I was extremely pleased that my choice for the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg was elected, albeit by a small majority. Today Nick has revealed his Shadow Cabinet team to carry the party’s message throughout the country. The reshuffle sees promotions for many of the party’s talented younger MPs and a focus on issues that matter to people, such as delivering high quality public services, inequality, families and taking power back from Whitehall.

The Shadow Cabinet has also been grouped into teams such as Economy and Business; Home Affairs; and Public Services with an MP taking the lead in each area. Key appointments include Chris Huhne as Shadow Home Secretary and Ed Davey as Shadow Foreign Secretary. Nick said he was hugely excited by the new team because it demonstrates the vast talent in the Liberal Democrat party.

At today’s Mid Suffolk District Council’s Executive Committee meeting Liberal Democrats made a number of alternative budget proposals that will help the Council to achieve its corporate objectives in 2007/08. “These proposals will also increase the Council’s engagement with local communities as well as its Parish Councils and Town Councils”, said Lib Dem Group Leader Penny Otton.

We are particularly anxious to improve the Council’s engagement with young people which is currently lacking in motivation and imagination. We have proposed that the Council sets up a Youth Council and introduces a series of Dragons Den style events in each of the District’s High Schools. This will give young people the opportunity to bid for funds and to become involved in rewarding community projects. Penny Otton also said that the Council must work more closely with local communities. “We are in favour of setting up area forums that will give people the opportunity to say what they want. We would also like  to introduce locality budgets that Councillors will be able to spend in their wards in consultation with the people they represent.”  

The Liberal Democrats are also calling on Council officers to showcase energy saving technologies and promote available advice and grants. It is time that the Council led the way on issues relating to climate change. We are proposing that the council runs a number of ‘Green Day’ events throughout the District.  

Penny Otton also said that the Council should be taking more action on minimising packaging waste, recycling and car sharing schemes. “Liberal Democrats want the Council to work together with local retailers to remove plastic bags from the District and are proposing that reusable shopping bags, sponsored by local businesses, should be made available to the public”.  

We also proposed a campaign to remove chewing gum from the streets of Stowmarket and are promoting  the idea of Green Gyms that are already running elsewhere in the country. These are designed to inspire people to improve their health and the environment through practical conservation projects. Green Gyms  will provide the public with a healthy alternative to the Leisure Centre and will give vulnerable people opportunities for social contact and to develop new skills.

Ipswich’s bid to become a unitary authority leaving the rest of the county to function as two-tier (District and County) has stalled. Having given approval in the summer the Department for Communities & Local Government has now declared that the proposal from Ipswich has not yet demonstrated conclusively that it is financially sound when based on current boundaries. There are suggestions that it is the Prime Minister himself who has taken this decision.The proposal will now be referred to the Boundary Committee, who will look at the case for a unitary Ipswich, perhaps a Greater Ipswich and new proposals for the rest of the county including possible cross-border arrangements between Norfolk and Suffolk. Local governance in Suffolk is clearly back in the melting point and uncertainty once again reigns.

A unitary is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area. Typically unitary authorities cover towns or cities but may also be counties or parts of counties considered large enough to function independently. The Government has confirmed the go ahead for unitary authorities based on Cornwall, Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire.

Attended Mid Suffolk District Council ‘Budget Training’. This is designed to ensure that Councillors understand how the Council spends its money, where the money comes from, key issues affecting the Council’s finances and the Councillors role in budget matters. It is hoped that it will better equip Coucillors to participate in budget discussions and decisions which will take place through December to February when the budget is presented to Full Council on 28 February for approval. Members of the public can find out more information about this year’s budget and the medium term (2007-2011) financial strategy of the Council . If you have any queries please contact me.

Attended Mid Suffolk District Council’s Planning Control Committee meeting at Needham Market. Councillors approved a development in Palgrave that will provide 10 affordable houses for local people. The scheme dates back to 2005 when a Local Housing Needs Survey identified a lack of affordable housing in the area. The provider, Wherry Housing Association have received a Housing Corporation Grant of £680,000 for the scheme which will include eight rented units and two shared-ownership units.

The Claydon High School Extended Schools Governor Working Group has met with Jeanette Hunt, Extended Schools Development Officer (West Ipswich Cluster) for an update on progress to date and governance issues.  The idea is that Extended Schools will provide a range of services and activities often beyond the school day. The Government believes that Extended Schools will act as a hub for community services. Included will be childcare, homework clubs, parenting support, referral to specialist support services and community access to ICT, sports/arts facilities and adult learning.  Claydon is already well down the road to providing such services and exciting plans are well in hand to enhance these further. We, the Governors have agreed an action plan that will ensure that everybody in the community is fully informed of the objectives of the scheme and is made aware of what is currently on offer. Also that the school understands what services the community needs and what it wants to achieve.

For more information on Extended Schools

Have now returned my ballot form for the Liberal Democrat leadership election. Fortunately we have two excellent candidates so it has been a diffficult decision. However, I have decided to back Nick Clegg. Having watched him on Question Time I believe he has the charisma and ability to connect with the voters.  He appears to have the support of most of the Liberal Democrat MPs and has been well received by the membership too. He should also appeal to the wider population. We, Liberal Democrats, need a renewed vision and I believe that Nick is well-placed to both inspire and articulate this so that we can win many more seats across the country. He clearly has the charisma and ability to be able to present the Liberal Democrat case to a wide range of people who are increasingly turned off by the other two old parties. I now look forward to the result due to be announced in the week before Christmas.

