Post Election Musings

Wow! Re elected again, in my innermost thoughts I did not think I would get re elected, and I have to thank all the people of Moordown that took the trouble to vote for me. It was all rather interesting, exciting and very very tiring. The count continued until about 5.45am and we had to be back in the Town Hall for re counts by 11.30! When I am telling, taking the electoral numbers, I tend to use a rule of thumb measurement, to see who is likely to vote for me, and that is that the people who offer me their polling card numbers I reckon will vote for me and all the others will vote elsewhere. This of course isn't very scientific but it does give a vague idea.
I had one lovely experience, when telling at the Community Centre in Coronation Avenue, a young man , with learning difficulties, very proudly came up to me and told me he had been to vote and had voted for the BLUES and pointed to my lovely blue rosette.
I was really sorry that Steven Macloughlin, former leader and master mind of the regeneration of Bournemouth, failed to get elected in his new Ward by just 2 votes. Even after three re counts we couldn't find those missing votes and Stephen conceded with great dignity. It must have been heart breaking for him after 20 years on the Council. Steven you were not voted out you just missed unseating the encumbent Councillor by two votes, disappointing but so close.
Then of course there was the drama of the wipe out of the opposition parties. As I said on earlier blogs, how can a GROUP of Independents be truly Independent, especially as two of them were endorsing Lib/Dem or Labour Candidates in Wards where other Independents were standing. Unfortunately those two particular Candidates got re-elected, personally when you do something like that I don't think you deserve to be. Only 7 opposition members of all Parties. An effective opposition would have been better.
Unfortunately, whilst I congratulate the young person who took her seat, I am really sorry to see Mrs Pat Lewis leave the Council. I always felt that Pat was an excellent Councillor and Party politics did not feature greatly in her actions. She was the Old People's Champion, a job that she did with great proficiency, energy, sensitivity and professionalism. Pat we will miss you.
Well after all the excitement it is back to work, the roads still need sweeping, Council meetings still have to be attended and e mails have to be replied to. But I am so glad I am back.
Next project is the finale of the memorial Saga. Watch this space!
Don't forget, any comments please send to: sue4moordown@aol.com

Now it's all over on to the elections.

Well the Wedding is over and so is my Village Fete. Both were very enjoyable and tiring for the participants. Obviously I couldn't watch the wedding until the evening but it was a lovely affair and so very British. Just what the Country needs right now, something to cheer us all up, reconfirm what we are and bring in loads of money! How kind the weather was as well. Just the right mix of sun and cloud and, in our case, a slightly chilly wind that kept people off the beach. The crowds in London are amazing and I think it would be a very brave terrorist that would try to mix it with them. Everyone was so cheerful and having a really good time.
Our Fete was much the same but without the crowds, somehow our advertising didn't get around enough, will have to think up a different strategy next time. It was rather difficult , being so close to the election, as I have been working very long hours in the office and am hampered by what I can say during the run up to the elections. Next year I would like to have a really good Fete for St Georges Day, sunday 23rd April combined with a celebration of the Queen's Jubilee, something with Morris Dancers and maypole Dancing and games for the children. We had space hopper races and they were hugely popular, we will have to try that again next year. I have learnt so much this year that it will be so much easier next time. But I have to get a bigger Committee.
Roll on next thursday now, that is election day and I hope that my colleagues and I will all be returned. These last four years have been a really interesting time and I know we have learnt a lot and we would like to continue to serve the people of Moordown for at least another four years. It might sound smug, but when I drive around Moordown in my little car I feel really proud of how we have managed to make it a better place than it was when we were elected in May 2007. The streets are much cleaner, and on the whole litter free, whilst there are inconsiderate or lazy people we will never be able to keep it spotless, but we have done our best. The road markings have been repainted several times, the pot holes have been repaired, the graffitti has gone and the whole place looks cared for, Oh and don't forget the crossing in Malvern road. There will be hanging baskets in Wimborne Road come the summer. But there is still much to do, Parts of Ripon Road are in serious need of resurfacing and the whole of Shirley Road, I shall make that a priority , if I get elected, it may take a couple of years to get done but I think once the traffic people see the problems they will put it on the list. I also think we still need more equipment for both the two playgrounds, we will have to try and find a way to raise some money for that.
If you are concerned about the AV my response would be vote NO. This is an expensive ploy by Nick Clegg, agreed with by David Cameron to make it look like the L/Ds are actually doing something worthwhile. I don't think it has been thought through fully and despite all the YES people saying it works for Australia, they fail to mention that voting is compulsory in Australia. If we went along the Yes vote they would need to make the vote compulsory or nobody would bother voting. That would take away your inalienable right to vote or not as you choose. Many people worked hard for universal sufferage and that includes your right NOT to vote as well, if that is how you see it.
Any comments please e mail me : sue4moordown@aol.com
VOTE CONSERVATIVE ON THURSDAY - AND NO TO AV

