Well I may be in Christmas mood but...

I know I just unveiled Christmas wishes but then I made the mistake of checking Inspector Gadget's blog to discover that one in five murders are committed by a person who is already bailed for other offences, read his article and follow this link to the Daily Telegraph for more information.

I am told that crime is falling......

A Happy Christmas to you!

In these times of trouble and challenge I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and I hope that 2009 works as well as it can for you.

For those who know and those who doubt, Santa is on his way, track his progress at this page.

Just what have we got ourselves into?

Well actually, Alastair and Gordo are doing stuff all by themselves, though our MP the Minister can be seen just behind Alastair when he made his prebudget speech there are a variety of video clips here and for those who would like to study the documents here.

For the moment we don't get to have a say but it seems likely that we will see a general election in 2009 before the new tax regimes really start to kick in in 2010. By which point it will be already to late.

Yes I mean you...
And me and every other tax payer and the Chancellor and his boss are going to get you to pay that back in coming years.

George Osborne has an alternate view about Darling's plans here.

An eventful 50 Days

29th September First full day of the Conservative party conference. A really good chance for us to get together and compare notes, catch up with old friends and see many of the parties key people.

But at the same time the economy was tightening up, in Yorkshire we were seeing the HBOS impact at Halifax, and the Bradford and Bingley and closer to home that one of the Castleford's employers Pioneer has announced its own plant closure in 2009.

There is clearly trouble ahead...



Jump forward 50 days. The British economy is facing huge challenges, left unprepared by our Labour Government who missed opportunities over ten years to fix our leaky economy, with its record borrowing and strange approaches to lending that have put many would be home owners into negative equity.

Clearly we are facing global tremors that have wiped away a number of major financial names. Whole countries have effectively faced bankruptcy and Iceland has gone beyond that into unknown territory.

Enter the Chancellor with his pre-budget statement. Well Andrew Allison sums things up nicely here.

And Tony Sharp quotes Derek Simpson, General Secretary of Union UNITE here.

The sad thing is that Alastair Darling seems to be setting things up for a flash election in Spring 2009 and a stream of new taxes in 2010.

You couldn't make it up part 1

Holidays over, life returns to normal August was a busy month for many including the Leader of the Council.

The Channel Four programme on the Castleford project was to run. The councils financial officers advised the cabinet that there was an apparent £1.6 million pound shortfall developing in the budget. Heavy rains had come back to our part of Yorkshire in July and a number of properties had been flooded for the second time in eighteen months. The council owned up to an aspirational target of cleaning and emptying gutters every twelve months which they do not seem to be meeting as they do not have sufficient vehicles/funds and there are ten times the amount of future jobs than funds. Royal Mail announced a further cluster of local Post Office closures across the district. Consultants returned an adverse report on his plan to build a community stadium in a local park and he wasted tens of thousands of pounds of tax payers money in the process.

Clearly he would need to do something.

So he went off on one in the Council chamber. Managed to get away without talking about any of those matters but using his monthly soapbox made fragmental quotes from a council colleagues blog and threatened to to remove him as a councillor and teacher. Then used his pet "answer the question challenge" which is always good for a laugh as the other person challenged gets shouted down or censured for trying to speak out of turn. Then threatened to put this on the front page of his in-house newspaper, using ratepayers money and to bring this issue back to every council meeting in future.

In doing so, suspended the council constitution,cut across an enquiry by the standards officer to see if said colleague had a case to answer. Used his group block vote to predispose and therefore disqualify the members of the Local Standards committee and in the process set up his own version of a kangaroo court and in turn proved himself to be an absolute disgrace.

Said leader walked up to me after a council meeting in my first year having gone of on one at me, he has previous as our friends in law enforcement say. "Geoff you should not take things so seriously its only politics....."

A colleague commented that if this person did this sort of thing in any other environment he would be disciplined so fast his feet would not touch. But it seems that because he has a block vote behind him he is Teflon coated or at least in the Council Chamber.

Well that block vote has shrunk every year thanks to an unforgiving electorate and it will be an absolute pleasure to see how he copes when roles are reversed. People keep telling me that they want to see the back of this lot and we need to work that through.

It will be interesting to see how he copes when he is no longer controlling group leader.

I am pleased to be back.

Holiday time but Royal Mail keep closing Post Offices

This was going to be a quick note to let you know that Having been demob happy for the last couple of days I will be taking a break (until the weekend). Well I am. But I also learned today that there are four more Local Post Offices targeted for closures in the WMDC district.

I have just listened to Jon Trickett MP for Hemsworth complaining about Royal Mail and their secret list for closures and the fact that there is insufficient time for consultation. He (Trickett that is) was another of our local MPs who voted down the proposal to freeze the closures and review the flawed consultation process on March 19th. He let his constituents down then and it will be interesting to see if he can save anything from that fiasco.

For the elderly, those members of the community who are disadvantaged and those with mobility issues he has his work cut out.

Walsh also has a hobby

For those with a good broadband connection and a decent size screen.

Shuttleworth 2008 Clip 1 from Steve Connor on Vimeo.


Here is the Shuttleworth collection in flight on Vimeo.

And if you were impressed by that have a look at some more of Steve Connor's clips.

So what do Councillors do then?

People sometimes ask "What its like to be a Councillor, is there much to do?" This list of meetings is from a busy time in 2007 / 2008. Looking back an eventful time for, since I opened the blog last year. For those of you who are regulars, thanks for sticking with me.

2008
* 28/5 7pm Pontefract Town Hall - Town Council for Pontefract?
* 23/5 WYFS Awards Evening - Leeds
* 19/5 Supporting Edward Timpson - Crewe & Nantwich
* 18/5 4pm Post Office Action Group Meeting
* 17/5 Save our Local Post Offices
* 15/5 11.30am WMDC Annual Meeting - County Hall Wakefield
* 12/5 7pm Carleton Park Tenants & Residents Association
* 12/5 1 pm Pontefract Town Centre Partnership
* 10/5 11am - 1pm Save our Local Post Offices, Market Place.
* 7/5 AGM 7pm Wakefield
* 3/5 Pontefract Conservative Club
* 2nd May 2008 - The Count, Thornes Park
* 1st May 2008 7am-10pm Local Elections Polling Day
* 29/4 Supporting Phil Thomas, Orchard Head
* 28/4 pm Save our Local Post Offices, Market Place.
* 26/4 pm Save our Local Post Offices, Market Place.
* 26/4 am PWAG Market Place, Pontefract
* 25 & 26/4 Diva Pontefract - Central Methodist Church
* 23/4 With Mark Crowther in Darrington
* 23/4 10am Local Economy Wakefield Town Hall
* 22/4 Supporting Richard Wakefield in Normanton
* 21/4 Supporting Phil Thomas in Pontefract North
* 21/4 10am Crime & Public Safety Wakefield Town Hall
* 20/4 Supporting Richard Wakefield in Normanton
* 19/4 Pontefract Music Festival Final evening
* 19/4 Supporting Mark Crowther and Phil Thomas
* 19/4 Collecting signatures SOLP Pontefact
* 18/4 William Hague Pontefract Conservative Club
* 18/4 Save our Local Post Offices
* 17/4 Local Election launch with David Cameron Dewsbury
* 16/4 2pm Full Council Wakefield
* 15/4 7pm Pontefract Civic Society AGM
* 14/4 7pm Carleton Park Residents Association
* 14/4 Supporting Mark Crowther in Baghill
* 13/4 Supporting Phil Thomas - Pontefract North
* 12/4 2pm Pontefract Music Festival
* 12/4 St Giles Art Exhibition
* 12/4 11.45am PWAG Pontefract Market Place
* 12/4 am Darrington with Mark Crowther
* 9/4 7.30pm Kings School - Pontefract
* 9/4 9.45am Danger Rangers - Pontefract Fire Station
* 31/3 - 1/5 A doorstep near you - Local Elections
* 29/3 Keep our Post Offices Open - Pontefract
* 28/3 4pm Transport Summit? Pontefract
* 28/3 1.30pm Live at Home Scheme Tea Dance - Pontefract
* 26/3 2 pm Citizenship Ceremony - Wakefield
* 21/3 Supporting Gordon Tennant
* 19/3 7pm Pontefract Community Partnership
* 19/3 6pm Pontefract Live at Home - Micklegate
* 19/3 2pm Full Council Wakefield
* 19/3 10am Neighbourhood Policing Seminar Wakefield Town Hall
* 18/3 10am Local Economy Wakefield Town Hall
* 17/3 10am Crime & Public Safety Wakefield Town Hall
* 13/3 Planning & Highways - County Hall
* 10/3 7pm Carleton Park Residents Association
* 10/3 1.30pm Town Centre Partnership - Pontefract Museum
* 9/3 Pontefract North supporting Phil Thomas
* 8/3 Churchbalk supporting Mark Crowther
* 8/3 ENERGY advice - Pontefract Market Place
* 6/3 Climate Control Seminar - Wakefield
* 4/3 Communities do it for themselves - Halifax
* 3/3 2 pm Council Meeting - Budget
* 28/2 Pre-Budget Meeting - Wakefield Town Hall
* 20/2 2 pm Citizenship Ceremony - Wakefield
* 20/2 10am Local Economy Wakefield Town Hall
* 18/2 10am Crime & Public Safety Wakefield Town Hall
* 17/2 Carleton Glen supporting Phil Thomas
* 13/2 2pm Full Council Wakefield
* 12/2 7pm Darrington Parish Council
* 9/2 Darrington supporting Mark Crowther
* 8/2 4 pm Results of Traffic Survey - Pontefract Town Hall
* 4/2 1.30pm Town Centre Partnership - Pontefract Museum
* 25/1 10 - 4pm WMDC Traffic Survey, Pontefract Town Hall
* 24/1 8pm Carleton Neighbourhood Watch
* 23/1 7pm Pontefract Community Partnership
* 23/1 10am Local Economy Wakefield Town Hall
* 16/1 2pm Full Council Wakefield
* 8/1 7pm Darrington Parish Council
* 7/1 Pontefract Town Centre Partnership
2007
* 19/12 10am Local Economy Wakefield Town Hall
* 17/12 Carol Concert Normanton
* 17/12 10am Crime & Public Safety Wakefield Town Hall
* 12/12 New Frontiers for Transformation, Manchester
* 4/12 Future Homes 07 - Balancing Supply and Demand
* 22/11 10am Local Economy Wakefield Town Hall
* 19/11 10am Crime & Public Safety Wakefield Town Hall
* 14/11 2pm Full Council Wakefield - Honour the Covenant
* 15/10 6.30pm Wakefield Speaks Normanton
* 13/10 8pm Pontefract Conservatives National Club of the Year Award

