[IMG: 20120815-230859.jpg] All, You can now see the latest planning applications in Shipston on Stour by clicking on the link on the far right of this page. The link takes you through to Stratford District Council's website – but straight to the Shipston on Stour section so you don't have to fiddle about there. I've set it up so you can see all past planning applications, starting in January this year. As you know, I chair the Town Council's planning group – so if you'd like to make any comments on these please let me know (as well as emailing ...
Wed 15th
22:54
Myself and Councillor Nigel Bakhai met Ealing Council's officer in charge of getting our streets cle...
Myself, Councillor Nigel Bakhai and other Councillors in Ealing have had many reports of the poor quality of service by the Council's contractor who is responsible for sweeping our streets and collecting our household waste and recyclables. Tonight myself and Councillor Nigel Bakhai met with one of Ealing Council's managers who is responsible for monitoring Enterprise, the contractor, to get them to do what they signed up for in the £20 million a year contract. A street sweeper After a failure to collect our waste and recyclables from April there are still problems. A number of points were uncovered: Although ...
A couple of years back I read one of Stok's more recent albums, Nu We Toch Hier Zijn and enjoyed it; this is her first collection, a series of autobiographical stories in comic strip format, set around her student days between the Hague, Amsterdam and her native Groningen. It's all nicely observed, self-deprecating humour; the first two-thirds of the book chronicles several love affairs and her first orgasm (a great laugh-out-loud moment); the rest is slightly more disjointed journeyman work (though the pancake shaped like an armadillo is a high point). My memory is that Nu We Toch Hier Zijn ...
[IMG: 20120815-221548.jpg] All, And finally, the most recent letter from SHA!C. Please feel free to leave a comment! Philip Dear Councillors, SHA!C's secretary has written to you to outline the planning arguments against the ASL development and why from a planning perspective you should not support the application, but can I also ask you to consider this letter which represents the views of our group and many of the residents of our town. Planning Application reference 12/000403/OUT - Land North of Campden Road Shipston's Heart Alive! Campaign represents a broad cross-section of interested local parties who value the town in ...
For some sort of unknown reason there appears to be a lot of sympathy for Richard Branson and his Virgin group for losing out on the West Coast rail franchise. But I for one don't share it. Virgin trains were one of the first rail franchises and were responsible for changing the travelling experience for the worse for the majority of rail passengers. Out went buffet cars, dining cars and tables in standard class. In came the shop, airline style food and aircraft seating. Dining cars became just another first class carriage because it allowed them to cram the maximum ...
Dear Avaaz, I'm stumped by the email you've been sending out promoting one of your petitions. I know from your own corrections page that you seem to take care to get details right and to your credit acknowledge errors when you've got things wrong. The couple of Avaaz folk I have met have also been pretty good people from what I can tell. So I'm willing to give you a fair bit of benefit of the doubt. But I am really struggling to see how you can justify the bit in your recent email which says, "Michael Gove is selling ...
I should stop readng the classic works on religion and culture, because I always end up disappointed. In this classic anthropological analysis from the first years of the twentieth century, Durkheim generalises from studies of the totem cults of Australia to conclude that pretty much all intellectual concepts, including scientific theories as well as notions of God and religion, can be examined as socially constructed phenomena. While sympathetic to the conclusion (having studied the history and philosophy of science in a past life) I was not terribly excited by the journey Durkheim takes to get there. His methodology straddles what ...
THE STORY SO FAR: The Leader of the Council, Councillor Bill Wayneflete, has decided to spend part of a day volunteering for some worthy cause and thereby promoting volunteering and the voluntary sector (not, of course, promoting himself). However, some of the suggestions from Hamish Carpenter and other officers in contact with the local voluntary sector have been rejected because of political sensitivity. Consequently the short-list was narrowed down to the popular charity Kiddiz Kingdom and Councillor Wayneflete volunteered there in the presence of the press (The Odanglesex News, referred to as the ON)and the charity's chief officer, a Mr ...
