Suzanne Fletcher's Blog

How rules are made and applied depends on who you are.  I am angry.

In February an Asylum seeker friend was preparing for a judicial review and an appeal to stay in this Country because it was dangerous to go back to the Democratic Republic of Congo.  He was getting evidence together.  An appeal was being made about a test case as to whether the DRC was a safe place to be returned to, and people were not supposed to be being returned there till that test case was determined.  He was deported without waiting for the result of either.

A local builder is building some houses not in accordance with the plans he had submitted.  The changes are too numerous to list and hedges that are supposed to be being kept intact have either disappeared or are dying.  He was told to stop the building works in May last year, but has continued to do so.  It has taken months for new plans reflecting what has actually happened to be submitted.  It was down for today's planning committee with a recommendation for refusal.

Yesterday I heard that the appeal about anyone being returned to DRC had been won, and until conditions improve no-one else will be forcibly returned there.  Great news for those still here living in fear - but too late for our friend deported before the result came though.

Today the planning committee had to defer making a decision as some paperwork has not been submitted, so the situation goes on even longer.  If the committee had decided to refuse the application, he could still, within the law carry on building for up to 6 months and then put an appeal in.  Then carry on till the appeal was determined - many months later.

So it is one law for one and a different one for another.  Justice - Huh!

BUS USERS FORUM HOLD UP

I've stopped being patient about the need for a "Bus Users Forum" for local people to be able to go along and raise issues, ideas and problems  to make our bus services more useable.  See my press release below (ok it is late and I'm tired!).  I put my name down to be part of a steering group - but going precisely nowhere.

BUS USERS FORUM HOLD UP

Stockton Liberal Democrats have been calling for a local Bus Users Forum for many years, and have tabled formal questions at Council meetings many times.

They were delighted when the first meeting was held in February this year and a steering group was set up to plan the way forward.. 

However nothing has been heard since, so yet another formal question has been tabled for next week's Council meeting.

Councillor Suzanne Fletcher said " the people of Stockton Borough have waited a long time for this, and are not going to be fobbed off with just one meeting to talk about having more meetings.  It is quicker waiting for a bus!"

Ends.

The formal question says:

In view of the response to the question asked at a Council meeting earlier this year about the establishment of a Bus Users Forum, and the subsequent inaugural meeting, I would like to ask

1. why has the steering group set up at the meeting on 25^th February not had any information or meeting arranged ?
2. what progress has there been in the setting up of area Bus Users Forums as agreed at that meeting ?
3. what feedback has there been about the submission of the Connect Tees Valley Strategy in view of the following extract from the Cabinet Member's answer?

"Our partners have also indicated that they would wish to launch the Bus User Forum to coincide with the submission of the business case for Connect Tees Valley. I agree with this strategy as it gives the forum several advantages:

1. The Bus User Forum can assist to shape the detail of the schemes and have early input to this exciting project.

2. It gives the Bus User Forum some clear focus in its early days.

3. By having a strong initial focus and purpose the Bus User Forum will quickly have value to participants and increase its chances of being influential, successful and to have longevity.

I apologise for the delay but I am sure that approaching the forum in this way will be of great benefit to its success. The inaugural meeting has been set for 25th or 26th February 2008 and further details will be circulated shortly."

Stockton Liberal Democrats have been calling for a local Bus Users Forum for many years, and have tabled formal questions at Council meetings many times.

They were delighted when the first meeting was held in February this year and a steering group was set up to plan the way forward.. 

However nothing has been heard since, so yet another formal question has been tabled for next week's Council meeting.

Councillor Suzanne Fletcher said " the people of Stockton Borough have waited a long time for this, and are not going to be fobbed off with just one meeting to talk about having more meetings.  It is quicker waiting for a bus!"

Ends.

The formal question says:

In view of the response to the question asked at a Council meeting earlier this year about the establishment of a Bus Users Forum, and the subsequent inaugural meeting, I would like to ask

1. why has the steering group set up at the meeting on 25^th February not had any information or meeting arranged ?
2. what progress has there been in the setting up of area Bus Users Forums as agreed at that meeting ?
3. what feedback has there been about the submission of the Connect Tees Valley Strategy in view of the following extract from the Cabinet Member's answer?

