Cllr Pearl Lewis

It’s been a while since my last update..! The election was fabulous fun – it made me so proud to be part of our democracy. Seeing queues out of the polling stations was the best feeling.

A Beautiful Sight - Polling Day, 6th May 2010

Its so nice that for a few months every five years people are talking about the thing I want to spend my life doing… Election day was very tiring – I was up at 5am to go telling in Milton Keynes, and then I was darting back between the campaign office in Winslow, and then over to Whitchurch to helps Johns campaign out – riding around in the car in Haddenham with John on the loud speaker was particularly fun!

John Bercow and me in Haddenham on Election Day

Then I was telling in Milton Keynes in the afternoon again, back to the office in Winslow, back to Milton Keynes and then home by about 9pm to watch the coverage start. By 3am when the results started to come in I was dead to the world in the chair! On the Friday I went over to watch the count for the Buckingham constituency in Aylesbury and then over to Bletchley for a drink to celebrate the win of the two constituencies in MK. Overall I think the mileometer showed around 400miles for the two days! Worth it though.

Every seat is going to count in this election, as the Conservative Party need the biggest swing since the war to gain a workable majority. Therefore, when the Conservative Future asked me to join their Regional Action Day in Winchester yesterday, I thought it might be good way not only to canvass to win back the seat there for the Conservatives – Steve Brine is the PPC, who only has a 6,000 Lib Dem majority to overturn – but it would also be a great way to meet some younger people in the party, and enjoy the spirit of the election with a crowd of excited supporters all hitting the streets to talk to voters and remind them that they should vote Conservative on May 6^th if they really want things to change in this country. The weather was incredible too yesterday – glorious sunshine and not a cloud in the sky – and we had about 70 people turn out to help!

Canvassing In Winchester with the Conservative Future

Canvassing is brilliant fun – there is nothing more democratic than physically going out there trying to win votes, talking to voters about the issues they are concerned about, and reminding them how their vote does count – especially in 2010.

There is an interesting article about canvassing here on the BBC News website, take a look, and join us if you really fancy it!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8605756.stm

I went to visit the Queens Park Centre on the 30^th March as I am now on the Board of Directors. I was so impressed by this wonderful facility – it is in an old Victorian school, and has a wonderful feel to it, I felt all nostalgic for a simpler time! The Queens Park Centre runs approximately 60 workshops ranging from pottery to circus skills, and the have the Limelight Theatre for anything from open mic evenings to jazz bands performing. They work to support the cultural strategies of AVDC and BCC, and the demographic they appeal to is huge, which was so pleasing to see – right from unemployed people, those with learning disabilities, problems youths, young children in the holidays and weekends, the schools, the elderly with a hobby, professionals to hire working and exhibition space, and pretty much anyone who wants to learn a hobby or skills, help with community projects or teach their talent to others!

The Queens Park Centre has been established for over thirty years now and they managed to buy the freehold of the building in 2009 from Bucks County Council. The money they receive from AVDC and a trust fund is only 30% of their overall turnover, so they are relatively independent in their business, which is wonderful to see. On the Board of Directors they would like to see me help with marketing and membership drives to increase their revenue, as they are trying to raise over £500,000 to improve the facilities and equipment at the centre.

Today I helped John leaflet for the general election in Long Crendon. It rained. A lot. But being out working for the election does give me an immense sense of pride in our democracy… I hope that the publicity around the election in Buckingham, with John being Speaker, will really boost the interest and consequently the turnout – and that can only be a good thing in my eyes! The constituency has a total electorate of 71,000 (!) in Buckinghamshire so there is still a lot of hard work to be done – if the election is May 6^th, then that leaves us just under seven weeks…. And the Conservatives are fighting hard in Milton Keynes South too for the marginal seat there. I hope there will be time for me to head over there for Iain Stewart too.