Phew! What a fortnight of Olympomania and, I think 99% of us would agree, what a triumph for the Games, for London and, to get a bit cosmic, for humanity! It has been said many times but the London Games really did deliver. The Gamesmakers were superb, the lack of cynicism about the event was a massive relief ...
In February, US President Barack Obama declared the fall of his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad 'is not going to be a matter of "if"; it's going to be a matter of "when".' Six months later, Assad is still hanging on in there in Damascus, though the country is riven by civil war. So it was ...
Copied below is the documents associated with next weeks Neighbourhood panel at Over community centre. I am hoping to attend so if you have have any issues that you would like to raise but can't be there in person please let me know. Neighbourhood Profile Update Histon Neighbourhood Swavesey Panel Tues 21ST Aug 2012 IntroductionAimThe aim of the Neighbourhood profile update is to provide an overview of action taken since the last reporting period, identify ongoing and emerging crime and disorder issues, and provide recommendations for future priorities and activity in order to facilitate effective policing and partnership working in ...
Via the Financial Times: [IMG: Vince Cable] Nick Clegg and Vince Cable are leading a push to reopen talks on UK banking reforms in a move that could stoke coalition tensions. The Liberal Democrat deputy prime minister and business secretary want to re-examine whether banks' retail operations should be allowed to market complex derivative products. The FT has also gone on to report, How seriously should banks take this new threat? Is it merely a piece of political positioning from the Lib Dems, who are keen to appeal to their base in the wake of their failure to enact Lords ...
With reshuffle fever and the silly season combining to reach its barking mad climax with the suggestion that John Redwood might become Chancellor, here's a repeat of a post I wrote for Lib Dem Voice in March 2011: Recently, I have started taking an interest in the government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). My MP is one of their ministers. He seems to spend an awful lot of time on marine affairs, coastal defences and the natural environment. So, as a good citizen, I feel I ought to take an interest. For example, recently, I read through ...
Cambridge MP Julian Huppert At the forthcoming Liberal Democrat Conference, delegates will debate proposals by Dr Julian Huppert, MP for Cambridge, to support science and research across the UK. Julian, who was a scientist at the University of Cambridge before his election to Parliament, has developed a detailed package of measures to support pure and applied research and development. Dr Huppert's proposals are outlined in a policy paper, Developing a Future: Policies for Science and Research, which will be presented to the Liberal Democrat's autumn conference. The package deals with three key areas - funding, people and skills, and the ...
Well, it was more like crouching in a cage while they swam by. A year or so ago he couldn't even recognise a plaice, so we are to be grateful that he recognsed these beasties.... [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
I originally wrote about this story in March 2009: He also told with great feeling an apocryphal story concerning the composition of Leonardo's Last Supper, which, in this version of event, the artist composed over many decades, constantly searching the streets and alleyways of Milan for the ideal types upon whom to model the twelve apostles, and having begun with the beautiful and innocent face of a young man whose expression seemed to capture all the grace, dignity and tender compassion of Jesus. After years of labour the apostles had all been assembled, representing in their carefully differentiated expressions the ...
Cambridgeshire's fostering service provides a good service to looked after children and foster carers, according to Government inspectors. OfSTED - the Office for Standards in Education - said the service was effective in ensuring that the right type of fostering placement was found as quickly as possible for children in need of foster care. Inspectors highlighted placement stability as a significant contributor to these good outcomes. Rates of disruption are low, and have continued to fall since the last inspection, they added. The report included a range of positive comments from looked after children, with one describing his foster carer ...
ALDC will be in Brighton for the Liberal Democrat Federal Conference between 22nd and 26th September 2012. As always, we have planned a packed schedule of training sessions, campaign advice and fringe meetings, as well as preparing our exhibition stand for membership enquiries, publication sales and the chance for members to meet the ALDC team. We will also be hosting a new kind of event in the form of our Activists' Network programme. This is designed to be more of a round-table discussion format on topics aimed at more experienced campaigners. All ALDC members are welcome to participate. You can ...
