Well the first week of full campaigning was largely taken up with preparing my leaflets for the printers and tidying various loose ends at work as I will be on leave for most of May in order that I can focus on the campaign!
The first batch arrived in time for a weekend delivery of certain areas, and the main bundle should be arriving soon... Having walked from Borden to Hartlip and back, my feet are already starting to feel sore, and a downpour en route with no pub in sight and only the speeding traffic for company along much of the way left me humming that annoying song 'Always Look On the Bright Side of Life'!
Unsurprisingly, given the weather, I didn't get to meet as many people along the way as I usually do, but there were still a couple of good chats during the brighter periods, and blunt 'I ain't voting for you lot' type comments can still be counted on the fingers of one hand!
What did bring a wry smile to my face was the recent activity that our roads have seen with nice new yellow lines being repainted. It's a shame then, that Kent County Council didn't think to put up warning notices or cones before the road painting was due to be done with the result that in some areas - such as Wises Lane - the yellow lines had to stop abruptly because cars were parked over the area the lines were due to go!
The next three days are all work days, including a Regional Health and Safety meeting in Guildford - I'm a PCS Regional Health and Safety Representative and these are useful meetings as we set standards for the whole of the South East from the Isle of Wight to Milton Keynes and across Kent. I just wish Health and safety had a better press - it's not about stopping kids playing conkers - it's about measuring risks and suggesting means that might lessen those risks if the risks are deemed too high. So often the people responsible for managing the risks take the easy option of banning an activity rather than just taking the measures that will enable the activity to go ahead, but without unacceptable risk. Still, that's probably a blog for another day!
UPDATE:
After I returned from the evening session of leafletting I was amzed to see that Kent Highways had returned to finish the job they couldn't complete the other day.
However - as they still hadn't bothered to set up cones or warn anyone - unsurprisingly there will still cars parked there again. So now we have bits of yellow lines in the gaps where the cars weren't parked!
No wonder KCC's Highways Dept costs a fortune and achieves very little - I assume a third trip will now be required - will they notify people in advance this time? Or join up some of the lines where they can? Oh that's going to look lovely when they finish isn't it!
What an incompetent, expensive, messy looking farce KCC can make of painting a few yellow lines!
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Monday, 20 April 2009
Weekend report
Well I had a lovely weekend to start with, and managed to speak to a large number of people in one of our villages. A friendly reception across the board, and many long chats about village life, the current problems facing the rural areas, and what people would like to see done about them. A strong sense of village community was evident and people all seemed to know each other and about events that were going on in the area.
Exactly the sort of community that Kent is traditionally famous for, and that underlines precisely why our local Councils should start to pay more care and attention to our rural villages.
I must admit, I felt really upbeat after the weekend's progress!
Exactly the sort of community that Kent is traditionally famous for, and that underlines precisely why our local Councils should start to pay more care and attention to our rural villages.
I must admit, I felt really upbeat after the weekend's progress!
Saturday, 18 April 2009
From my Winter 2008/9 newsletter
RURAL ROUND-UP
Bus Services
At a time when everyone else is highlighting the benefits of clean and reliable public transport, Kent County Council are presiding over a regime that is allowing Bus Companies to cut back yet again on the already rather poor rural bus services. I have had many calls and letters from residents worried about their local service getting removed, and have raised the issue with KCC on several occasions. Hopefully through the Swale West Group we can arrange some alternative provisions for these residents, but is it really respectable for KCC to be allowing public services to disappear at the same time as trying to improve their climate impact ratings? Does their right hand know what their left hand is doing? Or are they simply taking the rural vote for granted?
Dumping
Despite dismissing the proposal just 2 years ago, the Tories on Swale have sneaked through a scheme to charge people for the collection of large items, such as furniture, TVs, etc. This is clearly another attempt to cover up the black hole that sits at the centre of their financial adventures, and sits awkwardly with their claims to be moving forward with rubbish and litter problems. Because rural people know exactly what happens to a lot of the rubbish that people can’t afford to get collected – it gets dumped in the countryside! Another example of the Tories taking the rural vote for granted?
StreetLights
In 2008 the Tory Executive announced a nasty surprise for many residents when they decided to cap the funding for streetlights in some parished areas, with the threat to remove the funding altogether next year. This resulted in some huge increases in Parish Council Tax rates, and real concerns over future lighting in rural areas. I highlighted these concerns at several forums and meetings, and have pushed for both a retention of the funding in next years budget and a guarantee that parishes will know the impacts of any proposed changes in time to set their own budget accordingly. Hopefully this pressure is paying off, and the funding will continue in some form for the new year – otherwise it will be yet another example of the Tories taking the rural vote for granted!
Bus Services
At a time when everyone else is highlighting the benefits of clean and reliable public transport, Kent County Council are presiding over a regime that is allowing Bus Companies to cut back yet again on the already rather poor rural bus services. I have had many calls and letters from residents worried about their local service getting removed, and have raised the issue with KCC on several occasions. Hopefully through the Swale West Group we can arrange some alternative provisions for these residents, but is it really respectable for KCC to be allowing public services to disappear at the same time as trying to improve their climate impact ratings? Does their right hand know what their left hand is doing? Or are they simply taking the rural vote for granted?
Dumping
Despite dismissing the proposal just 2 years ago, the Tories on Swale have sneaked through a scheme to charge people for the collection of large items, such as furniture, TVs, etc. This is clearly another attempt to cover up the black hole that sits at the centre of their financial adventures, and sits awkwardly with their claims to be moving forward with rubbish and litter problems. Because rural people know exactly what happens to a lot of the rubbish that people can’t afford to get collected – it gets dumped in the countryside! Another example of the Tories taking the rural vote for granted?
StreetLights
In 2008 the Tory Executive announced a nasty surprise for many residents when they decided to cap the funding for streetlights in some parished areas, with the threat to remove the funding altogether next year. This resulted in some huge increases in Parish Council Tax rates, and real concerns over future lighting in rural areas. I highlighted these concerns at several forums and meetings, and have pushed for both a retention of the funding in next years budget and a guarantee that parishes will know the impacts of any proposed changes in time to set their own budget accordingly. Hopefully this pressure is paying off, and the funding will continue in some form for the new year – otherwise it will be yet another example of the Tories taking the rural vote for granted!
Swale West
This blog is to provide a Diary of my campaign in the Swale West County Division 2009.
It will provide residents and local groups with a means to contact me, see what my position is on a number of issues that crop up, and to ask me questions.
I look forward to meeting and speaking with as many of you as I can over the next 6 weeks!
Mike Baldock
It will provide residents and local groups with a means to contact me, see what my position is on a number of issues that crop up, and to ask me questions.
I look forward to meeting and speaking with as many of you as I can over the next 6 weeks!
Mike Baldock
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