Hawks in London

I am spending a couple of days in London this week doing some research for my next talk about Russia which I will be making in the summer at UEA and again at Gainsborough’s House in October.

Walking through St Paul’s Churchyard this morning I was very surprised to be confronted by a couple of Harris Hawks. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me and so have had to ‘google’ for a picture of one of these beautiful birds.

The hawks, one older male and a young female, were on pigeon scaring duty. Apparently they really do act as a deterrent against what many Londoners regard as rats in the sky. Their handlers are anxious to prevent them from actually attacking the pigeons however. Apparently the contents of a London pigeon’s gut does a hawk no good at all, and innocent passers-by do not much appreciate the spectacle of a kill!

Season tickets for Sudbury workers and residents to be considered

Those concerned about the introduction of charges for long stay parking in Sudbury and Hadleigh might take some comfort from an agreement that was reached at Thursday’s Council Meeting. A season ticket scheme for residents and/or workers will now be considered before the introduction of the scheme in October. Of course this might mean that less money is raised, but in fact getting funds into the council’s coffers electronically and in advance would be cheaper to administer than bulky cash collection.

It was further agreed to look into the question of Babergh’s own staff paying to park at Babergh’s offices in Hadleigh. While not wishing to appear to have made up my own mind on this issue, I do feel that people should bear in mind the sacrifices in salary and conditions that Babergh’s staff are already making and weigh this in the balance when thinking of imposing further penalties on them.

Many Councillors continue to be unhappy about charging for parking. However most realise that some charges are really unavoidable if the budget is to be balanced for 2010/11. The result was that at Thursday’s meeting many who have voted against such proposals in the past made quite moving speeches about why it is ‘different’ this time.

And indeed it is different!

Implications for councillors of not producing a balanced budget are very serious. We could all be sent home and the budget would then be set by officers, supervised by a Government Department. At worst, if deemed to be negligent, we could all be personally liable to pay financial surcharges.

It is unlikely that a team of bureaucrats from central Government would think twice about setting a much more draconian parking regime for Sudbury than the one that is currently in prospect!

Site visit in Acton

The Members of Babergh Development Committee certainly earn their corn!
On a very raw and miserable day, the Clerk to Acton Parish Council and I met the Committee which I had invited to take a look at the site of a proposed development on land behind no 6 High Street, Acton. This is just a little behind Bob’s Stores.
It was the fifth visit that the Committee had made that morning and the weather was awful. Some of them looked quite blue! But they were only five minutes behind schedule, and they paid absolute attention to the details of the case. The Chairman even moved a fence so that a better view could be obtained from a neighbouring property, and then, of course re-erected it again. This was, of course, with the permission of the householder!
I can’t think of anything worse than trying to do this sort of thing in the middle of winter on a regular basis. I was really impressed by the energy and diligence of the Committee and of course Planning Officer, Graham Chamberlain, who had to hold the plans steady in the biting wind!

Conservation news from George Millins

Our conservation correspondent, George Millins, has the following timely advice about frogs etc.

'By the middle of February the emergence from hibernation of amphibians and reptiles will be imminent. On emergence adult amphibians will make their way to their breeding pond, this may mean crossing a road which results in large numbers being killed. If you find numbers of amphibians crushed on the road please inform 'Amphibian and Reptile Conservation' formerly 'Froglife' on: 01733 558844 or email: enquiries@arc-trust.org If reasonable numbers are present, that section of road will be identified as an official crossing, and volunteers will be sought to help the amphibians across the road to their breeding pond. This initiative is very important and has doubtless saved many amphibian colonies from extinction.'

True grit

Due to the recent bad weather this week has been dominated by grit stories.

At Great Waldingfield Parish Council on Monday I was asked to see if something can be done to reinstate the triangle in the conservation area close to the church which has been virtually obliterated due to the ravages of snow and ice, grit and salt. I am happy to say that the County has come back very rapidly to say that these areas are of importance to them and that they will be coming out to see what can be done.

They offered to put a grit bin in place. However the Parish Council have decided to survey the village as a whole with a view to deciding the best places for such receptacles, which I believe they have to fund at least in part.

Today, at the West Babergh Safer Neighbourhood Priority Setting meeting in Lavenham we heard another grit related tale. A member of the public informed the meeting that piles of grit provided by the council for their village had been pillaged. It transpired that it had been carried off by an individual for his own use! I understand that this practice has been quite common in the bad weather. However, as the police pointed out, it is indeed a crime to make off with grit in this way. Perhaps one or two targetted prosecutions might get the message home that grit on the side of the road is not for private consumption!

One does hear quite interesting stories at these neighbourhood meetings. I am very pleased to say they are becoming more and more popular, with some 30 or so members of the public attending this morning to air their views, or just to listen.

The next Safer Neighbourhood Priority Setting meeting will be held in Glemsford on 26th February.

A race against time?

Just when you thought Babergh was swimming along into the future in comparative if inpecunious safety....Local Government Reorganisation rears its head above the waves!

Yes! It’s back. Last week chief executives of all the Suffolk councils received a letter from the Department for Communities in which ‘transitional arrangements’ for a unitary system are set out for consideration and comment. The Boundary Committee is due to report to the Minister, John Denham, on 19 January, and from the letter we learn that ‘ the Secretary of State, recognising the need to end uncertainty, intends to move forward as quickly as practicable’.

Thus it really does appear that the Government is determined to try to push reform through at the eleventh hour, although in what form remains very unclear.

Looking at the information received it seems that if there are to be two unitary councils in Suffolk, the division of Sudbury East and Great Waldingfield will probably have two councillors. If there is just one however the position is less clear.

This means that there might be some promise of political life for Mrs Antill after the death of the District...but it’s a decision to take when all becomes clearer I think.

Car Parking charges...the facts!

I was very disappointed in the quality of BBC Radio Suffolk’s coverage of Babergh’s proposal to introduce limited charging for car parking in Hadleigh and Sudbury.
It was not made clear that the idea is to introduce a charge of £1 50 per day for people staying more than three hours. People who park for less time, to go shopping for example, will still not have to pay.
Nick Ridley, Chairman of the Strategy Committee, speaking later, made this point well, but the initial impression given was very one sided.
It is clearly right to keep short term parking free for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is unfair to introduce such charges in the town centre when supermarket car parks continue to be free. Secondly Sudbury certainly needs all the help it can get to maintain the vibrancy of the town centre in competition with the larger centres such as Colchester and Bury. This will be true I think even when the recession is past.
As far as the proposed long term charges are concerned, while they are regrettable, I fear that they may be unavoidable. To raise the same amount of money by increasing Council Tax is simply not an option. This is only one proposal out of many that are being taken in order to bridge the funding gap the council faces. Every one of these proposals will be painful for someone.
A correspondent has raised the fact that the measures will be a problem for people who go to London overnight and cannot get back to put another sticker on their car. In fact the way things will work, I believe, is that they will have a three hour grace period the next day, but I am not sure of this.
This is just one of very many potential unintended consequences that will inevitably arise from the new charges. I hope that Babergh will have learnt from mistakes that were made when ticket machines were installed in the short term car parks last year, and react swiftly to address any problems.