"Our partners have also indicated that they would wish to launch the Bus User Forum to coincide with the submission of the business case for Connect Tees Valley. I agree with this strategy as it gives the forum several advantages:

1. The Bus User Forum can assist to shape the detail of the schemes and have early input to this exciting project.

2. It gives the Bus User Forum some clear focus in its early days.

3. By having a strong initial focus and purpose the Bus User Forum will quickly have value to participants and increase its chances of being influential, successful and to have longevity.

I apologise for the delay but I am sure that approaching the forum in this way will be of great benefit to its success. The inaugural meeting has been set for 25th or 26th February 2008 and further details will be circulated shortly."

My first meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Partnership at Teesdale House on Teesdale (site of Mrs Thatcher's walk in the wilderness).  Obesity strategy on the agenda, and what do I find ? a buffet with pastry, fried bits, thick bread sandwiches, cream cakes.  There were some small chicken pieces and bits of fruit and I snaffled a few bits of garnish, but really!  I made the point and I wait to see if it is taken on board, not only by the PCT  but by the many partner organisations including the Council.

For an organisation that is concerned about health it always amazes me that they don't use Fairtrade for their tea and coffee, as that would go a long way to helping health conditions in far away places.

For a building housing those concerned with health issues it was not surprising that there was no room to park, but I was surprised that there were no signs to walking routes off that estate to the bridge over the river.  I found it, and it was a 13 minute walk to the High Street and nearest bus.  This was the Tory Government's idea of planning in the early 1990's - small car parks and no buses.

Target health issues appear to me to be all about telling people what to do, or more likely not to do, whether it is walking, eating, smoking, alcohol or sex.  Fair enough, but what about what the Government is doing, or not doing ?  Prescription charges too high for some people to cash in much needed prescriptions; allowing fast food outlets wherever they want to go; allowing bus companies to just stick to profitable routes; allowing sales of alcohol all over the place at all hours.

Do as they say, not as they do, is the message I think.

A non stop day with a common theme, but central was the Church Service to give thanks for and celebrate the life of St Marks Church, Fairfield.  Sadly this Church was having too many difficulties to continue, and they had all decided that the best thing to do was to close the building and the congregation to move to Holy Trinity Church on Upsall Grove.  The Church building used to be in my Elm Tree ward before reorganisation, and a lot of the Parish still is.  A lot of people have been helped and supported in times of need, even if they have not been members, and it was a brave decision to decide to move on.  Everyone went to their new Church, Holy Trinity for tea and buns as only the C of E can do, and a Service of welcome there.  The central theme of it all was change and moving on.  We all need to accept change and move on, but it is so much better if people can be taken and move together as is the case here.  Any parishioner reading this need not worry - the help and support and other services will still be there, just at another location.

Either side of these Services we had our own Church AGM, and signs of changes there, and lastly the Civic Service for the outgoing Mayor of Durham, moving on to life as a "normal" Councillor.  A very interesting sermon - the best one's make you think.  He was looking at the links between religion and politics - the 2 subjects that are not supposed to mix.  I don't think any of us could disagree with the common themes - Justice, Equality, and Love for fellow beings.

The day started with a visit to Ropner Park accompanying John as Mayor to set off the 50km walking race around Ropner Park by Redcar Race Walk Club.  Despite the rain, they were really getting a move on!

I was taking advantage of the last guided walk by our Tees Valley Wildlife Trust ranger at Hardwick Dene before he moves on to literally new pastures.  As usual he was able to point out interesting things that I would never have noticed.  The elm trees in Elm Tree wood are just coming out into flower and looked wonderful.  Wildflowers local children from Whitehouse Primary School had planted were coming through, and we saw a woodpeckers nest as well as a woodpecker itslef!

A detour took us to a black poplar, now a very rare tree.  All of this only yards away from housing at some points.  We just don't know what we have around us!

A walk through the wildflower meadow, which is right next to new housing, and thankfully protected from it by a wall, took me back to my childhood, and we were thrilled to see the tiny leaves of an orchid  peeping through the grass.  It is crucial that all of this is kept as it is though, and only allowed to change as nature intends.  If you are reading this and want to become involved in the Wood, Dene and Meadow, please do get in touch.

Lots of love and warmth; music and dancing; drums and music group; laughter and hugs.  Where were we ? amongst happy go lucky people without a care in the world ? No, it was an African Ceilidh to raise funds for Justice First (one of John's charities).  Many of the people there had tremendous worries, not knowing when they might be deported back to a Country they had fled from; some having no income at all; not knowing what had happened to other members of their families and friends.  However they made John and I so welcome, it was quite humbling.