 Figures have just been released by Defra (Department of Envronment, Food and Rural Affairs) which measure the levels of waste for each Council in England. The aim is to expose the best and worst performing local authorities. For the second year running, Mid Suffolk District Council is leading the way in Suffolk and is helping to reduce the amount of waste that is landfillled. It is well positioned in the following three categories: 

•  Top 10 dry recyclers – 34.2% (1^st place)
•  Lowest total household waste per head (3^rd place)
•  Lowest residual household waste per head after recycling (4^th place) 

Thanks are due to all residents for their contribution to this success. Mid Suffolk entered into a joint waste partnership with Babergh District Council and Serco, the waste collection provider, in April this year. The new arrangement is also making significant cash savings.

  For more information about what you can and can’t put into the recycling bin 

Central Suffolk and North Ipswich Liberal Democrats held their AGM and elected the following officers for 2008:

Chair: Martin Redbond

Vice Chair: Andrew Houseley

Secretary: Kay Field

Treasurer: Audrey Lilley

Membership Secretary: John Field

After the meeting members discussed the environment, in particular nuclear power, renewable energy, energy from waste and excess packaging. Members watched excerpts from Al Gore’s film ‘The Inconvenient Truth’ and the Greenpeace film ‘The Convenient Solution’ and endorsed the Liberal Democrat policy to achieve 30% of the UK’s electricity from clean, non-carbon emitting sources by 2020 rising to 100% by 2050. Also to support the Party’s Green Tax Switch plan which would cut income tax by 4p in the pound, and switch to green taxes instead.

Attended a meeting with councillors and council officers from the Mid Suffolk and Babergh District Councils to investigate a kitchen compostable kerbside collection scheme. This will not only help reduce the waste going to landfill which is becoming increasingly more expensive for local authorities but will help the Councils to achieve their recycling target of 60% waste recycled by 2015. We are considering a weekly collection alongside the current residual waste and recycling collections for April 2009 but cost is the key consideration. Waveney District Council is currently operating a pilot scheme and councillors will pay a visit to Lowestoft in December to discuss the scheme with the officers there. There will also be a visit to the composting facility in Parham run by Bioganix.

Met with fellow District Councillor for the Barham and Claydon Ward, Mohammed Touman. We discussed issues that had been brought up in the area including provision for young people and the use of our country lanes by unsuitable HGVs. These are two subjects we will come back to.

Chaired the Council’s Scrutiny Committee which meets monthly to review issues and policies that effect the people of Mid Suffolk. On this occasion we reviewed the budget setting process and made a number of recommendations regarding public consultation, elected member financial training, member input into the budget and access to external funding. The actual budget will be discussed by the Executive Committee on 20 December and will go to Council for Full approval on 28 February. The Conservative Administration have warned that the 2007/08 budget will be a cautious and that there will be no new investment unless self-financing schemes can be identified.

I attended the Mid Suffolk South Safer Neighbourhood Team meeting at Stowmarket Police Station (www.onesuffolk.co.uk/safersuffolk/MidSuffolksouth) as a representative of Mid Suffolk District Council. The Tasking meeting takes place each month and decides the policing priorites in the area. The local police  have been monitoring HGV traffic movements  in Claydon village. They have contacted all businesses in the Claydon and Great Blakenham area and are now planning to hold an Action Day when offenders will be cautioned. The police will also look to work more effectively with Claydon High School to build stronger relationship with the school in order to engage with young people  in an attempt to reduce anti social behaviour.

Attended the Council’s Environment Policy Panel meeting as an observer. As a member of the Council’s Household Waste Collection Task and Finish Panel I was interested in two reports, one on a chargeable garden waste collection and a second on a commercial waste and recycling scheme. Both will go forward for consideration by the Council’s Executive Committee. It is hoped that the pilot garden waste collection scheme which has been operating in Needham Market and Stowmarket will be extended in April 2008 from 600 or so houses to all those that wish to participate across the District. It will provide a fortnightly collection and all the garden waste will be composted at County Mulch in Creeting St Mary.

Healthy Schools

As a School Governor at Claydon High School I chair the Healthy School Task Group. The school has been working towards Healthy Schools accreditation for some twelve months and this meeting was with Jan McGuire, the Suffolk Healthy Schools Co-ordinator who was providing hands-on guidance on how to input on-line the evidence needed for the self-validation process. It is hoped that this process will be completed by the end of the Autumn term and that the school will soon achieve Healthy Schools Status (www.healthyschools.gov.uk).

Attended Parish Council meetings in Claydon/Whitton, Hemingstone and Henley in one evening . It is extremely difficult to be in three places at once but very important as the meetings provide me with the opportunity to hear about the current issues in the villages. It gave me the opportunity to update Parish Councillor’s on the Local Development Framework (LDF) which will replace the Local Plan (www.midsuffolk.gov.uk). An important part of the LDF is the Core Strategy. Mid Suffolk’s Core Strategy is a spatial vision for the district through to 2025. It sets out policies and objectives on issues such as housing and employment . The Council has now submitted its Core Strategy, approved by Full Council on 22 October, to the Secretary of State and it will be ‘Examined’ by an independent inspector to to see if it is “sound”.  A six-week period of public consultation runs from 31st October to Friday 14th December 2007. All of the comments received during the consultation stage will be forwarded to the Inspector for his consideration. He/she will consider the representations made and may invite parties to put their views forward at hearing sessions. Parish Councillors were also informed about the Community Workshop to be held on Monday 3 December at Claydon Village Hall  (3.00-7.00pm) to discuss the Site Specific Allocations (Land bids) in the area for housing and employment purposes. Its your chance to have your say so please turn up.

Welcome to my website. I hope it proves to be informative to all the residents living in the villages of Akenham, Barham, Claydon, Hemingstone, Henley and Whitton Rural who re-elected me as their District Councillor in May this year.