tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41502974645124786272024-02-22T02:32:40.086+00:00James Hargrave's Old Blog@onlygeek's view of the world from SuffolkAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.comBlogger526125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-21452656265480534912015-12-20T11:15:00.000+00:002015-12-20T11:15:36.191+00:00New blog at http://hargrave.org.uk<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've moved mew new blogging to the Medium platform. You can find my new posts at <b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://hargrave.org.uk/">http://hargrave.org.uk</a></span></b><br />
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I am going to leave my archive of older blog posts here on Blogger. Thank you to all who have read and commented on my blog and hope to see you over at the new place!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-79295965648250053772015-09-08T22:30:00.000+01:002015-09-17T14:42:52.073+01:00LIVE BLOG: Grove Farm at Mid Suffolk Planning Committee 0930 Wed 9 Sep 2015<iframe frameborder="0" height="2000" src="//embed.scribblelive.com/Embed/v7.aspx?Id=1476406&ThemeId=" width="500"></iframe>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-35918193687171087202015-08-23T19:23:00.000+01:002015-08-23T19:23:07.375+01:00Seckford lick wounds after disastrous GCSE results at Beccles and Saxmundham<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Back in 2012 I wrote extensively about the proposed Seckford Free Schools at Beccles and Saxmundham saying they were unwanted and that they would waste money better spent elsewhere. One thing I did not expect however was that these schools would deliver truly terrible GCSE results. Results so bad that the Seckford Foundation themselves feel the need to launch an external investigation into what happened.<br />
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In the key target of five Grade A-Cs including Maths and English Beccles Free School got 39% (just under the 40% Government "floor target") and Saxmundham did considerably worse with 28%. Sir John Leman in Beccles that came in for a sustained attack on its good name by Seckford and its supporters got 66%.<br />
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Even IES Breckland the troubled free school in Brandon that lost its first principal and was then put into special measures by Ofsted did better just scraping 40%.<br />
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More worryingly than the poor results Seckford did not appear to even see them coming <a href="http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/gallery_how_has_your_school_performed_on_gcse_day_east_suffolk_pupils_open_their_results_1_4201252" target="_blank">commenting to the press</a> that they r<i>ecognised that the schools had not done as well as they wanted or expected to.</i><br />
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Seckford Free Schools CEO Rob Cawley told the Ipswich Star:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Each of our schools has a shared sense of ambition and a broad and balanced traditional curriculum. They are underpinned by strong pastoral care and an exceptional breadth of enrichment activity which challenges each student to aspire to personal and academic goals. Our expectations are for each student to make above average progress and achieve to the very highest level in all that they do.</blockquote>
He seems to have completely forgotten the pledge that he gave in the application form to the DfE that :<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The whole school target will be that for the first GCSE taking (2015) 50% of students will qualify for the EBacc</blockquote>
Both schools feel well short of this target with Beccles getting 29% and Saxmundham 19%.<br />
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The applications also included the following comments critical of other local schools and making promises that the Seckford schools would improve educational outcomes.<br />
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<ul>
<li>… the school is mindful that this part of the East of England has under achieved compared to the national average</li>
<li>The educational experience of the Seckford Foundation will ensure that the Beccles Free School will be of high quality.</li>
<li>Academic outcomes for local schools in the North Suffolk area fall behind national averages.</li>
<li>The demand within the community is for a senior school with a focus on academic standards.</li>
<li>Academic performance in North Suffolk is amongst the worst in the country</li>
<li>Beccles Free School will challenge a culture of low expectations and low achievement in the area.</li>
<li>Beccles Free School will be one of the best schools in Suffolk.</li>
</ul>
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Seckford owe local schools and those of us that supported them an apology but more importantly they owe it to the children in their schools to act to turn the low achievement around. Ironically with these first results it appears the schools have made the situation <i>worse</i> in North Suffolk rather than better.<br /><br />Having made all these promises and failed to deliver on a truly epic scale I cannot see how Rob Cawley can survive as Principal and CEO. Maybe Seckford should follow the example of IES Breckland and change the management.<br /><br />One thing is for sure. Running all ability state schools isn't as easy as Seckford arrogantly assumed it would be. They need to listen more and collaborate with other schools rather than thinking they are something special. These results need to bring them crashing down to earth. They aren't just poor they are disastrous.<br /></div>
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They could perhaps look to the relative success of the other suffolk free school Stour Valley Community School who with a small cohort under similar circumstances got 46% in 2014 and increased that this year to 54%. This school did not make exaggerated claims or start off by attacking other local schools and has done significantly better than the Seckford schools.</div>
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The criteria for Ofsted putting a school into special measures is that it is both failing and does not have the capacity to improve. With Seckford already launching an external investigation it is looking to me like an admission that it does not know what is wrong or how to fix it.<br /><br />In any event these results are a crushing embarrassment for Seckford who must be running the risk of tarnishing their own brand if the free school project continues to fail. The danger for Seckford is that parents might not just think twice about sending their children to their free schools as many already have but might do the same for Woodbridge School as well.</div>
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Maybe the best thing for everyone would be for these schools to be given to an experienced academy chain with a track record of success and leave Seckford to run Woodbridge where they managed to get a pass rate of 92%. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-17048581959194238742015-07-26T18:37:00.000+01:002015-08-23T18:17:14.851+01:00LIVE BLOG: Stradbroke Parish Council Planning Committee Grove Farm 27th July 2015 8pm<iframe frameborder="0" height="2000" src="//embed.scribblelive.com/Embed/v7.aspx?Id=1401396&ThemeId=26536" width="500"></iframe>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; position: relative; word-wrap: break-word;">Grove Farm, Stradbroke<br style="margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; position: relative; word-wrap: break-word;" />© Copyright <a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/2639" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL dct:creator" style="color: #6bcbca; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" title="View profile">Adrian Cable</a> and licensed for reuse under this <a class="nowrap" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" rel="license" style="color: #6bcbca; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Creative Commons Licence</a></i></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-75414978926009058242015-07-13T08:35:00.000+01:002015-07-14T08:00:42.510+01:00LIVE BLOG: Stradbroke Parish Council 13th July from 7.30pm<iframe frameborder="0" height="600" src="//embed.scribblelive.com/Embed/v7.aspx?Id=1378120&ThemeId=" width="500"></iframe>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-77437830310008079832015-06-30T00:11:00.000+01:002015-06-30T00:23:14.112+01:00Grove Farm: Suffolk County Council officer recommends refusal due to "significant detrimental landscape impacts"<iframe frameborder="0" height="371" src="//e.issuu.com/embed.html#1750028/13850740" width="525"></iframe>
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<a href="http://api.ning.com/files/pBrEDFyKDmPcBwMdpCZh9Zfehy0F2K6v0IZC7BEeleBgaLajJ-3LOKIEYELLqBitN1Lpp0L6HA05DIfw2273JD7WoUweAfr2/4005_14SCC_LANDSCAPE_OFFICER_COMMENT619041.pdf" target="_self">Download a copy of the letter recommending refusal of Grove Farm plans</a></div>
A detailed response from Suffolk County Council's landscape planning officer recommends that Mid Suffolk refuses the proposed Grove Farm housing development due to the <em>significant detrimental impact</em> it would have on the landscape.<br />
Following a site visit in April feedback was emailed to Mid Suffolk by the County Council but for unexplained reasons this not published on the planning portal website until a follow up letter from the County Council was sent in June.<br />
Suffolk County Council recommend that the impact of both the proposed co-op store and this development should be assessed together:<br />
<blockquote>
The proposed COOP store site to the south of The Hall and moat is another development which if it proceeds in the future will have an effect of the landscape setting of this part of the village and conservation area. The cumulative effects of both developments on the setting of the Conservation Area and moated site are likely to be significant. If a new store is needed to serve the village then perhaps this should be considered in conjunction with the current application</blockquote>