The Ceilidh Band, the Endeavour, included some who had played at my Mayoral Ceilidh too, so that was good, and we enjoyed telling our friends from away that some of the Fettlers songs were our North East tribal one's!

I'm afraid we forgot the camera, but I will post any picture I am sent here another day.

The drumming was great too, and there is a group, Tees Valley World Drummers, who performed for me at my Mayoral installation, and there are now 17 nationalities including a large contingent of English people who drum together.  Now if we all spent time and energy on beating that drum, a drum to drum out poverty, ill treatment and ignorance; beat it together as nations working together, we might actually make some progress!

I was accompanying John to the Mayor of Redcar's Charity Ball, and you can read about it on his blog.  It was good to meet Stewart McFarlane again, he was a great help to me when I was Mayor, presiding as only he can at fund raising events.  I was also pleased to meet representatives from Zoe's Place.  Have a look at their website for more details of the crucial work that they do providing support and respite care for children with life limiting illness.  They need £800,000 a year to do this work, and the amount of financial support from the Government is very little.  It is wrong, I feel, that basic core costs of providing the care at Zoe's Place, The Butterwick Hospice and other hospices are having to be met from voluntary donations.  They need to remain as charities to be able to innovate and use different ways of providing the support they do, and it is reasonable that voluntary donations meet the costs of "extras", but such as nurses - that should come from the Government.  We also met Mike from The Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Research Centre at Cargo Fleet.  Another organisation doing excellent work and needing to find the funds to do so

If we, or our friends or family, needed the services of either of these organisations we would want and even expect them to be there for us, so surely we should be expecting to pay for them whatever, through the tax system.

No links!  Friends of the Newham Grange Park were having their AGM and it was good to see some new faces, and hear the reports about what had been happening, even though I have followed them and supported where I could throughout the year.  They have worked hard in not only running the committee effectively, but the real hard work they have put into the Park, and literally got their hands dirty.  The results in such a short time are amazing and they have a lot to be proud of.  I am now a sponsor of a bird box which will have my name on it - I hope a pair of birds nest and enjoy it - they are welcome!

Today, we couldn't forget, it is St George's Day.  With all the "patriotism" around I did wonder.  St George was born in Turkey, never came to this Country,  and probably had a different coloured skin to us.  Would those waving the flag have welcomed him in had they been around in those days ?  I wonder.

The Select Committee that I am on is going to look at the "Older person's strategy", which I thought could be useful and interesting.  I was rather taken aback to find that the main point was to ensure that all the strategies were in place and "embedded" in all the departments.  I am much more concerned about making sure what actually happens reflects the good words in the strategy, and after some discussion hope that we will go in that direction.  I'll be letting you know if it doesn't!

It was a fine afternoon and neither of us had any meetings for the rest of the day, so we were tempted out and went to see the daffodils at Farndale.  What a treat!  It was very peaceful too, with not so many people there as at a weekend, and I realised that all the people that we did meet on the walk were our age - pensioners! It made me realise that whilst we talk about our strategies, here were "old people" out enjoying the scenery and peace in the countryside.  We are lucky to have a car to get there, wouldn't it be great if it could be made possible for other older people to have the opportunity to get there too.  Maybe it ought to be in a strategy!

I went with John to the 2007 was the St George's Day Service of Stockton, Thornaby & District Scout Council in Stockton Baptist Tabernacle.  I knew that last year was the centenary of the founding of the Boy Scouts by Lord Baden-Powell, but this year is the centenary of the oldest Scout Group in Stockton, Thornaby & District Scouts.  The 1^st Norton Scout Troop was registered in 1908 and is still going strong.  Well done.  We heard how "Scouting for Boys" written by Lord Baden-Powell is now the 4th best selling book in the whole world - even more have been sold than the Harry Potter books.

We heard that there are now over 2,000 young people in the Scout and Guide movements in Stockton and Thornaby (so there will be more when Billingham numbers are added), and that is a magnificent of good work with young people, all by willing volunteers, that goes off in our Borough.  Very well done.

