Canvassing in Maids Moreton with Iain Stewart (MP for Milton Keynes South), James Elles (MEP), Jeremy Quin (Chairman of Buckingham Conservatives), my brother, and my friend Oli

I began my election campaign in March. There was glorious sunshine for my canvassing days which helped (I’ve now realised that was the extent of our ‘summer’)! It was great to meet lots of new people on the doorstep and let them know what I’d been working on for the past year. It was a very different campaign to my by-election, with lots of new issues and obviously it was nice to feel more aware of local issues and be able to inform residents of things happening with the Council.

I was absolutely delighted to be re-elected to AVDC with 63% of the vote – it is so humbling to know I have the support and trust of the people in my ward, and I’m working hard to continue making contacts and going to parish meetings. It was an exciting election and we had a turnout of 49% in Luffield Abbey.

I was also pleased to see the referendum on the Alternative Vote system return a resounding 70% ‘No’ result in Aylesbury Vale, and across the nation. The future of our democratic principle of ‘one person one vote’ remains, and I am proud that Britain has had a chance to have it’s say on such a fundamental constitutional question.

We were delighted to maintain our majority in the Council chamber, and to welcome lots of new members, including some younger councillors.

Campaigning for the No to AV vote in Buckingham

ENTERPRISING THINKING

I welcome the Government’s decision to abolish our expensive Regional Development Agencies and instead allow local authorities to join up and create Local Enterprise Partnerships. The South East Midlands LEP is currently in formation and will be nurturing the creation and growth of businesses in our area – linking up institutions with common areas of expertise – like education or engineering. It’s been particularly exciting to see the proposals for the development at Silverstone – a brand new business park, education centre, museum, visitor centre and the necessary infrastructure investment. It’s pleasing to see that the circuit will now be a venue for events all year round and continue to provide jobs for local people. The millions of pounds that the circuit’s activities create for our local economy are much valued. In 2009, AVDC helped to secure the Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone for the next 17 years – a massive boost for our local economy. I attend a sub group chaired by South Northants Council which feeds back residents concerns and comments about the activities at the race track to the circuit managers so that all events can continue to be managed with the support of local people in the future. This will be particularly relevant with the phased development that is planned.

THE LOCALISM AGENDA AND THE VALE OF AYLESBURY PLAN

Our new, Conservative led Government has provided some exciting opportunities for localism and the Big Society in our communities. I’m proud to see the red tape being stripped away and a chance for communities to have an input into the development of their areas. I will be working with parishes over the coming months on the creation of their parish plans, which will need the input of all residents. We are working on our Vale of Aylesbury Plan at present, and I have been to several Member seminar’s to discuss how the plan might be formulated. There are lots of factors to take into consideration when looking at housing need and housing demand – things like sustainability, community consultation, land availability, infrastructure requirements, demographic changes (for example, the rise in the number of pensioners in the future will provide new and different challenges to the type of development we need in the Vale), employment, and the growth of the surrounding cities and ‘hubs’ – Aylesbury Vale can currently be considered a ‘dormitory’ district where people live but commute out to work. But of course the key factor – and the most unpredictable – the economy itself. There are challenging times ahead, but it is refreshing to see our plan being lead by the parishes, towns and districts rather than by national government targets.

CANALS, COMMUNITY AND CABINET

The Buckingham Canal Society are working hard with their plans for restoration, and are currently undergoing planning application processes to re water the Buckingham end. They have also acquired permission from British Waterways to begin work on the Cosgrove end of the canal, and hope to have at least one of these sections in water by the end of the year. It continues to amaze and impress me that not only are the Canal Society working hard to reach their ultimate aim, but the means by which they get there – through community involvement, events, education and fundraising – are always so innovative and focused on the best values that community projects thrives on, like joining up thinking between public and private sectors and leveraging opportunities for the good of all. Part of that leveraging of opportunities was creating a formal partnership for the Society with AVDC. Terry Cavender presented the Society’s proposal to the Cabinet in February and then BCS on to form a partnership with South Northants Council in July. AVDC’s Cabinet Member for Leisure said of the partnership:

Cllr John Cartwright presenting a cheque for £2000 to Buckingham Canal Society

“The restoration of the canal is a large and ambitious project, but one that AVDC is proud to support. It will create a fantastic waterside environment that will bring real benefits to those living and working in Buckingham and the surrounding area. We look forward to working with the canal society to help take the project forward.” (Cllr David Thompson, Cabinet Member for Leisure).

My thanks must also go to Cllr John Cartwright for his generous donation of £2,000 to the Society from the Community Leader’s fund at Bucks County Council.

