Peter Kent-Baguley

REFURBED WITH STYLE - PEPPER'S GARAGE HANLEY

I think this is a Brilliant building? What's your choice?

Time is running out if you want to enter Urban Vision's BRILLIANT BUILDINGS photographic competition. The deadline is 1st March 2007. Send either a print to Jaina Parmar, Urban Vision, School of Art, Queen Street, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. ST6 3EJ or email an image to: info@uvns.org and put "brill" in the subject header. Your photograph must be of a building in Stoke-on-Trent, Biddulph, Kidsgrove or Newcastle-under-Lyme. If you want to check details, telephone Jaina at Urban Vision (01782 575321) Alternatively, full details and an application form via: http://www.uvns.org/brill.htm

Some of my entries have commented on a DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT in relation to particular issues. My aim is to develop a debate in this section of my website to highlight some key issues about local democracy, leading up to this year's City Council elections on THURSDAY 3rd May 2007. Little more than a quarter of all those entitled to vote do in fact cast their vote in the City Council's elections. I think that is unfortunate, particularly given the fact that a great many people campaigned for a great many years for the right of all adults, men and women, to have the right to vote. We should not throw away that right.

I think there are some fundamental reasons, however, why 75% of the electorate do NOT bother to vote in City Council elections, such as:

*     it makes no difference who gets elected/they're all the same/nothing changes.

*     having elections every year for only some Councillors each time is confusing.

*     don't know who are my Councillors/no idea what they do/I didn't get any help from them.

*     the Elected Mayor makes all the decisions so why bother to have Councillors?

*     the Council Manager makes all the decisions so Councillors are a waste of time.

I will start to give my responses to these points next week. Do write in and join in the debate.

»1:16 AM    »2 comments (0 )     »Send entry    

   in: Democracy Debate

City Council contrbutions to the annual FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT event include:

* WEDNESDAY 28th FEBRUARY: One-day Conference CITIZENSHIP IN THE CURRICULUM at Port Vale Conference Centre, Burslem, with FAIRTRADE being the major theme.

* Overseas FAIRTRADE producer CONRAD JAMES from St Lucia will be speaking at the 28th February conference and be the guest of honour with the Lord Mayor for a special FAIRTRADE lunch at Smallthorne Primary School on 1st March.

* WEDNESDAY 7th MARCH 7-9pm: The Lord Mayor's Annual Fairtrade Civic Reception at Stoke Town Hall. All supporters of FAIRTRADE are welcome; please telephone the Lord Mayor's secretary to confirm: 232625. Students from four City High Schools will cover various aspects of Fairtrade through dance, drama and music. There will be Fairtrade stands (plenty of F/T chocolate for tasting) and an opportunity to buy the newly published: 50 Reasons to Buy Fair Trade, published by the Pluto Press at £7.99.

NAMES FOR TUNSTALL WAR MEMORIAL

The names of those who gave their lives in the two World Wars have never been inscribed on the sandstone obelisk war memorial in the Tunstall Memorial Gardens.

Last night, I joined some thirty people at the Sneyd Hotel, Tunstall, to discuss a number of issues concerned with adding the names of those who died in action.

A fellow Life Member of the national War Memorials Trust, Ray Cope of Fegg Hayes, has been researching names for a decade. Ray has a full-time job but almost all of his leisure time is devoted to researching and verifying the names of members of the armed forces who died in the First World War. It is absolutely essential, of course, that each name is carefully verified so that the record is authentic. Ray thinks he may need twelve months to complete the task. Then he will start on the Second World War names.

At the next meeting, again at the Sneyd Arms Hotel, on Thursday 22nd March at 7.30pm, we will discuss the geographical boundary for those to be included. To date, Ray has researched the names on local Church Rolls of Honour, anyone with a Tunstall address found in official archives such as those of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, as well as names brought to him by members of the public.