Family day (yes, Councillors are human beings sometimes!).  Everyone else was watching the 'Boro play, playing in a hockey final or suffering with a heavy cold, so that left myself and my grandaughter to go to Preston Park.  Before we got to the Hall though, to play at dressing up (no pictures printable!) I was lured into Butterfly World.  A wonderful display of butterflies flying around the tropical garden created in there, with some exotic plants too.  I didn't get any photos of butterflies, they were too fast for me, but here are the meerkats. 

There were some pretty gruesome spiders and snakes - behind glass, I'm pleased to say.  I'm sure you will agree that 5 year old Heidi took a great photo of the plants.  I am sure we had a better time than at the football, too.

One thing that did disappoint me, and I can say the same of many retail outlets attached to visitor attractions in the area, there was little to buy that was relevant to the visit, and opportunities are missed for continuing the interest and education of visitors.  There will be plenty of material somewhere about the future of our tropical forests, and people need to be aware of the issues.

Teeth problems sent me for an urgent appointment with my dentist, and I am not pleased with the result - the need for a new crown.  However when calling in at the local shop on the way home I saw a headline in the Daily Mail (the first and probably the last time it will get mentioned in this blog!) proclaiming that half the population has had no treatment from a dentist and cannot get an NHS dentist.  The figures may not be accurate, but I would not be surprised that they are a good indication.  I really shouldn't be feeling sorry for myself over that crown.

I felt even less sorry for myself when I heard of the treatment of an asylum seeker who had recently been deported to the Cameroon, and what had happened to her both here and  when she got there.  I just cannot believe how a so called civilised Country like ours can treat people so, and  subject those seeking refuge to such horrors when they are returned to the Country they fled from.  The rate of deportations appears to be speeding up, not doubt to meet some targets, set by our tabloids. 

On a lighter note, I was pleased to receive a photo taken by Cllr Ann Cains at the lunch yesterday with myself and Tricia Stewart, the Calendar Girl.  As she suggested, I've changed the picture to sepia - not sure if it shows me up any more flattering! We both have our own teeth though!

The Citizenship Ceremony started the day, with John conferring Citizenship on 17 adults and 6 children.  People were dressed up for the big occasion, and apprehensive and excited.  I had a lovely message from one couple I met who had come originally from Nigeria, including the words "it is quite an honour and great privilege for us to be accepted as Her Majesty's subjects".  It was a privilege to be able to meet them all too.  There will be more on the Mayor's Blog in a few days time.

Next was a luncheon in aid of the George Hardwick Foundation, a local organisation giving invaluable help to carers.  Tricia Stewart, of the "Calendar Girls" was the guest speaker, and what a treat it was.  It was also very emotional, as my Mother had also died of Non Hodkins Lymphoma, lived only a few miles away from Rylstone where the Calendar Girls lived and had belonged to their WI, and as treated by the same consultant.  I've read the book, seen the film, and know the area very well, having lived at nearby Gargrave myself in younger days.  Tricia was a brilliant speaker as she told the tale of how they got together to make the calendar, and she was "Miss October".  She told us about the film and how it had been made, and they had bravely, in my view, accepted that the film would not be true to the real story, only about 60%, to make a better film that would make more money!  Whatever had happened to these women, it was clear that they were determined to never lose sight of their original goal, and honour the memory of John Baker, raising funds for research in leukaemia and non-hodkins lymphoma.  In the process of raising nearly £2 million for the charity she felt they had also changed the perception of older women, change the image of the WI, and raised the profile and changed the economy of the beautiful Dales.  It was a huge privilege to meet her, and with luck a photo is on its way.

One story I particularly liked was the story of the cherry buns for Miss November.  These WI stalwarts had bought these props from the Gargrave Co-op at 12 for 99p, and this was my parents "local" shop.  The buns had been bought, some icing slapped on and a cherry popped on top.  After each practice the buns had gone the way buns do, but the cherries put into a tin to keep for the next time.  As she said, Yorkshire people are thrifty!

A useful tip - photos of us more mature ladies come out better in sepia.  Even for that tip alone have a look at their websites and buy some of what is on offer, from chocolates to more calendars and books.

More of the day to come.  Half an hour at home struggling with an excel sheet, and then a Community Centre meeting in the ward, and I then had to miss the Neighbourhood Watch meeting to accompany John to Billingham Kids Club, and another treat was in store there too.  The "Kids" were dressed up in traditional Maori costumes, along with some striking face painting for the boys, and we were treated to some wonderful singing and dancing in true traditional Maori style.  They were just brilliant. 