The core of ALDC's Conference training this year comprises a 12-module set of 'Essential Skills' for local campaigners alongside a number of other training events. ALDC's training programme in full comprises: Saturday 22nd September Police and Crime Commissioner Elections Briefing for Liberal Democrat candidates/likely candidates and their campaign teams for the November 2012 Police and Crime Commissioner elections Empress Room, Grand Hotel, 14:30-15:45 (pt1) & 16:00-17:30 (pt2) John Bridges (ALDC), with Tom Brake MP, Shaun Roberts (Elections & Skills) and Rob Banks (LGA) Sunday 23rd September Essential Skills 1: Campaigning in your Community How to put 'community politics' into practice ...
ALDC's Fringe schedule takes place over the initial weekend of Conference, with all of our policy fringes taking place on 'ALDC Day' Sunday 23rd September! Saturday 22nd September Next Generation Alumni event (by invitation) For former and current participants in the Liberal Democrat 'Next Generation' councillors programme Alexandra Room, Grand Hotel, 14:30-14:45 (pt1) & 16:00-17:30 (pt2) Cllr Erica Kemp and Cllr Abi Bell ALDC Annual General Meeting and Campaigner Awards 2012 Have your say at our ALDC's AGM, and find out the winners of this year's Campaigner Awards. Prizes range from £100-£500 and will be presented by Martin Horwood MP ...
Bike parking at Cambridge train station has been a bone of contention amongst cyclists for many years. There are not enough spaces for the bikes available, a problem caused partly by the fact some bikes are left behind by their owners when they leave Cambridge, and never collected. Because the parking is cramped, it's also easy for bikes to get damaged by others. Finding your bike at night if you get home late is an interesting challenge! So it's good news that the train operator Greater Anglia has got together with Cambridgeshire County Council to instal some new racks. To ...
The Activists' Network programme is a series of workshops aimed at more experienced campaigners, although all ALDC members are welcome to participate. Sunday 23rd September How to Use Connect to Target More Effectively This session looks at how we can use the more detailed data we are gathering in Connect to target our voters more effectively Cambridge Room, Hilton Metropole Hotel, 09:15-10:45 Cllr Tim Pickstone (ALDC) & Austin Rathe (Elections & Skills) Getting Local Messages Right It's never been more important to get our campaign messages across effectively, but the current political circumstances make getting these messages right even more ...
Dan Hodges likes Manchester but not as much as London This is a riposte to Stuart Maconie's piece about why Manchester's better than London. Meanwhile Manchester still outstrips London as the UK's most "live-able" (horrible word) city Anyway, Dan's piece misses something that Manchester has over London: value for money. Manchester's just better value for money. It's got what London's got, and Dan probably has a point that there is MORE in London - but I've attended Schubert concerts, seen Brian Cox wax lyrical about the Solar System three times (once on the radio) - both of these at the ...
This lunchtime I was at the University of Manchester's Student Union participating in a National Citizen Service (NCS) summer programme for 15 to 16 year olds provided by The Challenge charity. http://nationalcitizenservice.direct.gov.uk/ncs-in-detail http://www.the-challenge.org/about/ http://www.facebook.com/thechallengenetwork I have always been a strong ... Continue reading →
Below are recently submitted Planning Applications in the Chorlton area. You can find out more information about any of the proposals on the City Council's Planning Portal at http://tinyurl.com/yv6lex or by contacting the South Area Planning Group Manager - Roger Hall; Tel: (0161) 234 4536; email: r.hall@manchester.gov.uk . You can also make a Planning representation (in support or opposition) to Mr Hall or the designated planning officer for each application. Please feel free to contact me on (07947383740; cllr.v.chamberlain@manchester.gov.uk) if you wish to discuss any application and please also send me a copy of any representation you make. 099977/FH/2012/S1 6 ...
I'm meant to be on a sabbatical from Politics and the world of Westminster/Gun Wharf whilst enjoying time with my new son and my family. However in a dry spell of procrastination whilst decorating I hit Twitter and caught up on a few things. It appears that Transport is the issue of the week and I'll come to the Railways later or tomorrow as this one really ground my gears. The @Labourtransport twitter feed said this: Which is a lie. No two ways about it. Let me think and check... No its a lie. Back in January (19th) I wrote ...
