joan-dixon

Yesterday afternoon was a very mixed bag.  Firstly there was a visit to the new Visitor Centre at Creswell Crags.  Ian Wall and his team hosted a visit by County Councillors from both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.  I was very excited as, to my shame, I have never been inside the caves at Creswell and seen the cave art.

The new facility at Creswell is excellent and even on a wet Thursday afternoon there were plenty of visitors there.  The transformation that has taken place is tremendous, and the staff are so knowledgeable and enthusiastic.  Sadly we only had time to visit Church cave, but I have made a note to myself to book myself on to one of the many tours that are run there.  If you haven't visited the Crags before - go!  It is a beautiful location and Kevin and I frequently walk there and have a picnic.

After that I went to meet with staff at Adult Services with my fellow Bolsover County Councillors, to discuss the new personalisation agenda.  It is very complex and we all want to be up to speed to deal with enquiries that we get from the public.

Finally, Kevin and I went to the Henton Memorial Hall committee meeting at Whaley Common.  We're trying to raise money to "do up"  the hall, which is not in very good shape.   We're hoping to have it looking better in time for the Christmas carol concert.

This morning started with a meeting of the Leadership of the Labour group at Matlock, where we discussed our concerns about the plans to:

- charge people for home care

- possibly close a number of older people's homes throughout Derbyshire

- the problems with paying staff who work multiple shifts.  Many are confused by the new wage system and particularly staff at Thomas Colledge home in my division are worried that they are being paid incorrectly.  Anne Western and I met with staff at the home last week and asked for a special visit by HR to try and sort out the mess.

In the afternoon I went to work, and on the way home stopped off at Harthill to look at the new wind turbines there.  They have sprung up in the last week or so.  I first saw them last week whilst driving along Rotherham/Mansfield Road (The Ramper) approaching the staggered crossroads at Hillstown.  They are enormous and I thought that they must be a lot nearer than Harthill.

It is concerning me that there seems to be little control over where these wind farms are located as I can also see some as I drive in to Whaley over Whaley Moor in the Mansfield direction.  The whole landscape could become littered with them soon in a hotch potch.  As I said before, I'm not against wind farms as such but more thought needs to be given to identifying suitable locations for them, away from homes and villages.

Finally last night I went to Whaley Thorns to  a meeting convened by Scarcliuffe Parish Council Chair, Sandra Peake, about the problems facing Langwith Cricket Club.  It was attended by Bolsover DC crime supremo, Brian Murray-Carr and the local police.  The Chair of the Cricket Club, Ian Sharpe, explained the problems he has had over the last two seasons with vandalism to the pitch - broken bottles, dog faeces, fires, hole digging.  On match day a small contingent ruin the match with anti-social behaviour fuelled by alcohol.  The police and local councils are coming together to try and combat the problems.

Ian works hard for the community.  He runs the Snappabargain shop, the bingo sessions, the minibus, and the cricket club just for starters.  It is terrible that his dedication to the community is being rewarded with such inconsiderate behaviour. 

I was sat in my lounge last week and sucddenly a huge cloud rose from above Bolsover Moor.  In looked a bit like the volcanic dust cloud which we have been hearing about so much recently.  Kevin, my husband, took a photo of it as we had never seen eaanything like it before.

Immediate enquiries revealed that there had been an incident at the derelict Coalite works at Markham Vale.  Fire tenders were on the scene very quicklyand the fire was contained.

However it has been several years since the coking plant closed, and since then it appears to have passed through the hands of several owners, all of who have failed to develop the site.  In the past offers of help from government agencies have been turned down.

The site is now a derlict mess, and is not well secured.  Anyone could break on to the site, and I am worried one day a child will get hurt or a disaster will befall local residents.

On hot days like today, the site still reeks and I wonder how much contamination there is still on site.  It can't be pleasant for residents in Shuttlewood.

I want to work with other councillors to ensure this site is cleaned up asap.

Now the dust is beginning to settle, it is time for us in the Labour Party to have a moment's reflection.

It's a sad day.  Gordon Brown has gone, with great dignity.  I've never met the man, but he seemed a man of principle and deeply held values. In time I believe history will judge him a lot more knidly than we, the British people have done.  He has steered a steady ship through a perfect storm that was not of his own making.

I also think that the decision not to compromise and do a deal with the Liberal Democrats is the right one.  In that, the party keeps its integrity in tact.  Any deal would have made us look desperate for cling on, and the press would have had a field day.

Though being in opposition is not where I want to be, it, at least gives us a time for examining what has happened to the party - both in terms of the party's disengagement with its core voters and with its own members.

I live in Bolsover - a decent working class place and in days of old it would have been solid Labour.  So where have we gone wrong that so many people have become disaffected with the New Labour project?  On the doorstep, outside the shops and schools, in the pubs and clubs, the BNP has managed to curry favour.  Over 2,500 people voted for them.   Why is it they have become so alienated from the Labour party?

And within the party itself? Membership is at an all time low.  As a grass roots member,  I feel increasingly distance from the decision making at national level.  When I was a member of the Young Socialist thrity years ago, I knew that a motion passed at branch could eventually be discussed at conference.  Where my input is now I am not certain.

The leadership election?  I do not know, but I'll be looking to someone who can begin to address these issues.

In the meantime, I'm proud of what Labour achieved. In Bolsover South and Scarcliffe, I have two new schools, a refurbed library, free home care for the elderly, national minimum wage for the most vulnerable, free nursery places, two Children's centre, free TV licences and a winter heat allowance for the elderly, lots of investment at Markham Vale to create jobs, and great NHS free to all at point of need. 

I listed some of achievements to a voter who I suspect wasn't going to vote Labour.  She told me all those things would have happened whoever was in power.  I don't agree........

I have noticed that some people have taken to parking irresponsibly in Bolsover Town Centre recently.

Bolsover has plenty of adequate free parking, no more than a few steps away from the shops.  There is both the old and new Co-op car parks, as well as car parks on Cotton Street and behind the Cenotaph.  There is also some on street parking.  But I have noticed that cars are parking on the pedestrianised areas in fromt of Rileys and Farm Foods, on the pavement outside the Pizza shop and on the double yellow lines leading to the old Co-op car park. 

Furthermore, cars are increasingly driving through the pedestrianised area, mainly during the evening but increasingly during the day.  Only on Saturday was I stopped whilst shopping in the Co-op by a lady who had nearly been hit by a car driving on the pedestrianised area.  This was on a saturday morning when the town is bustling with shoppers. 

I have asked the County Council's parking enforcement officers to visit the area to try to deter those who are parking illegally.  As for driving on the pedestrian area, I shall raise it at the next Town Council meeting with the Police to see if something might be done.