter. Maybe the government will say that the tax breaks for millionaires was really just a big wheeze and they're not bringing it in? Or maybe the Bedroom tax for social tenants is a poorly timed joke. Yes there are people in society who take us all for a ride. Yes we need to target them. But as so many are already failing to cope, is now the time to tax all at the bottom end of the scale for having a spare room - knowing that there aren't enough council homes to move them into to downsize? Maybe the punch line comes later?
That's not to say that the weekend has been devoid of issues; Good Friday is always a fun time to be receiving phone calls from the local newspaper. I don't know why, but it does always seem to be confrontational and always with the word chaos in the headline. Like anything, I think overusing a term can devalue its impact.
Criticisms this week have included the chaos on the roads. I appreciate that if there are lessons to be learnt that we as a Council will learn them. However, there is never a good time to have road works and if you've driven around the Redbridge Roundabout (as I do almost each and every day) you'll notice that it has needed a bit of work for some time now.
As your local councillor, I am always happy to take those decisions which others have put off for a rainy day. Well, in 2013, at Southampton City Council, it is raining. But we are making progress on turning the ship around, rather than just cut cut cut, ready for wholesale privatisation of services.
Other areas for criticism, which I did mention last week was in the area of Green Waste. Not everyone agrees with the difficult decision to charge for this non-statutory service. Some have claimed that I lied to the Department of Communities and Local Government; strange as we're being hailed as good practice...If something is a good idea, I don't care which political party came up with the idea, I'll use it. It's a shame that our local opposition parties seem to only be interested in clinging on to political dogma. On the upside, 5000 people have now signed up to the service; making it financially viable going forward. Thank you to everyone who has stuck their hand in their pocket to pay for this service.
Last weeks highlights include:
*Attending the Corporate Parenting Committee as a Cabinet Member. Taking my social services commitments seriously and challenging officers and colleagues on actions in safeguarding our young adults. I hope its refreshing as I can come across as being difficult in these meetings, but I like to think that I'm flying the flag for common sense!
*Invited two officers into the Civic Centre to say thank you for their hard work on training for young people in using transport independently. And yes, I did but them some Easter eggs out of my own pocket.
*One of my neighbouring ward colleagues, Councillor Whitbread, called for an urgent meeting to discuss the bus issues in Millbrook; which I chaired on behalf of those present. Suffice to say that conversations were honest, illuminating and productive. A five point plan is being put in place. The most important thing to realise is that we are all powerless to act unless the community comes forward with names and are willing to back that up with a statement.
And so to toady. My last day of my minibreak (at home) and I'm waiting for the April Fools Jokes to come in on twitter. Maybe the government will say that the tax breaks for millionaires was really just a big wheeze and they're not bringing it in? Or maybe the Bedroom tax for social tenants is a poorly timed joke. Yes there are people in society who take us all for a ride. Yes we need to target them. But as so many are already failing to cope, is now the time to tax all at the bottom end of the scale for having a spare room - knowing that there aren't enough council homes to move them into to downsize? Maybe the punch line comes later?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)