Wrist Slapped

Oh dear now I have upset the Independents and they want me to change my blog. In fact I have been accused of writing untruths, I hadn't realised that laying the facts before the Public made it an untruth. Dictionary definition of an Independent is one who is independent of word and deed, separate,unconnected,unrelated, self sufficient and individual. An Independent individual will always have their own ideas and cannot possibly sign up to being a Party , should they be elected, or conform to a manifesto, or they cease to be Independent. Indeed do they really need a Leader?

Wedding Dress Fancy Dress Competition and Parade.

Last word tonight ; If you have young daughters, or sons for that matter, don't forget the Wedding dress, Fancy dress Competition, at the Village Fete on the 29th April from 12.00. Age Groups 12 and under and 8 and under. Please ring Sue Anderson on 527049 if you would like to enter, please leave a message on the answer phone. Hope to see lots of little Princesses at the Fete.

Election Literature and untruths

Whilst I have been writing this blog I have tried to keep this fairly negative, politically, most of the time, but as the election draws closer I find that I have to respond to some of the literature that is being put out around Moordown. Politics can be a dirty game but I do not agree with those thoughts and if you examine the literature that goes out under my name you will rarely find anything objectionable. I prefer to keep to the facts, i.e things that we have achieved in the past 4 years to make Moordown a better and more pleasant place to live. I do admit to sometimes comparing how things were 4 years ago but it is a long time ago and we need to be reminded of that so we continue to work to keep up the standard that we expect. Certain Parties are claiming that: 1. they stopped the increase in the allowances, that is absolutely untrue as it was an across the Council decision and none of the minority parties would have had the strength to do that had the Conservatives not agreed. In fact it was a Conservative initiative in the first place. 2. Right back in 2008 when an independent National body, set the increase of 17% to the Allowances , I was the only Councillor to refuse it for a year. There was no opposition from any of the other Parties. Allowances are a difficult issue, I know, but I do not think the whole subject has been properly explained. If we are to have a proper representation of the public, in the Council, they have to be paid some sort of remuneration. People below retirement age need to earn a living and although they are supposed to have time off for their Council duties, those duties can be so time consuming that an employer cannot afford to keep an employee on. Of course we could always return to the old days when only older wealthy people could stand for Council but would that be a fair representation of the people? At the moment we have Councillors from 20 - 80yrs old and from all walks of life and this gives a good range of experience to the Council. The basic pay for a Councillor, on duty virtually 24/7, although most people are considerate as to what hours they contact Councillors. What other job pays just £9250(before tax and insurance) for those hours, without special additional payments? The Unions would never allow it. 3. My next complaint about literature being put out is the use of dear old Ron Whittaker's name. We have a great deal of respect and genuine affection for Ron, who did sterling work when he represented parts of Moordown some years ago, but he is not standing in Moordown now so it is an irrelevance. If Independent Candidates cannot stand on their own feet, I have to ask are they suitable to be Councillors?. Also if you are an Independant are you a member of a Party? Should you have a Leader? Should that Leader be claiming the Party Leader's allowance of £1800 plus £180 per head per member of the Party? For the last four years I, and my Colleagues, have achieved much in Moordown and have really enjoyed serving the people of Moordown. We like to think we leave it in a far better state than it was when we were elected and hope that you will elect us again as there is still much to do.

Please support our Village Fete on the 29th, let's have a Party.

Thank you for reading this Blog.

Comments

I have to apologise to anyone that would be kind enough to write a comment about my blog, sadly it does not seem to be working effectively. If you would like to comment please send to sue4moordown@aol.com and I will reply ASAP. Thank you I am sorry for the inconvenience. Cllr. Sue

Celebration Moordown Village Fete.

Well at last it seems that spring is here, thank goodness. There I go again being frightfully British and starting right in with the weather! I suppose it must be because it is so variable and it does make a good ice breaker, no pun intended. So here we are, it is April we have Easter, 3 Bank Holidays, a Royal wedding, a Referendum and the elections to look forward to. Looks like we are going to be very busy but isn't it all exciting. Here at the Halifax Memorial Committee we couldn't let the Royal Wedding go by without doing something to celebrate so the obvious thing was a Party. There is a Fancy Dress Wedding Competition for the 12 and unders which can be a bride, a groom or a bridesmaid. Also the Moordown Traders are running an egg decorating competition, see their web site for details. Also lots of other things to keep everyone entertained. Look out for the posters around the village for details.