£2M BOOST FOR BUCKINGHAMSHIRE BROADBAND

Buckinghamshire (in the form of Bucks Business First, formally Bucks Economic Learning Partnership) were delighted to have their application accepted for a grant of the Government’s money for broadband development in the county – Bucks has been given £2.1m. This will be split among some of the already ongoing projects in the Vale (where there are the most ‘not spots’) and other areas in Buckinghamshire. At present, BAC3 (the community interest company that Terry Cavender and I created), is looking at some new exciting options for providing some pilot projects north of Buckingham, and once again Terry has come up trumps delivering on some fantastic private sector collaborations. The Economy Scrutiny Committee (of which I am vice-chair) at AVDC has agreed to look at broadband provision in the Vale as part of a three-stage (or more if necessary) review, and I hope that this will provide an opportunity for AVDC to consider what work is being done at present to improve broadband provision – with particular reference to our rural economy – and suggest ways that we can move forward with some of the good work already being done. It should also be a great opportunity for us to identify all the smaller community projects that are going on at present and link their work up to create bigger and better opportunities for the district and surrounding areas outside of small villages.

Meeting Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP at the CCA Conference in February 2011

OUT AND ABOUT

2011 has not been without its field trips! I spent a weekend in February up in Warwickshire at the Conservative Councillor’s Conference, and met some Cabinet ministers and councillors from all over the country. It’s a great event to show you that actually local government isn’t just confined to your own district or county – there are common challenges being faced by all local authorities at present, and it was very interesting to talk about how to approach these.

My favourite event was on the Big Society, the outcome of which I am always thinking about – that the Big Society is not just about volunteering as the media so often conveys, it is about a changing the relationship between people and the state, the ethics of stewardship, a partnership, taking responsibility. It is about fresh thinking towards our services, who provides them and most importantly – why do we need them and how can this be reflected in their delivery?

PARTY EVENTS

Conservative Future at the CCA Conference with CF President Ben Howlett

Our newly established Conservative Policy Forum meets for the first time next week in Winslow. Conservative Associations all over the country set up local groups to discuss policy and then it gets fed straight back to government ministers: http://www.conservativepolicyforum.com/.

Finally, October brings our second Conservative Party Conference, and I’ll be heading up to Manchester for a few days in October – once again there are hundreds of fringe events and receptions happening, and hopefully this year we’ll make it into the hall to hear David Cameron’s closing speech!

A particularly interest element that we are looking at is the use of rights of way to lay ducting for fibres. The  CIC would apply for grants to repay the cost of the ducting and therefore making the ducting a community asset, renting it out to service providers and putting profits in to the CIC to continue it’s work.

The Business, Innovation and Skills department has money available for projects like ours  - £530million from their £830million for broadband project will go to help rural areas build digital hubs for fibre optic connections. The grant applications open in March 2011.

Click on ‘Broadband’ at the top of this page to read about the CIC in more detail.

Thornton College's award winning science lab

I was delighted to attend AVDC’s 2010 Design Awards on Wednesday 10^th November, and even more delighted to see Thornton College win one of the two winners plaques for outstanding design with their new science lab. It was interesting to consider how challenging it can be to take into account the past, present and future of a building and site when considering new designs. The facilities at the lab look incredible, and the judges said it was ‘a beautiful place to study’. I was pleased to be invited by the headmistress to go up to the college and have a look for myself one day. ]]> http://pearllewis.yourcllr.com/2010/11/14/thornton-college-wins-design-award-2010/feed/ 0 http://pearllewis.yourcllr.com/2010/11/01/the-rural-broadband-challenge-2/ http://pearllewis.yourcllr.com/2010/11/01/the-rural-broadband-challenge-2/#comments Mon, 01 Nov 2010 22:35:13 +0000 Pearl Lewis http://pearllewis.yourcllr.com/?p=365 We’re all aware of the challenge we face connecting our rural communities up to an acceptable standard of broadband speed. BT are bringing 40mb speeds to Buckingham in December 2011 which means we can move faster on connecting up the outlying villages – click on ‘broadband’ at the top of this page to find out more about the project that we’re working on, and sign up for BT’s Race to Infinity at the same time. ]]> http://pearllewis.yourcllr.com/2010/11/01/the-rural-broadband-challenge-2/feed/ 0 http://pearllewis.yourcllr.com/2010/10/24/rising-water/ http://pearllewis.yourcllr.com/2010/10/24/rising-water/#comments Sun, 24 Oct 2010 19:26:46 +0000 Pearl Lewis http://pearllewis.yourcllr.com/?p=299 I am chairing the newly reformed Local Area Forum flooding sub-group in response to the Great Ouse Catchment Flood Management Plan Consultation, produced in July 2010. The plan has failed to take into account some important considerations in respect of the impact of flooding on the infrastructure around North Buckinghamshire. We are hoping to lobby the Environment Agency (EA) and other organisations as follows…

The grading of flood risk is based on the threat to infrastructure. The flooding group will aim to provide the EA with the considerable amount of data about infrastructure damage in past floods that has not been taken into consideration in the report. For example, the closure of the A422, and the records showing the shutdown of the power substations, evacuation of student accommodation etc. The data should demonstrate that Buckingham’s grading should be moved from a Level 5 to a Level 4. Such re-grading will bring extra investment.

