Europe, a diversion?

Yesterday nominations closed for the Elections on May 3rd.

The two seats at Babergh for Waldingfield Ward will, we now know, be contested by four candidates, Colin Spence and myself for the Conservatives, a Liberal Democrat and a representative of the UK Independence Party

Although not having a particularly well thought through manifesto, UKIP has some policies which at first sight may appeal to natural Conservative supporters, (although it is hard to see what most of them have to do with Babergh District Council!) Of particular attraction is their pledge to withdraw from the EU. But a euro-sceptic vote for UKIP on May 3rd may have unintended consequences. One less vote for the Conservatives could allow the Liberal Democrats, an overtly pro European party, into power!

Like many Conservatives I’m not particularly keen on the European Community. It is undemocratic, bureaucratic and almost certainly corrupt. However, I do not believe that total withdrawal from the Union is really feasible, despite the fact that I would like to see the UK freed from some of its diktats.

In my view the best way to fight loopy loo rules emanating from the Brussels bureaucrats is to struggle from within, as many Conservative MEP's are currently doing. The same goes for the trend towards Federalism. Enlargement of the EU in recent years means that there are several countries, such as Poland and the Czech Republic that are taking the same approach.

Whether we like it or not in the UK we are becoming more and more affected by events taking place in other parts of the world. Global warming is one example and the recently resolved hostage crisis in Iran is another. There is little doubt that pressure from other EU members, notably Angela Merkel in Germany, was to some degree instrumental in bringing about a settlement. Total independence for the UK would, in my view, make us very vulnerable in today’s world.

Law and order

I was surprised to learn that all three major parties a couple of days ago, launched their campaigns for the Local Government Elections with comments about law and order.

My first reaction was that the party leaders were aiming their comments at an urban rather than a rural audience. I have only done a limited amount of canvassing up to now, but the issue of crime has not loomed large among the concerns of those to whom I have spoken. Moreover, I have been impressed at the Parish Council meetings that I have attended by the relatively low levels of crime reported when members of the police have been in attendance.

However over the past two weeks both Colin and I, or at least our families, have been the victims of crime! A member of Colin’s family had a wallet stolen when being distracted by a thief’s accomplice in a shop in Sudbury. (This is apparently a growing phenomenon in the town so be warned! Don’t get distracted by a stranger when approaching the till). Then on Tuesday, while Nick and I were trying out a hostelry in Lavenham some kind soul took a hammer to one of the windows of our car. Nothing was stolen and the damage was relatively minor but nonetheless it was unexpected, irritating and unsettling.

Perhaps I have been too complacent about this issue. It was tempting not to bother to report the damage to the car since we will not be claiming on our insurance policy. I wonder how many other people feel like this and how much petty crime therefore goes unreported? This would go some way to explaining the low levels of crime that are actually recorded by the police.

At the Great Waldingfield Annual Parish Meeting last week we met the first of three Community Support Officers who will be responsible for patrolling an area that includes Acton, Chilton, Great and Little Waldingfield. Although these people will be rather thinly spread, and their number has been cut back by central Government before they even started recruitment, their arrival on the scene must be welcomed.

Woodland plans tangled in red tape

This morning I took some rather weedy saplings down to the allotments at Great Waldingfield as a small addition to the 600 plus small trees that are being grown on as part of the Branchlines scheme which aims to create a community woodland for the village.

As the picture above shows David Taylor, Tree Warden and the Chairman of the project, with a number of brawny volunteers were hard at work preparing the ground for more contributions. It was good to see them in such good spirits.

Unfortunately at present plans at Branchlines are on hold because the land that had been identified as suitable for the wood is concealing beneath its turf a plethora of archaeological remains from Roman and Anglo Saxon times, and, most importantly, the Bronze Age. There are other possible sites, but access to most of these is also being blocked by rules and red tape. As a result grants won to develop the wood have been regretfully turned down.

Were Branchlines to be a cash rich developer, or government backed roadbuilder, the archaeological survey that is now required before further work can proceed would be easily funded. As a small charity however Branchlines is unable to proceed. The survey costs several thousand pounds, and its results may mean that in any case no trees can be planted on the site.

The claims of the past are competing with the opportunities of the future. The mind boggles when faced with this sort of conflict.

My feeling is that some sort of compromise should be possible to enable the woodland to go ahead. Planting part of the site for example is a possibility. After all, the archaeological community do not appear to be desperate to investigate the site. Perhaps this is because they feel that it is unlikely to throw up anything new and exciting about the Bronze Age. It is all rather unclear!

What is clear however is that a definite public benefit would be derived from the planting of the woodland, with its planned additional educational features. However ‘the powers that be’ seem, as usual, determined to enforce ‘one size fits all’ rules designed for bodies with huge budgets. Whatever happened to pragmatism, goodwill and common sense?

A change of tone

I have now received a communication from Babergh that my nomination paper is acceptable. I have to say that it was quite nerve-racking filling it all in correctly so as to comply with the rules.

It was nice to have the excuse to visit the ten people in the Ward who have been kind enough to sign the paper for me. Thank you all very much!

Since the battle is now imminent, despite the old adage that blue and green should never be seen, I have decided to change the colours on my blog to reflect those of the new Conservative logo.

