Councillor at Large
…March
This month, as committees and working groups hold their final meetings for the year, my thoughts turn to the changing of the guard taking place in local Conservative ranks. Councillors Paul West, David Hale, Donald Ward and Tanya Maclure are all retiring. However, local supporters need not fear as their eager replacements combine youth, experience and a genuine enthusiasm to serveIpswichpeople. Oh, and there is the little matter of local Tory heavy weight, Richard Pope, seeking to rejoin the fight in Bixley…
Thursday 1st March
Although I’m not an overly religious person myself, I respect the right of any individual to pursue their own beliefs. Therefore, I was interested to learn how I could better serve my local constituents, and attended tonight’s Faiths in Our Community councillor development session. The evening was spent in informal discussion raising awareness of the beliefs and practices of people of different faiths and cultures. I feel I learnt a lot, but have still a lot to learn.
Saturday 3rd March
This morning Conservative councillors from Bixley, Rushmere and St Margarets joined Ben Gummer MP for a surgery at theColchesterRoadBaptistChurch. I enjoy these events because local politics is about getting to grips with local issues and bringing about positive changes in the community. Supported by members from the Safer Neighbourhood Team, a very successful Q & A session ensued. Will Labour’s new Area Committees offer a better forum for residents to express their views? Only time will tell.
Monday 5th March
It is great to see our new candidates attending Conservative Group Meetings. As I found, this is an important first step toward becoming an effective ward councillor; in touch with local issues and developments. I was pleased to learn that candidate for Holywells, Pam Stewart, planned to keep Labour’s portfolio holder for transport, Cllr Smart, on his toes, by asking a question at Full Council later in the month. On a personal level, prior to the meeting I received some devastating news. Although I am a Bixley Councillor with over 9 months(!) experience of speaking out in support of local people and fighting local issues, I have not been invited to the opening of the East Anglian Children’s Hospice (EACH) by Princess Kate! Surly some clerical error…
Wednesday 7th March
Triple booked! Do I attend a governor’s training session on Safeguarding in schools at Kesgrave HS and a further training session on the new Ofsted framework at Broke Hall, or a Human Resources Committee meeting at Grafton House? Students of the ‘Stroet Diaries’ will be able to guess which way I would jump. As Unison continue to hamper decision making, (Shouldn’t Labour’s Unison members on the HR Committee declare an interest?) for the first time this year I relied on Super-Sub Cllr Hale to attend Grafton House, whilst I furthered my knowledge as a school governor.
Thursday 15th March
One thing I dislike is receiving papers for a meeting so late that it makes proper preparation almost impossible. Such was the case at tonight’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting. In addition, our intended discussion about the progress of Academy Schools in the Ipswich Area was further hampered by a lack of detail in the report and the report’s author unavailable to present it. However the report on Emergency Bed Provision - a protocol to prevent homeless people dying in the streets during severe weather - highlighted the excellent multi-agency support being offered.
Monday 19th March
Cllr Hale chaired his final meeting of the Conservative group tonight. We also said our goodbyes to a number of other colleagues who would not be seeking re-election. It is going to feel quite different next year, but I hope that the good people of Ipswich will ensure that a bumper crop of shiny new Tory councillors will be elected in May to keep us ‘Old Hands’ company and maintain a strong Conservative voice in our town.
Tuesday 20th March
The big day has finally arrived. Tonight, the North East Area Committee met atSt John’sChurchonCauldwell Hall Road. We were all there. Councillors from Bixley, Rushmere andSt Johns. In addition, we were joined by some 40 residents who had spotted item 6 on the agenda - ‘Open discussion on local issues: Hospital Parking’. You can imagine how all our little faces lit up when in walked Ian Cheal, (soon to be responsible for parking atIpswichHospital) to take questions. Parking solutions for hospital workers, visitors and local residents are clearly going to be hard fought, but at least we made a start when I got him to commit to quarterly meetings with all stakeholders.
Wednesday 21st March
Tonight’s final Full Council meeting was a veritable ‘love fest’ between the three parties, as the reports put forward for consideration all met with approval. There was certainly more than a hint of romance when Cllr Rudkin’s proposal to make Ipswich aHeartTownthat promoted healthy lifestyle through sport, was supported by the Butcher of Cliff Lane, Cllr Debman! Sadly, the namby-pamby Lib Dems tried to spoil things as usual by suggesting the need to ban smoking anywhere but on the moon. Made me feel like voting against, and heading straight to the pub!
Wednesday 28th March
The Ipswich Central Management Board’s vision for our town appears to almost entirely match the Ipswich Borough Council’s Master-plan. This is the important news gleaned from tonight’s board meeting, as it seems to me to offer an excellent platform on which to bring important improvements to the town. Look out for the new web site that will help businesses, residents, students and visitors make the most of our town centre – including an App that will take you where you want to go at www.allaboutipswich.com .
Thursday 29th March
My last official business for the month was to put on my governor’s hat and head toBrokeHallPrimary Schoolfor a monitoring meeting. I was able to unveil my rewards survey that was recently carried out with pupils from years 2, 4 and 6. One thing is for sure, pupils get more rewards from their teachers these days than I used to get. And I got the cane! In primary school! The important business of approving the new budget found unanimous approval and I headed off for a spot of Chinese.