A few months after taking over the former Atlantic FM radio station, Heart have announced that they are seeking permission to drop the separate weekday Cornwall drive-time show and to cut the amount of speech-based content. One of the reasons being given by Heart is that they think people in North Cornwall and South East Cornwall owe more allegiance to Devon than they do to Cornwall. And they go on to say: "We consider that the new, regional drive-time programme will enhance the range of programmes available in the area by offering a broader regional perspective"I think Heart are making ...
Following on from my earlier post on the loosening on the rules over provision of open space in State Schools by the DoE, there has been some clarification. It seems the rules on selling playing fields remain unchanged (good) but rather, the 'loosening' applies to the provision of play areas and the like. Which I don't think think is really a lot better. For example, in my children's school, the playing field is part of the playground. We have an area for chickens, a gardening area with a thriving gardening club, a fantastic wildlife garden (opened by David Attenborough no ...
The period between now and the next general election in 2015 will be crucial in deciding the immediate future of the Liberal Democrats-but the post general election period will have a much longer term significance. I have long been one of those Liberal Democrats who believe that the word 'Liberal' has been a little to silent in the party name – as policies around goldfish at fairs and ever increasing public spending without corresponding accountability have cast the party a long way from the roots developed by Beveridge, Keynes and Gladstone. But while there are many interpretations and views as ...
I am grateful to my party colleague Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera for pointing out that Dadabhai Naoroji wasn't the first ethnic minority MP after all. Indian-born Naoroji (pictured), was elected Liberal MP for the old seat of Finsbury Central in 1892, and event that ... Continue reading →
The latest threat to jeopardise the proposed constituency boundary changes - reducing the number of MPs from 650 to 600 - by the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, throws the problem for this area once again into sharp focus. The proposed new boundary changes would see Houghton Regis and Dunstable being separated into two different constituencies. Dunstable would no longer be a part of South West Bedfordshire. Caddington, Chaul End, Kensworth and East Hyde would become part of a redrawn Hemel Hempstead constituency. Nadine Dorries present seat would be abolished. But the South West Beds constituency has exactly the right ...
Over on the Biteback Publishing website, The Voice's Mark Pack has been writing about how voters make their decisions: One of the findings increasingly coming out from research into how we make decisions is that often we make a decision using our subconscious and only afterwards come up with a justification for it. Our subconscious decides, our conscious rationalises. It is an intriguing - and in some ways, scary - finding, that is best illustrated by a clever experiment where people were shown photographs of two similar, but different, people and asked to pick which one was the most attractive. ...
Go to the App Store and search for "BES". You'll find a little gem from the British Election Study project...
Why do Conservatives confuse me? Well, here's my good sparring friend Tim Montgomerie this morning expressing outrage at a Lib Dems conference motion up for debate in September: MT chrisshipitv LDs say they'll ask conf to reject Boris' ThamesEstuary airport & pledge no new runways at LHR/GAT/Stansted < UNBELIEVABLE — Tim Montgomerie (@TimMontgomerie) August 15, 2012 'UNBELIEVABLE' says Tim, CAPS-LOCKING for emphasis. Yet a quick glance at page 16 of the Coalition Agreement suggests it's not really all that unbelievable after all: And if you're wondering why a fan of market liberalism like me is sympathetic to the Agreement's stance ...
United Airlines Lost My Friend's 10 Year Old Daughter And Didn't Care - Bob Sutton The title says it all. (tags: usa ) Next Westminster Election in NI - Early Preview No boundary changes; so what changes are possible? (tags: northernireland ) The Trail of TV Money Tells Us Where the Presidential Battlegrounds Are The very few states where votes actually matter. (tags: uspolitics ) Leader Of Anti-Semitic Party In Hungary Discovers He's Jewish Glorious! (tags: eu race ) Foreign Policy Conservatives - Just So Naive Republicans and the Resolve Fairy. (tags: waronterror waro uspolitics ) The Incredible Shrinking GOP ...