Fly the flag on Friday!

Having completed a three year term as Vice-Chairman of the Yorkshire Society I was delighted to hear about this, just in time for Yorkshire Day on Friday.

I will be celebrating all things Yorkshire at the gathering of civic heads which the Society has convened at Redcar. Some may scratch their heads when they look at a modern map, but the south bank of the tees denotes the northern most boundary of the Lord Lieutenancy of North Yorkshire so for tradition and ceremony the people of Redcar can own to be proud Yorkshire folk.

There are a variety of celebrations taking place on Friday. Enjoy!

Working to save your Local Post Office?

The Campaign Against Post Office Closures web site gave us a number of ideas based on other campaigns that helped when we worked with the Action Group for Hardwick Road in overturning the Royal Mail decision, one of only two in West Yorkshire to be reprieved.

Their website is down at the moment but if you search under post office closures you will find a variety of ideas. Or look at the background to our local campaign to keep open Hardwick Road Post office..

People of Upper Altofts meet their MP

Whilst I was delighted that Royal Mail acknowledged that their selection of the Hardwick Road Post Office in Pontefract was flawed and removed that branch from the closure programme 63 Post Offices in West Yorkshire were still targeted for closure.

The local Post Office at Upper Altofts is one such that has been serving the community for years but is now due to close.

The action group invited their local MP to the Lea Brigg Working Mens Club this evening to talk about options and I went along with Richard Wakefield and Richard Molloy to listen. In the event the MP was challenged about his part in the closure process and his voting record when he blocked the vote to suspend the closures and review the consultation process on the 19th March. This has been brought to the public's attention and many of the more than 100 people in attendance picked up on that theme and expressed their feelings and concerns.

In fairness to the MP this was always going to be difficult. It was made especially more so when he basically did a Post Offices cost a lot of money, people don't use them and people do not want to pay the taxes that it takes to keep them open.

He kept quoting the £1.75 billion subsidy that his government has promised to pay to keep the 10,000 survivors open after the the 2500 targetted do close.

I had decided to sit quietly as a guest but felt that he was using the sums to paint a difficult picture when in fact per capita contribution is about £3.75 per man, women and child each year to keep the existing network open. Or in my case one of the gallons of petrol that I buy each year pays my tax contribution to support local post offices for that year.

I made the point and was then announced/denounced by a fellow local but Labour councillor as the Deputy Leader of Conservatives on the Council and not a local to Altofts. This did not have the impact that he hoped for, I suspect he was hoping that people would see me as an enemy in some way intruding. Nope they did not see it that way at all. Their MP was the red faced one that was there to account for his actions or lack of them.

I made the point that regardless of location and politics I had been fighting to keep Post Offices open as a public service and sat down, I made my point and others picked it up. Subsequently a number of people present thanked me for coming along and putting my point of view.

Those there also knew that I was one of three leaders of local political groups who had signed the WMDC document contesting the closure and also thanked me for that action.

Ed Balls constituents will not have the opportunity to use their vote to show how they feel that he has treated them, he is bound for a safe Labour seat at Rothwell, however his wife is hoping to replace him as MP for Normanton,Pontefract and Castleford.

I think some of the folk there this evening have long memories. We shall see.

25th Safest Labour seat safe no more..

In a surge of voting, Glasgow East which on Wednesday was 25th safest Labour seat in the UK changed hands on Thursday. I reckon this will have sent a shiver through sitting Labour MPs around the UK.

I wonder how Ms Coopers day went,the new constituency of Normanton Pontefract and Castleford is reckoned to be the 40th safest Labour seat. But on the performance in Glasgow, anything goes.

Police on the Streets or Police Bureacracy?

The Home Secretary talks of reducing police paperwork.

Gadget has posted on this theme on a number of occasions. Problem is that somebody associates measurement with management and the Home Office see a paper and print opportunity.

Have a look at this to get a sense of the sort of workload that we are talking about.

Does Hardwick Road still have a Post Office? YES IT DOES!..Sadly 63 others are to close in West Yorkshire

Still open!

It was one of only two of the 63 proposed closures for West Yorkshire that are to remain open. Royal Mail have picked another two to close so that they meet the Governments target This link will take you to the Post Office decision.

But here is an extract:
"Post Office Ltd has decided not to proceed with the closure of the following branches:

Post Office ® Hardwick Road branch

The main concerns expressed by respondents in relation to our proposal to close Post Office® Hardwick Road branch related to public transport to and parking at the alternative branches.

Respondents also raised concerns in relation to the routes to the alterative branches, which were said to be hilly and potentially hazardous for people to walk. Respondents commented that Post Office® Hardwick Road branch was popular, had a good range of services, and had friendly, helpful staff.

A petition was submitted during the local public consultation, opposing the proposed closure and some responses were received as part of a number of campaigns opposing the closure.

Post Office Limited has considered all responses received during the local public consultation and a review of this proposal has been undertaken.

The nearest alternative branch, Post Office® Pontefract branch is 1.3 miles away. While a bus service does run into Pontefract the nearest alighting point for customers is a significant distance from the main Post Office® and would be likely to cause difficulties for relatively high numbers of elderly customers or disabled people.

Parking around Post Office® Pontefract branch is frequently problematic and customers from Post Office® Hardwick Road branch may find difficulties in accessing alternative Post Office® services. Also, given the outlying nature of Post Office® Ladybalk branch, and in light of the responses to the local public consultation, Post Office
Limited considered that very few customers from the Hardwick Road area would use this alternative branch.

Taking these and all the other relevant factors into account, including the needs of more vulnerable customers, Post Office Limited has decided not to proceed with the proposed closure of Post Office® Hardwick Road branch, which therefore will remain in the Post Office® network.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Great news for the people of Pontefract, but a blow to the 63 other West Yorkshire communities that depend upon their local Post Office Branch and to the other Branches that will be threatened in future closures.

Our MP is already being praised and quoted in the media as helping to win the fight to keep the Hardwick Road Post Office open but as she was one of the local NULabour MPs who voted that the closure programme should continue this is rich.

More about double standards in Parliament in future posts. I am tracking her voting record on a number of issues, MPs expenses just for one example and her record and that of her husband Ed Balls makes for interesting reading.

Does Hardwick Road still have a Post Office?

Royal Mail will issue their verdict about the future of Hardwick Road Post Office and the other 62 targeted for closure in West Yorkshire, tomorrow.

Hopefully the letters, petitions, arguments, comments, solid resistance from our community will have made an impact.

As Conservative Councillors, we have been criticised by our MP, the Minister for "politicking" in our fight for Hardwick Road Post Office, when we pointed out the flaws in the Governments closure programme and criticised her voting record on these and other Post Office closures (she voted for the closures to continue). We had over 2,500 people who signed our petition who did not agree with her government's actions on this closure programme and many who have since questioned her comments.

Anyhow I will report back when I know more on the outcome.

Wish us luck!

UPDATED: Have a look at the outcome here

Youth Knife Crime

Tom Reynold has brought his perspective to Jacqui Smiths plan to march offenders into hospitals so that they can see the end result of possession of knives.

His views make interesting reading as a paramedic out on the streets of London, he is more likely to come face to face with offenders and victims than our Home Secretary.

Please look HERE

Local Development Framework

In setting out how the council wishes to see the district grow Wakefield is going through the public part of its Local Development Framework consultation.