The report considers the impact of the development on the street scene and also on the ancient hedgerows and moat. It also points out the lack of play space for children and teenagers.<br />
The document concludes with a list of problems with the application as submitted and it is clear this document is the reason that the developers Durrants have decided to amend the proposal and reduce the number of houses.<br />
Reasons given for refusal are:<br />
<blockquote>
1) The provision of a landscape and visual impact assessment is required as it is relevant, necessary and material in accordance with paragraph 193 of the NPPF [National Planning Rules]<br />
2) The proposed design for the frontage of the site does not respond effectively to the local character of the village and the street frontage.<br />
3) The proposal as presented does not adequately safeguard the large trees and hedge particularly on the northern edge of the site<br />
4) The proposal as presented does not retain the hedgerow in the eastern portion of the site<br />
5) The proposal as currently presented will result in housing becoming overly prominent in views from within the neighbouring areas of the village and the landscape to the east.</blockquote>
Although long the full document is well worth a read and gives some interesting history about the ancient field boundaries, hedgerows and the moat. The response is professional, impartial and thorough and shows real care and consideration for our local environment.<br />
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It is clear that if the development goes ahead as planned it would result in irreparable damage to this part of Stradbroke. The suggestions made to improve the plans would clearly need a reduction of the number of houses. Durrants are suggesting a reduction to 44 but it is worth remembering that it was only last year that the proposal had been <em>increased</em> to 44 from a much smaller number.<br />
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My personal view is that a smaller well designed development of around 22 houses of which 12 were "affordable" would be suitable for this site. It would provide the needed affordable housing that the housing needs survey identified and enable sympathetic treatment of the landscape. This is the kind of development that was been spoken about until the numbers of houses that have resulted in the proposal SCC describe as "<em>unsatisfactory" </em>was produced by Durrants earlier this year.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Futura, 'Century Gothic', AppleGothic, sans-serif; font-size: 15.2727355957031px; line-height: 19.8545551300049px; text-align: left;">Image: <i>© Copyright <a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/2639" rel="cc:attributionURL dct:creator" style="color: #000099;" title="View profile">Adrian Cable</a> and licensed for reuse under this <a class="nowrap" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" rel="license" style="color: #000099;">Creative Commons Licence</a></i></em></td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-5456014121088233112015-06-21T09:36:00.000+01:002015-06-21T09:36:02.079+01:00Sorry seems to be the hardest word...<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><strong>It's sad, so sad</strong></em><br />
<em><strong>It's a sad, sad situation.</strong></em><br />
<em><strong>And it's getting more and more absurd.</strong></em><br />
<em><strong>It's sad, so sad</strong></em><br />
<em><strong>Why can't we talk it over?</strong></em><br />
<em><strong>Oh it seems to me</strong></em><br />
<em><strong>That sorry seems to be the hardest word.</strong></em></div>
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<em><strong><a href="http://api.ning.com/files/t4lRGZ5APQuZh2Vk8GyV4r3X2W6F7KMW9e9loaGQoVotqRCQi4147nnlhcdOuec4FNyJnEEsrHdk1ErFYDa9u6FX5WNZI071/helenspeech.png" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/t4lRGZ5APQuZh2Vk8GyV4r3X2W6F7KMW9e9loaGQoVotqRCQi4147nnlhcdOuec4FNyJnEEsrHdk1ErFYDa9u6FX5WNZI071/helenspeech.png" width="434" /></a></strong></em></div>
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The Editors of the Stradbroke Monthly have had a hard time over the last eighteen months mainly at the hands of a small group of parish councillors. Twice attempts were made to sack them and they have been treated with disrespect. At the last parish council meeting the editors read a statement out that included the following:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This has caused all of us sleepless nights, nausea and other common effects of being bullied and this fear of unjustified attack has been affecting us all for well over a year - a particular low point was when we were told by a group of councillors that we were going to have to sign a contract drawn up by them, and to make that “lawful” we would be offered ONE Penny consideration. What a way for those Councillors to show their appreciation of work we do.</blockquote>
You might think that at the very least such conduct would result in an apology but so far no apology has been received at at. Not even for "unintentional" upset.<br />
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The council is to debate the magazine yet again at its next meeting. I hope that this meeting will begin with a public apology to the editors and that all councillors will then treat them with respect during the meeting. To re-build trust between people takes time but the starting point has to be to acknowledge the problem.<br />
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Being a councillor doesn't mean that you are too important to apologise. Either some councillors don't think they have done anything wrong or maybe sorry really is the hardest word.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-3439095580500535122015-06-17T08:09:00.000+01:002015-06-17T21:34:51.962+01:00Chairmen's statements leave questions unanswered following resignation of clerk<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left to right: current Chairman Stuart Gemmill, Clerk Carol Smy, <br />
Vice-Chair Olly Last and former Chair Nick Stones</td></tr>
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Current Parish Council Chairman Stuart Gemmill has issued a <a href="http://www.stradbrokeonline.org.uk/images/Uploads/Carol_Smy_Resignation.pdf" target="_blank">statement following the resignation of Parish Council Clerk</a> Carol Smy at the last council meeting on 8th June. Published on the Council's "preferred" website Stradbroke Online the statement breaks more than a weeks silence from that website which is run by two parish councillors (Don Darling and Gerald Jenkins) together with Roger Turkington whose wife Gillian Rennie-Dunkerly was one of the two people recently put forward to "replace" the four magazine editors.<br />
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Gemmill is quoted as saying:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
During my previous term as Chairman of the Parish Council, I looked forward to the monthly meetings with a group of community minded members all dedicated to the wellbeing and the further development of Stradbroke. At that time I was ably assisted by Barbara Moore and Pam Cane as Parish Clerks. I gave up the chairmanship when my role at Mid Suffolk intensified such that there could have been conflict of interest. Thus it was that when I retired from the District Council, and following an election, I thought it would be nice to take over once again the role of Chairman working alongside our good friend Carol as Clerk. I believe we all were hoping that following the election, things would settle down, but sadly as we are all aware, they have not. Consequently, it shouldn’t have come as a great surprise that Carol, having put up with a great deal of bad behaviour over the last two years, felt that she had to resign. I feel personally very sad that she is leaving as she has been of great service to Stradbroke over a number of years. She will be very hard to replace.</blockquote>
The article also quotes former Council Chairman Nick Stones:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In the 28 years I have been on the Council things have changed a great deal, gone are the days of half a page for a agenda and a quick ring round to Councillors to short <i>(sic)</i> out any issues. Since Carol became the Parish Clerk we have all been very impressed by the way she has carried out the duties of her Office. Over the last 3 years when I had the privilege to be Chairman. I relied on Carol's advice and support many times, no query was too much trouble and she guided the Council to fulfil all it's duties and comply with all the new legislation. The last 18 months have not been easy and I pay tribute to her patience and fortitude as most people would have resigned long ago. I would like to thank Carol for her help while I was Chairman and most of all for her friendship. </blockquote>
Neither statement addresses the reasons behind Smy's departure other than to mention difficulties during the last eighteen months in a manner that sounds like they were caused by forces of nature out of the control of Gemmill and Stones.<br />
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It is hard to reconcile these statements with reality and indeed with Carol Smy's own statement:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I had hoped that
the election in May would have signalled a new start but that has not happened; things
have gone into reverse.</blockquote>
Stuart Gemmill has to take some responsibility for what has happened since his election at the annual council meeting. The first meeting under his watch saw an ambush to oust the four Stradbroke monthly editors, a further 20 minute discussion about the magazine and an extraordinary meeting called and then cancelled amid acrimony.<br />
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Writing to the editors of the Stradbroke Monthly Gemmill then attempted to deny the ambush had happened:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The two volunteers who offered their services to edit the Stradbroke Monthly have been criticised and verbally abused via social media and the like for being part of an “ambush” by members of the Parish Council to take over the magazine. As a consequence of this they have withdrawn their offer of help. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As Chairman of the Council I would like to assure you that there was no planned ambush. The acrimonious debate arose following a number of complaints of bias over the past twelve months.</blockquote>
