Abbey By-election underway...

Recent press coverage of interest....

Breckland By-elections; Round 2

So our second set of Breckland By-elections is over! The torrential rain that dogged the Attleborough by-election was replaced by considerable sunshine and heat. I'm not sure what I dislike more, canvassing and leafletting in the rain, or doing so when you are sweating and hot & bothered.

I provided an analysis of the election last week, so I had best do so again this week.

I'll start with Harling & Heathlands Ward;

Let's start by making clear that this is a very solidly Conservative ward. The top placed Conservative last year got 928 with the second placed Conservative getting 875. The first placed candidate then, Lady Kay Fisher, was the one that resigned this time around - she had been a Councillor for many years, a former Cabinet member, a well known name and significant land owner locally, hence her stronger showing in the polls. The Labour candidate in 2011 was Stephen Green who polled a very respectable 403 votes, after a dormant period of limited opposition and very limited activity. That gap between the Conservative candidates and the Labour candidate in 2011 was the biggest out of all 54 Breckland Council seats. The Conservative vote for this two member ward was higher than it was for some Council wards where it is a 3 member ward and a greater number of voters available.

What happened this time around? The Conservatives polled 453 votes, which was a good result for them on an almost 20% less turnout. The Labour vote of 168 was disappointing, given the hard work, but we earned every one of those votes. The Lib Dem vote was fascinatingly high at 129 votes, given their relatively limited activity locally and unpopularity nationally and a UKIP showing of 184 was a very good result for them. I suspect the UKIP and Lib Dem candidates collected a lot of Labour votes as there were in effect three 'non-Conservative' candidates to choose from and therefore more choice so people spread their vote around. I suspect the Lib Dem effort was more about keeping their profile up locally prior to the County elections next May, when their candidate for H&H is likely to be the same candidate for the relevant County Ward. The Conservative share of the vote did fall by 21.1% with an overall vote share this time of 48.5%. I'm aware that the UKIP leaflet spoke of their opposition to car parking charges in Breckland, and I suspect the Lim Dem leaflet did as well, although I've not seen it, so again that anti car parking charge vote was spread around. I'm aware that many Conservative voters took the opportunity to express concerns to Conservative activists / Councillors about a variety of issues but still ultimately voted Blue. Our candidate Stephen Green was a very good candidate and I am sure he learnt a lot this time around and I hope that he will stand again in the future. The support of his wife Rainie, and friends & family members was lovely to see. We had a team of 11 out in Harling one evening, with 6 of them being under 28.

Mid Forest...

This is one of the most affluent (if not the most) statistically affluent wards in the whole of Breckland. Further, there has not been a district council contest in this ward for over a decade, and I was determined not to allow that to happen this time. I was delighted when one of our members who lives in the ward said he would like to put his name forward, with the primary intention of giving people locally a chance to vote and express their opinion - a very laudable aim. Our campaigning was limited, given our focus initially on Attleborough, and then Harling & Heathlands, but we did do the best we could, and a vote tally of 151 is a fantastic achievement - just 106 votes behind the Conservative candidate. It goes to show that Labour can field candidates in more rural areas and can get votes, with a stronger effort, Labour could win seats such as this.

Again, I was delighted with our candidate - Alex Vyse. At just 22, he is exactly the sort of person that I would like the Breckland Labour Group to be engaging. With a Business Economics degree under his belt as well, and the fact that he lives in the ward and grew up there would have helped his vote score. I am sure that Alex learned a lot, and he wasn't expecting to win, so I'm sure he was not too disappointed but will hopefully stand again as a Labour candidate in the future.


Conclusions....?

I won't say too much seeing as they are the opposition, but a brief word on the Conservative campaign; they worked hard. There is no denying that. They selected two strong candidates, and they got their voters out. They have considerably more resources than any of the other party's locally (combined!) and they put them to work, with visits from the MP, and one of their MEPs, and a large number of Conservative District Cllrs who were out and about leafletting and canvassing. Driving along from Garboldisham to Harling yesterday I spotted no less than 3 Breckland Cabinet members, 2 Executive supporters members and the 1 ex Tory Candidate that resigned, all out and about making sure Conservatives went to vote. The last thing that Conservative Councillors will want is for seats in Breckland to start slipping from Blue to Red.