I am also obliged by electoral law to display the name and address of my agent, Peter Burgoyne, for the duration of the campaign and you can see this addition to the right.

Infrastructure worries

I don’t think that I am the only person to have noticed that the traffic situation in Sudbury has got a lot worse in the last few years. Last week I sat for a long time trying to get into town, and it is often a problem leaving the Station car park. Just parking is difficult,at times, and the flow of juggernauts seems to be increasing. This is before much of the development planned in the area begins. There must be a concern that the infrastructure currently in place is simply insufficient to cope with future demand.

This is not a problem that is restricted to Babergh, as is evidenced by the picture above from Shropshire. The Royal Town Planning Institute (whose website is well worth a look for those interested in these things) considers that the United Kingdom as a whole has a ‘sustainable infrastructure gap’ which will in the short term lead to unacceptable congestion and inconvenience, and ultimately impede further economic growth.

But what are the local issues?

Support for the western by-pass for Sudbury is clearly stated in ‘Positive Action for Babergh’ the Conservatives’ Manifesto for the May election. The by-pass, if built, will greatly relieve the mediaeval centre of Sudbury. It is, however, unlikely to do much for outlying areas where traffic growth may in fact be encouraged by this improvement of road links in the area, creating new and damaging bottlenecks.

Power and water is also a concern. A recent article in the Times, ‘No power means no residents’, described how housing and regeneration projects are being jeopardised because of the failure of utility companies to keep up with demand. In the light of the proposed 90 or so houses at the Piggeries site, an activist in Great Waldingfield has been investigating the question of water supply and sewage in the area. Speaking to Anglian Water she has discovered real issues particularly in the area of sewage. The plant in Great Waldingfield which also serves Acton, Little Waldingfield and Newton, is already running to capacity. (If it hadn’t been for the U.S. forces in World War Two incidentally, it wouldn’t be there at all.)

Although measured development is healthy and essential, pressure from Central Government, adopting a ‘one size fits all’ and ‘plan and predict’ approach, seems to be resulting in a degree of development that many believe is running well ahead of the ability of the area to sustain it. At present I simply do not know to what extent Babergh District Council can resist further demands from the centre for more and more building, but I do know that if the area’s unique qualities are to be maintained an element of resistance is necessary!

Brief thoughts on the Budget, and a Russian Connection

I am absolutely astonished by Gordon Brown’s Budget. The Chancellor may or may not be like Stalin (pictured right in a fine poster from the 1930’s), although like the Great Leader he is likely shortly to be the only candidate in a leadership election!

Looking at the fine print now that the dust has settled it seems that Brown’s latest Budget has penalised the poorest taxpayers.

My work at Citizens Advice has taught me that the flawed Tax Credit system will not compensate many of those who will now be worse off. The take up rate of Tax Credits is a long way short of 100%, in part due to their complexity. In addition the rules are such that many, such as people under 25 without children, do not qualify.

Charities will also lose out since Gift Aid will now be worth less to them. This is also worrying at a time when the Olympics threaten to divert funds from many other causes.

In the late 1920’s Stalin triumphantly told a mass meeting ‘Life has become better! Life has become gayer!’ and it seems that he believed his own rhetoric despite a good deal of evidence to the contrary. The tone Gordon Brown’s triumphant announcement of 2 pence off income tax on Wednesday, which certainly fooled the Editor of the Sun, was equally deceptive.

Think Green? Vote Blue (and see red?)

We went to Edwardstone at lunchtime yesterday to see the official 'turning-on' of the wind turbine at the White Horse Pub. The turbine generates enough electricity for two houses, and will be part of a scheme aimed at running the business without any dependence on fossil fuels. The turbine is pictured right, with Carey Fraulo (prospective Conservative Candidate for Boxford) and family.

Small scale environmental schemes such as these must be a good thing, regardless of what you believe about man’s responsibility for global warming.

I like the turbine for three reasons:-

Firstly it must be right to conserve the earth’s finite resources. Using wind power certainly helps to do this, although I do have reservations about the economic viability of heavily subsidised large scale schemes, and misgivings about the appearance of turbines and associated pylons marching across some of the most beautiful parts of Britain. I can see no objections to small individual schemes such as this one however.

Secondly we do have to find ways of reducing dependency on oil and gas, which is not only growing scarcer, but is increasingly found in areas of dubious political stability such as Iran and Russia.

Thirdly, development of schemes such as this is good for British industry and exports. Because we have taken fossil fuel conservation seriously in Britain we are apparently among the world leaders in developing small scale generation schemes such as the one in place in Edwardstone.

Recycling of refuse is another way of conserving the earth’s scarce resources, and is also essential due to the problems of overfull landfill sites. Babergh has quite a good record in this respect, but the aim must be to recycle more if possible. It is also important to ensure that the waste is actually properly recycled when collected.

Controversy in this area lies ahead however. The government is to give Councils the right to charge for the removal of non-recyclable rubbish, and a ‘spy in the bin’ is threatened to make sure that we all put items in the appropriate place. I think that this latter idea could lead to quite a lot of anger and resentment. I am a believer in carrots rather than sticks where possible, and would prefer to see a scheme which promised rebates to good citizens rather than big-brother punishment for the careless (or busy!) ones.