The Parish Pump report of the council meeting written by the Council for the Stradbroke Monthly then completely ignored the magazine discussion even though it had dominated the meeting. The Council's preferred website has also failed to mention the magazine issues at all.<br />
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The June meeting saw a further 30 minute debate about the magazine with no resolution and the issue is to come back again in July.<br />
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Wiser leadership would have avoided picking the scab of the magazine at this time or at least acted after the May meeting to try and resolve the issues ahead of the June meeting. As things ended up anyone present at the June meeting and witnessing the statement from the magazine editors and subsequent debate could see exactly why the clerk decided to resign.<br />
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The council isn't going to be able to address these issues that it has until it first accepts there is an problem and secondly until all councillors accept their share of responsibility for the state the council is in. Sadly these statements appear to show some councillors have a long way to go before that happens.<br />
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Both statements appear to hark back to a by-gone golden age where everything was perfect and see new legislation, social media and all forms of change as the cause of problems. It seems to me difficult to see the current leadership as part of the solution. My view is that the council should make a break with the past and elect new leaders at the July meeting who can look forward rather than back and embrace rather than try to stop change.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-67738057143621752312015-06-09T07:23:00.001+01:002015-06-10T09:24:52.862+01:00Sad day for Stradbroke. Parish Clerk resigns. Stradbroke Monthly editors accuse councillors of bullying<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZycy6dS6RalVkPxfprKoBZtywhUTFtkC2FlKhFO-5cvwD6MHUMYAqn9YbhOysCcI-_yuSdsP59eAB4d9l7J52TWG7rAG3nESgBFdxR8v0Hfb1crlXNepv6-R9bS9FgZ6CJQlTDJwqOQDO/s1600/IMG_5974.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZycy6dS6RalVkPxfprKoBZtywhUTFtkC2FlKhFO-5cvwD6MHUMYAqn9YbhOysCcI-_yuSdsP59eAB4d9l7J52TWG7rAG3nESgBFdxR8v0Hfb1crlXNepv6-R9bS9FgZ6CJQlTDJwqOQDO/s400/IMG_5974.JPG" width="400" /></a><em>UPDATED 10/5/2015 with sound and video clips</em><br />
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Tonight Stradbroke Parish Council hit a new low with both the resignation of the Parish Clerk and claims by the four magazine editors that they have experienced symptoms of bullying due to the behaviour of some councillors.<br />
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Carol Smy resigned as Clerk saying that she had hoped the election would draw a line under difficulties experienced during the past few years. However things appeared to have got worse. Carol was clear that no individual or group of individuals was the cause of her departure. She felt that all current and past councillors should reflect on their own behaviour.<br />
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This sentiment was then echoed by the Chair but the council quickly acted to appoint a group to appoint a new clerk consisting of predominantly long standing councillors who do not appear to have any concept that they could be part of the problem that the Clerk was referring to.<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="20" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/209643883&color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
In an emotional speech the editors of the Stradbroke Monthly who described themselves as "four working mothers" accused a group of predominantly retired men of bullying behaviour and not treating them with respect. Describing themselves as <em>damned if they do, damned if they don't</em> the editors described how over the past twelve to eighteen months they had been put in an increasingly difficult position by councillors. Editor Helen Pleasance told councillors:<br />
<blockquote>
As a group we feel that allegations have been made and decisions have been made, and continue to be made, without any opportunity to defend ourselves. This is against all forms of natural justice and hurtful. For example an EGM was recently called about the magazine and we were not invited, not told the purpose of the meeting, asked to submit anything, or told what was going to be discussed. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
This has caused all of us sleepless nights, nausea and other common effects of being bullied and this fear of unjustified attack has been affecting us all for well over a year - a particular low point was when we were told by a group of councillors that we were going to have to sign a contract drawn up by them, and to make that “lawful” we would be offered ONE Penny consideration. What a way for those Councillors to show their appreciation of work we do.</blockquote>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Wl_fzzTO5A?wmode=opaque" width="560"></iframe><br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="20" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/209617902&color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
The meeting saw a further debate about the magazine that went round on circles, got stuck again on issues of "ownership" and ended up setting up a small working group to attempt to agree a motion to be approved at the next meeting. Several councillors suggested some kind of independent organisation with Cllr Carrie Barnes suggesting a standalone group that handled its own money and gave the magazine complete independence.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="20" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/209657022&color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true" width="100%"></iframe>
The Council's repeated failure to come to agreement on the Stradbroke Monthly however is because it will not address t<em>he elephant in the room </em>which is that a group of councillors turn up at meetings and sound very reasonable but between meetings their behaviour is anything but. This group repeatedly acted last night to block the glimmers of agreement that could be seen with the particularly strong performances of two new female councillors Ellie Wharton and Carrie Barnes. The discussion was quickly moved back to comfortable ground of ownership and an insistence that the Council must be in charge and any sensible discussion ended.<br />
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Even in the final decision to appoint a working group it was clear the Council still does not get it. As almost an afterthought they agreed that the working group members should consult with the magazine editors before the council decided. Hardly the collaborative working that the editors asked for in their presentation to the council.<br />
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Indeed once again the magazine editors had to sit clearly frustrated whilst councillors debated the magazine without asking for their input. They could have suspended the standing orders to allow them to speak and join in the debate but they chose not to and yet appear surprised that the issue keeps coming back. At one point the chairman asked magazine editor Marianne Pierce-Saunderson to nod so she could respond to his questions. A clear visual demonstration of a one way dialogue.<br />
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No councillors apologised for the coup that took place last month where they tried to replace the four editors with two former councillors instead some councillors added insult to injury by attempting to pretended that it hadn't really happened.<br />
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A bad tempered atmosphere pervaded the entire meeting with the Chairman, Stuart Gemmill at times struggling to keep order and shouting both at councillors and members of the public. Several members of the public clearly could not hear what councillors were saying but any that dared to ask them to speak up were told off for breaking the rules and speaking. The announcement to the meeting that I was recording it was met with the Chairman commenting i<em>f it is thought to be necessary.<br />
<br />
</em> But what really struck me after the meeting was an issue the council is going to have to address. During the course of that meeting five women - the four editors and the clerk - complained of bad behaviour inflicted on them by male councillors. The clerk even called it testosterone fuelled. This cannot go on.<br />
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Indeed the female councillors who sadly still only number four of the thirteen councillors gave the strongest and most reasoned performances last night looking for solutions not harking back to the past and refusing to move forward which sadly was the behaviour of several of the male councillors.<br />
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<em>You can also <a href="http://www.stradbroke.org.uk/page/parish-council-meeting-8th-june-2015-live-blog" target="_blank">read the live blog</a> from the meeting last night.</em><i><br />
</i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-53481447617300988752015-06-06T12:38:00.000+01:002015-06-06T12:43:31.317+01:00Why is the parish council discussing the magazine again and not broadband?Over the past few months broadband speeds in Stradbroke have got worse and worse with some people experiencing complete loss of service for days at a time. We know from the discussion at the annual parish meeting and from information published online that faster broadband speeds are coming in September. However only around half of the village will actually get high speed broadband then.<br />
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The Stradbroke Monthly on the other hand has never been in a better position. It has a strong editorial team and an outsourced printing contract which is all working fine. It runs like clockwork.<br />