However, as one person said to me yesterday; "You (Breckland Labour) have made politics in Breckland interesting again" - high praise indeed and our efforts have been noticed. We ran 3 strong campaigns, and I am delighted with all of them and look forward to the day when our efforts result in Labour wins.

Both successful candidates will be much better Councillors having worked hard across their respective wards, spoken to voters, and earned their support. Councillors that walk into seats, either uncontested or with little opposition too easily take things for granted and forget why they are there.

My two favourite moments of the campaign?

1. Leafletting the picturesque village of Oxborough, not sure if there is a single Labour voter at all. When suddenly our team were greeted by a man who rushed out of his house to introduce himself, reveal his emphatic support for Labour and explain how he used to be a good drinking buddy of Ken Livingstones in London in the 1970s.

2. When leafletting Harling, I came across a house that had proudly displayed every leaflet that they had received in their front window. They were clearly engaging in the democratic process and it was nice to see.

My least favourite?

Thankfully not too many disappointing aspects. As per usual I got so very frustrated when knocking on so many doors of people who simply do not care and will not vote. It's so disappointing. Particularly the guy that proclaimed "they're all w@nkers!" Did he really make an effort to scrutinise them and come to that conclusion? I really don't think so.

Giving local politics a bad name....

Some weeks ago, the 4 Independents on Breckland Council clubbed together and formed their own political 'group' and seeing as there are now only 3 Labour members on the Council they assumed the position as 'official opposition' and therefore their Leader, Terry Lamb, became the Leader of the Opposition, and eligible for the extra £2,600 that I was receiving as Leader of the Opp. For those of you that know me, you will realise that this would have come as somewhat a blow. Having given up my full-time job to focus on my local political responsibilities I relied on that money. I was already struggling financially as the £400 a month I got for being a Councillor and the extra £200 that I received for being Leader was hardly a kings ransom, but it did mean that my mortgage got paid and I had a basic level of income that I topped up through other work. Now these things happen, and legally (certainly not morally) the group of 4 had the right to do this. If they had a burning desire to serve the Breckland electorate and radically fulfill the role of Breckland opposition then you could perhaps understand their motivations, or if I, and the Labour Group had been fulfilling the role ineffectively, failing to attend meetings, failing to contribute then again, you could have understood and respected the motivations. Now, I cannot critique my own performance, but, I have put in the effort and I have made contributions. If you look at the Attleborough by-election you will see that the public there at least put their faith in Labour and voted for the Labour candidate and other than the Conservatives it is only the Breckland Labour Group that is contesting all 3 of these by-elections. The new Leader of the Opp has already stated that he won't attend the meetings like I did, e.g. attending every Cabinet meeting, Chairing Overview & Scrutiny when required etc. I doubt that he will undertake the research that I did and make the speech's at Full Council like I did. So what is the motivation? According to his EDP comments, the motivation is also not financial, as he intends to give away the extra money that he receives. Therefore I have two conclusions, he partly wanted to give me a bit of a kicking while he could - Mr Lamb and I are from entirely different generations and have opposing views and do clash at Thetford Town Council meetings, although we are both fiercely passionate about Thetford and I've never understood why we could not find common ground, hey ho! I suspect he also wanted to give Labour a knock, as he is basically a Tory that sits as an Independent, although, he's probably too right wing even for Tories to cope with. This is exactly the sort of political games that gives local politics a bad name and why the public switch off from it all. Self interest, rather than public interest. Short term personal / political game rather than wider appreciation of what is best for local residents collectively. What's been achieved? Removing what opposition there was on Breckland Council, something that will not serve anyone, including the ruling group, well at all.

Brecklnd cutting services article...

My speech to Thetford Town Council on the TAAP; 18th July 2012

TAAP comments from TJ on Weds 18th July 2012 debate

• Can I start by saying how pleased I am that this Council has actually gone through this process and at least considered the options available to us, and I thank the Clerk for making the necessary arrangements and thank Councillors for engaging with the discussions. Whilst some have known where they stand on this issue for sometime, others have agonised over the way they intend to cast their vote this evening, and their consideration of the issues and open minded approach should be commended.

• An important point that I want to make is the fact that the 16 of us are here to represent existing residents of Thetford. We’re not here to represent ourselves, or personal interest, we’re not here to represent Breckland Council, Kilverstone Estate or Shadwell Estate. My driving force throughout this debate has been about how this plan impacts upon the people of the Saxon Ward as their representative and whether it would enhance their quality of life or be detrimental to it.