Royal Wedding Celebration in the Park

The wedding of PrinceWilliam to Kate Middleton is an excellent excuse to have a get together and this is what we are going to do. To have a street Party is almost as fraught as having one on the Park so forget all those rules and Regs, get your friends and neighbours together, along with your chairs and picnics and come and join the rest of Moordown village on Redhill Park. Friday 29th April, 12 till 4.30. The Moordown traders are organising a painted Easter egg competition to be judged at 4 pm, just bring your egg along to the MTA stand. there will be a bridal fancy dress competition for the under 12s. Can be Bride, Bridegroom or Bridesmaid, entry forms from any shop with the MTA logo or the Moordown Community Centre. Parade will be judged at 3.pm. there will be amongst other things a Punch and Judy show, a Chyildren's entertainer, face painting, bouncy slide and many other things to entertain the whole family. Come and join the Community and have a fun afternoon.

Media interest in The halifax bomber crash

Last week Meridian Tv came to Moordown. Martin Dowse of Meridian ITV came to a little tea party , that was given in aid of the Halifax Memorial fund, and interviewed some of the guests, including ex Mp David Atkinson myself Cllr Sue Anderson and Mr Russell Barnes, without whom we would not have started this project. The whole story was done sensitively but not sentimentally and was very interesting. And I compliment Martin Dowse on the programme If you did not see it click on the link below or copy into your browser bar. http://www.itv.com/meridian-west/bomber-crash-remembered42258/=

Yellow Lines in Brassey Road

Some while ago I was asked to see if yellow lines could be put across the entrance to St John's Gardens on Brassey Road. After a couple of false starts, and some extra phone calls, they were painted about six weeks ago. Unfortunately there was a car parked so the road liners had to paint either side of this. Now I see that cars are still parking on the double yellows. The lines were put there, not from malice or any anti car reasons but because the people who live in St John's Gardens have difficulty getting out if cars are parked to close to the entrance splays. Just a little consideration would have saved the Council at least £150 and the elderly residents considerable frustration. The lines will eventually be painted and if the parking continues there will be penalty notices issued. On the bright side though all the lines in Brassey Road are going to be re painted in the near future.

Moordown Halifax Memorial project.

Today, 22nd March, is the 67th memorial of the crash of the Halifax and I am pleased to report that the Memorial project continues apace and that we have now placed the order for the stone with Alan, Rice and Tapper in Moordown. We are now hoping for early May for the dedication. We are particularly anxious to have it as soon as possible as, thanks to the hard work of two gentlemen, one in Scotland and one in Yorkshire, who have been able to find relatives of some members of the crew and they would like to come over, so the sooner the project is finished the better. Contrary to what we thought about last year the memorial is scheduled to stand on the corner of Meadow Court Close which is as
close as we can get to the actual crash site and will be visible for all to see.
At a small tea party that was held, courtesy of Moordown Conservative Club, Martin Dowse from Meridian TV, was there and interviewed several of the people. It will appear sometime this week on the 6.pm local Meridian news. It was a very enjoyable afternoon and enabled many people to either learn more about the crash or renew old acquaintances.

How Lucky we are.

When I turned on the TV for the news I could hardly accept what I was seeing. After the dreadful earthquake in New Zealand only a few short weeks ago and the floods and hurricane in Australia just before that, I didn't expect to see anything else that bad for a long time. How can one cope with these terrible natural disasters? I have never seen anything like the tsunami of today though. When your house starts to fall down around your ears, the road is rearing up like a bucking bronco and a wall of debris is rushing towards you, where do you go ? What do you do? Well it seems in Japan the cameras come out. I don't mean that in an unkind way it is just that as I was watching one of the videos, on YouTube, all you could hear was the clicking of cameras. That shows remarkable calm and strength of character as I fell that the majority of people would be running away as fast as they could go. Maybe the Japanese have more acceptance of the inevitable than we do. However, whilst I was watching it all happening I was thinking how glad I am to be living in a country where the worst thing that has happened recently was a rather heavier than usual snow fall. No earthquakes, no tsunamis, no erupting volcanoes, how lucky we are to have such a green and pleasant land to live in.

Road Works in Naseby, Easter and Limited Roads

The notice is out for the repairs of Naseby, Easter and Limited Roads. The work will start on 21st March until 12th June. This will cause disruption, I am sorry to say, but access to homes will be maintained as far as possible, all other access will be forbidden. I am sorry for the disruption but as I have had many requests to have these roads repaired I hope all residents will accept the inevitablity of it and be pleased with the outcome.