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Looking at the <a href="http://buff.ly/1KF0DVB" target="_blank">agenda of the next parish council meeting</a> for Monday 8th June sadly broadband does not get a mention however as you can see the magazine is once again on the agenda.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2-hlgd83B8Xb2vU9INS6nXF0AF9qI9WwU6eQOADqPGoUOhT30cwQ33DI8VsZRVC4Ttol9RV7J7UkKHJOB2-DSxxPXN7-sLRNayCigzgN9PwxU3Cgq3PB9jG_QqEPwUsqFVME6SyCBdWg/s1600/magazine.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="443" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2-hlgd83B8Xb2vU9INS6nXF0AF9qI9WwU6eQOADqPGoUOhT30cwQ33DI8VsZRVC4Ttol9RV7J7UkKHJOB2-DSxxPXN7-sLRNayCigzgN9PwxU3Cgq3PB9jG_QqEPwUsqFVME6SyCBdWg/s640/magazine.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Since the last Parish Council meeting there has been some discussion on social media about the state of broadband in the village. Parish councillor George Chaplin posted a speedtest result online showing his connection much slower than the 8Mb he is paying for:<br />
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Radio Strabroke station manager Marty Norris tweeted after his broadband service was restored after an outage of nearly two days:<br />
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The last meeting saw a 20 minute discussion about the magazine and an attempt by some councillors to sack the current editors and replace them with two former members of the council who lost their seats at the May elections.</div>
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These councillors subsequently withdrew their offer apparently as a result of critical comments on social media. However as one commentator on Stradbroke Village Website pointed out "<i>WTF did they expect?"</i></div>
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An extraordinary meeting of the council to discuss the magazine was then cancelled. All in all it was a confused mess and it is surprising that the Council seems so keen to continue discussing the same issue again and again. I think many Stradbroke residents would prefer to see the Council discussing the problems with broadband.</div>
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If you want to see what happens and cannot attend the meeting then there will be another <a href="http://blog.hargrave.org.uk/2015/06/live-blog-parish-council-meeting-8th.html" target="_blank">live blog on this site</a>.</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-54647130480765158052015-06-05T09:11:00.000+01:002015-06-05T09:22:59.827+01:00Transparency Code loophole allows Councils to avoid publication of papers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Coalition Government under Eric Pickles introduced several pieces of legislation aimed at improving local government openness and transparency. This included the "right to report" legislation making it possible to film and report live from Council meetings. It also includes a "transparency code" which requires Councils to publish online minutes, background papers, agendas and other council information.<br />
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The code comes in two shapes and sizes. There is a "full fat" version covering Councils with revenues of over £200,0000 a year and a "lite" version covering smaller councils with revenues under £25,000 a year. The code for smaller councils quite rightly is less onerous reflecting the much smaller nature of these town and parish councils and the fact they don't have the same resources a s larger council does.<br />
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Nevertheless the code for smaller councils requires they publish online the agenda and any papers (including draft minutes from the last meeting) at least three days before a meeting. Not a particularly onerous responsibility and one the government expect very small councils indeed to be able to manage.<br />
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You might be wondering what happens to councils with revenues between £25,000 and £200,000. Unfortunately there is currently no code covering councils of this size that might be described as medium sized.<br />
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A <a href="http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06046" target="_blank">parliamentary briefing paper published in March 2015</a> explains the situation:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Councils with income or expenditure between £25,000 and £200,000 will be expected to follow the Local Government Transparency Code described in section 2.1 above, but will not be legally required to do so.</blockquote>
The code referred to is actually the more onerous "full fat" version but it is clear that in practice several councils of this size are failing even to abide by the code for smaller councils.<br />
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Sadly this includes Stradbroke Parish Council which actually took steps last year to <i>reduce</i> transparency by refusing to publish draft minutes until after they have been approved. Its "preferred" website (which it does not run itself) did not even publish meeting agendas until recently. It only published minutes which sometimes appeared months after. Supporting papers aren't published at all either before or after meetings and the only way to obtain them is with Freedom of Information requests that can take many weeks.<br />
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Unfortunately left to their own devices the reality is that several town and parish councils will choose not to act in an open and transparent way. The government needs to legislate to close this loophole as soon as possible and drag reluctant town and parish councils into the age of accountability to the electors who pay for them!<br />
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<b>References:</b><br />
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/408386/150227_PUBLICATION_Final_LGTC_2015.pdf" target="_blank">Local Government Transparency Code 2015</a><br />
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/388541/Transparency_Code_for_Smaller_Authorities.pdf" target="_blank">Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities</a><br />
<a href="http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06046" target="_blank">Parliamentry Briefing Paper - Local Government Transparency in England</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-22584280853590583752015-06-04T21:14:00.000+01:002015-07-13T08:36:47.067+01:00LIVE BLOG: Parish Council Meeting 8th June 2015<iframe frameborder="0" height="2000" src="//embed.scribblelive.com/Embed/v7.aspx?Id=1289662&ThemeId=26536" width="500"></iframe>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-42909522071748207132015-06-04T00:43:00.001+01:002015-06-04T08:21:42.466+01:00County Council explains more about Superfast broadband for Stradbroke<a href="http://api.ning.com/files/wTFR6FHHG9Jei1WaUYvKTygV9mF9BmFI5XbMik9oH*RG6TjmC4SVJFEKESzv1X4u1yOhoKKVgCnYyrK4ZnAw6YInHr3zV-Rf/IMG_5888.JPG?width=400" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/wTFR6FHHG9Jei1WaUYvKTygV9mF9BmFI5XbMik9oH*RG6TjmC4SVJFEKESzv1X4u1yOhoKKVgCnYyrK4ZnAw6YInHr3zV-Rf/IMG_5888.JPG?width=400" width="400" /></a>Suffolk County Council have provided some more information about the availability of "superfast" broadband in Stradbroke. There is not much new but their response does explain in more detail exactly why only half of the village will have Superfast broadband when it launches in September this year.<br />
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Superfast broadband is called Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) and is provided from the green street cabinets that can be seen throughout the country. In most places in order to make FTTC available both the local telephone exchange and the existing street cabinets that deliver phone lines have to be upgraded. The problem in Stradbroke (and many similar rural areas) is that telephone lines have never been delivered from street cabinets. The village is small enough for most of the lines to go straight back to the telephone exchange in Queens Street.<br />
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That sounds more straightforward but the problem is that for these "exchange only" lines it is not possible to install the FTTC equipment into the telephone exchange as it interferes with other equipment. So what has to happen is new street cabinets need installing outside the phone exchange and every single telephone line needs to be cut and re-routed to a new street cabinet.<br />
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This has happened for the first 400 lines out of the 680 that serve the village. The new green cabinet in Queens Street somewhat ironically serves 400 lines further to the South of the village (as the coverage map below shows) but not the immediately surrounding areas such as Queen Street and Westhall.<br />
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The reason only 400 lines have been converted is simple. Money. The first phase of the Superfast Broadband project is just coming to an end and this was funded from that project. The County Council intend to fund the remaining lines from the next phase and there will be an announcement in around October which should tell us when this is likely to happen but it looks likely to be some time during 2016 with the earliest possible dates of late 2015 and latest 2017.<br />
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It is worth noting that as well as many houses both the Primary School and Courthouse/Library will be unable to receive high speed broadband in the first phase.<br />
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Another mystery has been cleared up too. The reason our broadband has come so late in this project is logistical. The fibre cables to make it work come from Dickleburgh so places like Hoxne "on the way" have been served first.<br />
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It seems the best way to speed this process up is to get local politicians to put pressure on Suffolk County Council to make the second cabinet for Stradbroke an early target for the second phase of the Superfast broadband project. There don't look to be any obvious logistical constraints here so with a bit of pressure from the Parish Council, our county councillor and maybe our MP this could hopefully be achieved.<br />