To quote "We are preparing the Site Specific Proposals Development Plan Document (DPD). The purpose of this document will be to provide a set of site allocations and proposals to meet the vision, objectives and development strategy of the Core Strategy. It will be inaccordance with the Regional Spatial Strategy which is called The Yorkshire & Humber Plan. The DPD will include land allocations to meet anticipated development needs relating to housing, employment and mixed use development. These proposals will replace equivalent allocations and designations in the saved Wakefield Metropolitan District Unitary Development Plan First Alteration."

This will create the space for future developments and the potential areas of challenge if the infrastructure of the area is not improved.

People who wish to know more can find the overview with specific examples and maps available HERE

If you find that your community is likely to be impacted or you have concerns that flow from this please get in touch and tell me about it.

In any case use the link to make representations to the WMDC planners by the 14th of August.

Welcome to Pontefract Liquorice Festival!

Well its that time of year again and today and tomorrow, Pontefract celebrates the national Liquorice Festival. Today at the Castle and tomorrow in the Market Place.

Well worth a look, I have just come back from watching a display by the Holderness Vikings who give a cracking recreation of our local Viking History, there will be a falconry display, knights and ladies and the craft market is great fun.

I also had chance to see the replanted Culpepper Herb Garden in the Castle Grounds visit the stall full of first rate local produce put on by local Swanhill based business Vegetable Patch and of course the opportunity to sample some of Tomlinsons Liquorice Stout.

Tomorrows event should be great fun. See you there?

Incidentally the Knottingley Carnival today is well worth a visit.

Brown's Green Car Tax will hit the poorest hardest

9 million people will find that they are paying more to tax their vehicles as a result of Gordon Browns last budget before becoming PM. It is the 10p tax band all over again and shows this government's contempt for real people and the challenges that they are facing in getting by.

There is an article here.

Another example of how this government is taking a quick tax grab from the pockets of many who can least afford it. For the poorest law abiding tax payers it will take money that would be used to service and keep safe their vehicles and will put people in danger as a result.

When you also factor in the state of the public transport system and lack of services this will loose some people their jobs.

Nice one Gordon? No I don't think so.

17,113 vote for David Davis and freedom.

To quote the Grauniad. "For all the mocking of his unusual gambit in calling the byelection, Davis managed to get out 17,113 supporters, in a poll of 34.5%, which was well above most predictions."

Again in the Guardian Iain Dale writes "Davis's detractors point to the fact that he only got 27% of the entire electorate to vote for him. They conveniently forget that at the last general election only 24% of the entire UK electorate voted Labour into power." Article here.

David Davis for Freedom

Spent part of yesterday at North Ferriby delivering leaflets for David Davis and spoke with Andrew Allison a member of the local campaign team. His blog makes interesting reading and he is also working on the Davis for Freedom Blog which is well worth a visit. Hoping to go over and help again later in the week. Thursday the 10th is looming.

Enjoy! I did

Phil Thomas rightly enthuses about the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain. I wonder if we could get them to come to next years Pontefract Music Festival?

Here is their rendition of the Ennio Morricone classic

David Davis and David Cameron

When David resigned on the 13th of June, he triggered a by-election so that he could put his concerns about this governments agenda of restrictive legislation that has been gradually changing the face of this country to that of another distant and unrecognised one.

His website is here and he is putting his views on record. Please visit and see what you think about a politician's principled stand.

In supporting David Davis, David Cameron has been in the area talking with people. Today 1st July he is at Selby with an audience of about 300 members of the public, a webcast can be found here.

A Town Council for Pontefract?

In 1974 the Borough Council was subsumed by a local government re-organisation which created WMDC.

I went to a public meeting in the Nelson Room at the Town Hall this evening where a group of people of good standing in the community are looking to bring in a Town Council under the Parish Council Rules.

I want to understand their motives and plans so listened with interest to their outline.

One thing that concerned me was that whilst they are high on the ceremonial benefits of forming and the civic pride that they will generate, over half of the budget of £327,000 pa appeared to be dedicated to administration. The other services proposed broadly depend upon the District Councils consent and ratepayers face a double charge through a precept for some of these items. (This power to impose an additional tax currently is unlimited and whilst it was pointed out that the Secretary of State has powers to cap an overspending Parish/Town Council, this has not been done since the power was enacted in the 1970s.

Also they were making a big point about the rights of consultation that they will have. Consultation is hugely important, but there are a number of other bodies that get consulted already when there are issues that can impact Pontefract. Most of the people involved are already active consultees because of that, so I am puzzled.

If this group are to succeed then they will need to gain over 2,500 signatures from registered electors in the Town so that a referendum may run, but when they explain that they will be levying an extra charge on local Council Tax payers, I suspect that this will be quite a challenge. We shall see.

UPDATE: I am hearing reports of people collecting signatures telling members of the public that it will not cost them anything. Either they have not been briefed properly and do not understand what they are doing or they find it difficult to explain what is going on.

Nearly there...

On the 15th of July we will learn how effective the consultation, with questions, concerns, arguments and thousands of representations have been to keep our local Post Office at Hardwick Road open. Our MP feels that the Conservative Councillors in Pontefract in pushing to keep Hardwick Road Post Office open are playing politics and has used the local paper to vent.

Well, we clearly have a different view to hers. The instruction from her political masters in this Labour Government telling Royal Mail to close 2500 post office branches within rigid timeframes has lead to a number of the decisions being contested. The six weeks given for consultation is seen by many including many Labour MPs as a flawed exercise, we sincerely hope that Royal Mail take consultation process seriously.

For the record Ms Cooper had an opportunity to do something about this but she chose not to. There was a vote in Parliament on the 19th March to suspend closures and to review the consultation process, this in the light of concerns about the way that consultations had been managed in the initial batch of closures already in process.


The Government defeated the motion to suspend by only 20 votes. Our 4 local Labour MP's backed the Government, and sacrificed their constituents in the process, it should be said that the public record is clear and that a number of Labour MPs took a more principled stand and voted to support constituents concerns.

So Ms Cooper criticises us for questioning her commitment to constituents over her responsibilities to the Brown NuLabour government and based on the comments from many that I have met they feel let down by her.

We appear to be seeing on her part a repeat of public declarations of concern and undertakings to lobby which residents across the area received linked to former Post Office Branches in Chequerfield, Ferrybridge and Castleford in previous years.

Saying one thing and doing another is a common political tactic which her government has deployed all too regularly over the last eleven years, I hope that she will really give this her best effort.

Just as the public will judge us by our actions, so should she be judged.

Full Council Meeting 18th June

Should be an interesting day. For the first time the leader of the council will be facing potentially an equal number of opposition Councillors, the Labour Mayor will have a casting vote but who would have thought that we would have closed the gap to this degree for the first time in 34 years of Labour control the times they are a changing.

As deputy leader of the Conservative Group I will lead the opposition.

UPDATE:

Positive session, broad consensus on Post Office closures and an acceptance that transport and highways should be incorporated into future masterplanning exercises.

You may wonder why not previously, probably because they could get away with it.

Interesting thing, the Labour Group had a maximum effort and all 32 Labour members were present. They will have to keep on their toes over coming sessions.

Do principles still have a place in politics?

Gordon won his 42 day vote by all accounts leaving a number of his members behind him.

Now David Davis is seeking a by-election to shine more light on this and other civil liberties issues that NuLabour are trying to rig.

What do you think? Personally I would back David all the way on this one.

ID Cards - MPs question Governments Motives

The multibillion-pound identity card scheme could be used to carry out surveillance on millions of people, a Commons select committee said yesterday.

Now I realise that this is not Zimbabwe and we are never likely to face a vote for this government or starve ultimatum but when the British Government wants such broad powers to track and control our data and aspects of our lives this starts to become a different sort of sinister.

I meet people who tell me that this is really not a problem if you have done no wrong. But surely this depends upon the way those in power use your personal information.

Darringfield - an update

As mentioned in earlier posts, a study was commissioned by Leeds City Region Leaders seeking a suitable site for an 'eco' town.

It emerged 3 weeks ago, that 4 sites had been identified - all in Selby District.

Those 4 are at Burn, Church Fenton, Gascoigne Wood and the ‘Willow Green’ site at Eggborough/Kellington.

On the face of it Darringfield whilst no longer mentioned has still not been ruled out by the DCLG.

There is likely to be an announcement in the next week or so which location in Selby District is to be pushed as the preffered option. At that point whilst we may seem to be off the hook, there start a host of new challenges and I believe that our neighbours in Selby District will need our support.

A new community parachuted in without sufficient thought given to infrastructure will still potentially overload our existing stretched road and infrastructure network.

More information as it becomes available.

ID Cards? UK Government does not do big IT Schemes

When I heard about the Governments plans to introduce ID cards linked to a secure storage of our personal data I was horrified, partly because of the governments reputation for fumbling and mismanaging big IT schemeshere is an example of what I meant.

Gordon Giveth and Taketh Away

Came across this from Newark Air Museum who are pulling their hair out after being instructed to repay thousands of pounds of Gift Aid receipts to the taxman because of new interpretations by HMRC.

I know some of the folk who sample my blog come from community groups and organisations who seek to claim Gift Aid on donations, entrance fees and gifts purchased. For those of you that are involved in this sort of legitimate fund-raising activity please have a look.