If you would like to help out with John’s campaign then you can contact his PA at the Speakers House: warrenj@parliament.uk or telephone 0207 219 6346

On Thursday 11 March, the Right Honourable John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons and MP for Buckingham, lectured at the University on five of his personal heroes and heroines: William Wilberforce, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher and Aung San Suu Kyi.  John began by explaining his three criteria for being a hero: beginning from a point of prior weakness or adversity, displaying immense courage and passion in achieving your goal, and choosing a goal that is of moral purpose. His five examples show all these traits, as I summarized for the University website:

Aung San Suu Kyi - A true 21st Century heroine

Wilberforce campaigned relentlessly (and successfully) for the abolition of the slave trade, despite heavy opposition and his weak power as a back-bench MP. Churchill’s time in politics gained him a number of enemies, but his performance and courage as Prime Minister during the war earned him the legacy of being one of the greatest wartime leaders. Mandela, who spent 26 years in jail for his anti-apartheid work and campaign for one nation, forgave his enemies, and served as the President of South Africa. Thatcher’s heavy opposition in her own party at a time when women were a very small minority of MPs did not prevent her from taming the power of the trade unions, winning the Falklands war, standing up to the Soviet Union and privatising the state industrial sector. Aung San Suu Kyi’s struggle for freedom and democracy in Burma has seen her put under house arrest, separated from her children, and refusing the tempting offer to be released if she commits to never returning.

John Bercow reminded the audience that we should not use the word ‘hero’ as lightly as we do. For real change in our troubled world, we need true heroes like those he described.

I went to this group’s meeting on the 10^th March, and we had a very useful discussion indeed. The PCT are prepared to consult with members of the group, and local doctors and nurses about the provision of primary care in the north of Bucks. We hope that such discussions will mean the most efficient outcome for the PCT and providers, but also the most relevant and effective care for the people of Buckingham and the surrounding areas. If a dialogue can begin with the residents and the providers then we are more in a position to understand how services are delivered.

The press release from the group is here:

http://www.buckinghamuk.info/news.php

We should hopefully be making some progress on the flooding outside Church House  – the drain was due to be cleared on the 9^th March. The agencies seem to be passing the buck a little on this one, due to the nature of the drain – it is unclear whether it is storm (AVDC) or foul (Anglian Water). The investigations on the 9^th should have hopefully answered this question for us and we can get onto getting it fixed.

Is 'Akeley WiFi' the way forward?

The most exciting bit of this meeting was the discussion about village WiFi. Grants are available to cover almost all of the set up costs of such a scheme and it would mean Akeley residents internet access would be considerably cheaper – and covered by the parish precept. It would widen access to the internet for villagers, prove a selling point for things like the pub, village hall and school, and be an attractive advantage for potential buyers of houses in the area. Culturally and socially, it could unite the villagers more if they are reminded that every time they go onto the internet they are logging on to ‘Akeley WiFi’ – we discussed earlier on in the meeting how disspointing it is that people do not seem to get involved in village life any more. This could be a new way of reminding people of the community around them, as well as convincing them that we are aware of the needs of the 21^st century village. Perhaps it might even attract more people to get involved in the governance of their village?

Of course it could pose problems: wireless access inevitably has ‘blackspots’, and it may be that such a scheme would not interest villagers. We decided to bring the discussion up at the next meeting, perhaps with some ideas of costing, and then present it to villagers for their opinions. It would have to be ‘sold’ right to the villagers to convince them to use it. I’m meeting with Terry Cavender, whose idea this is, on the 2^nd April to bounce some ideas around about this.

It could be a great thing for the village.

On 6^th March I attended the Conservative Councillors Association Annual Conference at Hotel Russell in London. David Cameron was the key speaker, and opened the conference urging councillors to ‘go forth and mobilise’ in the run up to the election in 2010. He promised more powers for councillors to make decisions under a Conservative administration and encouraged councils to be more transparent with their expenses, salaries and expenditure – publishing records online for the general public’s information.

David Cameron spoke to the Conservative councillors at the conference

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, came on to much applause – and did not disappoint. His speech was vibrant and encouraging, recognising the challenges that the upcoming election will bring. He reminded the party that a win is not certain: there is a long way to go and we should not be complacent. His humour throughout was not misplaced, and meant he came across in a very honest manner.

Caroline Spelman MP (Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) outlined the plans for housing and the abolition of the infrastructure quangos preventing elected councillors from making decisions about planning. She committed to opposing Labour plans for a revaluation of council tax (Council tax rates would be based on the market/rentable value of a property under Labour plans), to much agreement from councillors. She spoke of the Green Belt protection under plans for flexible land use (for example, using old retail sites instead of carving up our fields and countryside). A matched council tax scheme for all new developments would mean council tax incomes would be matched by the Government to fund relevant infrastructure. She committed to abolishing the Standards Board and its accompanying bureaucracy and money wasting, by increasing the powers of the Local Government Ombudsman and also the District Auditor to scrutinise local government and deal with cases of maladministration.