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Meanwhile the existing broadband infrastructure in Stradbroke seems to be creaking with frequent low speeds and service losses being reported by several local people. There is a small silver lining on the horizon though for Stradbroke residents who won't get superfast broadband in the first phase. As people move onto FTTC in the other part of the village the service should speed up significantly for regular broadband customers.<br />
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This can't come soon enough though and some pressure on BT Openreach to activate the FTTC service as soon as possible might also be helpful even for those who don't actually benefit directly in the first round.<br />
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I've reprinted the map as a reminder. If you live in the "green" area you should get superfast broadband by September! If you want to be sure you can enter your phone number and postcode on the <a href="http://www.betterbroadbandsuffolk.com/LineCheck.aspx" target="_blank">Better Broadband for Suffolk website</a>.<br />
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<em>My thanks to Jonathan Chown at Suffolk County Council for providing a really comprehensive response to my questions.</em>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-55689110891295013952015-05-19T07:35:00.000+01:002015-05-19T18:57:16.258+01:00Parish Councillors attempt to sack magazine editors in "ambush" at annual meeting<a href="http://api.ning.com/files/vMQ5RJcyKDA0KLN5P6ywRfMQ5FCuNcy99hbznb9tfggHP1*BqR0WM8PFsciSdNVYSJWevdtbSwI3Tfm-LBCOD1Z-M-cCUDid/IMG_0016.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vMQ5RJcyKDA0KLN5P6ywRfMQ5FCuNcy99hbznb9tfggHP1*BqR0WM8PFsciSdNVYSJWevdtbSwI3Tfm-LBCOD1Z-M-cCUDid/IMG_0016.jpg" height="400" width="333" /></a><br />
<i>Updated with Soundcloud clips from the meeting on 19/5/15 at 17:30</i><br />
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At the first meeting of the newly elected Stradbroke Parish Council last night a group of councillors in what was clearly a planned political ambush tried to oust the four editors of the Stradbroke Monthly magazine and replace them with two former councillors Gillian Rennie-Dunkerly (wife of Roger Turkington) and Stuart Crane.<br />
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The ambush began with former parish clerk Pam Cane reading a statement in the public forum complaining that the magazine editors had failed to publish articles critical of me a year ago that she had submitted. She claimed that this showed the editors were biased.<br />
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Vice-Chairman of the Council Olly Last then attempted to use an item on the agenda that did not even mention the magazine to propose the replacement of the existing editors with Rennie-Dunkerly and Crane. Two of the magazine editors sat in the chamber unable to speak as Crane could be seen visibly smirking.<br />
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It took an intervention by former chairman Nick Stones and newly elected councillor Richard Pierce-Saunderson to insist that any action be taken in a meeting where it is on the agenda in advance and an extraordinary meeting for Tuesday 2nd June was proposed to decide the matter.<br />
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New councillors looked on confused and asked for more information about what the "problems" with the magazine actually were about and Olly Coles complained that this was brought up time and time again and was fed up with it.<br />
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It was Velda Lummis who really hit the nail on the head though when she looked at the public gallery and said <em>this is personal</em>.<br />
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That is exactly what this is. A personal vendetta by a group of councillors who want to settle a personal score.<br />
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In the run up to this election these councillors told many in Stradbroke that I was "<em>the problem"</em> and that getting rid of me from the council would be the solution.<br />
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Looking at the council last night it was hard to see how this was the case as once again the council indulged in fighting battles rather than putting its energy into positive action for Stradbroke. During my <a href="http://www.stradbroke.org.uk/page/parish-council-agm-18th-may-2015-live-blog" target="_blank">live blog last night</a> someone asked me if the council would be discussing high speed broadband for the village. Sadly there was no time for this.<br />
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<em>Disclosure: I am married to one of the four magazine editors and I help the team by collecting the magazines from the printers each month</em>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-52719700747969979052015-05-18T13:27:00.000+01:002015-05-19T00:04:09.663+01:00LIVE BLOG: Stradbroke Parish Council AGM 18th Feb 2015 7.30pmLIVE BLOG from the Stradbroke Parish Council AGM on 18th Feb 2015 starts at 7.30pm with the election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman. This is the first meeting since the election.
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-33328463153999635252015-05-08T09:54:00.001+01:002015-06-05T09:14:45.685+01:00Unfair electoral system delivers bizarre General Election result I sat watching the election coverage last night with two very puzzled looking children. They were finding it hard to understand how the votes they could see on the TV screen translated into the result the same TV screen was telling them! The main question I heard was <i>why?</i><br />
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The answer to that is complicated and simple at the same time. The simple answer is our electoral system is completely unfair.<br />
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The image below shows just how unfair:<br />
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This is basically showing that Labour, the Tories and the SNP end up with more seats than they deserve. UKIP, The Greens and the Lib Dems end up with many less seats that they would do if we had a more proportionate voting system.<br />
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This graphic from <a href="http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-parliament-proportional-representation/20893" target="_blank">Channel 4 Fact Check</a> shows what a proportionate system would deliver:<br />
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Quite a difference.</div>
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But what has been really interesting this time is to hear voices from the right as well as the left point out the unfairness. UKIP's single MP on a vote share of some 12% of the vote Douglas Carswell mentioned in his acceptance speech how <i>unfair the electoral system is for UKIP and the Greens. </i><br />
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On Twitter today Tory Lord Ashcroft is talking a lot of sense:<br />
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Electoral reform should be something that unites the parties. It is simply a matter of fairness and in our increasingly multi party country First Past The Post is simply unfair and out of date.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-3921702630602060492015-05-07T21:36:00.000+01:002015-05-09T18:20:48.713+01:00LIVE BLOG: Election Results 2015<img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/ve0GOSCWJaipgmUVWEjLndm*R6TFOcXP68I0zGeHqCmQQb7dP1lUMYMzxGXzZH9gWfM47Atu5epcXG62V8NgLsPiTKesgTBq/Voting_box_clipart.gif" width="173" class="align-left" />
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<span class="s1">Stradbroke has around 680 premises in the parish, of which over 300 will be live with superfast broadband by the end of September, where the first round of the Better Broadband Programme completes. At this point, coverage in Suffolk will have been moved from around 50% to 85%, and over 100,000 premises upgraded as a result of the programme. Coverage is shared on the interactive map on the website <a href="http://www.betterbroadbandsuffolk.com/"><span class="s2">www.betterbroadbandsuffolk.com</span></a>. We are aware that around half of the parish will not benefit from the initial upgrades, and of course are also ,mindful that at a county level we will still have 15% of premises still to upgrade.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The remaining premises in the parish will be targeted with additional upgrades under the second round of the Better Broadband Programme, which will increased the 85% coverage at September 2015 up to at least 95% by late 2017. The rollout plan for this second scheme is being finalised, and will be shared in the Autumn. Ultimately we are committed to reaching 100% coverage as quickly as possible.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The previously published map below shows the first area that will get "superfast" broadband. The planned coverage area will include the High School but the Library and Primary School are not included.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-63739661195997842152015-05-03T13:12:00.000+01:002015-05-09T18:29:54.639+01:00Why I'm voting Green in 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Back exactly five years ago on 3rd May 2010 I wrote a Blog post about <a href="http://blog.hargrave.org.uk/2010/05/why-i-am-voting-for-lib-dems.html" target="_blank">why I was voting for the Lib Dems</a>. Unlike some bloggers I keep my old blog posts online even if I change my mind. In any event this was exactly what I did think in 2010.<br />
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What I and millions like me did not expect was the coalition that followed. Tuition fees trebled rather than scrapped, free schools opening and massive cuts to public services and benefits. By January 2012 I <a href="http://blog.hargrave.org.uk/2012/01/leaving-lib-demsan-open-letter-to-nick.html" target="_blank">wrote to Nick Clegg and resigned from the party</a>.<br />
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Before voting Lib Dem I had been a Labour voter all my life although apparently as a younger child I was something of a Conservative! So when I left the Lib Dems I did first look towards Labour for a political home. But Labour didn't really feel like home although the vast majority of Labour activists and supporters that I know certainly do think very like I do.<br />