Post Office Closure Plans update

Hardwick Road has an action group who are working to make the case to overturn Royal Mail's decision to close what is one of the busiest Post Offices of its kind in West Yorkshire. Other local Post Offices have been drawing support, but the clock keeps ticking.

I have said in previous posts how a six week consultation is precious little time to come up with a response and people are feeling pressured but defiant.

Crewe & Nantwich on the doorstep..

I spent the day in Crewe & Nantwich on Monday, out and about on the doorstep supporting Edward Timpson. In recent posts about the local elections here in Yorkshire I have talked about my experiences of meeting people who may have traditionally voted Labour coming out with "got to get rid of this lot" leading to the surge that dismissed a number of long term local Labour stalwarts.

Same held true in Cheshire on Monday. True there are a lot of Dunwoody posters displayed in windows around the Town Centre but there are matching responses from the many people rooting for Edward who is a really great local candidate.

Factor in the Tory Toff hypocrisy from Labour criticising our candidates background which really rankled with a lot of the people that I met, the 10p issue, rising fuel and food costs, this governments dithering and Gordo the magnificent, then Crewe on the 22nd of May will be an interesting place.

Tomorrow is one of those weather vane moments, I think I will be staying up late tomorrow night.

UPDATE: Well what a result for Edward and the people of Crewe and Nantwich and the repercussions go on and on!

Friends of Hardwick Road Post Office

At the meeting we had upwards of 100+ people who turned up to look at how they can help, there are more arriving each day and the community is committed to working to rebut this crazy proposal.

Day of Action Saturday 17th May Keep our Local Post Offices Open

Both Phil Thomas and myself will be in Pontefract from 11.00 until 12.30 collecting signatures. We will be using these as part of the message to the Post Office to keep Hardwick Road Post Office, a viable and busy post office serving 13,000 people on the South side of Pontefract and the outlying areas of East Hardwick, Darrington, Wentbridge and the Smeatons.

There will be a meeting at the Guide Hut on Carleton Park Road at 4pm on Sunday to explore follow on actions.

Communities against Post Office Closures

Just identified this group who have a very helpful resources page the CAPOC website is here.

Crewe & Nantwich and the 10p turnaround..

In March last year when Gordon Brown as Chancellor announced the change from 22p to 20p as a tax base rate he did it for effect and to get a Labour cheer in the Commons.

He also set up a bed of nails for the new Chancellor Alistair Darling and set up future despair for many elderly and lower income workers by taking out the 10p entry band.

At the local elections I heard a number of people saying that they thought Labour was the party for the elderly and lower paid, but not any more.

Now Labour are trying to close the door after the horse has bolted in a vain attempt to get people on side before next Thursday's Election in Crewe and Nantwich.

The BBC have been talking to people in Crewe it makes fascinating viewing here.

Post Office Closure Programme Arrives in Pontefract

There are nine local post offices listed for closure in this part of the world was the announcement today, one each for Pontefract and Castleford and four for Normanton with three others around Wakefield district.

We have until the 23rd of June for consultations, but on the document that the Post Office is issuing to users of the Hardwick Road Branch right up front it says:

"The Government has decided that up to 2500 Post Office branches across the UK will close.

This local public consultation will not change the Government decision........."

Something we really must thank our local MPs for. There was a vote in Parliament on the 19th March to suspend closures and to review the consultation process, the Government defeated the motion to suspend by only 20 votes our 4 local Labour MP's backed the Government, and sacrificed their constituents in the process.

Despite the tone of the closure letter we must contest this. Certainly the Hardwick Road Branch is a busy vibrant and viable Post Office and the logic for closure is crazy. The fact that there is a Crown Post Office in the Town Centre 1.3 miles away might as well be on the moon for some of the more elederly and less mobile customers. In fact there is a 450 yard walk from the nearest bus stop to the Crown Post Office on Ropergate and it is not exactly a pleasure coping with the queues that form there already.

The sad thing is because of the Government target, if we can make the case to keep open Hardwick Road, another part of the community will suffer.

This is a cynical divide and conquer process, with others breathing a sigh of relief, thing is whilst this is a large programme it certainly seems like there are more planned.

If you want to look at the Royal Mail West Yorkshire Closures Document I have linked to it here, you will need to scroll down towards the bottom of the page.

Action Day 10th May Keep Our Local Post Offices Open

Collecting more signatures in Pontefract today, will be in the Market Place from 11am through till 1pm.

Colleagues in other parts of the district will be out and about also.

If you are about and you have not signed yet, please take the opportunity to do so.

Alternatively, download a copy and collect signatures to help us.

Law and Disorder Part 2

More fog, fudge and deception here, again thanks to Inspector Gadget.

Law and Disorder

Gadget highlights a problem that is all too common in communities around the UK, his article is here.

Government interference by sentencing guidelines, pleas by Ministers not to imprison, inaction and attempted slight of hand is eroding our society and the safety of law abiding citizens.

WYP plans to close the police station in Pontefract and in the process threatens the viability of the Magistrates court by removing local holding facilities.

By removing that option they are also increasing the likelihood of reoffending by many of those who give no regard for others.

Whilst this goes on there are civil servants tasked with arranging to support the fallacy that people are imagining crime and by police officers tasked with correcting and reclassifying crimes away to meet government targets and using alternate charges to make the governments flawed 2003 licencing Act and its impact on the "night time economy" look less stupid.

Moving Pontefract Forward

Following the local elections last Thursday and the groundswell of support that now gives us four out of six local councillors, we should be able to get answers to some difficult questions.

Pontefract is a historic market town, built around the remains of the once key centre for law and government in this part of the North. A former military garrison town, centre of administration for the Osgoldcross Wapentake.

We have three railway stations, a racecourse and a royal charter going back to 1197. The location of a historic Royal Castle the remains of which still draw thousands of visitors a year exploring a history that includes civil war sieges and the death of Richard II.

There is a healthy pyramid of Junior and secondary schools topped by Carleton Community High School and the Kings School and New College a first rate Sixth Form college that draws young people continuing in education from across the district. We have vibrant community groups, positive community involvement by faith groups and charities, historic re-enactments,a thriving Music Festival that has been running since 1903. The Pontefract Liquorice Festival which is acknowledged as a national annual event drawing visitors from across the country. One of the best pantomime societies in the country in the St Giles and St Marys Panto society, great bands and choral societies and a score of other accomplishments and claims to fame. An absolutely superb art nouveau museum and a recently refurbished Town Hall with assembly rooms and the Nelson Room

When WMDC was brought into existence in 1974 public administration centred on Wakefield, many of the Municipal Boroughs across the West Riding of Yorkshire were subsumed and there was and still is a public belief that with the influence went the money.

For many, Pontefract has been on a downward trend ever since. Current plans to close the police station and centralise policing to a new location in Normanton, despite talk of leaving an undefined presence fill people with dismay and our law courts future in jeopardy. Our MP's set up a Health Authority which planned to close the publicly subscribed 450 bed Pontefract General Infirmary and the smaller 110 bed"Cottage Hospital" which is due to replace it in 2010 will not take account of the huge growth of population planned for the area.

There are other problems which many other communities face, threats to local post offices as part of the governments 2500 closure programme, low level crime and some violent disorder linked to the Labour Governments 2003 Licensing Act, problems within our "Night Time Economy", huge associated cost to ratepayers by littering and poor refuse collection in the Town Centre.

A chewing gum problem - You can cross the market place without touching the floor by stepping from one blob or cluster of dried chewing gum to another, which is currently receiving attention but the £25,000 budget allocated is unlikely to clear the surface, never mind scratch it.

We have some great shops national and local and a vibrant indoor market, good eateries, some very interesting pubs and some scary ones, we also have some empty shop fronts, opportunities for some if only we can improve footfall. We probably have more phone shops than most places and the good hearts of people mean that we have a full spread of charity shops.

We have historic buildings great architecture and the odd monstrosity, fascinating Medieval Ginnels and a huge traffic problem which many people see as inflicted by WMDC traffic engineers at Town End (they deny that but have so far done little to resolve it)..can we have our roundabout back please?

Again on the plus side we have a genuinely exciting and innovative masterplan to make much of our history and engineer out some of the 60s and 70s developments and replace them with more interesting and effective solutions (which still does not take account of our traffic problems).

How do we move forward? Well that is the big challenge that we need to address,

There are some great organisations engaged in youth activities, but there are many young people who do not engage with them or find the things that they want to see.

Some peoples poor personal standards have passed down generations and the associated costs of littering, graffiti and criminal damage are then passed on to the law abiding.

We need to get things back under control, we need to identify our local priorities and resolutely address them, so that the people of Pontefract can enjoy it and we can have a period of strengthening and refocussing the town as a good place to live in, to grow a family in, to visit, to spend money in, to respect to be proud of.

There has been talk recently of a Town Council, but looking at the other local towns that have gone down this route, it only seems to add a further costs to the people who live here, there are clearly some potential positives but in many cases it has exposed populations to an unlimited liability, if you would, an open cheque book which adds a precept to an already overinflated council tax bill and will take more money from your pockets for an uncertain result.