In addition to providing previous ignored data, we also want to show how a cost effective solution to the flooding issues can be adopted, using methods like drainage restructure, balancing lakes and the restoration of the Buckingham Canal arm. All of these are covered in the EA flood management plan as concepts for the Ouse Valley and we aim to work in partnership with them and others to drive this forward for the villages affected in Bucks and downstream in South Northants. The Buckingham Canal Society has already obtained substantial data regarding the drainage system layout on Page Hill with help from Transport for Buckinghamshire and has a possible solution to divert water and restructure the drainage system to move excess surface water to a higher level at flood time.

The flooding group will also be monitoring and lobbying local developments that are likely to impact on the general likelihood of flooding, for example, new planning developments, farmer’s maintenance of gulleys and ditches, and the maintenance of clear drains by the local authorities and water boards.

Next to our banner for the canal restoration

The canal project is moving along swiftly – we are close to finalising the briefing document to present to local authorities, supporters, politicians and donors. We had a membership drive in the town centre on Saturday 11th September, and gained 19 new members. Everyone was very interested to hear about what the Society has been doing and our new campaign ‘The First Million Litres’ that aims to raise the first £75,000 through fundraising, grants and donations so we can put in water the Bourton Mill section of the canal.

Our flooding sub group meets on Wednesday to discuss the Environment Agency’s response to our feedback on their report, which seemed to ignore the flooding problems on the A422. Then the LAF meets on the 23rd September where we are reporting on the canal progress and the flooding sub group’s work. Busy busy!!

I am excited that I am now able to go back to my parishes and ask them to start thinking about the levels of housing and infrastructure that they would like to see in their areas. I think Parish Plans are the best way to achieve this, and I will be helping parish councils work with AVDC to produce these. It is important that local people consider what their priorities for housing, infrastructure, employment and demographics are going to be. We should embrace this opportunity to be able to have a say about the location and number of houses we have in the Vale.

A number of important points were raised at the meeting which we must take note of when forming a new plan. The threat from Milton Keynes is a very real one, we should make sure that any new development is thoroughly considered in relation to infrastructure, we should aim to be as consultative and transparent in our future decision making about housing as possible, we should take note of the inspectors comments already given relating to a number of housing developments in the Core Strategy, and employment targets and sustainable development consideration are absolutely key in any new plan.

We want North Bucks Conservative Future to be both a social network for you to enjoy the company and intelligent conversation of other young Conservatives, as well as provide you with the opportunity to debate and discuss politics, help out with election campaigns, maybe stand for election yourself (!), and meet national political figures.

Please join our Facebook group here: Conservative Future North Bucks to keep up to date with the latest developments and event news! If you want to join our branch, let me know!

I highlighted to the young people the importance of getting involved in their local communities and providing a voice for other youngsters and the issues that affect them. I was once told as a Member of Youth Parliament that ‘although young people are just 20% of the population, we are 100% of the future’ – I haven’t forgotten that and hope that this helped to illustrate the importance of Youth Parliament in encouraging young people to have a say on policies that affect their future.

The UKYP has come a long way since I was involved in 2004. There had not been, before me, a member for Aylesbury Vale, and my youth worker told me that there is now up to 35 applications for the position every year. This is very encouraging, and lovely to see that it has grown to be something that every school in the Vale is aware of now.

Some of the young people came to ask me questions at the end – about politics degrees at university, future careers and more about UKYP. It was an enlightening afternoon, and I am proud of the hard work that the Youth Service at Bucks County Council have been doing. I hope that despite the budget cuts, young people will continue to be inspired to be better citizens and ambitious adults!

Canal Restoration: The most exciting project I’m working on, with the Buckingham Canal Society. At present we’re trying to raise awareness of what a great project the restoration of the Buckingham branch of the canal is.

Residents of the Old Ragdoll could be coming to Buckingham once the canal is restored...?

We’ve put together a draft ‘prospectus’ to present to local authorities, interested parties, organisations and individuals to raise awareness, and hopefully funds for the work to continue. The restoration has exciting benefits for the local economy, wildlife, flood defences, tourism, history and heritage, leisure and tourism, and possibly even the freight trade.