• I remain of the opinion that the TAAP would not assist the communities that I serve or the Town as a whole, and I continue to oppose it.

• The question remains for those of us that do oppose it; do we oppose it strongly enough to want to spend Thetford taxpayers money on challenging it legally.

• I’ve not heard any definitive answer on costings of such action, but the scare stories of it “bankrupting the town” and costing in the region of £100k now seem unrealistic. However, I think if the Town Council were to undertake this, we need to prepared to lose up to £50k.

• That’s a large sum of money, and I am sure that we could all think of other ways to spend this. However, this is the blueprint for growth for the next 20 years, if we get this wrong, the financial cost for years to come will be far greater. £50,000 is approximately a cost of £5 for every Band D household in Thetford, broken down like this is does not sound all that expensive. Furthermore, this is a document that will be relevant certainly for the next 10 years, so a cost of just 50p for each of its initial years of existence. We will be debating as a Council spending millions of pounds on the Guildhall / Carnegie room, but cannot find £50k for these important plans? As one resident of Thetford said to me, you found £20k for the Jubilee without much drama, why not for this? We have over £400k in revenue reserves alone as of this very moment.

Any decision to not proceed with this action quite clearly should not be because as a Council we can’t afford it, when clearly we can.

• On the point about Shadwell; I would support a joint challenge with Shadwell as their motivations would appear to be similar to mine in that they want to TAAP revisted, and improved. I do not want it thrown out completely, but the Town wants as I believe, a fairer distribution of houses across the town, the Town want a greater commitment to regeneration and any revisiting would ultimately delay this plan allowing the Town Centre master plan to catch up and a greater commitment to infrastructure development to materialise. This rush to growth seems totally unnecessary and I will be voting for this Council to do what we are here to do, which is to look out for the best interests of the people we serve, and I will vote for a legal challenge. History will judge whether our actions here tonight were right or wrong.

Attleborough By-election; my thoughts & analysis

For months I had wanted a by-election to pop up in Breckland, something that I could really get my teeth into as the new Leader of the Labour Group, and then I got more than I bargained for when 3 came along together. The first was Attleborough Queens Ward which took place yesterday. Having stood as a paper candidate for a Queens Ward by election some years ago myself, I knew that it had a good number of Labour voters, and was winnable to some extent, but there had been no Labour activity in the area for nearly 20 years, no active branch functioning and only a handful of members. Worst of all, Labour hadn't even managed to field a candidate in the 2011 District b-election and 3 Tories were elected unopposed - something I always hate!

My first task was to find a strong, credible Labour candidate, and I was delighted when John Williams put his hat into the ring. A sports journalist by trade, party member for over 40 years, a life member of the National Union of Journalists, and a previous candidate in Attleborough. This is the sort of candidate that Breckland Labour group wants to field across the whole district. He came within a handful of votes of beating Adrian Stasiak for the other Attleborogh District seat some years ago.

I obviously wanted to focus the campaign on car parking charges, as this has been a key issue in Breckland, but Attleborough would be tricky as Attleborough was an area with probably the least resistance to car parking charges. Its high street is doing relatively well compared to many in Norfolk and Breckland and being located along a main train line there is a distinct problem with motorists leaving their cars in public car parks all day and whizzing off to work in Norwich or Cambridge etc on the train, blocking spaces that could be used by shoppers. Just having a quick look at the 1800 signatures to the online car parking charges petition shows approximately around just 20 signatures from Attleborough residents.

That said, the car parking charges campaign did resonate with the public and many people voted Labour because of the campaign. One of my favourite moments of the campaign was when I knocked on someones door and he said; "I f*cking hate Labour, but I f*ucking hate car parking charges as well, so for the first time ever, I'm going to vote for your guy". National issues was a factor as well, and I was suprised at how life long Conservative votes openly said how they never voted Labour previously, but hated the Coalition Government, and / or hated David Cameron and "would be voting Labour to teach them a lesson". The biggest winner however was clearly apathy - turnout did not even reach 17%. There is nearly 700 people registered to vote by post for Attleborough Queens Ward, and I don't think even half of them bothered, and they had ballots sent to them direct! I am sure the weather played a part, as it was a particularly wet and miserable day, particularly in the evening when I am sure that many people would have intended to vote after work. The potentially limited choice was an issue as well, as there were only two candidates - although, Breckland is pretty much a two horse race between Labour and Conservatives so people should be used to this. But there were strong campaigns on both sides, a stronger campaign for a district council seat in Breckland than I am sure many can recall.