The backdrop hanging had been drawn by a Maori, and the Kids had carefully and beautifully painted it, and there was a lot of other art around they had done too, and I was able to purchase a traditional style necklace they had made too.  They weren't just singing, dancing and painting though.  A lot of work had been done at Stewarts Park at the Captain Cook museum, learning about the history and culture of Maoris.  They are the only young people's group in the Country who are doing this work, and we should be well proud of them.  They can only do the performances so well with the huge support of Linda, other volunteers, and the support of parents. A couple of true Maoris and their children had been up here for a few days and working with them, so it was interesting to talk to them too, and I was amazed to hear that there are around 10,000 Maoris in this Country, although many are only hear for a few years, returning to New Zealand after some work experience.

After spending the day with casework, a select committee looking at the Voluntary Sector, and a ward surgery all looking at "life" issues, and how people get the best quality of life, it was a change of emphasis at Café Scientifique.  We meet at Arc for these talks and discussions around issues that really make us think.  The Café meets at Arc and is run by the John Snow Senior Common Room of Queen's Campus University.  Brain Death was tonight's topic.  When are you actually dead ?  a far more complicated subject than I had ever thought, but stretching the mind is what it is all about.  I won't attempt to replicate any of the brilliant talk and interesting discussion, but I still believe that we should all sign up to donate organs "in the event of death".  We also need to think round some of the issues about consent, informing relatives, and some of the more difficult issues so if we ever have to face such decisions it will at least be more informed.

At a meeting to set up a "Friends of Hardwick Dene and Elm Tree Wood" we had a treat of a slide show on the flora and fauna of this area, sandwiched between Hardwick which is one of the most deprived areas of our Borough and Elm  Tree in the ward I represent.  Anyone driving through the area, or even many of the people who live there have any idea as to the richness of wildlife and plant life there.

However it is amongst the most wildlife rich areas of our Borough, and the meadow is the finest in a wide area, with over 90 species of plants alone in a small area.  In the Dene and Wood there are 50 species of birds, 22 of butterflies and over 100 plants.

We saw some wonderful slides of the wildlife taken by a Hardwick resident, seeing a fox at close quarters, rabbit, woodpecker, sparrow hawk,  and numerous butterflies incouding Speckled Wood, Brown Argus (the first even north of the Tees) and a Souterhn Hawker Dragonfly with a 4 inch wing span, to say nothing of the White Letter Hair Streak where there is the best collection in the North East of England.  Cowslips and various orchids followed. 

Much to be proud of, but much to preserve and it is a big responsibility.  If anyone reading this wants to be part of the "Friends of .." group, please do get in touch.

I was very pleased to see that the "made in Stockton" exhibition at Preston Hall had something about Brass Crosby in one of the displays.  I did a lot of research on this amazing man when I was Mayor, and it is the first time that he has been acknowledged in any way by Stockton.  There is a brief outline of what I found on my previous Mayor's blog, so have a look and see how his stand allowed the proceedings of Parliament to become public.  Something we take for granted now, but had to be fought for in days gone by.  Also a more detailed article was linked from this blog in November

There are lots of other interesting displays at Preston Hall, and the exhibition will be full open in a few weeks time, so have a look, and whilst you are there the walk by the river in the Park is lovely just now with masses of wood anemones, also bluebells, primroses and violets, with trees coming out into bud.

I was inspired to make a start on the book I am writing on Brass Crosby and started making notes from the awesome book I bought last year - an original "Memoir of Brass Crosby" published in 1825.  More to follow!

A day of sorting, tidying, filing and catching up.  I decided that with the advent of Housing Allowance I could now throw out all my old Housing Benefit Casework, except for a few recent one's.  All 102 of them, there haven't been many in recent years because it has worked well.  However Government knows best again.  I heard of a case last week where someone in a 2 bed social house had 2 children, one with disabilities that made it impossible for the 2 children to share.  There are no spare 3 bed properties owned by either the Council or a Registered Social Landlord, so she cannot move into one of those and get help with her rent as before.  Therefore she may have to move into one owned by a private landlord.  However Local Housing Allowance cannot pay the going rent for that as the new rules will only allow her rent for a 2 bed property, it is a more expensive part of the Borough, and the Housing Allowance is based on the average rent.  As it says on the Government website, exactly half the recipients will be better off or the same.  And who cares about the half that will be worse off ?  We know who to blame for lack of Social and Council Housing too.  Awful isn't it.