I had the pleasure of meeting Caroline Spelman – she was pleased to see a young face and reminded me that we needed more women politicians.

Boris Johnson came on to much applause

There were few young faces at the conference – I discovered in one of the breakout sessions that the average age of Conservative councillors is 68 (!) which shocked me greatly. We discussed that it is unfortunate that councils are not more representative of the people of Britain. Most who are younger need their full time jobs to keep going, meaning they cannot progress higher for time constraints and some councils holding daytime meetings. The younger people that were at the conference were standing for London boroughs that hold their elections on May 6^th alongside the General Election.

I met some interesting people – two brothers from Tendring council in Essex who are both councillors, a candidate for Westminister City Council, the leader of Ealing council who spoke to the group of the challenges of being effective after taking political control of a council, Grant Shapps MP, the Shadow Housing Minister who was also the after dinner speaker, and Cllr Merrick Cockrell and Cllr Rory Love of the CCA Board.

The most valuable part of the day was seeing councillors being given the opportunity to quiz members of the Shadow Cabinet about their policy for a new administration.

After all, we are the ones that are delivering the services to our people.

On Wednesday 3^rd March, I went to my first parish council meeting as an elected councillor of AVDC, in Maids Moreton village hall. We discussed speed limits on the A413 – both myself and David Polhill have had an enquiry from a resident who is keen to get the 30 mph limit moved up towards the white gates near Bycell Road. This would mean that drivers wouldn’t speed up until they leave the village. We also discussed the option of SID’s (Speed Indicator Devices), also known as the ‘light up speed signs’ that tell drivers how fast they are travelling. It was agreed that until the speed limit review at Bucks County Council is done (although this may not be until the end of the year) it would not be sensible to be making any changes that could cost a lot of money and not be necessary in the future. The development along the Moreton Road should hopefully strengthen the case to expand the 30mph limit right to the end of the village. Area 14 (our speed area) is being discussed at a meeting on the 13^th April that members of the parish council are attending, and I will be writing a letter to the speed review team to echo our sentiments. I will also be discussing the Section 106 implications for the area with Malcolm Beck to ensure that the infrastructure of Maids Moreton is properly provided for with the new development.

Bucks County Council is undertaking a speed review of the roads in our ward, Area 14

Potholes were mentioned, and residents said they felt forgotten up the north of the county. I informed the group that I have passed on the details of a news article about a new pothole filling machine to our county councillor David Polhill who was very interested in the scheme.

The details of the JetPatcher are here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8529964.stm and I would welcome constituent’s thoughts on this.

The Police Community Support Officers updated the council on the campaign to get residents to clear up after their dogs. They are working with the Advertiser newspaper to launch this and if anyone is found to be breaking the law then they will face prosecution. It is hoped that by enforcing tough measures this will deter others.

They also told the group of their open door surgery sessions that are being launched as part of the Policing Pledge, which aims to connect the local police officers with the community and be more visible. These sessions are once a month at a local location – the next is on the 9^th March at Buckingham library, and then on the 14^th April at Buckingham Tesco.

Maids Moreton Hall is still being subjected to break ins from local criminals for the marble and copper contained in the building. The local police are aware and are monitoring the situation.

The next meeting of the parish council is on the 7^th April, and this is the annual meeting with reports from all local groups and societies connected with the village. Local residents are encouraged to attend to meet their representatives at parish, district (me) and county (David Polhill) level.

The Council Tax rates were formally agreed at this meeting: a rise of 1.95%.

Aylesbury Theatre - CO2 friendly!

10:10 Campaign: Council members agreed to sign AVDC up to the 10:10 Campaign which encourages organisations and individuals to work towards making a 10% cut in their carbon emissions. Councillors commented that while regardless of the controversy over whether or not global warming is occurring, this initiative would save taxpayers money, and therefore make sense economically. The new theatre is a good example of the new ideas for saving carbon – they are installing ground source heat pumps for energy, leading to a 30% saving in carbon emissions.

A motion was also passed to confirm that the Council is committed to saving our public assets from sale by the Government, and to protect them for the benefit of the local people in Aylesbury Vale.

The Housing and Homelessness Strategy was renewed for the following year, and it was agreed that the housing team at AVDC are doing a wonderful job.