We are trying to obtain maps of the Tunstall area for the early C20th and details of parish and local government boundaries so that our decision about where to draw the line properly relates to the 1914-1919 period. Another issue we will have to resolve is whether or not to include names if they already appear on another, nearby War Memorial.

Also, we need to begin to give serious thought to where the names will be inscribed. Should they be put on the sandstone obelisk after all this time and if so where, given that each face of the square pedestal already has a plaque? What materials should be used? For example, would polished black granite on weathered sandstone be appropriate? Would it be better for the names to be placed on a separate, new low plinth or wall?

One thing is certain. We are well on the way and greatly indebted to Ray Cope for his tireless research.

»12:19 AM    »2 comments (0 )     »Send entry    

   in: NEWS

BECOMING A COUNCILLOR

As the Chair of the all-party Member Development Steering Group for the past two years I have been very keen to make sure that every possible assistance in terms of briefing, training and attendance at conferences is made available to Councillors. If we are to be effective Councillors we need the best back-up possible. Recently, the City Council signed up to the West Midlands' Regional Member Development Charter, so now each local authority in the West Midlands is committed to providing a first class briefing and support service for its Councillors.

One of the Charter's important requirements is that each Council offers information and briefing for prospective councillors. The Steering Group worked with Council Officers to produce a helpful seven-page booklet containing vital information about the forthcoming City Council elections on 3rd May and key elements of the role of a councillor.

Several officers and half a dozen or so Councillors were on hand from 3pm till 6pm at Hanley Town Hall today to answer any questions aspiring councillors might have. A dozen or so possible candidates came along and the information pack appeared to be very helpful.

Anyone who wants to stand for one of the national political parties should of course contact the party, but people who want to stand as independents, just stand. Anyone who would like to stand for the Stoke-on-Trent PEOPLE'S PARTY can email me: peter@kent-baguley.co.uk or telephone me: 07773 464626. 

STAFFORDSHIRE HOUSING ASSOCIATION PILE ON THE BLIGHT

Incredibly, about a half of the 160 or so houses in the four terraces which make up the Fegg Hayes Village are owned by the Staffordshire Housing Association. Why incredibly? Many of them are empty and boarded up to a greater or lesser extent; gardens are more often than not overgrown and strewn with litter; broken windows and wrenched off gates add to the eye-sore. We are not talking about absentee landlords, so often the culprits. Here the blame squarely falls on a major local Housing Association.

It is, in my view, a limp excuse to say that because the future of the area was unsure, Staffordshire Housing couldn't maintain it's properties and provide much needed homes to some of the hundreds of people on the local housing waiting list. They should have been using their normal revenue and capital resources to fulfill their obligations to people in need of housing and to the wider community.

It's getting on for two years since the £100,000 survey, grandly called Masterplanning, was completed. Much of that process was carried out ineptly and caused a great deal of social frustration, annoyance and not a little anger. People's expectations were raised with promises of huge investment to improve housing and environment. Those high expectations have long since been dashed and, understandably, cynicism and pessimism regained dominance. 

As far as the Villiage, was concerned, the Masterplan concluded with FOUR possible solutions; none enjoyed majority support and each, as far as I could see, equally arbitrary and lacking any factual basis, for example, such as ground conditions, condition of the properties, heritage value etc.

Now we are told yet another survey will be undertaken. This one has a grand title too (of course); it's a Neighbourhood Renewal Assessment - a masterplan by any other name, or even a survey! So, while the door knocking proceeds and the ground conditions assessed, what will happen to the £1m allocated for the Fegg Hayes and Chell Heath RENEW area for the 2006-2008 financial year? Apparently, it will be used for buying up properties in the Village.

So, fast-forward (or should that be slow-forward) to the completion of the survey and CONSULTATIONS on the resultant report. This may be towards the end of 2007. We could launch a competition: in not more than 100 words, say what you think the result of the CONSULTATIONS is most likely to be? Will the first prize be to drive the JCB?  