In case you are wondering, yes, I did shred all the casework properly, and it took ages, but I am not the Government that loses or accidentally makes public such data.

After all of these depressing thoughts, I was sent some wonderful photos of Durham Cathedral by Robert Cooper.  So much better than those I would have taken yesterday, so with his permission I share them with you.  Uplifting aren't they.

A day of "links2, the first being a seminar on LINKS, which stands for Local Involvement Networks, and is the Government's latest idea for  giving the public more say in how our health service is run and delivered.

Along with other people there I look back on the Community Health Councils.  They might not have been perfect but they worked, and as a ward councillor I often used them, with a lot of success, for issues that came up with constituents.  Many people at the seminar remembered them well.  However they did not suit Government so amidst a lot of angst they were replaced with PPI's (Patient and Public Involvement).  A few years down the line, we are to have LINKS instead.  Many people at the seminar were actively involved in this, and bewildered at the big change.  The Government,  in a wisdom we cannot comprehend, came out with it's draft regulations on March 11^th and is expecting them to be up and running on April 1^st, and even now the funding has not been settled. Do people in Whitehall and Westminster have any idea at all what it is like to organise these things at a local level ?  I don't expect an answer to that one.

Local Authorities can now have an interim extension for a few months, but I am not convinced the whole process is going to make the impact needed on local health services.  My question is, when it is eventually up and running will it be able to cope with the following.  Issues for the whole community ?  individual issues raised with me as a Councillor ?  Issues I know about myself from my own experiences that affect a whole load more people ? my concerns as an individual ?  I have my list, I wonder how long I will wait, and how effective, despite good local people that will be involved with it,  it will actually be.  I daren't think about how much it is costing to have all of these changes.

Next was a visit as mayoress accompanying John to Daisy Chain, another set of links, working to provide respite for children with autism and their carers.  This is one of John's charities as mayor, and you can read more about it on his blog.  I must admit I did enjoy cuddling the 3 day old lambs, and feeding the donkeys. 

Then straight to Durham for the opening of the Calman Learning Centre at Durham University.  Again, you can read more in the Mayor's blog when it is published by the Council next week, but again it was all about links.  Links with learning, links with Queen's Campus at Stockton.  A wonderful building with magnificent views of Durham Cathedral.

After a day with a bad cold, sore throat and a large amount of reading, writing and phoning on Council issues it was a nice change to get out.  Robert Cooper was  showing the most wonderful slides set to just the right music.  The photographs of Skellig Michael and the hermit huts there, with the celtic music and brief quotes made me really think - and reminds me that politics, whilst an essential part of modern life, isn't an answer to life, in itself.  I also enjoyed the interesting shots of parts of pylons to some very modern musical sounds, followed by photos of Durham Cathedral set to Vaughan Williams.

All in aid of the Church toilet fund, which does bring us down to earth!

As our vicar said, a photo can really capture a moment, and distil the essence of a subject in a way that a video cannot.  I dare not put one of my photos on the blog today having seen what I have!

I've found a new way of enthusing people to use the buses!  The MP3 player (or other versions of such I don't know about).  I had mine loaded with a number of Radio 4 programmes I really wanted to listen to, and no time to listen.  It could of course be any programmes of choice.  I was going into Stockton to do my voluntary work session, and needed a brief visit to Middlesbrough to pick up a camera that had been mended, so 4 bus journeys anticipated.  All started well, including sitting in the sun on the seat waiting for the first bus to come.  However the bus to and from, particularly from Middlesbrough was so noisy that I couldn't hear even when turned up full blast.  Then when it stopped at bus stops it deafened me.  However felt very virtuous and did enjoy catching up on the programmes.

So quieten down the bus engines, give us all an MP3 player (mine was quite cheap), give us a bus pass, and problems solved J

Down to earth "walking the estate" this morning.  Officers from Tristar Homes (the Arms Length management organisation that manages the Council stock), police officer, PCSO, Community Warden, and Care for Your Area Officer, along with Julia and myself.  One advantage of this approach is that not only do we all see problems a first hand, but with everyone there, there is no chance of saying it is someone else's responsibility!

