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Public Health

in the interests of public health i am missing sevral meetings tonight.

This morning i stayed away from the great Mongeham drop in an tonight i had a meeting of the snowdown regeneration forum as well as the Great Mongeham village design group. the village design group is nearing the end of its journey and it will be good to see a completed document accepted by the district council planners

Current mood: Dead


life is beautiful - for virus hoaxes

yet again i was sent a virus hoax message by one of my colleagues.

why dont people check the validity of these hoaxes before sending them out willy nilly.

many of these hoaxes have been around for some time, in this case 6 years and a quick trawl with a search engine found many sites highlighting that this was a hoax such as wikipedia

so next time you recieve such a hoax, why not try checking it out before sending it to everyone on your address list?

Current mood: Mad


close encounter

in case you missed it last night we had a near miss with an asteroid.

of course i had to use an antipodean website to find this startling piece of information

so if the world has ended

you heard it first here

humility is a price worth paying

with labour's troubles in recent weeks it is perhaps good for us conservatives to realise that we too have mortals in our membership with just as many frailties as the other parties.

i note that Iain Dale has commented that as a personal friend he is going to stand by him and for this Iain is to be respected. i have not met Derek Conway and so must rely on the reports in the media as well as the judgement of the party.

He has made mistakes and now he has paid a political price.

i shall not cast a stone.

 

Current mood: Sad


action on dog fouling

action on dog fouling

The Religious Divide

it seems that some people talk about how religion divides people yet in australia it seems there is now a move to form relationships between Protestants and the Roman Catholics according to news sources.

i see this as a positive move and indeed on our local district have formed a good working relationship with some of our Roman Catholic priests. There is much to be learnt from each other and i fnd that it has helped my spiritual growth.

i wonder whether such an agreement can be reached with the church hierarchies in this country for the good  of the wider church.

Current mood: Love


Australia day?

some people may have noticed that today is Australia day, commemorating the day in 1788 when Captain Arthur Phillip landed and started a colony in Sydney cove on the east coast of the landmass that later became australia.

money histtory is to be found on an australian government website

the indigenous population have a different take on the day and have termed it invasion day

 

in recent years the australian government along with much of australian society has attempted to reconcile some of the wrongs that have occurred to the indigenous population.

thsi brings me to wonder how we celebtare and recognise the history of the indigenous population of kent the Cantium  (aka Cantiaci) ?

should we be more formal in our celebration of their legacy.

Current mood: Sceptical


alliance national executive meeting

Current mood: Cool


aylesham development

great mongeham drop in

Full Council Meeting

tonight is the first full council meeting for 2008. one of the first  sights to greet me was an update on the council tax base. This is needed for the budget process. This calculation sets out the number of band "D" equivalents for the council, yet officers persist in wanting to present it as a currency value for some reason! Its no wonder that some in the local press do not understand the process.

leader's time was dominated by parking charges debate with verying degrees of understanding about how DDC charges compare with neighbouring authorities.

Current mood: Sceptical

diversity training

this afternoon I am at a training session on diversity. as members we need to be aware of diversity issues. I hope that this training will provide a real benefit to residents and other stakeholders in the district

Current mood: Cool


Tilmanstone parish council

Current mood: Cool


Sandwich Womens Institute

This afternoon i went to Sandwich Guildhall to talk to them about the Betteshanger regeneration project. i went with my colleague from the Project Cllr Anne Denne from Northbourne Parish Council.

We take pleasure in giving this presentation at we take pride in the project and the benefits that have resulted to the community.

there was some intersteing questions after the talk and i hope the  audience found it interesting.

Current mood: Happy


Power Games

with global warming high among people's concerns there is a question about how to generate the electricity we need to function in todays society.

despite the efforts made to use technology to make fossil fuel fired power stations more environmentally  friendly the green lobby still objects to their use.

other alternatives include

wind power - land based - the green lobby objects to their visual impact

sea based - the green lobby objects to the effect on fish populations

solar - again there are objections due to their visual impact plus toxic waste problems associated with manufacture

wave power - again the green lobby objects due to effect on water fowl

Nuclear - still no solution to the problems associated with nuclear waste.

Hydo electric - damage to environment through use of massage dams prone to silting.

there is the option of geothermal though perhaps not in the Uk apart from some heating through use of ground source pumps.

so what is the green option?

perhaps to stop using electricity!

your thoughts and comments are as ever welcome.

 

 

Current mood: Sceptical


Winter flooding

on my way too and from Chesterfield i noticed much flooding which prompted me to speculate about whether this is to do with global warming and changing weather pattres or whether it is due to a lack of planning about runoff.

With increased development in catchment areas, thought must be given as to runoff is catered for and I remember in my studies on soil conservation about how land managemnt practices were needed to minimise erosion as well as conserve water in the subsoil.

perhaps this is part of the answer.

Current mood: Sceptical


the alliance midlands and south

Current mood: Cool


great mongeham drop in

Current mood: Sceptical

actions on roads

Joint Council Meeting

This afternoon i went to the joint council meeting. This involves members and officers from Deal, Walmer and Great Mongeham councils.