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Ultimately though it was the Labour Party's pro-austerity position that I could not support. Following the decline of local Lib Dems in Suffolk after the coalition (something that I very much regret and has I feel damaged politics in the County) the Green Party was emerging as the main opposition in more rural parts of the county.<br />
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I looked at its policies and immediately warmed to its anti-austerity <i>"common good" </i>stance. I joined the party and am proud to be standing as a <a href="http://blog.hargrave.org.uk/p/district-council-campaign.html" target="_blank">District Council candidate for Stradbroke and Laxfield</a>.<br />
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The Greens stand alongside the SNP and Plaid Cymru as the main progressive anti-austerity parties. Sadly Labour appears to be continuing its mis-guided support for austerity.<br />
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There is a brilliant (but long) Guardian article called <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/ng-interactive/2015/apr/29/the-austerity-delusion" target="_blank"><i>The austerity delusion</i> by Paul Krugman</a> that explains far better than I could why austerity was a terrible idea in 2010 and an even worse idea today. Indeed outside of the UK most of the rest of the world has realised this and moved on.<br />
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All this said I am of course hoping that Ed Miliband is the next Prime Minister. If he is it looks certain to be a minority government and that he will need the support of anti-austerity parties to form that government. Such a <i>"coalition of chaos"</i> as the Tory press dub it does in my view represent the best hope for the country.<br />
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Sadly our two great parties of Government, the Conservatives and Labour have both lost their way. The Conservatives are increasingly becoming a nasty English nationalist party with no place for the much more mainstream "one nation" conservatives that once were the majority of that party. Labour seems unwilling to represent the left of centre progressive voice of most of its party members and voters. Hence its support for austerity and its virtual wipeout in its former heartland in Scotland.<br />
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No wonder many remain as disillusioned with politics as they did back in 2010.<br />
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But there are some signs that things are better. The stranglehold of the Murdoch press on the electorate appears to be significantly challenged by online forces such as the brilliant #Milifandom campaign started by a teenage girl too young to vote but angry with the negative way Ed Miliband has been presented by the Tory press.<br />
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The Green cry to <i>"vote for what you believe in"</i> does resonate strongly although if I lived in Waveney or Ipswich the temptation to vote tactically for Labour or maybe to try using a site such as <a href="http://voteswap.org/" target="_blank">Voteswap </a>to swap my vote with a Labour supporter elsewhere would be strong.<br />
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The true end of two party politics that we see at this election means that we are even more in need of a decent electoral system than we were in 2010. The AV referendum was lost with a bit of help from the Tory's friends in the press but actually I think what is needed is significantly more than the tinkering at the edges that AV would have brought.<br />
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Nothing less than significant constitutional reform will in my view save the UK. We need a true federal system respecting the nations and regions that make up the UK. We need a properly proportional voting system to ensure that all of our votes count. If this election ends up creating a mess or as the Tory spin doctors put it <i>chaos</i> then perhaps that will be the wake up call we all need to create a new political system with a modern constitution fit for the 21st Century.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-56364444504735490492015-05-02T19:08:00.001+01:002015-05-09T18:30:33.580+01:00Did Dan Poulter really "succeed in the fight to keep open Stradbroke Post Office"?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As Tory MPs go I must admit to quite liking Dan Poulter (or Dr Dan as he likes to be known). I think I liked him more before he went on the Government pay roll as a health minister but he is reasonably active in the constituency.<br />
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However his latest election leaflet has raised a few eyebrows in Stradbroke. In it he claims: <i>Dr Dan buys locally & succeeded in the fight to keep open Stradbroke Post Office & the Bank in Eye</i><br />
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Now I don't know much about the Bank in Eye but I do know a lot about the post office in Stradbroke. First of all it didn't stay open. It closed for over a year and then was re-opened in a new location as part of the library. Secondly as far as I know Dr Dan didn't play any part at all in this. He might for all I know have supported it with a letter or some such (and that is really appreciated) but certainly he didn't "succeed in a fight".<br />
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The comments above are made worse by this photo which shows Dr Dan opening a post office. Except it isn't the one at Stradbroke as he wasn't even at the opening. To be fair to him I don't think he was invited as he wasn't really involved!<br />
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Dan Poulter really should be more careful with the claims he makes. To make up for it, as he says he buys locally, I am expecting to see him come and buy a <i>lot</i> of stamps after the election and perhaps have a quiet word with Maureen our post office and library manager to apologise for this! He could perhaps take a quick look at the <a href="http://blog.hargrave.org.uk/2015/05/when-will-stradbroke-get-superfast.html" target="_blank">situation with "superfast" broadband in Stradbroke</a> whilst he is at it as he claims to be responsible for delivering that too!
<div class="storify"><iframe src="//storify.com/onlygeek/poulter-and-the-post-office/embed" width="100%" height="750" frameborder="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe><script src="//storify.com/onlygeek/poulter-and-the-post-office.js"></script><noscript>[<a href="//storify.com/onlygeek/poulter-and-the-post-office" target="_blank">View the story "Dan Poulter, Stradbroke Post Office and an election leaflet" on Storify</a>]</noscript></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-79645242665372429012015-05-01T18:50:00.000+01:002015-05-06T10:35:47.724+01:00When will Stradbroke get "superfast" broadband?<a href="http://api.ning.com/files/wTFR6FHHG9Jei1WaUYvKTygV9mF9BmFI5XbMik9oH*RG6TjmC4SVJFEKESzv1X4u1yOhoKKVgCnYyrK4ZnAw6YInHr3zV-Rf/IMG_5888.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/wTFR6FHHG9Jei1WaUYvKTygV9mF9BmFI5XbMik9oH*RG6TjmC4SVJFEKESzv1X4u1yOhoKKVgCnYyrK4ZnAw6YInHr3zV-Rf/IMG_5888.JPG?width=400" width="400" /></a>Anyone who attended the annual parish meeting last night might have ended up with a feeling of deja-vu. Stradbroke's County Councillor Guy McGregor faced exactly the same questions about the availability of "superfast" (fibre to the cabinet) broadband that he did last year.<br />
Unfortunately he still had no real concrete answers. Indeed he appeared to be under the mis-apprehension that parts of Stradbroke already have superfast broadband. Which as we all know isn't the case. We do have some rather nice green cabinets in various places but no sign of the actual fast broadband that is so wanted and needed by local residents, businesses and schools.<br />
<br />
All that we know is that some parts of the village are going to get superfast broadband sometime but we don't know when this will be (possibly by September) or what parts of the village (possibly the parts on a map you can see below).<br />
<br />
The situation isn't helped by the poor quality of information provided by both the <a href="http://www.betterbroadbandsuffolk.com/" target="_blank">Better Broadband for Suffolk</a> website and <a href="http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/" target="_blank">BT Openreach</a>.<br />
<br />
Better Broadband for Suffolk which is the Suffolk County Council led and government funded rural broadband project has a confusing map which is even worse for people like me who are colour blind and cannot see the differences between the colours:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://api.ning.com/files/wTFR6FHHG9KBD-yxIMe755w2W8isw58booMYvjmN1UpOSWaJWgvrPVwrOs8jvxC0dI3vlufr*sYnb3qHH63D9rvJQAf0-c5J/betterbroadband.png" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/wTFR6FHHG9KBD-yxIMe755w2W8isw58booMYvjmN1UpOSWaJWgvrPVwrOs8jvxC0dI3vlufr*sYnb3qHH63D9rvJQAf0-c5J/betterbroadband.png?width=550" width="550" /></a><br />
Perhaps this is where the idea that there is service already is coming from? Part of the village is shown as "fibre present in some areas...". Except that it isn't.<br />
<br />
BT open reach boast a new website but its answers are even more vague. Every number I typed in for Stradbroke in whatever part of the village just came up with "planned area" saying that fibre might be available some time in the next 18 months.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://api.ning.com/files/wTFR6FHHG9JEgjb6eowFSF71yUQlH28c*FhDNDuq0Ur80mZdhwa11l6eUBcj6hmYjCQ*zdsYlKREgO--7A1g6ALQKLO5BxC2/openreach.png" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/wTFR6FHHG9JEgjb6eowFSF71yUQlH28c*FhDNDuq0Ur80mZdhwa11l6eUBcj6hmYjCQ*zdsYlKREgO--7A1g6ALQKLO5BxC2/openreach.png" width="424" /></a><br />
<br />
Roger Turkington who both this year and last questioned McGregor about broadband has already published more information he obtained about broadband on the <a href="http://www.stradbrokeonline.org.uk/index.php/2-uncategorised/101-broadband-update-july14" target="_blank">Stradbroke Online</a> website. Here he comments:<br />