I was delighted that the campaign motivated Attleborough members to come out and leaflet, it enticed activists from Norwich and Thetford to assist and a number of non party members as well. I think approximately 25 different people helped to varying amounts over the past few weeks and I, and John, are incredibly grateful for their support.

So, in the short term I am disappointed, as I understand it a win yesterday would have meant that I would have regained the position as Leader of the Opposition, rather than just Leader of the Labour group, which is somewhat a setback for me personally, but, in the medium / longer term this is a fantastic result for Breckland Labour and will stand us in good stead for future elections. I learnt a considerable amount personally, it was my first by election as Breckland Labour Group Leader, and my first bite of a really active campaign other than my own campaigns either for Town or District for Thetford-Saxon Ward. Labour has firmly reaffirmed itself as 'the opposition' in Breckland, and not just in a couple of seats in Thetford and Dereham- we must establish support District wide, and be a challenge in more than just the usual seats. I do now wonder whether running the Conservatives so close in an area which they regard as 'safe' (I'm sure they will say they take nothing for granted!) will it make them seriously reconsider parking charges?

My comments at Breckland Council meeting on 5th July 2012 regarding play area transfers

Thank-you Mr Chairman, I wanted to comment on the play areas issue if I may because it is very pertinent to the wider debate that this Council will be having over the coming months; indeed a debate that Councillors will be continuing after this very meeting.

Now call me an old cynic, but I do not see that this ongoing handing over of the play areas is entirely for the reasons as altruistic as Cllr Sherwood refers to in these notes. The point I was making at the meeting was that surely when as a Council we are reviewing what services should be provided by Breckland, and what could be provided by others, we should have a very firm eye not just on cost, but also on value for money. For example, I don’t suppose that Breckland has much of an idea about the cost to Breckland of providing play areas, versus for example Dereham Town Council and others individually providing them. If the Chair of Dereham Town Council Finance committee is to be believed, tax payers in Dereham will ultimately be picking up the bill for the offloading of this particular service, referred to of course as the transfer of assets, when in reality it is the transfer of community assets, with the associated financial liabilities. If the public ultimately end up paying more for the same service, because those economies of scale have been removed, what has been gained? Do the public mind too much who they pay? No, they care about how much they pay and the public will view this as Breckland sidestepping another responsibility.

In short, the point I am making is to of course consider services and who is best to provide them, but also consider the cost, and the value for money. Or is this council about offloading as much as it can, to keep its own share of the council tax down at any cost to the public through other avenues.

Will this commitment to localism see Breckland hand to Thetford Town Council the 300,000 square feet of office accommodation / retail units that it owns, and the £1million plus yearly income that they yield? I think not.

My speech to Breckland Council re: TAAP on 5th July 2012

Thank-you Mr Chairman, I speak on this subject as an elected representative of the people of Thetford, and in particular the Thetford Saxon Ward. This issue is not a party political issue. It goes beyond that.

My concerns regarding the growth plans for Thetford are well known. Many other people have expressed similar and additional concerns. Thousands of people have been involved in the numerous consultations and nearly 2,500 voted in a referendum on the issue of the bus station. Further to this, many organisations have submitted views, and many have raised concerns.

Let’s be clear, this is not a debate about Thetford moving forward or not, it is not about old versus new it is not about change versus stagnation. I welcome growth, and I welcome the opportunities that it may bring – this is a view almost universally shared in the town. But, if there is one thing that the history of the town of Thetford shows, it is that growth must be meticulously planned as well as appropriately and sensitively managed. If it is not, the consequences will have to be suffered for generations to follow.

I remain unconvinced that the present plans detailed in the TAAP are in the best interests of present day Thetford or its future. For example, these plans will do little to improve existing residents quality of life, and improve the areas that they live in, indeed I fear what may materialise will be to the detriment of existing areas. Shiny new schools and new community centres will not help what limited facilities currently exist, many left to ruin by this council, but the realization of the plan will highlight the stark contrast that exists to a far greater extent. And peripheral new retail areas and service centres will not encourage more people to shop in the high street, they will further assist in its decline. Relocating all high school provision to one end of town will not assist with the education of many of the towns young people who will now be faced with a 6 mile walk each day to and from school, these proposals will be to the detriment of their education.