We looked at more paths with the Care For Your Area officer and some people from a residents group before heading home for a quick turnaround before the "John Owen Trophy" meeting.  I don't know a lot about football, but I am the Patron of the Africa Football Assembly, and am sure that football can unite people of all ethnic backgrounds.  A Church meeting followed and then it was good to relax making a wholesome looking nut loaf for tomorrow.

A good day, but it takes the toll on the joints, especially all of that walking and standing around.  So I was furious when I read that half of the physiotherapists trained last year are still without a job.  They do brilliant work on making life more liveable and bearable for so many people.  I don't think I could manage at all without the help I've been given by them over the years.  Sandra Gidley MP is raising the issue, I'm glad to say, and I only hope the Government listens and makes sure the training of these physios is put to good use.

100 years ago today Herbert Asquith became Prime Minister, and was the last leader of a Liberal Government.  A Government that we can be proud of, introducing old age pensions and a national insurance scheme; a reduction in the powers of the House of Lords; campaigns for and against women's suffrage and Irish home rule.  A true Liberal, and we need to celebrate those achievements - and let people know that these huge improvements came from the Liberals!

I am becoming increasingly worried about the way that our Council is having to down the "option appraisal" route, which is a way of saying to tenants that the only way that enough money can be found for the essential renovations that Council tenants need is by selling off the stock in various ways.  There must be a better way, and most tenants don't seem to have much idea what is happening, despite a lot of publicity that has been put out by the Council.  I spent quite a bit of time discussing with Julia how best to deal with this, and make sure that the tenants in Elm Tree knew what was happening and could have an input.

Concerns about this were not made any better when I found that our MP, Dari Taylor, had not voted for an amendment in Parliament for houses to by built and renovated without the Council having to sell off it's stock.  £600,000 has been earmarked to be spent before the "option appraisal" actually starts.  Just think how many "doors and windows", which are what the Elm Tree tenants would like, could be bought with that.

Despite dire warnings of snow the sun was shining so we couldn't resist setting off for Mount Grace Priory, just 15 minutes away from here.  The daffodils and setting were beautiful, and we sat in the sun to enjoy the peace.

I have, obviously, been very concerned about the situation with Bejing, Tibet and the Olympic Games.  Maureen Rigg's blog sets out the issues, and  what we can or cannot do about it well.

Focus was printed so I was out and about taking it to willing counters and volunteer deliverers.  Even in the driving hail the new daffodils looked good.  However I was less than pleased to see a number of breaches of our planning laws around the place.  I do wonder sometimes why we have planning laws and the planning committee meets, when some developers just flagrantly breach the rules and do what they want.

A welcome day at home with no meetings to deal with a pile of correspondence (I am sure it is breeding!) and finish writing the Focus to go out in the ward.

I was dressing up as mayoress in the evening, accompanying John to Hardwick Hall for the Mayor of Sedgefield's Ball.  Chatting to people from County Durham it was clear that all the existing Councillors were very unhappy about the new Unitary Council that is being imposed from above on them.  I knew that the Liberal Democrats had been making a big fuss that a form of Council that people had said that they didn't want was being forced on the Durham area, but interesting to see the other politicians saying the same thing!  It is a real dog's breakfast.

The tombola - we do win all sorts - but tonight it was a "posh dog's dinner set".  Watch out for it in one of our raffles or tombolas!

My first day as Mayoress, but the engagement was sandwiched between case work, Focus writing, and catching up - was I only out of political action for one day ?  The visit to Abbey Hill School, which is for children with Special Educational Needs.  They were performing in an event to commemorate a teacher at the school who had died last year, Mary Baxter.   The school website says it wants to "develop the full potential of pupils".  It certainly did that, and children with a number of disabilities did brilliantly, one mother told me that she never thought she would see her son moving in such a co-ordinated way and doing so well.  He did and he did it well.  So much emphasis is put onto "achievement" that can be measured in our schools, I was glad to see that "developing full potential" was able to shine through.  You can read more and see the pictures at the Mayor's blog.

I was looking up some information on Mary Baxter's life, and found an article in the Northern Echo saying how she had died before being able to receive a life saving lung transplant, even though she was top of the list, and that the family were pressing for a change in the law for organ donation to be "opt out" rather than "opt in".  I have written about this before and ask everyone to make sure that they, their families, friends, blog readers, and anyone else are encouraged to fill in the donor card and register.