The latest Lib Dem Voice survey of party members included this question: Which prominent Lib Dems who are NOT MPs (eg, peers, campaigners) are doing an effective job of promoting the party to the public? Please write-in. The top ten names given by party members were: Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott Lord (Paddy) Ashdown Mark Pack Evan Harris Baroness (Shirley) Williams Lord (Chris) Rennard Caroline Pidgeon AM Willie Rennie MSP Baroness (Susan) Kramer Stephen Tall Seven of those are current or former Westminster Parliamentarians and only one (myself) has not previously held elected public office. (Stephen was a councillor in Oxford.) It ...
'It was a terribly expensive deal that would have blown our budget for years and his wages were enormous - too much for a club like ours - but, as the manager really wanted him, we were prepared to pay it' Short-termism at it's very worst. Prepared to risk a clubs long term security for fleeting success. Colossal remuneration for a player that isn't even proven to provide success. I can see why Big Sam wanted Andy Carroll, he does fit his style, as does Matt Jarvis, the two together should be an effective partnership. But £17million and £100k a ...
As reported in today's Courier, I have said it is vital that the City Council supports sport across the city in the wake of the success of the Olympics and said the City Council must support for specific community sports initiatives across Dundee. I have pointed to a number of ways the City Council can support sporting initiatives in the West End including : • Supporting the West End Sports and Heritage Association's (WESHA) bid to move forward sport in the West End. WESHA is looking to take a lease of the Riverside changing rooms and build up their use ...
You can!
Straw Feminists (tags: ) The Women Who've Transformed A Mars Rover Into A Sassy Social Superstar - Forbes (tags: ) Sexual harassment in the gaming world: a real life problem for female gamers. - Slate Magazine (tags: ) BBC News - Saudi Arabia opposes .gay internet domain name Also .wine, .vodka and .sucks (tags: ) London 2012: we've glimpsed another kind of Britain, so let's fight for it | Jonathan Freedland | Comment is free | The Guardian One comment worth reading: "It's the media, of which you are a part, that feeds us this constant torrent of negativity. The ...
From the always engaging, Dan Lieberman.
Yesterday, I also took part in a site visit I had organised with Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity, to the Pentland and Ancrum Drive areas. Two representatives from Sustrans, along with a good-sized group of local residents, representatives from Community Spirit Action Group and myself met up to look at possible ways of tackling some of the issues in Ancrum Drive and Pentland - road safety, parking, traffic calming, etc. Sustrans in Scotland has done some really good work as pilot projects on this type of issue in both Kirkcaldy and Elgin, so their input and advice is really helpful ...
Oh dear. Tim Montgomerie, the very mention of whom causes me to snort, seems to be saying that David Laws, the very mention of whom causes me to take a long, thoughtful intake of breath, is in the frame for a cabinet position. Don't get me wrong. David Laws is extremely talented and deserves a break. I suspect he will be given the Minister of State role in the department of thinking very earnestly while wearing a hessian shirt. I believe he is widely respected in the party for his economic expertise. But I don't sense an instinctive connection with ...
The Coalition needs to get over its obsession with small businesses - and deregulate Sunday trading With the recent fragility of the Coalition, it's easy to forget that the Lib Dems do agree with the Tories on some issues. If we didn't, it would have been impossible to forge a workable government in the first place. Mounting instability over constitutional reform makes it all the more important that the two parties can work together where their philosophies do align. One of those areas is economic and regulatory policy. Despite some notable blind spots, the Conservatives do share our belief in ...
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting the WL Gore and Associates facility in the Technology Park and be given a tour of the facilities of this cutting-edge manufacturer of electronics and medical products. In addition to a very informative tour, it was good to discuss with staff a number of matters affecting the Technology Park area.
We're relaxing the rules on provision of space for school sports? Really? After the Olympics we've just had? REALLY? Apparently so. How mad is that? Given a third of our medal winners went to private school (when 7% of our kids are privately educated), there is surely a case to say that we should be doing the absolute opposite? Lets not start playing 'who sold off the most playing field' games Could someone just sort this out please? Sharpish.
