Paul Crossley

Sunday for some may well be a quiet day but for many Councillors it's another varied and interesting part of our 24/7 lifestyle. In the morning attended the Bath Charter Trustees civic service at St Johns Hospital. This is a lovely little chapel that is part of the St John's organisation. Took my mum along who is visiting this weekend and hasn't seen much of me. Picture shows the start of the Charter Trustee procession from the Guildhall.

After lunch the Bath East Asian Community had their AGM. I have been to all of their AGMs. They are a relatively new organisation in Bath and serve the needs of this diverse section of our community. In Bath we have a lot of Chinese and East Asian students at our two universities. The guest speaker was Vivian Wing Yan who spoke about the difficulties of interpreting Chinese Collections in the UK. One example was a fine light blue vase from the 10^th C which was displayed with that detail. However from the Chinese perspective there was much more poetry to the vase and light blue became ‘clear sky after the rain storm'. Vivian works at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath.

Then onto an Interfaith Conference (missed the England Ecuador game - why are our fans getting so drunk and getting involved in trouble in Stuttgart?). This was a great afternoon with an inspiring speech from Dr Wendi Momen followed by a panel session with responses to the speech from different faith perspectives. As Leader of the Council I was asked to give a secular response.

England won. Caught the last 15 minutes.

So what about the rest of the week. Well I have launched the Southdown section of my blog so that I can concentrate more on ward issues separately from my Leader role. I visited several people in Southdown yesterday and two of them are regular readers of my blog. It is amazing how many people read these things. Our Blog Coach Griff was making some interesting comments on David Milliband's blog about roles and photos and particularly photos of other people. I am helping Sharon Ball set up her blog so keep your eyes open for another Bath Councillor joining the communication movement.

Monday - meeting with our transport head to discuss Transport. Bath and NE Somerset is a bus success story. This stems directly to a brave decision in 2002 by the then Liberal Democrat minority group to put in a bus gate. The Tories hated this and campaigned hard against it. Whilst it certainly helped them take 3 seats from us in 2003, history has proved us right. Buses run on time, the city centre is not jammed up with cars and pollution and FIRST put in £14M of new buses. Last year passengers went up over 5%. The 5^th year of growth. This has meant we have a viable and wide network so that the free bus pass scheme really does offer a good service. Not just in Bath but connecting Bath to other towns and cities.

ST Lukes School at Odd Down had a blessing service for its new sculptures and the Bishop of Wells came along. It is a lovely CoE school and the Bishop looked very fine in his purple robe. I think the children would have liked to see his mitre but they were pleased with his shepherd's crook. Picture shows how the sculptur turned work by the children from one class into a work of art for the school.

Tuesday - a visit with Councillors, Officers and Friends of the Earth (Bath Branch) to Great Bow Yard, Langport to see some sustainable housing. A very ambitious project with some very interesting features. Langport is a fascinating little town and during its industrial heyday was an inland port based on the river. My main concern about the scheme was that there wasn't a single social or affordable unit within the project. Also the communal space was overfull and I wasn't happy with the privatisation of the river bank for the scheme use only. Development of these old spaces is very difficult and costly and it was great to see sustainable housing but we must find ways of making this the norm in construction and not something that is only available to the better off.

Wednesday - This week is Bike to Work week - Obviously yesterday I did a car lift share - and have been using my Brompton every day. What a great bike they are. I have had mine over 8 years now. Our local paper did a big feature on the day as Wednesday we were offering a free breaka to all cyclists. This year we extended the scheme and were at 2 cafes - Café Retro and Boston Tea Party. I was with the Café Retro team. Cycle numbers are increasing across the country and I had some interesting talks with the different cycling commuters. One had cycled down from Tormarten. Into the office to keep tabs on the email that consumes so much time these days. Then onto Southdown for meetings on tree planting, Somer Housing opening events, Twerton Roundhill walk and visiting residents for casework issues.

Thursday - meetings on Property, Interview with Somerset Guardian, Zero Waste, group member issues, Council problems - introduction of edge of property waste collection has not gone as smoothly as one would hope for!!! Spa, Rec, School Transport. Then for the evening up to Colerne to help an old friend Doreen Derby, who is retiring as a Councillor after many years service, get her Lib Dem successor elected. I was calling at the military houses. The army wives are fed up with Iraq. That is an understatement. But then we have asked our troops to take part in an illegal war that is immoral and not justified. Tony Blair and every Labour and Conservative MP who voted for this war with a fig leaf of pretended cover should take a deep look into their souls. At the very least they should apologise and admit they lied or allowed themselves to be deceived. Strange that Tory and Labour MPs should have been so ill informed when the rest of the Country knew there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction!!