Bourton End Clearance of the Buckingham Canal

Wifi grant application: Terry Cavender from Akeley Parish council has been working really hard on this, and the Community Interest Company we want to set up to help fund the canal restoration in Buckingham has applied for a grant to expand the broadband supply and internet access to some rural areas in our community that are still without acceptable standards of internet connection in 2010. The idea is that the restoration of the canal works in conjunction with the laying of cables under the towpath.

Flooding group: We’re hoping to get this group as a sub group to the Local Area Forum up and running again. The work that I’m doing with the canal society to push for the restoration as part of a wider flooding planning strategy is part of this.

Speed review, Area 14 (North Bucks): I went to the briefing session for this along with parish and county councillors. While it was a little frustrating to spend an hour being told what you’re NOT allowed to do with speed limits, each parish has now submitted their ‘wish list’ of how they want the speed limits changing in their areas, and I think we could see some interesting results – particularly in Maids Moreton where the new development has big consequences for the density and speed of traffic along the A413. Once the review is completed in the Autumn we can look at what we’ve managed to do and go from there if people still feel things like SID’s are useful.

High Speed Two – the buzz phrase on everyone’s lips! Although ‘Route 4’, which is a suggested route that affects the areas north of Buckingham, is not the proposed one, it is one of the alternative proposed routes, and I’ve been working with the parishes to keep them up to date with AVDC’s consultation on the Exceptional Hardship Scheme to work for the rights of all those not just on the proposed routes but also all the routes shown. I’ve also been working with Beachampton to create an action group to examine the feasibility of Route 4 alone.

High Speed Two trains threaten the areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Buckinghamshire.

They have sensibily pointed out that we need a coordinated forum with proper arguments against the route should the government change their mind about the proposed route in the south of the Vale. Lets hope that the public sector cuts mean that HS2 goes off the national agenda for a few years – £18billion is hardly spare change. We must be sensible as an authority and make sure that we are fully informed about all the HS2 proposals to make a well rounded and sensible suggestion to government when the formal consultation begins in Autumn 2010. It’s an interesting time, and I am sure that AVDC is united in its feelings about the blight on our countryside that HS2 will bring.

Silvertone IAG briefing group: I went to a meeting for all local councillors at Silverstone race track a few weeks ago. It was a briefing session run by Jean Morgan, CEO of South Northants District Council to explain to us the role of the Silverstone IAG, which is an officer-based group that means regularly to discuss the impact of the events at Silverstone on the local community. It is made up of local fire, police and council authority representatives and the briefings we hope to have as an aside to their meetings will enable us to feed in local residents feelings about how events are managed. It is mainly logistical discussions to do with camp sites, traffic flows, crime and health and safety, but this is still important as it affects the local residents of Dadford, Silverstone, Stowe and Whittlebury. It will be even more relevant over the coming years with the growth of the site now we have secured the F1 Grand Prix for another 17 years (yey!), and the Moto GP which had its first year at Silverstone last month. Each event brings different crowds of people, different kinds of traffic, and different kinds of problems.

Planning Applications: I’ve had several applications where residents have asked for my input lately, and its been complicated at times. I’m going for some planning training soon to understand the basics of planning law and my role as a member in planning situations. It can be an emotional time for applicants and residents and I would like to think I could support them through this.

Housing: I was pleased to be able to help a constituent who was being unfairly evicted from their home a few months ago. I would like to thank VAHT for being so understanding and sensible in this matter. They do a great job and are a housing association to be proud of. The presentation that I saw from them at my last Communities Scrutiny Committee meeting was most impressive, particularly their work to reduce crime and Anti-Social Behaviour in the areas of housing they control, using measures like varying the types of dwellings that are grouped together.

Party Conference 2010/CF North Bucks Branch: I’ve bought my ticket for the Conservative party conference! October 2010! Very excited, there will be so many people there, and lots of networking opportunities. I’ve also met lots more young people in the party (I did some campaigning for Conservative Future during the election) so it’s nice to have some councillors my age group to chat with.

Setting up a Conservative Future branch for the under 30 Tories of Buckinghamshire...

I’m also hoping to find some time to set up a Conservative Future branch for North Bucks and Milton Keynes – there isn’t one between Oxford and Bedford, a lot of ground to cover! It could be great fun and I’m sure there are lots of Bucks based Tories out there who would definitely enjoy all the benefits of a well run CF group. I’m meeting the Regional Chairman next week in London to discuss how I could go about it.

Phew – that’s just a taster of a few things I’ve been doing! I’ll try not to leave it so long next time… I’m just enjoying it too much I keep taking new things on…