 

items for discussion included road saftery of St Richards road which goes through all three councils areas, The neighbourhood forums and upcoming events and special projects. It is beneficial to share experiences and understandings of the local issues.

On neighbourhood forums it seems the deal walmer forum was quite different to the Dover North Forum which i attended so it is a chance to put in some constructive criticils of the process involved to see if next year there can be real improvements as well as more community involvement.

there are a number of events coming up in all three council areas so it is useful to have a central diary to minimise diary clashes as well as provide additional publicity.

Current mood: Cool


Local Involvement Network in Kent LINK

this evening I am at a presentation about LINK. this is the governments replacement for the public patient involvement forums. the LINK is supposed to have a wider function to include social care. the LINK is being set up by the county council as they have been given funding by central government. one wonders why the PPIFs had to be replaced rather than just broaden their functions. With so much unease about the state of the NHS its seems the government is clutching at straws in trying to remedy this service.

Current mood: Sceptical


budget scrutiny

tonight I am at the scrutiny committee meeting. the committee is scrutinising the corporate plan and the budget prior to the councils budget meeting in early march. all service heads of the council are here to update the committee about the work going on in their depatments and how this ties in to the corporate plan and then affects the budget. the committee also developed key questions which helped to inform these presentations.

Current mood: Cool

end of an era

Current mood: Angry

New Blog

i note that the leader of Kent county Council, Cllr Paul Carter has started a blog on the KCC website.

I hope that this trend continues, that more members start to write their own blogs although i note that the take up on my own authority is less than overwhelming.

Current mood: Cool


Sunday Musings

i received word that local band Sizen was featured on yesterday's Planet Rock Radio which was favourably reviewed by Rock legend Rick wakeman. it is great to see local talent doing so well. The song "be true to yourself" was played to a global audience.

i also spent time with a local resident explaining about the councils mutual exchange register which is now online on the council's website.

this could be a great service and i am keen to promote it and even help residents make the best use of it.

Current mood: Happy


they made it

the lads crossing the Tasman Sea just made it

well done lads!

There is a video link on the BBC website

Current mood: Big-Smiley

Lot 41 almost there

over tyhe last several months i have been tracking the exploits of a couple of australian rowers as they attempt to cross the tasman sea between australia and new zealand.

they have a website which allows web surfers to monitor their progress and it is now showing a counter giving their position to the metre.

thye are due to finish in the next 24 hours so well done to the lads. i too like many other will follow their progress to the end.

i mention this as they seem to have better internet access than some people in our district!

 

Current mood: Sceptical


Eastry Coffee Break

this morning i went to the coffe break. one resident was amazed at the situation in our hospitals where some minor conditions cannot be treated at the Queen eliabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) hospital in margate and must be transferred up to William Harvey Hospial (WHH) at ashford. A story was recounted where a patient in QEQM suffered this condition hand had to be transferred up to WHH as margate could not handle it.

can our residents have any faith in the NHS?

Current mood: Sceptical


Northbourne Parish Council

Current mood: Cool

online training

this morning I am attending briefing sessions for staff and managers on the new online training package which the council has implemented. staff and members too need access to training and sometimes it can be difficult to schedule such training using "chalk and talk" sessions. the online delivery method means that the training can be delivered at the students own pace and time.

Current mood: Cool


community hall support

this afternoon i attended a meeting at the Mongeham Christian Centre to explore ways of improving the heating facilities in the hall attached to the church.

This hall is used not only for the church as well as community groups such as the local Brownie group, the local quiliters and some theartre  groups.

I feel that such halls need assistance in improving facilities for the whole community. 

Current mood: Cool

Did you miss your recycling collection?

Over the christmas period it is easy to lose track of collection dates and i must admit that i was in that category.

the new email alert service provided by the council was a huge help as yesterday i received the alert and today my sizable collectionn of bottles, papers and tins was collected.

it certainly takes the stress out of having to remembr when to put the black box out.

Current mood: Happy


virus spam

don't you hate getting bogus virus alerts from friends and colleagues such as this one

 

BAD Virus --CNN announced -- Snopes confirms as real. 
  
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/postcard.asp 

   

 
A new virus has just been discovered that has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive ever. This virus was discovered yesterday afternoon by McAfee . This virus simply destroys Sector Zero from the hard disk, where vital information for its functioning are stored.
 
This virus acts in the following manner: It sends itself automatically to all contacts on your list with the title:
 
'You've received a Post Card from a Family member'.
 
As soon as the supposed virtual card is opened the computer freezes so that the user has to reboot. When the ctrl+alt+ delkeys or the reset button are pressed, the virus destroys Sector Zero, thus permanently destroying the hard disk. Yesterday in just a few hours this virus caused panic in New York, according to news broadcast by CNN.
 
This alert was received by an employee of Microsoft itself.
 
So don't open any mails with subject:'A Post Card from ' As soon as you get the mail, delete it !! Even if you know the sender !!!
 
Please pass this mail to all of your friends.
 
Forward this to everyone in your address book. I'm sure most people, like myself, would rather receive this notice 25 times than not at all.