Stockport Road, Cheadle Heath will be closed for 12 days from Friday 17th August to Tuesday 28th August. The closure is between the junctions of Swythamley Road and Hoylake Road, near to Go Outdoors and the back of Morrisons. It is to allow Network Rail's contractors to replace the railway bridge over Stockport Road. The signed diversion for traffic will be via Edgeley Road, Mercian Way, Shaw Heath, King Street West, Wood Street & Brinksway. Bus services will be maintained via alternate routes for the duration of the work. After the new bridge is in place, further work will be ...
Yesterday evening I finally got round to taking part in Liberal Youth's Bears for Belarus campaign. I'm quite pleased about this as it is rather an important cause. You see, Belarus is the last dictatorship in Europe - run by Andrie Lukashenko who still calls his security forces the KGB and who is imprisons and tortures democracy campaigners (including members of Belarus' equivalent of Liberal Youth). So a few weeks ago a small Swedish PR firm flew a plane into Belarus and parachuted teddy bears holding pro-democracy placards into Minsk, the capital of Belarus. A week later two journalism students ...
Yes, there have been a whole load more rumours that David Cameron is sitting on a beach in Majorca with a sharpened pencil and a large sheet of paper, reshuffling away... So here is the updated list. Black type means its a rumour I have published previously. Red means its a new addition. Mention of the current cabinet minister's name against a post means I have read somewhere that they are staying put. A blank against a job means I have heard literally no rumours about the incumbent or anyone else taking the job. That now covers just one department ...
Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 500 party members have responded, and we're publishing the full results. 77% still support Coalition (that's the first time it's fallen below 80%) LDV asked: Do you support or oppose the Lib Dems being in the Coalition Government with the Conservatives? (Comparison with June 2012′s figures) 77% (-3%) – Support 18% (+2%) – Oppose 5% (+1%) – Don't know / No opinion Support for the Coalition remains high, at 78%, in ...
Another Lovejoy book with a particularly implausible plot, allowing Gash to place his hero in Hong Kong (not contemporary 1980s Hong Kong, but the 1960s city that the author clearly knew well and loved) for fun with organised crime, sex work and inventing a previously unheard-of Chinese Impressionist painter. The antiques scam itself is as beautifully detailed as Gash's description of the city, and Lovejoy is clear that the criminality in which he becomes enmeshed is a consequence of capitalism rather than ethnicity or culture. But the mechanisms for getting him to Hong Kong in the first place, and then ...
From Dundee City Council : Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating new gas supply works. The Order is expected to be in force for nine days from 3rd September 2012. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in Artillery Lane from Cross Lane for a distance of 100 metres or thereby in a southerly direction. Pedestrian thoroughfare and vehicular access to premises will be maintained where possible. ...
From Sheena Wellington: The first Friends of Wighton Cappuccino Concert of the new season will feature the fine North-east singer Gaye Anthony. The concert, in Dundee Central Library's Wighton Heritage Centre, on Saturday 18th August, starts at 11am, with doors open for coffee and newspapers from 10.30am. Tickets priced £5 include coffee and are available at the door. Gaye Anthony is a singer/songwriter who lives in Aberdeenshire. Singing is also a bit of a family tradition. For some years she has been one half of Scottish duo, Gaye Anthony and Trish Norman, usually called G & T, who mostly specialised ...
[IMG: 20120815-004904.jpg] All, Rather late in the day, I'm afraid (Rachel and I spent most of the evening trying to book a holiday), but here is the letter received by Town Councillors earlier in the week. As always, I'd appreciate you comments. For information – although received by Councillors well before the meeting, none requested the motion be placed before the Council. The Shipston Meeds a Supermarket website can be found here. Philip Dear Councillors, Planning Application reference 12/000403/OUT – Land North of Campden Road, Ainscough Strategic Land (ASL) Following the presentations by ASL and Warwickshire County Council at the ...
Proper update in the morning. This is why we do need equal marriage. These people are arguing that because they forbid unmarried opposite-sex partners to sleep in the same room, they can forbid same-sex civil partners from doing so. Note that the original judge's ruling didn't say this was wrong because civil partnership is the ...