Friday - Down to Exeter for the twice yearly meeting of the SW Local Gov Association. Trains all on time with seats available both ways. The SW lunch time trains are some times heaving. We discussed asylum seekers, migrant workers (particularly the needs of the many people coming to the SW from Eastern Europe), regional strategy and other things BUT NOT strangely the possible pending Local Government Reorganisation paper. In the evening went to the opening of the Rembrandt exhibition at the Victoria art Gallery. This has always been free including exhibitions. This is the first time we will have charged an entry fee for part of the building for a special exhibition. It will be interesting to see the reaction. I met the new curator of the Holbourne and Menstrie and he is very excited that we have finally looked at special exhibition charging as it enables him to look at collaborative ventures in the future.

Saturday - was to have been my day off this week. Finally got into the garden for the morning. However in the afternoon I called round at residents in Rosewarn Close to discuss the litter and fly-tipping issues we have in that street. Over the last few weeks the Council and Somer Housing have removed 15 tons of rubbish that materialised on 2 mass fly-tip happenings. Last year we had 2 community clear-up days but still the rubbish keeps coming! Some residents are now starting to name some of the culprits so hopefully we can stop this antisocial behaviour soon. Then up to the Methodist Garden Party for a cream tea fundraising day.

Sunday 18 June - Widcombe Rising

Widcombe Rising - a great street party in Widcombe High Street. The road was closed off for the day and the traffic rerouted. Cllrs O'Flaherty and Metcalfe would like to make the High Street permanently closed to traffic so this event provided a good opportunity to monitor the effect on traffic flow. The local resident association - The Widcombe Association - also back this proposal. So it's just a case of working it out with the highway engineers. It is a very busy road - so it needs to be got right.

The festival was a great fun day with the Natural Theatre Company providing several acts alongside silly competitions, 2 music stages, morris dancing, the active participation of all the traders and lots and lots of people. The festival is organised by volunteers and they have done a remarkable job in creating this festival from nothing in the space of three years.

Whilst there I took time to get an update from police on duty on the recent police motorcycle operation across Bath which has produced some good results against the illegal bikes being used by many young people. The first operation was done on a softly softly approach to allow time for change in attitudes after having been given a lecture.

In the morning visited an elderly disabled resident in Southdown to discuss a boundary issue with the neighbouring property. 

On Friday went to Taunton for a meeting of the Regional Board. This is the managing board for our South West Regional Assembly, Local Government Association and Provincial Employers organisations. After the vote in the North West the way forward on regions is not clear from the Government. I think the vote failed because they were being given no responsibilities and so an elected body was not a sellable concept. In my view the first step is getting rid of all the unelected quangos and passing their budgets and responsibilities to the appropriate level of local government. Some of this would be at a regional level.

Last night I was the guest speaker at the Radstock Residents Association. After a brief speech on roles and responsibilities it was question time. All the questions were about the future of Norton Radstock, the regeneration project and possible impact of the Government Inspectors comments on our local plan, employment, schools, Victoria Hall. It was a very good question and answer session with some tough questions. We had a long debate on the housing numbers and tourism opportunities for the area. Its amazing how much is on the web now and when I typed in ‘Victoria Hall Radstock' I found this nice set of photos.

In common with much of the country manufacturing has declined over the last 100 years. In the war Radstock was one of the biggest rail heads in the country. It was a coal mining area - and these shut down a few decades ago. The area has also had a strong print base but this is now in decline. So new jobs and opportunities are needed locally so that the dependence on commuting to other towns is reduced.

England won 2-0 tonight. I thought the introduction of Lennon made the difference though I am sure the focus will be on Rooney. After our first game against Paraguay we had a strange mix-up with our day care bus and national flag bunting being removed. The local paper ran it as a negative story about not having the national flag on display. In fact some of the bunting was too loose and was a health hazard for the wheelchairs and users of the bus. So we got the decking put up more securely and I met the bus midweek to present an England football shirt to the keenest fan Stephen Jordan. He was well pleased with the surprise and looking forward to the Trinidad game tonight. He was on the front page of the Chronicle on Saturday and then on the inside page with me on the Wednesday.

Over the last week I have had lots of ward work on the usual problems. The triggered SLOW sign in Southdown Road seems to be having a really good effect at slowing traffic down. After the pilot we will do some tests to check speeds and if they have increased again I shall have to look to trying to get a permanent SLOW sign. Apparently in Kingston they have a sign that lights up with a smile for those travelling at 30MPH and below and a frown for those speeding. Sounds like fun so I will have to try and see one. At the start of the week had another mass fly tip which we got removed by midday. Also working with our beat officer we are hoping to get a specialist motorbike unit in from Bristol to try and catch some of the youngsters who are driving around the lanes and pavements on these mini motorbikes and creating a danger to themselves as well as pedestrians.