Following a meeting of 'Cops on the Corner', on saturday last, I am in the process of writing to the traffic department to investigate the feasibility of an island, or crossing, at the Gresham Road - Charminster Avenue junction, double yellow lines on the corner of Gresham Road and Charminster Avenue and the VAS camera to be installed in Priory View Road. I am very aware that there are a number of new pot holes around the Ward which I will locate, and send the details to Highways ASAP.

I have changed the videos at the top of this Blog to remind people of the fantastic Air Festival in 2009 which will be the highlight of summer again this year. I love it.

Hanging Baskets in Wimborne Road.

I am not a very happy person today. Your Conservative Councillors, Beverley, Ian and I have allocated money, from the Local Improvement fund, for hanging baskets in the main part of Wimborne road, now we are told that the posts all have to be stress tested. Well obviously we want everything to be done properly and safely but does it really cost £40.00 a post, especially as I have been told that they were done sometime last year! We will press on with the project but the money that will be paid for the testing would provide another 5 baskets.

Happy First Birthday MTA

The Moordown Traders are about to celebrate their first birthday this month and what a long way they have come. From a very tentative beginning they now have over 30 members, a membership of the Bournemouth chamber of Trade, an excellent web site, http://www.more4moordown.com/ and are about to launch a trading map. Have a look at the website to see how interesting Moordown really is.
This has been an interesting 12 months for me, watching a disparate group of businesses meld into a community and as a result the character of Moordown is developing as a separate entity and not just the 'rump of Winton', as I was told when I first became a Councillor. this made my blood boil as Moordown has always been a village, it's just that the rest of Bournemouth has crept up around it!


To residents in Easter Road, I will report the pot holes that have again developed in your road but don't be surprised if they are not repaired as it would be rather a waste as Easter Road, along with Limited and Naseby Roads are going to be completely resurfaced, paved and kerbed, at the middle to end of March. By not filling them now it will save at least £450. as it costs £75. per hole and I counted another 6 today. There may be more so please bear with us.

Bournemouth Little Theatre

Last night I found another of Winton/ Moordown's little gem, the Bournemouth Little Theatre. I can remember when they used to perform in the Town Centre and I have been searching for some real drama ever since. It is great to have so much entertainment in the theatres but the majority is music and dance, that is fine, I am very fond of both, but not an unrelieved diet of it. When we first came to Bournemouth, nearly 50 years ago, there was a season of serious drama in the winter, livened up with some Gilbert & Sullivan and of course the panto at Christmas. There were nearly always full houses and it was part of the entertainment scene. Of course in the summer the theatres catered for the visitors in addition to the Aquashow at the old Baths, on the sea front, and the Ice Show in Westover Road. Not to forget,of course, regular Concerts with the BSO. What a rich diet of entertainment we had then. Where has the serious drama gone? I am so happy to have found it alive and well at the BLT. Last nights production of Accrington Pals was both thought provoking and sad, but was well acted and produced with imaginative use of stage settings and props to produce a real sense of the period.
Their next production is Trap for a Lonely Man by Robert Thomas 11th to 16th April. Catch it if you can.

New Year, New Blog

Well here we are again. Winter is still with us but hopefully there will not be a repetition of the terrible weather of December. I was fortunate enough to miss the worst of it as my husband and I went to visit our son in South Africa, we left the day the first snow arrived, and despite being delayed by nearly a week, we managed to get home on Christmas Eve. We felt very sorry for the hundreds of people who didn't make it back on time. Unlike some of our neighbouring Councils, we have to give our Refuse Collectors great credit for their magnificent work in keeping the bins emptied during the dreadful weather in December, only missing one round the whole time. I do regular tours around Moordown, to check that there are no repairs, graffiti, litter or dog fouling that needs to be attended to. But dogs get out and people drop litter and I need Residents to contact me so I can take action quickly. So please phone me if you have a problem. 01202 527049 (Leave a message if I am not in). Today I and my fellow Councillors, Beverley and Ian are really delighted to announce the new light controlled crossing (at the junction of Malvern Rd. and Moorvale Rd) is now up and running. We were asked by over a hundred Moordown Residents to make Malvern Road safer and this is the first stage. It has taken rather longer than we had hoped but the weather has not been kind recently and the money had to be found, not the easiest job in these hard times. We are relieved to know that children will be safe crossing to the park or on the way to school, and the many residents who use that route to visit the Moordown Community Centre in Coronation Avenue. The picture shows Councillors Sue Anderson and Ian Lancashire testing it out the day before it went 'Live'. As a result of a small setting up grant, from the Local Improvement Fund and encouragement from your Councillors and the Chamber of Commerce, The Moordown Traders are up and running and have published a really good web site http://www.more2moordown.com/ So before you travel miles for your shopping, take a look and see what Moordown has to offer right on your own doorstep.