50 REASONS TO BUY FAIR TRADE

Hot off the press, 50 REASONS TO BUY FAIR TRADE by Miles Litvinoff and John Madeley, from the PLUTO PRESS will be available on the special book stand at the One-Day Conference: CITIZENSHIP IN THE CURRICULUM on the 28th February at Port Vale Conference Centre, Burslem.

FAIRTRADE will be the main example to show how the three main elements of Citizienship in the curriculum, namely: i) knowledge & understanding, ii) enquiry & communication iii) participation & responsible action, are each important in themselves but crucially, how they need to be inter-related for maximum benefit.

50 Reasons... I am sure will prove to be a valuable addition to any school's Citizenship resources. The 50 reasons or chapters cover the key issues of Fairtrade. Of course it can be read from beginning to end or more likely within the curriculum it will be used by students to research particular aspects. 

I doubt there will be many who read this book through or use it for their school project work who will have the slightest difficulty in agreeing with my oft used title for FAIRTRADE talks: IF CHOICE BANKRUPTS, THERE SHOULD BE NO CHOICE.  

ELECTED MAYOR REFUSED TO GIVE ASSURANCE THAT HE WOULD SAY "NO" TO ACADEMIES

During question time on the Elected Mayor's report at today's meeting of Full Council, I asked Mark Meredith: "Would the Elected Mayor give an assurance that he would not allow the Government to force school Academies on the City?" He ignored the question.

Blair's Labour government may well regard issues such as equality as uncool, out of date or whatever, but there are still plenty of us in the country who are still committed to a fair society, not one where the relative few make vast fortunes at the expense of the majority.

Why anyone should think it a sound approach to the school system that some rich profiteer be allowed to pay a maximum of £2m (and very often much, much less!) towards an £18-£20m new build school, called an academy, I shall never understand. That "investor" is then allowed to operate the so-called academy outside the National Curriculum. Meanwhile, the surrounding schools receive relatively far less investment, all-round poorer resources and and not surprisingly, fewer parents want their children to attend such under-resourced schools.

A spiral of decline, under-achievement and glaring inequality is thus created as a result of the Blair government's mantra about choice! Most of the choice mantra is a gross deception, a lie, masking the reality of dismantling state provision and leaving it to the private sector. 

The original, genuine Labour Party along with Trades Unions fought long and hard for many decades for justice and fairness in education and health. The topsy-turvy world of Blairism in just one decade has undone that pioneering work and produced greater inequalities in the economy, education and health than the Tories could have dreamt of creating.

Blair should ask ordinary people in our City what choice, consultation and modernization really mean. He would then know what legacy he leaves.

Much of the Labour Party may have abandoned ordinary working people, but the Stoke-on-Trent People's Party certainly hasn't. We shall continue to expose spin and deceit and campaign for justice and fairness.

If you want to help us, we shall be pleased to hear from you: 07773 464626. 

STOKE PRIMARY CARE TRUST (PCT) CHAIRMAN, AT LAST, ADMITS BRAND NEW MEDICAL CENTRE'S SHORT-COMINGS

Some 50 people packed this evening's meeting at the Packmoor Medical Centre and heard PCT Chairman, Paul Warsop, finally admit: "We haven't got that what we'd hoped we'd get." On that point, all present agreed!

Sandra Chadwick, head of Primary Care at the PCT, outlined the process of tendering for the medical practice and hoped that the successful applicant would be in place providing a stable GP service by June this year. Sandra acknowledged that the current service was far from sataisfactory, with only two salaried GPs on the books, but more often than not patients were faced with a succession of locums. There has been no practice nurse for a while so patients had to go elsewhere for a number of services, including routine blood tests.

Most of the discussion was a repeat of the more lively meeting held on 9th November last year following my front page story in the local community magazine, NEWCHAPEL NEWS: From Celebration to Crisis - New £2.4m Medical Centre Practice for sale. The story performed at least one important point: it galvanized the PCT into calling a public meeting! 