Short term: We need to fight to protect our local post offices which also serve the elderly, vulnerable and those with limited mobility, improve policing as necessary to reduce the disorder. Educate people about the costs of cleaning up after those that choose to litter or otherwise damage our environment, who are effectively causing the spending of money which we can use elsewhere, or improve our local facilities.

Support local events, societies and community groups, on positive programmes that improve our quality of like.

Put a brake, on unrestrained development without correspondingly improved transport infrastructure and services, fight some of the crop of loopy schemes that will just serve to make our area a grimmer place to live.

Support local renewable energy projects such as the improvements at Ferrybridge by Scottish but oppose the plethora of emerging industrial wind farm applications that are just too close to peoples homes and present real health concerns for many.

On we go..

Friday was a really great day and spending time in Pontefract yesterday was an absolute pleasure. The number of folk I met who were really delighted by the progress that we made was very heartening. We now need to get on with the job of proving at least locally that we are worth the trust that people have put in us.

London Mayor Result

Boris has done it!

Interview here

Significant Shift

At the start of the day the Wakefield Labour Group comprised 40 members at the end of today they had only 32. The opposition group comprised 22 and now there are 31, 23 of which are Conservatives.

Close but no cigar. The Labour Block vote will still push things through, probably the new Labour Mayor will have to use their casting vote to get things done that we are not in agreement with. However keeping track of who is around for votes suddenly becomes a new challenge for them, made a bit more difficult because of the loss of the Labour Chief Whip. The next chance to change that will be in 2010 or possibly earlier if we get any Labour seats coming up for a by-election.

But for these last hectic days congratulations to Mark Crowther and Phil Thomas who bring the number of Conservative Councillors in Pontefract to four for the first time in 34 years. Also to Richard Molloy who the electorate of Ackworth voted in and the current WMDC Mayor was voted out in the process.

Welcome to Conservatives: Susan Lodge in Crofton, Ryhill and Walton, Graham Jesty in Horbury and South Ossett, Terry Brown in Ossett and Simon Wilson in Stanley and Outwood East.

Not forgetting new colleagues John Colley in Wakefield Rural Ward and Annemarie Glover in Wrenthorpe and Outwood West.

Commiserations to Richard Wakefield, Gordon Tennant, Mellissa Wan,Tom Dixon, Eamonn Mullins and Graham Ridler. Hard and well fought campaigns in each and every case.

Also whilst this may start to seem like an Oscar ceremony speech, heres to the teams of people and the individuals who went out in all weathers to deliver electoral messages and leaflets, you know who you are, wonderfully done, thank you one and all.

For a number of former members of the Labour Group it stops here, some will be missed certainly more than others and the Leader of the Council that the Labour Group Elect at their meeting on Saturday Morning will have to really shuffle things about to replace the lost talent.

On the national scene things are changing and even in this part of the country once very much a Labour Rump we have fresh options to consider and stuff to do.

The results can be found here and here at the Wakefield Express.

Further thanks to all who got involved in this democratic process, the electoral staff who patiently sat for 14 hours at the polling stations to see that people were correctly logged in and got to vote, to the counting Agents and the staff at Thornes Park who hosted the actual count itself and for the people of the district who sent off their postal ballots or walked to their polling stations including the many who went out for the first time and voted.

Finally perhaps a thank you that may not be well received, for Gordon Brown and our local MP's who have so focussed on Gordon's needs and forgotten the needs of their electorate in the process.

Results of a hard fought campaign

Folks,

We will shortly know how things have gone. Whatever the news today the results will have come from determined local effort giving people real alternatives.

Amongst many other positives, one big one is the number of people in polling stations asking advice from officers about the mechanics of voting, many coming out for the first time, because they have had an alternative to "this lot".

Well done one and all!

Geoff

I will be putting up some definitive results later, but I am just getting ready to go and witness the WMDC count at Thornes Park Sports Centre, I suspect many will be keeping track of how Boris does today, in my case I want to see how our candidates old and new have done.

Time to decide

Well tomorrow will be interesting, an uncertain time for many who have said that having voted Labour all their lives they are considering voting our way. Difficult for people who have often been brought up being told that Labour is the party of working people.

There have been some really positive things that Labour administrations have pushed through or fought for in the past. Not these people, not this time, New Labour programme after programme has been spun for effect, but this government seems to care less and less about those that have been its traditional supporters.

Last week I heard something that people have been saying to me off and on over recent years, "my grandparents voted Labour, my parents voted Labour, I have always voted Labour, but none of them would recognise this lot". Time for a change then.

So here is the decision that needs making if you have traditionally voted labour but are seeing the damage that this government is doing to you and yours.

Will you vote Conservative and see what we can do? In this democratic process you have the control, you vote and watch for results, if you are not happy take your vote elsewhere next time. That keeps politicians on their toes. The traditional tribal vote is a cop out, let the democratic process work for you.

In these parts vote Mark Crowther for Pontefract South, Phil Thomas for Pontefract North, Richard Wakefield for Normanton, Gordon Tennant for Altofts and Whitwood, Mellissa Wan for Airedale and Ferry Fryston, Tom Dixon for Knottingley, Eamonn Mullins for Castleford Central and Glasshoughton and Richard Molloy for Ackworth.

Send a nice clear message and let us do a job of work for you.

Polls are open from 7am to 10pm, take your polling card or other id to the Polling Station.

And here is an election day message from David Cameron just for you.

List of Wakefield MDC Polling Stations here.

One day more

Yesterday, Monday was another chance to add to the growing number of signatures to keep our local post offices open. I spent the bulk of the afternoon in the Market Place.

Really positive afternoon, many people sharing this commitment to support post offices in the district. Including a full spread of people from students at New College, through pensioners and all in between, including a small group of chuggers who visited the town and hoped for some pickings.

Having taken time off from elections to gather signatures, I resumed campaigning and joined Phil Thomas whilst we delivered leaflets around the Monk Hill estate. This traditionally has been a strong source of votes for the sitting Labour Councillor that Phil is up against and whilst there were a number of vote Labour Posters in some parts of the estate, even in that situation we were well received. Some people indicating that whilst they had a poster they may not go out and vote. Tomorrow, Wednesday is the last day of the campaign before Polling Day on May the 1st, then we will see who has done what.

The strange thing is that having voted there is a further period of limbo, because in this part of West Yorkshire the count is held over until Friday. Whatever happens is likely to be ignored as the pundits dwell on the London Mayoralty which also returns on Friday.

The fact that there will not be a national spotlight on this part of the West Riding is immaterial. It is the chance that our districts have for a fresh start that really counts. So here's hoping.

A Day of Action Part 2

Well it started with me bumping into the chairman of a local tenants and residents association on the 184 from Castleford to Pontefract (Story all on its own) and comparing notes about a UK Coal plan to build 900+ new homes on the site of the former Prince of Wales Colliery and the possibilities of a community centre.

Bought two paintings at the DIVA Art exhibition at Pontefract Central Methodist, which was opened by David Ward the editor of one of the local papers, comparing notes on how it may be possible to help more people realise how much arts and craft activity there is across the five towns. The associated photograph taken as David declared the exhibition open may be a little bit edited as there is currently a period of purdah leading up to the election on Thursday when the paper comes out and people go out to vote, a policy not to give any group political advantage. On the subject of the election we both commented that things are looking interesting. In my case that was based on the number of people that I have met that are talking of coming out to vote and not voting for "that lot", not sure David's take but I think his team are also picking up vibes in what is a quite traditional Labour Area.

On to the Market Place to be joined by Trevor at the PWAG market stall, Trevor is one of the local Labour Councillors who is up for re-election on Thursday and who is therefore considering his future just now.

We have both resolutely opposed the ridiculous proposal that has been tabled for 6 industrial wind generators on Went Edge and we spent time yesterday showing our support. There were further photographs taken for another local paper which comes out on Friday and purdah will not apply. Trevor then moved on to resume his campaigning to save his seat.

Mark Crowther a colleague, our candidate and Trevor's opponent then joined the group at the stall. Mark is equally committed to opposing the wind farm application a fact which people seem to really appreciate. We stopped until just after three then I went on to collect more save our local Post Office signatures until the market wound down.

Throughout which I heard a significant amount of "that lot" comments, it also transpired that the local MP Yvette Cooper (even now as a Brownite Minister the Blairs Babe label seems to stick, link that with a public local disgust at parliamentary expenses and second homes, the fact that she is Ed Balls partner and was parachuted in to replace a well respected and hard working MP, her pathetic defence on Newsnight of the 10p tax rate cut , her upholding the government decision to close local post offices, HIPS and a host of other things including the demolition of our hospital to arrange a smaller one, I really would not like her on my side if my seat was in jeopardy RANT OVER) was out campaigning on behalf of the Labour Councillors in jeopardy. Very pleased that she is doing that as she is seen by many as part of the problem and not the solution.

As the day wore on I got a series of calls from colleagues in other parts of the district and "that lot" comments are quite general and growing, lets hope people turn that energy into a strong voting message.

