On 21 January I wrote a piece “my opening priorities” which I rather pompously said would create a benchmark to see if my views changed over the campaign and afterwards.
Having just handed in my nomination papers and started to write my campaign thoughts, it’s time for a first checkpoint.
I had four priorities and an overriding concern:
- Care of the elderly
- 2/3 tier education
- Economic development, incorporating Affordable housing and Support for tourism
- Dualling the A1
My concern was the centralisation of the Council.
I visited a number of people in February and March with a survey to establish what they were concerned about, and have picked up many points of view generally. As a sweeping generalisation from the surveys, affordable housing and the retention of middle schools were the main issues (although not everyone agreed with these needs). Other comments were that people were pretty happy with health care but felt there weren’t enough facilities for young people, or a visible enough police presence. They did not feel enough was done to encourage recycling and wind farms were not popular. Quite a few didn’t want the A1 dualled.
Having just handed in my nomination papers and started to write my campaign thoughts, it’s time for a first checkpoint.
I had four priorities and an overriding concern:
- Care of the elderly
- 2/3 tier education
- Economic development, incorporating Affordable housing and Support for tourism
- Dualling the A1
My concern was the centralisation of the Council.
I visited a number of people in February and March with a survey to establish what they were concerned about, and have picked up many points of view generally. As a sweeping generalisation from the surveys, affordable housing and the retention of middle schools were the main issues (although not everyone agreed with these needs). Other comments were that people were pretty happy with health care but felt there weren’t enough facilities for young people, or a visible enough police presence. They did not feel enough was done to encourage recycling and wind farms were not popular. Quite a few didn’t want the A1 dualled.
But the main issue is, as I noted before, that many people are very cynical about politics in general and the Council in particular. They see money wasted, decisions being taken without regard to what people think (I still find the timing of the Seahouses car park work unbelievable) and services declining rather than improving. These comments override the detail.
So overall, I am still comfortable my first priorities match most people’s worries. And the wide cynicism supports my concern about the Council’s management and approach. In fact it’s even worse than I thought. Regular readers will know I have gone on about the centralisation of power in the Council and how the new structure is likely to widen the gap between the Council and residents, between the Governing and the Governed. It’s all very well to blame the officers, but they are meant to implement Councillors’ wishes. And although Councillors may cover the detail well, they do not seem to respect residents’ concerns for the big picture.
It’s time to get a grip on what happens - i.e., to vote for me!
2 comments:
You didn't visit me! I live in your area. Okay, I'll let you off just this once.
Who on earth doesn't want the A1 dualled? And why? It's like a race track and can be very dangerous. The Seahouses carpark is just one example why people are cynical about politics - because the council will go ahead with plans whatever the public say. We never get chance to have a referendum (if that's appropriate), decisions are made without the publics consideration.
As a mother to a disabled child, I would very much like to see better services for disabilities. We currently have a few parent groups in Alnwick and Berwick which I personally have tried and given up on. Unless we have a valid problem it's almost impossible for a specialist carer to come to the home and support the family. I haven't had home support since Amy started school, 4 years ago. A bit of funding would help considerably, parents in this area who would benefit from advice in the home, home support and even respite. I am fortunate that Amy is on the high end of the spectrum but we still need help from time to time. Maybe the Conservatives will be able to introduce more help for the disabled, spend some money and hire some staff in order to offer this support to the general public - i.e. me.
Do we know what is happening with 2/3 tier education? There seems to be so many different views in this area. I send Amy to middle school in Sept 2009 and don't know how long she will be there. It's all very confusing and slightly worrying to think that a child (autistic or not) will be disrupted half way through a very important year of education. Have any decisions been made? Or is this just another decision that is being made behind the scenes only for the GP to read in the Berwick Advertiser?
I'm a nice person really.
CJ xx
Sorry to hog your comments box John but I thought about you while writing my latest post - after receiving a letter from the House of Commons!
CJ xx
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