Last Sunday attended the annual Charter Sunday service in Bath Abbey for the new mayor. The Mayor has a Chaplin. Last year we had a first female Chaplin then like buses two come along together and we have another lady Chaplin this year. Very good sermon on Councillors and others with influence working for Paradise on Earth. Linking the text from the bible through to our new Mayors name.

I have been a governor at Southdown Infant School since 1990 and in fact have had two spells as chair. At the last Governors meeting we had to elect a new chair as our current one has lost his entitlement to be a governor as his child has moved on to his next school and he was a parent governor at the end of his term. So many rules and regulations to negotiate!!  

In Bristol yesterday we were visited by a parliamentary scrutiny panel investigating local government in the South West for the white paper. Five MPs chaired by Phyllis Starkey with Clive Betts and John Cummings from Labour John Pugh for the Liberal Democrats and Paul Beresford for the Conservatives. Phyllis was a very effective chair and the panel listened carefully to our views. At our meeting they were listening to the views of the West of England Partnership - a partnership of the 4 unitary authorities that used to be Avon and social and economic partners from the subregion at this meeting represented by the University and Health sectors. Our message was clear we do not want another layer of elected representatives such as an elected Mayor and Cabinet for Avon. We do wish to be allowed to develop further our partnership approach which is building up trust in our area and also delivering on the Government's agenda. The Bristol region of UK plc is one of the main economic drivers for the country and it is important to continue the success.

Our challenge is delivering sustainability whilst maintaining our position in the UK league table and increasingly comparing ourselves to regions around Europe. Our big issue is affordable house prices either for purchase or rent (social and private).

I am hoping that with the transfer from Milliband to Kelly these possible changes will be kicked into the long grass. It wastes money. Avon was an unpopular County and so it was possible to change to unitary. However Counties such as Wiltshire and Somerset have huge emotional attachment. Just look at the Health service level of change and its easy to see how money is wasted on change rather than on improving and providing service.

Does anyone else have acronyms for their area. Our four authorities are known as CUBA - Councilsthat Usedto Be Avon. Also for Bath and NE Somerset and North Somerset UAs we now have a second nationality - BOSNIA - Bits Of Somerset Not In Avon - who dreams these things up

My end of May mileage totals - my car 225 and my wife's car 793 - total 1018 = carbon offset 0.33 tonnes - offset fine = £2.51 www.climatecare.co.uk . This gives a running total for the year to date £5.91 - so a cheque will defineately be on its way at the end of next month.

Our temporary SLOWDOWN sign in Southdown Road is working well and proving very effective. Already lots of residents are asking me to make it permanent.

Today a trip to London for a meeting on the LGIU and IDeA mentoring scheme. I am a mentor and have been mentoring colleagues at Lincolnshire CC. This meeting was to discuss the progress of the scheme and see if things need improvement or change in the light of experience.

Today for the first time this year I went for a train that was cancelled. The next was also 10 minutes late. Just so regular readers know I do not always praise the train in my BLOG.

Lovely summer sunny day and down in Midsommer Norton with some colleagues from Wansdyke delivering a residents survey and in the High Street discovered a useful letter box nicely sealed up so it was not useable. Quick as a flash out with the digital camera and hey presto. Nathan is a very keen young Liberal Democrat activist. We already have several young people looking/considering standing for election as Councillors. Getting a group of Councillors that reflects the community is a key point for our group.   

The Bath festival finished at the weekend with a great concert by Blazing Fiddles and the day before the Mystery plays. Sunday was the Bedlam Fayre with some wild and wacky acts from Holland and France.

Over the last two weeks the ward work continues to be dominated by housing issues, transport problems and anti social behaviour.

On the Council - we are nearing an opening for the Spa. The Conservatives have launched an attack on me for using radio advertising for Council jobs and information. Their press release was wrong on every single point of detail - but hey whats that got to do with creating an issue!!

Over recent weeks some of us from Bath have been giving a hand in the Yatton byelection. We won that from the Independents. However today a Liberal Democrat defected to join the Conservatives and spoil the democratic will of electors. I believe that if any elected person wishes to trade colour they should be forced to resign and seek re-election under their new banner. That should go for all levels of government as well. 

I was on the pilot BTEC course for Councillors run by Bristol City Council. It was a very good course and on Monday we went across to the Bristol City Mayor's mansion to receive our certificates from the Mayor. l was joined by Councillors Symonds and Gay from Bath and NE Somerset and many others from other Councils.