 

if people just did a little research they could see what CNN was really reporting

its seems people love to perpetuate such hoaxes

 

Current mood: Angry

sutton parish council

Current mood: Happy

boring blogs

just in case you though this was a very dull blog try this link

 

now i know that some might say my blog is still the most boring

your comments please.

Current mood: Sceptical

Teleconferencing

going to as many meetings as we do, the issue of teleconferences is sometimes raised aw a way of being more productive compared to normal face to face conferences, especially when one has to travel extensive distances to attend these conferences.

today i participated in a teleconference for my professional society and  found that it did lessen the impact of the meeting and felt somewhat interupted by distractions such as noise from other peoples work environments.

based on this experience i would advocate the face to face conference as the preferred method of meeting.

 

Current mood: Cool

crossing the Ditch update

my last entry on wireless broadband reminded me of the attempt to row a kayak across the Tasman sea as the expidition is partly sponsored by a wireless networking provider in Australia.

the lads are now expecting to finish next week after a long struggle against uncertain currents .

the link is in my favourites to the left of this column.

i wish the boys well in their final part of the crossing

the personal web?

today on the BBC website is a story about the latest advances in mobile computing. the story is looking at the transofrmation of the internet from a landline based network to a wireless based one. This could bring an advantage to the more rural areas of the district as it would simplify the process of ensuring network coverage. perhaps it will decrease the reliance on the BT infrastructure  allowing other operators to invest in providing the network.

the timeframes mentioned are interesting as they looking at the next couple of years so perhaps progress will be quick.

Current mood: Cool


eastry parish council update

Current mood: Cool

eastry parish council

Current mood: Cool

Cabinet meeting

This morning i am at a meeting of the council's cabinet.

the agenda is available on the council's website.

there are a number of important issues to be decided including progresss on the Dover Town Investment Zone (DTIZ), parking charges, the revised Corporate Plan, and the draft budget and medium term financial plan.

The DTIZ is one of the most important regeneration projects and is also a cormerstone of the corporate plan as dover is seen as the gateway to europe and needs "an attractive town which complements and supports the whole district"

 

Current mood: Happy


Council Tax Benefits

i was gratified to see that one of my former colleagues on the Council, Mrs Wendy Hansell had written to the local papers encouraging residents to chek to see if they are entitled to council tax reductions.

there are millions of pounds of unclaimed benefits across Kent and i feel that all councillors would be concerned if residents are missing out on benefits which are due to them.

 

Current mood: Cool


Spam and Phishing - the ongoing battle

as many of us there is a constant battle between the hackers and others trying to use the internet for net crime, and the net security firms such as Norton and Mcafee.

in fact even with anti spam filters some spam always get through and "good" emails get classed as spam. Hence the need to check your spam folders to see if any have been mis directed.

on the BBC website today is  the latest news from this ongoing struggle and how in 2008 the net criminals may be targeting social sites such as Myspace, facebook, Bebo and the like.

there is a need for care and there is the possibility that even sites like these will be targeted.

Current mood: Sad


Residents questions

based on some of my previous entries on a range of issues, i received the following

 

"

Question ?

   Dear Stephen,
      Going back to your blog..... Christmas lights... I think they are
welcoming and well Christmassy ! There is no need to go overboard... but
decorations are part of our heritage !
       The question is the new year fireworks. I hear that the London
display cost 1.3 million pounds. Where does that come from? I am not a
fan of fireworks anyway but to me that is a waste of money. Parking....
if people only had one car per house that would help or if there is a
bus service why not use it ? A car in the country is very important, the
new fees for carparks seem o.k. and with the inspector walking about the
car is safe and shopping stress free . i better not 'go on' back to
question ... who paid for the fireworks ? "

Current mood: Happy

Parking

this morning i went shopping in Deal and i was struck by how full the carparks were. there seemed to be only a handful of empty spots in each of the main centre carparks.

on the one hand residents are concerned about the increasing traffic in our town centres but on the other they want cheaper parking.

 

Current mood: Sceptical

Eastry Coffee Break

This morning i went to the coffee break.

there was widespread concern about the cessation of green recycling over the Christmas break as people now have to hold on to your trees for another couple of weeks.

residents do want to try to recycle and such stoppages appear to cause unnecessary friction.

Current mood: Sad


parking

this morning i went to the great mongeham drop in. a number of people were talking about parking issues.

one point was people parking on footpaths making it difficult for pedestrians especially those with push chairs. it seems thoughtless to park in such a manner.

another item was the changes to parking fees which is to be discussed at the cabinet meeting next monday.

the fees are item 11 on the agenda.

 

Current mood: Cool


a brave new world?

so here we are in 2008 and already analysts are looking ahead to the latest developments  in information technology.

i was taken with an article on the BBC website 

the opportunities for voice over internet protocol (VOIP) could mean dramatic changes bt it relies on the coverage of hot spots.

there may be a role for local government in these developments so we need to be aware of these emerging technologies and how to ensure that all residents can access the opportnities offered.

Current mood: Cool