The Pontefract North Ward is being contested by Phil Thomas and he has been updating his experiences on his blog as he goes along, he stood in 2007 and worked really hard to support local people on a number of issues, this has meant that the number of people that recognise him and have offered support has really grown this year. Even so he has pretty much walked up every drive, posted leaflets through letter boxes and spoken with people across the Ward. With Yvette's help for his opponent I predict very interesting results at the count next Friday.

Finished the day at the concert by The Castleford Choral Society and the Gawthorpe Brass Band. Brilliant!

A Day of Action..In Pontefract 26/4

This Saturday looks to be one of the hectic ones. The Pontefract Wind Farm Action Group are holding an information session at Pontefract Market on the 26th.

The South Pontefract Wind Farm is widely acknowledged as just too close to peoples homes and lives and myself and Trevor our local Labour Councillor declared common cause back in 2007 to oppose the development. Now you will know that the 1st of May is local election time and traditionally we should be making our seperate cases and delivering election addresses, but for the bulk of Saturday morning Trevor and I will be manning the PWAG stand to support our community in resisting what is a Central Government approved initiative.

Later in the day I will be collecting more signatures and support to be able to oppose local post office closures. Phil Thomas and Mark Crowther will be around and we hope to add to the growing list of people who want to support the elderly and vulnerable threatened by these closures.

See you their? If so say hello.

Diva comes to Pontefract

Great evening at the Central Methodist Church on Newgate this evening with about 150 other folks for two local groups to entertain us as part of a weekend of performances.

This evening it was an excellant performance by the Castleford Male Voice Choir, with a break to preview an arts and crafts exhibition that opens at 10am tomorrow (might take the Walsh cheque book), followed by a great band performance from the Knottingley Concert Brass Band.

Diva is a Wakefield based organisation to promote the arts in the district and this evening they did a first rate job. The venue was great as well, fantastic acoustics added to the enjoyment of great performers.

Tomorrow we have Castleford Choral Society and the Gawthorpe 85 Band same place at 7.30pm, I hope to be there.

This has rounded off a day of first rate performances, there has been a series of organ recitals each Friday at 1pm at St Giles in Pontefract, todays performance was by Paul Dewhurst the Director of Music at St Giles and was brilliant. The Organ has been undergoing a process of improvements over recent years and the process is gradually coming to a conclusion.

If you can visit St Giles in Pontefract on a Friday lunchtime you could be in for a great experience.

Why Gordon axed the 10p Tax Band?

A very interesting idea as to why Gordo the magnificent may have chopped the 10p tax band appears on Critical Faculty Dojo Blog , or follow the link at the top of my second links section.

More than 300 page views in ten days

Well the front path up to my blog seems to be getting quite busy.

Not exactly the sort of volumes that people like Inspector Gadget get but I am delighted at the number of visits that I am getting from a variety of sources.

Even more pleasing although I do not have drill down detail, more than half the visitors went on to do it again. So welcome back, you know who you are.

The most popular items over recent days in order seem to have been: http://geoffwalsh.blogspot.com/2008/04/no2id-campaign-for-freedoms-worth.html
http://geoffwalsh.blogspot.com/2008/04/keep-our-local-post-offices-open-update.html
http://geoffwalsh.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-smaller-pontefract-general.html

Also if this is your first visit please have a look at the links that interest you.

Thank you from the management

St Georges Day

Pleasantly surprising how many people in Pontefract are flying the Flag of St George today.

Pontefract Music Festival - Final Gala evening

Saturday night. The Mayor and Mayoress of Wakefield were in town, the Mayoral Audi was parked outside Pontefract Town Hall, the Mayoress was wearing the Pontefract Chain and the Assembly Rooms were full of participants, friends and family and a number of local enthusiasts of spoken word, song and music and the committee members who make the festival happen, for the final Gala Evening.

Really great night was had by all including Walsh who was even given a flower at the back end of the evening. This evening was the culmination of a weeks festival giving winners of classes in the festival to perform and in some cases to receive additional awards.

The Festival has gone from strength to strength since 1903. Roll on 2009!

Now looking forward to DIVA next weekend and the Pontefract Liquorice Festival in the Summer, watch this space.

Time to paddle your own canoe

A big slice of our lives and freedoms depend upon the Government of the day. Never so true as now.

At a local WMDC level, once each year, in three out of every four years, people across the district get the chance to steer the canoe, setting a direction for the council.

They can choose to do something with their vote or do nothing. On May 1st in our part of the world, people that have had enough of 30 years of Labour controlled local government can help change things for the better.

Do something or do nothing, if people do not go out and vote it is pointless complaining that things never change. Some people use their local election vote as a way of telling government that they need to behave and this year I think many see that as an additional reason for visiting the polling station.

If you are thinking about local and national situations you may be interested in hearing a Q&A session that the Yorkshire Post set up with a panel of 60 readers from across Yorkshire and David Cameron last Thursday April the 17th 2008.
David Cameron 60 against 1 follow this link or use the one in the second links menu on the right.

Colleagues tell the tale of a candidate who got within 10 votes of electoral success only to fail at the recount.

Over the next few weeks he counted at least 40 people who came up to him and said "If I had known it was going to be that close, I would have come out and voted for you".

On May the 1st pick up the paddle and use it.

Make the democratic process work for you.

Keep our Local Post Offices Open and a VIP visit!

Had the privilege to be joined whilst out collecting signatures for the petition to keep our post offices open today by William Hague, Shadow Foreign Secretary and real gent.

William visited Pontefract and met members of the public out and about and also visited a local post office to find out more about the situation in our part of Yorkshire.

At the moment the Post Office is sitting on a list of branches for closure and will keep that quiet until the 13th of May, having been persuaded to do so by the Government to wait until after the May 1st Local Government Elections.

Whilst with us William met candidates: Mark Crowther (Pontefract South), Phil Thomas (Pontefract North), Richard Wakefield (Normanton), Gordon Tennant (Altofts and Whitwood), Tom Dixon (Knottingley), Richard Molloy (Ackworth) and Eamonn Mullins (Castleford & Glasshoughton). We finished by William addressing the Chairman, Committee and an enthusiastic group of Club Members at Pontefract Conservative Club, National Club of the Year, whose committee and members have been great supporters of our campaigns to grow the number of Conservative Councillors on WMDC. He was very well received and the visit was a great success.

UPDATE
Having spent time in the market place in Pontefract today Saturday, again hugely impressed and thankful for all those members of the public who signed up to the petition. Several times had people queuing up to sign.

This included a number of people visiting from other parts of the country who have already lost their own post offices and did not want to see us losing ours.

Thank you one and all.

NO2ID A campaign for freedoms worth supporting

Went along to an informal group meeting this evening where I started to receive background information about the NO2ID campaign, a single issue group to raise public awareness of the governments proposals for "identity cards" which are not just about the need for people to carry a card to prove their identity, but also about the National Identity Register (NIR) a register of the entire UK population that will include 50 categories of "registerable fact" on everyone in the country.

The NIR will potentially be the key to the total life history of everyone, retained on file for ever.

I have a number of concerns. UK Government does not do major IT schemes with any degree of success. Data disks,laptops and personal data go missing all the time, corrupt officials give people access to police and DVLC records and for those who say that if you have not done anything wrong you have nothing to worry about, I ask you this, if somebody blags your identity by access to the NIR how do you re-establish it?

Other simple things include the time taken when you will have to attend an interrogation centre to prove your identity. These centres already exist and are currently used for personal interviews for passports.

Then there are the Billions of pounds of tax money that will go in set up costs and the estimated £93.00 that each and every one of us will find so that we can be processed.

Why does our government wish us to go through this process? Well it was a Labour manifesto commitment in the 2005 General Election allegedly to protect us from terrorism (although the reasons that the Home Office give keep shifting).

NO2ID are campaigning against the 'database state' which is what they call the tendency to try to use computers to manage society by watching people. There are many interlocking government plans that do this. Together they mean officials poking into your private life more than ever before.

Personal freedom is worth fighting for.

Look at the right hand column of links to the Youtube video or visit the NO2ID website and make a start.

The NEW smaller Pontefract General Infirmary...

In 1839 by public subscription a medical service and dispensary commenced off Southgate in Pontefract, over the years it went from strength to strength, all along being funded by subscriptions and donations from the people and businesses of Pontefract and the surrounding district. Like many hospitals and infirmaries across the country it transferred to become part of the National Health Service in 1948.

It went from strength to strength and was something that the people of the five towns depended on at birth, through illness and accident and through to the end of their lives. At its peak PGI had over 450 beds and a variety of associated services.

When our MP was elected in 1997 one of her first ministerial responsibilities was to set up a series of health authorities including our local one and their first act was to develop a plan that would have closed the two district general hospitals and built a new one located somewhere near to Normanton. The plan was amended and people breathed easier as PGI ceased to be mentioned in the new plans. So far so good until people started to realise that whilst PGI was not mentioned, other locations were and the reason for not mentioning our hospital was that it was to be disposed of.

In 2005 there was a broad based campaign for health not housing for PGI and on the eve of the 2005 general election the local MPs promised that the hospital was "safe in their hands".