It was made clear this evening that the successful bidder is OBLIGED to employ ALL existing staff, including GPs, if the staff so wish.

But it was also made clear, that there would be NO local patient representation on the selection panel interviewing for the new medical services provider. When pressed why not, Sandra Chadwick admitted that this was a change in procedure on the RECOMMENDATION (ie instruction) of the Strategic Health Authority. Why the change? Well, the two local patient members at another medical centre selection event disagreed with the PCT members and said so publicly.

Did they misunderstand the difference between the BUREAUCRATIC and DEMOCRATIC processes?!! I have always been fascinated by the two. It has seemed to me since 6th form days that the DEMOCRATIC space in our lives is a bit like hop-scotch, jumping from one BUREAUCRACY to another!

CONSULTATION has become a widespread and usually misleading tool which lulls people into thinking they have a democratic input into bureaucratic process. Well, I suppose they (we) do, provided the input matches what has already been decided! Or is that altogether too cynical?  

»12:56 AM    »1 comments (0 )     »Send entry    

   in: NEWS

AGEING WELL, LIVING WELL:                                                                                                                                                                     The City Council's DRAFT Older People's Health & Social Care 10 Year Plan for Stoke-on-Trent

I joined some 150 people at the North Staffs Pensioners' Convention (NSPC) monthly meeting this morning to listen to the Acting Director of Social Care for Older People outline the Draft Plan. Like the Draft Plan itself, there was plenty of rhetoric, but little concrete illustration of precisely the ways older people will be affected. 

Let's be clear about one thing: this has nothing whatsoever to do with smart new thinking from local officers but everything to do with the Labour government's diktat (yet again) on how Local Government should provide the services. The changes are being driven by Labour dogma.   

Privatization of both RESIDENTIAL and DOMICILIARY care is a central feature, as is:

Reducing the capacity of residential care in favour of support to help people remain in their own homes.

On the surface it is all about modernising (in the Blairite dictionary, that means privatising provision) and geting best value for all the money spent (are we getting "best value" from the multi-billion cost of the Iraq war?). Below the surface, as hidden as possible to the casual eye and ear, it's all about too many people living longer and costing the state too much. Older people, the vast majority of whom, worked hard all their lives producing the wealth of the country, are increasingly faced with the prospect of having to sell their last stick of furniture in order to buy the care they need.

How can it be that one of the richest nations on earth considers the care of its elderly to be a major problem?

The Draft Plan is a major agenda item on the Full Council meeting on Thursday, 8th March, 2.30pm

The NSPC's new office in a corner of Hanley Town Hall, Bagnall Street, Hanley. They moved from 4 Broad Street, Hanley, during the wekend.

MAJOR LOCAL LINK IN NATIONAL ROUTE

Stylishly spanning the A527 within a mile of the northern edge of the City, at Fegg Hayes, near the entrance to the former Chatterley Whitfield Colliery, the new bridge means walkers and cyclists using the walkway-cycleway will no longer have to negotiate the busy main road at a dangerous bend. The lightweight design gives the impression of a flying saucer hovering above the traffic. (Squint the eyes and turn on the imagination!)

Because the road had to be closed during crucial stages of construction, work has been carried out during the past few Sundays, thus minimising disruption to traffic. The footpath-cycleway in this area follows ther former Chatterley Whitfield colliery railway line. The bridge across the road was dismantled some years ago, as was the one across Bridge Street at Brindley Ford, half a mile further northwards. Does anyone know in which year the old railway bridge across the road was removed? Has anyone, by any chance, got a photograph of the old railway bridge? If so, please send me a message or telephone me on: 07773 464626.

SPECIAL MESSAGE: Many thanks to Keith Powell for emailing me to tell me that renovation works have started on the K6 red telephone kiosk at Jack Haye Lane, Light Oaks. (see me 6th August entry)