Suffolk school sport in the spotlight this morning.

I wonder how many people caught the broadcast from King Edward Vl School in Bury St Edmunds on the Today programme this morning.  It was great to hear something so positive coming from Suffolk schools on national radio, and I am sure that more of the same will be heard in the future.

The feature was a response to Sir Michael Wilshaw (the OFSTED chief)'s complaint that too many top athletes come from the private sector and that state schools literally need to 'raise their game' in the area of competitive sport.

Whatever the rights and wrongs about this, it was good to hear the enthusiastic contributions from both the head and also from the children from Bury.  Clearly the featured sports event was not just for the host school but also other local schools, and even the young person who came 'at the back, towards the middle' of his race was enjoying himself.

The head seemed to have no problem in using the word 'competition'.  Not long in the context of school sport this particular word was anathema to educationalists, and there is no doubt that lack of team sports and a competitive ethos, made it hard to bring on talented youngsters in some parts of the state sector.  Many children who have succeeded from less well off families have done so because of huge sacrifices made by parents, who until recently have received little support from their child's school.  Changing attitudes, realisation of the health benefits of exercise, and also of course last year's Olympics, are now bringing about a change in culture, which can only be a positive.

Competitive sport allows children who may not be talented in other ways to have their chance to shine, and it is amazing how confidence built up in one area can quickly lead to success in other spheres too.

Support Suffolk's Barn Owls

The Suffolk Community Barn Owl Project has been a huge success.  In fact, as one of the first such schemes, it has been widely copied in other counties.  Currently however the organisers are concerned that sebacks, both natural and man made, are halting progress, and are asking the public for help.

  

Some years ago the steep decline of Barn Owls in Suffolk was recognised and some 1700 nest boxes were mounted by volunteers.  At the same time farmers and others were encouraged to manage their land so that the voles and mice on which barn owls and their young feed would thrive, and the result has been a marked increase in the numbers of these lovely birds.

Volunteer monitors from the Project inspect the boxes every year, gathering valuable scientific data about the owls and their chicks.  Unfortunately last winter’s wet weather was not good for barn owls and many adults died, leading to a low level of breeding this year.  The problem has been compounded by a spate of vandalism that has destroyed 5 nest boxes, resulting in the death or, possibly, the theft of the chicks.  This is criminal activity, since barn owls are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

Project members are asking that the public be vigilant if they live in an area that contains a nesting box. All legitimate box monitors are licenced so if you see a person looking into, or tampering with, a box you should ask to see their licence.  If they do not have one you would be right to have concerns.

  

If you see anything suspicious, or hear that barn owl chicks are for sale, you should call 101 and speak to PC Mark Bryant.  PC Bryant is Suffolk Constabulary’s dedicated officer for rural crime and wildlife, and he will look into the case. 

Forced Marriage, past and present.

A previous production from Covent Garden

Yesterday evening I attended a performance of Richard Strauss’s opera Der Rosenkavalier.  Often presented as a frothy comedy of manners set in a chocolate box setting, Richard Jones’s production for Glyndebourne transferred the work from its normal nineteenth century setting.  As a result the messages within the opera were more pronounced and hard hitting and none the worse for that.

One strand of the plot is the attempt by a newly wealthy family to marry off its daughter to an impoverished

licentious bully of ancient noble lineage, Baron Ochs.  The marriage plans are frustrated, and the young woman in question marries the man of her choice, so the ending is to that degree a happy one.  However the underlying theme of family coercion of a young person for social and financial advancement, basically of forced marriage, is an ugly one.

It also happens to be a topical one.

From today forcing someone to marry against their will in the UK will be a criminal offence punishable by up to 7 years in prison.  Opinion is divided as to whether the law is necessary given that several measures to combat forced marriage that are already in place.  There are also fears that women will be unwilling to report their own family in circumstances which could lead to their imprisonment. However the Government is showing that it has the will to outlaw the practice, and the change should strengthen the arm of the police, and further raise awareness about what remains in many cases a hidden source of real suffering and distress.

Forced marriage is not just something that occurs in Birmingham, London or Leeds.  Here in Suffolk last year 6 Forced Marriage Protection Orders were taken out, covering 8 separate young people. Bal Howard, who leads on Forced Marriage and Honour Based Violence for Suffolk Police, has recently expressed the fear that the 25 cases that she investigated in the East of England last year could just be the tip of the iceberg.

I suspect that forced marriage is no longer acceptable among Viennese aristocrats.  It is time to take steps to make sure that it is not acceptable here in Suffolk!

1000 Posts!

This is the 1000^th post on my website.

If I had been told at the end of January 2007, when I posted the first contribution, that I would still be blogging away over 7 years later I would probably have been surprised.  Despite one’s best intentions, keeping what amounts to an electronic journal going is sometimes a bit of a struggle, and indeed there have been times when I have been tempted to stop.  Somehow or other however the urge to communicate has won the day, and looking back over the entries I am pleased about that.