Shortly after there was a launch for a new facility to be built on the PGI site, modern revolutionary facilities with 90% of the capability of the existing PGI.

At about that time our MP became Minister for Housing, one of her tasks was to see to the release of government land including Health Service land for housing.

The new cottage hospital opens in 2010, it will have not 450 but 115 beds and will occupy a third of the site (which was publicly donated and supported from 1839) the remainder of the site will be made available by the Mid Yorkshire Health Authority for housing.

The new hospital is a PFI and will be rented back to the Health Service by Balfour Beatty giving them revenue for 30 Years and then will be handed back in 2040.

They will give us back a thirty year old facility with less beds than PGI had in 1940 on a site with little or no possibility for growth. We will shortly hear of WMDC plans linked to this governments growth points programme to add up to 2000 new homes a year across the five towns and the population growth will test the infrastructure to its limits and the new PGI Cottage Hospital may not cope.

The people of the five towns put their faith in their MPs to look after and provide for the future. The four local Parliamentary Seats have been in Labour Hands since the 1930s............ Safe in their hands?

What do you think?

Where did that money go?

In earlier posts, I have been writing about the financial situation in Wakefield. Here is something of an update on details of the chief executives remuneration. In the most recent year it seems that the chief exec earned more than the Prime Minister (although that probably does not take account of Gordon's expenses claim).

The other troubling thing for the poeople of Wakefield is that was comparable with twelve nurses, ten police community support officers, six RAF fighter pilots or five teachers, according to a local paper.

Whatever the figures, local taxpayers funded it.

Pontefract Music Festival - 22nd & 23rd April then 29th & 30th April 2016

Frank Hatchard founded Pontefract Music Festival in 1903 to stimulate and foster the love and practice of music and drama in the district. This was to be by competitive classes before competent judges, whose criticisms and advice would be of exceptional educational value to all entrants.

The Festival was suspended during the 1914 war but was resumed afterwards, and managed to survive the depression of the 1930’s. Activities were once again suspended because of the 1939 war and were not revived until 1947. This resumption was made possible almost entirely by a grant from The Mayor’s Charity Fund, and help from the local authority and Wakefield Arts Association enabled the festival to keep going, supplemented by small events such as concerts and coffee mornings held by various committee members.

In 1951, Pontefract festival was considered sufficiently important to be used for a music class as part of the Festival of Britain, and the area semi-finals were held in Pontefract. Over the years, entries ranged between 300 and 800, with never less than 2000 competitors taking part. The Postal Strike took its toll one year and numbers were also affected by the teachers dispute in 1986. However the Festival went ahead in spite of these setbacks.

Pontefract Festival gives a great deal of pleasure to people of all ages, either in the audiences to enjoy the competitive performances or winners’ concerts, or as competitors gaining experience of public performance in their own particular specialities. They have the opportunity to gauge their own work with that of their contemporaries and the benefit of expert advice and comments from highly experienced professional adjudicators in both drama and music.

I am a supporter of the festival and I will be taking as much time as I can to visit the 2016 Festival.

FOR INFORMATION CLICK HERE

Windfarm at Pontefract Market 12th April

The Pontefract Wind Farm Action Group are taking time tomorrow to update people about progress on the Banks Industrial Wind generator application for Went Edge.

People may be aware that a 60 metre monitoring mast was rejected by the WMDC planning committee and then permission granted by government inspectors, we are still waiting to see how the main application for six industrial generators 125 metres high along Went Edge between the villages of Darrington and Wentbridge and dominating the skyline above East Hardwick and West Park.

I have been invited to spend time with them and will join them at the back end of the morning to back them up. They have kindly offered me the opportunity to collect signatures to save our local post offices and to stop the closures that are scheduled to be announced in May.

See you in the Market Place tomorrow?

Local Elections 2008

Posting may be a little patchy over the next three weeks as we run up to the local elections. Like many people across the UK I will be out and about supporting our candidates.

What that means is walking up driveways to drop off leaflets or knocking on doors to catch up with as many members of the public as possible and being prepared to answer the questions they may have about our plans.

There are 22 seats which are subject of election this year, seven of which are in the five towns area. Hello to Phil Thomas (Pontefract North), Mark Crowther (Pontefract South), Richard Wakefield (Normanton), Gordon Tennant (Altofts and Whitwood), Eammon Mullins (Castleford & Glasshoughton), Mellissa Wan (Airedale and Ferry Fryston) and Tom Dixon (Knottingley). I must also mention an old friend and colleague Richard Molloy who is standing in Ackworth.

We have had some very positive responses so far and I look forward to polling day with interest.

AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED

Transport Strategy for Pontefract...is the Walsh Hat in Danger?

Attended a meeting last night held at the Kings School in Pontefract by SELRAG (South East Link Road Action Group)about 65 members of the public, the key SELRAG officers and several local councillors and our two candidates for Pontefract North and South, Phil Thomas and Mark Crowther.

As public meetings go it was quite straightforward, unanimous concern about traffic congestion, pollution and safety at Town End and the desire to see this situation put right.

I attended a similar meeting in 2006 just before the local election where I was elected by the people of Pontefract South. The issue at that time was that proposals for improving Pontefracts situation was blocked at a regional level because the WMDC officers had not been able to make the case that this was a priority and Pontefract did not appear on the WMDC list as such.

What government funding that was available went to priority cases and we were told that the next opportunity for inclusion of Pontefract on the regional plan would be in 2010.

Well 2010 looms and I am concerned to discover that Pontefract still does not appear to be placed on a priority list and as such we could find that we miss this new deadline. As someone commented WMDC planners seem able to draw road lines on an east west basis but do not appear to have any north south pencils.

I have commented in other posts about the lack of a transport strategy for Pontefract and it will only be when we can instruct officers to treat this as a priority do I feel that we may see some progress.

Unfortunately the traffic chaos grows and my hat is still safe. Lets see what the local elections bring and see if that gets the controlling groups attention.

Danger Rangers at Pontefract

An amazing morning at Pontefract Fire Station at the request of the Council's Health Development Unit. Local councillors were invited to see an initiative that is aimed to make primary school pupils more aware of some of the host of things that they need to be aware of and can do to keep safe.

I tagged along with a group of 12 pupils and a teacher from a local school who were part of a group of sixty there for the morning and followed them through sessions:

With the West Yorkshire Fire Service and what to do if the fire alarm goes off at home. Including the way to make sure that you do not dash out of your bedroom straight into the teeth of a fire (touch the handle with the back of your hand, so you realise it is hot before you grab it). How to make a 999 call and the fact that 112 is a zone specific service that tracks you if you have a mobile.

A briefing with a safety officer looking at a wall sized graphic of a kitchen and the children spotted 33 dangers that were present from pictures that showed open bottles of bleach through, vases of flowers full of water on shelves above the toaster, to the pans of boiling liquid on the stove with the handle sticking out for the attentions of innocent toddlers.

Then with the Health Authority team who warned about the dangers and hazards that can be found lying around on streets and in parks, including what not to do about discarded needles, or glass bottles of booze lying around and the way to put some distance between yourself and an adult that tries to grab you.

A session on road safety from the WMDC's Road safety Team where the children turned to detectives to identify what may have gone wrong in a mocked up road accident that put passengers and pedestrians at greater risk. The quality of responses and the savvy of these nine to ten year olds was impressive and then you think about adults and the messes that they can get themselves into.

We finished with a briefing and walk through a series of harrowing scenarios with a British Transport Policeman about what can happen when people young or old take dares, vandalise or stray on to railway tracks, that electricity from overhead power lines can jump up to three metres when it is trying to escape and if you happen to be grounded and in the way to earth you may not be lucky if you survive.

This all may seem bleak but actually the way that the information was delivered and the style of the individuals concerned was such that I am sure it was really good learning experience and those children present hopefully have some good ideas to take away.

I then thought back to my primary school experiences and the differences, the main thing was that a number of the dangers that we explored today did not exist or were not significant when Walsh was a nipper. Good luck to them all and I hope that this particular programme gets as much of a fair wind as we can give it.

Update...Darringfield, send for VanHelsing its alive!

This evening I attended the Darrington Parish Council Meeting and amongst a number of items, Darringfield was on the agenda.

At a recent PC meeting the Council had resolved to write to the DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government to express their concerns about the potential impact of said eco-town.

Reply comes back in an envelope addressed to the Clerk to the Parish Council of Darrington, the letter inside from the senior civil servant who had responded was addressed to the Clerk to the Parish of Darringfield.

The members of the council were very unimpressed.

So just as once upon a time in Transylvania a monster was given life by Doctor Frankenstein, Darringfield seems to have been brought to life by a Mr Hall.

Update...Leeds City Region Eco Towns - Darringfield & Willow Green

Had a brief conversation with a reporter today, who tells me that having asked a press officer at the DCLG specifically if Darringfield and Willow Green were off the table, was told that they had not been ruled out as Leeds City Region choices for Eco-Town.

Somehow I am not surprised.