<blockquote>
Contrary to various rumours and reports elsewhere, less than half of the village is likely to get superfast broadband next year. As yet neither BT Openreach or SCC will give a definite date when the upgrade will happen - just sometime in 2015. However, we do now know which parts of the village will benefit and which wont....<br />
This is clearly not the good news we were all hoping for and so we will be taking up the offer made by our County Councillor - Guy McGregor - to raise the issue with the Better Broadband team at SCC</blockquote>
The map can be seen below:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://api.ning.com/files/wTFR6FHHG9IR0jH-f3*hCenEtwjGeNNQzmLoY8lFGDrDS6ECB5OygQoQDIkrejbg6*ZtdOP2XRldCyfe9N3wDViJ2qV6oF*R/broadband.png" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/wTFR6FHHG9IR0jH-f3*hCenEtwjGeNNQzmLoY8lFGDrDS6ECB5OygQoQDIkrejbg6*ZtdOP2XRldCyfe9N3wDViJ2qV6oF*R/broadband.png" width="545" /></a><br />
<br />
The coloured area is apparently where broadband will be available but green cabinets can clearly be seen outside this area, for example at Queens Street.<br />
<br />
The meeting promised back in April 2014 never took place but this time we were promised that Guy McGregor would arrange for someone to come to a parish council meeting to explain the situation.<br />
I think what everyone is seeking here is some clarity. What will be available, where and (within a few months) when. Given that we know much of the infrastructure has already been installed and any more would need months of planning in advance this information must be known to somebody in Suffolk County Council or BT Openreach. Hopefully we don't have to wait another year for the next annual parish meeting to find out....Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-27311128302407878332015-04-26T17:00:00.000+01:002015-05-09T18:31:08.617+01:00Grove Farm "could be joined to Shelton Hill"<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_5-PXVUz_f4gdDXKUr7wJvF3NZ_tmmcyT2o1cFkWFkULR8SGIJWzl2h4V0YVzF37bjrQwBcCbf9Y6p3301Hrwx-ttyG_CC6mD2x0xaZrMvfqT2Xt4HHfXjmYAfk3Tihnv1T7bMEiE4e9/s1600/grovemap.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_5-PXVUz_f4gdDXKUr7wJvF3NZ_tmmcyT2o1cFkWFkULR8SGIJWzl2h4V0YVzF37bjrQwBcCbf9Y6p3301Hrwx-ttyG_CC6mD2x0xaZrMvfqT2Xt4HHfXjmYAfk3Tihnv1T7bMEiE4e9/s1600/grovemap.png" height="316" width="400" /></a>Papers <a href="http://www.stradbrokeonline.org.uk/images/Uploads/Neighbourhood-Plan/Traffic_Transport/Minutes_of_Traffic_Stream_for_Stradbroke_Neighbourhood__Plan_15.04.2015.pdf" target="_blank">published online as part of the Stradbroke Neighbourhood Plan traffic workstream</a> show a suggestion to join together the proposed Grove Farm development with Shelton Hill in a bid to <i>try and reduce traffic in the centre of the village. </i></div>
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The paper shows an action on Cllr Stuart Crane, leader of the transport and traffic stream to discuss the idea with Cllr Olly Last as planning lead.<br />
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Leaving aside the concept of the new road becoming some kind of a rat run to avoid a congested village centre, as the map shows, such a road would look even more likely to see the rest of the area south of Grove Farm developed with more housing.<br />
<br />
My view is this would change the character of Stradbroke for ever. The 54 houses proposed now could just be the tip of the iceberg.<br />
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It is also sad to see the neighbourhood plan group reacting to the proposed Grove Farm development as if it was already agreed. It is true that the development may well go ahead but I think the plan should reflect what the village wants.<br />
<br />
Keeping the "shape" of Stradbroke as a village build on a staggered cross roads was something seen as important to large numbers of Stradbroke residents in the <a href="http://www.stradbroke.org.uk/profiles/blogs/neighbourhood-planning-full-presentation-from-19th-jan-meeting" target="_blank">qualitative research undertaken for the neighbourhood plan.</a><br />
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The proposal the goes on somewhat incredibly to suggest:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Lollipop person, rather than a crossing at Grove Farm development – we felt that a crossing would have the effect of backing traffic up through Queen St. – perhaps a lollipop person would be better, and would be better fitting in a village setting. This could perhaps be funded by the Section 106 money, or by the PC. Perhaps Trevor’s role could be extended?</blockquote>
Whilst I quite agree that pelican crossings look like creeping urbanisation this idea does not seem thought through and stopping the over development should be the priority. That way we won't need any crossings.<br />
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To me these kinds of discussions should be held at the full council as they are significant proposed changes. As things are now, as a councillor, the only way I find out about them is to search obscure links from the Council's preferred website.<br />
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After the election I hope we can look again at the neighbourhood plan - an idea I pushed personally for some time - and ensure it is refocussed and the council involved in key decisions. I can find all manner of suggestions from the plan about education and traffic but nothing at all about the main thing a plan is about. Making planning policy. I know that is boring but at the end of the day that is all a neighbourhood plan can do.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-8336639203700479142015-04-20T21:35:00.000+01:002015-05-05T17:08:15.893+01:00Stradbroke Parish Council "divided against itself" on Grove Farm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8lvhoOSyWfmNjkz3vS19mEaQkrV4nGM0QDOq0dbtrnsls1RvQFiQykA0l1zymK2uOkbhG05W9BAdsYHQjhbbbvltDDvxWGXChm_wb-9SIi01W19AS87_lCt3cY9ylhXW50HnHFg7gLTEU/s1600/housedivided.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8lvhoOSyWfmNjkz3vS19mEaQkrV4nGM0QDOq0dbtrnsls1RvQFiQykA0l1zymK2uOkbhG05W9BAdsYHQjhbbbvltDDvxWGXChm_wb-9SIi01W19AS87_lCt3cY9ylhXW50HnHFg7gLTEU/s1600/housedivided.jpg" height="400" width="230" /></a></div>
The <a href="http://www.dissexpress.co.uk/news/latest-news/stradbroke-parish-council-votes-in-favour-of-54-homes-plan-1-6693708" target="_blank">Diss Express report </a>of Stradbroke Parish Council's vote on the proposed Grove Farm development makes interesting reading. A split council narrowly voting 6-5 in favour. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the council on either side of the debate. Public opinion split (50/50 according to the Chairman).<br />
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I think there is much truth in this although I would personally put the opposition quite a bit higher, but that could just be bias on my part. What is certainly true is that the proposal as presented (54 houses) is deeply divisive.<br />
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But Vice-Chairman Olly Last's comment to the Diss Express shows that this did not have to be the case. Olly says that:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I would have liked to have seen a smaller development on that site in line with what had been previously proposed to the council in discussions that date back a number of years, and wait for the Neighbourhood Plan to be in place, to getter a better deal for the village via the new Community Infrastructure Levy.</blockquote>
The fact is that we could have worked together to build consensus on this development. I mentioned this in my Blog post <i><a href="http://www.stradbroke.org.uk/profiles/blogs/can-the-parish-council-build-consensus-on-development-in" target="_blank">Can the parish council build consensus on development in Stradbroke</a> </i>back in December. The smaller development that was spoken about over the previous years could probably have commanded unanimous support both on the council and in the village.<br />
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In fact I think if people thought that there <b>was</b><i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>a choice then very few people indeed would support a 54 house development. The support this has is based on a false premise that there is no alternative. 54 houses or nothing at all. Affordable housing or nothing.<br />
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This looks like pure opportunism by landowners and developers to me. A District Council desperate to meet a shortfall in its "housing land supply" (ie it has to build more houses to keep the government off its back) and a parish council that has its eye off the ball.<br />
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Sadly many people seem to have come to believe that the Grove Farm development is inevitable and is going to go ahead whatever happens. The danger is this becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. The case still hasn't been decided and we need to make a clear case to Mid Suffolk that this development as proposed is unsustainable.<br />
<br />
The Case will now come to Mid Suffolk's Planning Referrals Committee who could still decide to reject the proposal in its current form. Such a decision still leaves the door open to a future more scaled back and more sustainable proposal.<br />
<br />
<b>There is still (just) time to have your say on this proposal, see the <a href="http://www.stradbroke.org.uk/profiles/blogs/parish-council-votes-6-5-in-favour-of-grove-farm-development" target="_blank">article on the Stradbroke Village Website that explains how to do this</a>. Comments need to be made by Tuesday 21st April. UPDATE the <a href="http://www.stradbroke.org.uk/profiles/blogs/grove-farm-consultation-extended-to-15th-may" target="_blank">consultation has now been extended until Friday 15th May</a></b><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-29510078972824862072015-04-17T08:30:00.001+01:002015-05-09T18:32:12.419+01:00Stradbroke Parish Council needs change<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWqkMuSM86Po2ovh3yDmlfB0bHoHp5i_SQchLyg7fpqLQZL_91cT1GLbR43WqjyCuZc3aXNzlizD6_j25rSpD5LkJGbaKXveawjweGT_ihvhD85LxgQSFVs3UWrg7lNiQpanLPKkyoUjBv/s1600/pc1+(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWqkMuSM86Po2ovh3yDmlfB0bHoHp5i_SQchLyg7fpqLQZL_91cT1GLbR43WqjyCuZc3aXNzlizD6_j25rSpD5LkJGbaKXveawjweGT_ihvhD85LxgQSFVs3UWrg7lNiQpanLPKkyoUjBv/s1600/pc1+(3).jpg" /></a></div>