It seems that the site has been read and on the whole enjoyed by a good number of people, both locally and as far afield as the U.S and Japan, and I now have a lovely illustrated record of my local government life in and around South Suffolk, plus reminders of some holidays and cultural excursions elsewhere.

The earliest posts from the early months of 2007 see me setting out my stall as a fledgling local politician.  I had been approached by Colin Spence, the County Councillor for Waldingfield and Sudbury East, mainly because as he so succinctly put it at the time ‘there really isn’t anyone else’.

One of the earlier posts in 2008 complains about the fact that the increase in Babergh's grant from central government was likely to be below the level of inflation in coming years.  Below the level of inflation!  What would we have thought if we had known that in fact within a few years it would be slashed by around 30% and I would find myself with the job of coping with this, not just for South Suffolk but for the County as a whole.

My early comments seem a bit earnest now… perhaps as time has gone on and I have become a more practiced political animal I have relaxed a little, but many of the topics about which I wrote are still rumbling along:controversial planning issues at Babergh, spending elusive Section 106 funding,  and, of course, the perennial chestnuts: Chilton Woods, speeding, and the need to recycle our waste.   

Other matters that exercised us then have, for now, receded.  There was of course a Labour Government in the early days and, as alluded to above, councils were having a great time spending away!  Suffolk was resisting the pressure to become a Unitary authority, parking charges in Sudbury were the great controversy of the day, and we were fighting off the attempt to open an enormous quarry between Chilton and Great Waldingfield.

Some of these latter issues, like sleeping dragons in their caves, are merely waiting to raise their drowsy heads once again. Others will slumber on. Perhaps persistent readers of the site will encounter their sulpherous breath again in one of the next 1000 entries.

Activities this weekend at Old School Wood

I had not been down to Old School Wood, the community woodland in Great Waldingfield, this year until I took my camera down this morning  The site really has come on very well, having put on a lot of growth, and it is a very pleasant place to spend an hour or so.  A pleasant walk over to Little Waldingfield can be started from the wood as well.

This weekend, on Saturday, between 10 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. there is a Discover Great Waldingfield Churchyard and Old School Wood event supported by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.  There will be activities for all the family, including guided walks at 10.30 a.m., pond dipping, owl pellet investigation, invertebrate hunting, a family trail and children's craft activities.

Parking is available at the Church, as are loo facilities.

Bring a picnic and stay for informal fun in the afternoon.  For more information contact sara.holman@suffolkwildlifetrust.org, 07824 516762.

View from the pond

Love food, hate waste ?

As part of briefing myself for my new role as OC Waste at Suffolk County Council I took myself on a course this week to learn about how to reduce food waste.

It is a shocking fact that 32% of what is thrown away in Suffolk is food that we find, for one reason or another, surplus to requirements.  This amounts to a massive 43,691 tonnes.  Setting aside the very real environmental issues, wasting food is an expensive business, both for our residents and for the council that has the responsibility for its disposal.

It has been estimated that money spent on binned food costs each family up to £700 per annum.   It also costs the council a great deal of money every year to dispose of the rubbish that results since it cannot be recycled and must go into landfill. In these cash strapped times this is a serious consideration.  I do not have a number for Suffolk (at present), but it costs the London Boroughs some £50 million a year to dispose of their food waste.

 

 The course was very instructive and entertaining.  It was run under the auspices of the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, backed by the Government, which has all sorts of on line resources to encourage the reduction of food waste on its website here

The five key messages we learned on the course are

• Plan ahead
• Understand date marks and food labels
• Store food sensibly (especially in the freezer)
• Don’t over cater  (this has health benefits too!)
• Use your leftovers!

‘All common sense’  I hear you say….but it is amazing how many of us are failing to use our heads in the kitchen, and wasting good money in the process.

City Lunch Club

Every so often the South Suffolk Conservative Association hosts a political lunch in the City for Suffolk folk working in London.   They are often joined by some intrepid country mice who feel up to making the journey to Town.

In the past we have had some interesting guests including Ken Clark and David Willetts.  The lunch is usually well attended, well presented, and quite takes me back to the old days!

This week we were lucky enough to welcome as a guest Mark Field M.P. , pictured here with County Councillor for Clare, Mary Evans.  Mark is the Member of Parliament for the City of London and Westminster.  Not suprisingly, following the European elections the conversation centred on European matters and our membership of the EU.  Present at the lunch were some representatives from trade organisations representing city firms, and all complained bitterly about the amount of red tape and regulation that comes out of Brussels.  I do find it hard to believe that our membership of the EU is really a net benefit for Britain give the importance to the economy of the financial services industry.

We are hoping to invite the MEP for the East of England Vicky Ford to our next lunch.  She sits on an important finance committee in Europe, as has much of interest to say.   If you are interested in coming along do let me know.  You do not have to be a member of the Conservative Party, although party members generally have preferential booking rights.