Leeds City Region Eco Towns - Darringfield & Willow Green

Well here we are the saga goes on and the Minister confirms that there is to an Eco Town from Leeds City Region on the shortlist. Leeds City Region is a government construct that brings the City, County and Metropolitan District Councils together to look at a number of strategic issues for Yorkshire. Who LEEDS well there is a clue in the title.

In this case LCR has three eco-towns on the table. I am hearing from colleagues that Micklefield may be deselected, leaving Darringfield and Willow Green, either of which will have a significant impact on the five towns and this eastern part of the WMDC area. Real impact will be felt in Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley as people commute from their 20 or 40,000 spiffy new eco homes to shop or to work.

Our resources are scarcely able to cope with existing demands. The new Pontefract General Infirmary henceforth known as the cottage hospital is reducing from 450 plus beds at its peak to a little over 100 when the new hospital comes on stream in 2010.
(Incidentally I have just heard of an initial proposal to build a first phase of 150 new homes on the parts of the hospital that will surplus to requirements.

If either or both get selected we have the makings of huge problems and that at a time when we are about to be consulted on a further nearly 2000 homes to be built in and around the Pontefract area.

More to follow as the picture gets clearer.

Keep our post offices open ..petition day

Visitors to Pontefract Market place today would have witnessed Walsh clipboard in hand collecting signatures from local inhabitants and visitors to help in our campaign to keep our local post offices open.

Thank you to all those souls who signed up today another 160 on a cold, windy and wet day.

An interesting aspect of the whole process was the number of people who I approached who did the automatic "No thanks or In a hurry" defensive comment who stopped in their tracks and came back and signed when the words keep our local post offices open sank in.

I have noticed over recent years a number of Chuggers - paid street fundraisers who encourage people to sign up for direct debit donations. I think that chugging is starting to become such a problem in my neck of the woods that people see a clipboard and panic.

Anyway thanks to all that signed, I really appreciate your commitment to our community. Lets see what the government and Post Office think.

Eat my Hat continued...

Later Friday afternoon our MP the Minister arranged an open session for people to drop in to explain their concerns about traffic and transport in Pontefract.

I have previously commented that this is something that happens every couple of years and then everything goes quiet and not much happens.

Well a number of people were invited, they were each given a questionnaire and allowed to talk with people from a number of agencies. However most were hoping that they would start to hear about ways forward as opposed to the same thing that happened in 2002,2004,2006 and now apparently 2008.

Very helpful from my point of view as I had the chance to catch up with a number of people who would be delighted to see me eat my hat in response to delivery of solutions. A number of people told me my hat is still safe...sorry to hear that really.

Pontefract Live at Home scheme...

Friday lunchtime was an absolute pleasure, the Live at Home Scheme is a really worthwhile initiative operated by a number of people from across the district who work to support the quality of life for older people still living in their own homes who may become isolated or lonely. The range of services include friendship/social groups, trips, befriending, phone links and other types of social activities and they rely heavily on volunteers.

This Friday to mark the Methodist Homes charity's 65th birthday anniversary celebrations and the 10th anniversary of the Live at Home scheme and its launch linked to Micklegate Methodist Churchthere was a Tea Dance in the assembly rooms at Pontefract Town Hall, something in the order of one hundred and twenty people gathered for a bite to eat, some tea, cake and a chance to catch up with friends old and new and dance. They also used the event to acknowledge the contributions of a number of volunteers and the applause rolled around the room.

Last year we put a small amount of support cash in to this charity to help them fund their monthly tea dances and this is the first time I have been able to go along and join them.

IT WAS GREAT FUN and incredibly worthwhile. Well done and keep it going, I know lots of people who need this.

Save our Post Offices continued

The motion to Council was amended but in such a way that we could support the amendment. Separately in Parliament there was a debate and a vote to stop the closures and a number of Labour MPs voted in favour of that motion. Sadly 20 votes short but the closest to a government defeat on a motion of this nature.

Our local radio station asked me to give an interview and one of our local newspapers printed an item and a contact point and I received an email with an alternative view.

I replied and the correspondence follows (with some blanking to protect the identity of the individual concerned).


Dear XXXXXXXXXX,

First of all thanks for getting in touch.

You are perfectly entitled to your point of view but I suspect you already
know I don't share it in this case.

The thing is that the £4million that you talk of is as a result of the government under funding what is a critical public service for many. The actual per capita cost of this service equates to just under 7 pence per week or just over £33 pounds pa for a public point of contact that can be used for the provision of government services and could also be used as a public access point for council services.

This is a small sum to consider when compared with some of the other ways that our money is used. I do not begrudge the tax I pay being used for positive purposes and I see the public service provided by local post offices a price worth paying.

The government decided in May 2007 that to continue to receive funds the Post Office will close 2500 local post offices and if you research the progress so far you will see that this prescriptive approach has resulted in closures that have led to communities urban and rural being threatened. The 500 mobile access points (many of which are vehicles that appear for short periods of time) are a pathetic sticking plaster and the actual hours of opening typically two periods of two hours a week are little or no use to many.

Many of the post offices selected are admittedly marginal but not loss making and their withdrawal often dooms other aspects of service provided to the communities in which they are based. (please have a look at this link and look at some of the existing closure reviews carried out http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/content1?catId=57600693&mediaId=57600697)

With regard to service, I do not know if you use a local post office, they are typically set up on a more human scale than the Crown offices which you find in some Town and most City centres and the people that work in them often provide added levels of service to their communities.

With regard to accessibility, the elderly and vulnerable members of the community that you scorn who perhaps do not have your level of computer literacy or perhaps your level of health, ( I realise that as I believe we have not met I may be making possibly an equally unfair assumption about your age and health which you are quite at liberty to correct). once upon a time for some they may have been more nimble, able or adept at coping with change but we have a duty to support them whilst they are in need and perhaps less able to cope.

I agree that there are a number of options that people can use as alternatives but some of these are just not available to some of the members of the community that you criticise and will lead to real hardship for many, I would seek to try to find alternatives to help them but as a start wish to try to stop this now.

Where the Post Office consultation process is invoked and takes place a small number of reversals have resulted, where a post office is saved another from the area will close, the much vaunted consultation process that the Post Office offers seems to be an empty gesture and therefore as a first point we need to get the process frozen so that we can look at alternatives and that is the purpose of the petition that we are raising..

I believe that you have done some research on this situation but believe that you should do some more, there are at least 90 Labour MPs and Ministers who are fighting to keep their local post offices open and the number is growing as more closures are confirmed, I ask you to consider why are they opposing this?

In the last round of local closures there were a number of photo opportunities for our MP where she was pictured with groups of members of the public who were to be affected. In all she looks glum and talks of her determination to save them but it was her government that triggered the closures and in this case I predict she will will be pictured in the same circumstances again looking glum and saying the same things, you may wish to look at her voting record on this issue.
http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/index.php

Finally "Doom and Gloom Britain" well there are a number of positive initiatives rolling out across the UK but for many there are huge challenges that we face and our existing governments "tick box and spin mentality" linked to a tendency to average down and cut away levels of support rather proves the point for me.

I will continue to fight to protect the interests of people in our community regardless of their politics.

Should you wish to discuss this further I would be happy to hear from you.
But in any case I wish you well.

Regards

Geoff

Geoff Walsh


On 20/03/2008, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX> wrote:
>
> Mr Walsh,
>
> I am writing in response to your letter and article published in this
> weeks Pontefract & Castleford Express.
>
> Firstly, let me express my appreciation of your concerns about closures
> hitting the elderly and vulnerable. However, I feel strongly that your
> concerns are representative more of your own agenda to emphasise the 'Doom
> and Gloom Britain' as seen by your party leader Mr Cameron.
>
> In your recent public statements you fail to appreciate the following
> valid points;
>
> - These Post Offices are losing £4 Million every week.
> - Why should tax payers subsidise a minority of people who refuse to
> open bank accounts and have their benefits paid into them?
> - The post office has confirmed that they will still provide mobile
> services in areas of Post Office closures.
> - Most of these Post Offices offer very little or poor service when
> compared to today's lifestyle.
> - Every service provided by the Post Office is available elsewhere.
>
> Of course you will get people signing your petitions. I suspect a vast
> majority will be Tory pensioners who won't open bank accounts to get their
> pension or who will have to walk another 2 minutes to buy a stamp.
>
> In reality, as the world moves on, you should take a realistic view of
> these outdated establishments that are losing millions every week instead of
> spreading your doom and gloom stories.
>
> Regards,

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Motion to Council

On Wednesday I am taking a motion to Full Council:

Motion to Council from Cllr G Walsh

This council:
• Notes the invaluable service provided by the local post offices in the district to people within our local communities who rely heavily on our post office branches;
• Deplores the Government’s current programme of 2,500 closures across the country,
• Notes the strength of public opinion in favour of saving our local post offices;
• Recognises the needs of the elderly, disabled and the most disadvantaged across the WMDC district who rely on local post offices the most.

This council resolves to call on the Government:
• To stop its latest round of post office closures including the closure of local post offices in the WMDC district;
• To find sustainable ways to keep our post office network open for business including opening post offices up to be ‘One Stop Shops’ for Government services and introducing ‘Council Counters’ to deal with council services.

Should be an interesting day.