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Stradbroke Parish Council needs to change. The elections on 7th May provide a rare opportunity to ensure that it does. The fact that we have 18 people willing to stand shows that people really care about the future of our village.</div>
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The Council needs to change not because it never goes any good because it certainly does. Not because none of its members are any use because that certainly isn't true either. Not even because its members don't care because I think almost all do. It simply needs to change to make it represent the village as it is today.</div>
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We have made progress in this respect over the past four years. When I joined the Council in 2011 I was 39 years old. Hardly what you would call young. Only one of the 12 other councillors was younger than me. Today four councillors are. </div>
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However we still only have four out of thirteen councillors who are female. </div>
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And it isn't just age and gender that is the issue. It is good for a council if people come from different viewpoints and represent different organisations and groups. It is good if people offer different expertise. Its good that some people have jobs and some are retired. That some own land and some people don't.</div>
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Constructive debate and better decisions follow I think from a council that is more representative and diverse.</div>
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Sadly over the past four years I have found that there is a "dominant view" on many issues within the council and different viewpoints aren't welcomed but resisted. This needs to change.</div>
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I have no wish at all to see experienced councillors all removed from the council but I also don't think sitting on a council for decades at a time is healthy. This election gives the opportunity to keep a core of experienced councillors but we have four completely new councillors who have offered to join the council.</div>
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These four are:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Richard Pierce-Saunderson</li>
<li>Ellie Wharton</li>
<li>Caroline Barnes</li>
<li>Brian Goffey</li>
</ul>
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I would encourage these four to be the first crosses you make on the ballot paper. Fresh new voices will make more difference to the council than anything else.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15648113038308094710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4150297464512478627.post-82109578110194115422015-04-14T12:52:00.002+01:002015-05-09T18:32:36.911+01:00Why the new Tory "right to buy" policy could mean no affordable housing at Grove Farm<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container tr_bq" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOq-JveyNdzEQyeqEe0iVoGhPpp2VAbe4hs8LI-FsODMZ6qoCOMhon2Tem0Oy2xc11CcLtoR_POZdnmFPsW5bpe-mLeG5GPd9RSzqdqcCd-g_UpUvg7bseFeIsCYupsOF1NYsPTgP9Rg6P/s1600/grovefarm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOq-JveyNdzEQyeqEe0iVoGhPpp2VAbe4hs8LI-FsODMZ6qoCOMhon2Tem0Oy2xc11CcLtoR_POZdnmFPsW5bpe-mLeG5GPd9RSzqdqcCd-g_UpUvg7bseFeIsCYupsOF1NYsPTgP9Rg6P/s1600/grovefarm.png" height="247" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This artists impression might be the closest we get to <br />affordable housing in Stradbroke</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Being old enough to remember the Thatcher government has some advantages. I can clearly remember how the "right to buy" policy that enabled people to buy their own Council houses was a big hit at the time.<br />
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For some families it enabled the aspiration of home ownership to be realised and it was understandably popular as a result.<br />
<br />
But as public policy it was a disaster and has directly contributed to the housing crisis we have today that leaves record number of younger people unable to own their own homes.<br />
<br />
This <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/righttobuy-what-is-it--and-why-the-tories-are-doomed-to-repeat-the-mistakes-of-thatcher-10174767.html" target="_blank">article in the Independent today </a>is so good at explaining why right to buy is such a bad idea that I won't repeat it here. David Orr from the National Housing Federation also <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/davidorr/right-to-buy_b_7060418.html?1429006121&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067" target="_blank">blogs about it</a>.<br />
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It was no surprise to me that during the debate on Grove Farm last night one of our younger councillors Olly Coles spoke convincingly about the need for affordable homes. This was from his own personal experience. He was completely right.<br />
<br />
Whilst I didn't agree with him that Grove Farm is the answer to the need for affordable housing, literally as we were debating, David Cameron was announcing a decision that could mean we don't get any affordable housing at all or if we do it ends up quickly sold off to private landlords or for profit.<br />
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The new "right to buy" would apply to houses owned by housing associations such as Hastoe who are the preferred social housing provider for Grove Farm. They would be forced to sell their assets almost certainly way below market value. This could according to the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/righttobuy-what-is-it--and-why-the-tories-are-doomed-to-repeat-the-mistakes-of-thatcher-10174767.html" target="_blank">Independent article</a> have several consequences:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The government has dramatically cut the amount of money it gives to housing associations – as a result they are more reliant than ever on raising their own money to build houses. One of the main ways they do this is by borrowing against their existing housing stock and the future rents they bring in. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Right To Buy would both run down associations’ existing stock and also make it difficult for planned homes to pay for themselves through rent in the long run. Associations would find it much more difficult to get credit to build homes.</blockquote>
Even if the houses are built they could soon find their way into the hands of private landlords charging unaffordable rents:<br />
<blockquote>
Far from helping people live the ‘dream’ of owning a home, Right to Buy homes that were rented out by councils often end up in the hands of private landlords – to whom tenants pay much higher rents. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
In London 36% of homes sold under Right To Buy have found their way into the hands of private landlords; in some boroughs the figure is even higher. Tenants have to pay landlords far high rents than they ever paid councils, and the rent goes into landlords' pockets rather than councils' coffers.</blockquote>
The nightmare scenario for Stradbroke is that a large housing development that even its supporters admit is opposed by most people ends up getting built but fails to deliver the affordable housing that is unquestionably needed. Tales of affordable housing being removed from plans at the last minute are not uncommon and if right to buy is introduced this looks even more likely.<br />
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This isn't even a case of the law of unintended consequences. We already know what the consequences of right to buy will be. The government should not repeat the failures of the past. Locally we should be very wary of accepting something we don't really want in return for a sweetener that looks even less certain that it did yesterday evening.<br />
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<b><i>UPDATE (14/4/2015 13:36): Right to Buy changes will devastate rural social housing (Hastoe)</i></b><br />
<br />
After writing this blog post I came across a <a href="http://www.hastoe.com/page/782/Right-to-Buy-changes-will-devastate-rural-social-housing.aspx" target="_blank">press statement from Hastoe the chosen housing association for Grove Farm, in it their Chief Executive Sue Chalkley</a>, said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
One of the most important parts of providing affordable homes in a rural setting is doing so hand-in-hand with the local community and the mutual understanding that these homes will be kept specifically for people from that community. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If you extend Right to Buy to these homes, you cannot prevent them from being lost to the open market. At a time when rural communities are opening up and asking for affordable homes in their local area, this change could set us back years. How many communities are going to ask for affordable housing in their local area when they could be legitimately concerned that it would be lost almost immediately? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We know too that the pledge to replace each home sold with another affordable home does not happen – in London the 2712 homes sold since the start of 2012 have been replaced by zero homes and it is the same in rural areas.</blockquote>
The article goes on to give a stark warning of the future viability of Housing Associations:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
These proposed changes could see many housing associations collapse. With less housing subsidy available to develop, associations have had to borrow increasing amounts over recent years – borrowing secured against their housing stock. If those homes then have to be sold at a discount, many associations will breach their lending covenants.</blockquote>
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