Had I been presented today with a plan for growth that showed me a true commitment to regeneration, sympathetic, meaningful and tangible support for our historical and environmental assets and a determination not to create a two tier Thetford then it would have my emphatic support, this plan is not that plan, and I will not support it.

Potential legal challenge to Thetford Area Action Plan....

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Excellent family event coming up soon in Thetford

Some recent press articles....

Labour selects candidates for District By-elections...

BRECKLAND LABOUR GROUP SELECTS CANDIDATES TO CONTEST BY-ELECTIONS

Monday 18th June 2012


The Breckland Labour Group has selected two strong candidates to fight the upcoming by-elections in the district, both of which are strongly against the introduction of car parking charges.

John Williams, a journalist and strong campaigner will be contesting the Attleborough Queens Ward by-election following the resignation of Simon Rogers and Stephen Green will be contesting the Harling & Heathlands Ward following the resignation of Lady Kay Fisher.

John Williams has lived in Attleborough since 1987. John lives on Besthorpe Road, which is within the Queens Ward. John is a sports journalist. He has been a member of the Labour Party for more than 30 years and has previous experience of contesting both district and county elections, coming within 17 votes of winning previously in Attleborough. He is married with two sons, who both attended local schools. John has served as a school Governor both in Attleborough and London. He is an avid sports fan with particular interest in football, cricket and boxing. This year he was elected a life member of the National Union of Journalists.

Stephen Green is 42 years old and lives in the village of Blo Norton. He is married and has one son who is 18 years old and three step-children. He has a firm interest in the local rural community, and has been Treasurer of the Village Hall Committee and active in village life. He is particularly passionate about local transport links and supporting children and young people. Stephen previously contested the ward in May 2011, achieving over 400 votes.

Stephen said; “I often feel that our rural communities get left behind. There is so much more that can be done to support them which is why I have put myself forward once more as a candidate. I am strongly against the introduction of car parking charges. Residents in villages such as mine rely on being able to pop into the towns for vital services that are just not available locally. We are already being forced to cope with high petrol charges and we do not have the luxury of being able to use public transport as in so many cases it just does not exist. This idea from the Breckland Council Conservative group will hit rural residents and town centre shop keepers at a time when they could frankly do without it”.

John Williams said; “If elected, I would make it a priority to speak out against any plans to impose car parking charges in the district. Local shops and businesses, including ones here in Attleborough are already finding trading conditions difficult enough without this added burden that can only have a detrimental effect on trade. In addition, parking charges will only encourage on-street parking in residential streets off the town centre - a further problem in an already overstretched road system. As a rapidly expanding town, Attleborough badly needs an improved infrastructure to meet the needs of a growing population and I pledge to campaign for the following improvements: A free-flowing road system, improved sport and leisure facilities and play areas, Provision of green spaces and Accessible junior schooling”.

Some words following Carl Clarks decision to leave Breckland Labour Group....

I am naturally disappointed that Carl has chosen to leave the Labour Party.

But it is an unfortunate fact that people can fall out of favour with the party they once supported. Just over 12 months ago Carl was elected as a Labour councillor for the Abbey Ward and was supported by the party in doing so, and he has been helped ever since with training and guidance. The honourable thing for Carl to do now would be to resign his seat and contest it once again as an Independent, or under the colours of a new party, and I would urge him to do this. A great many Abbey Ward residents would have voted for Carl as their Labour representative and he has a moral responsibility to not abuse their support now that he has changed his allegiances.

Town Council searches for a hero to light Jubilee Beacon

Bus station comments cause a stir...

My speech to Thetford Town Council on the 24th April 2012 regarding the Thetford Area Action Plan - the Council voted 8-4 to agree that the TAAP is 'unsound' and wrote to the Government Inspector outlining our concerns. The 4 members voting to support the TAAP were Conservatives....

Some months ago as a Council, we debated our increasing concerns regarding the Thetford Area Action Plan and in particular the excessive growth to the North of the town. Recently, I spoke on behalf of the council at the examination in public and outlined my concerns regarding the lack of planned regeneration to existing areas of Thetford, concerns I know that are shared by many councillors.

As a Council, we have formally objected to the outline planning application regarding the concentration of housing being built to the North. We have also discussed concerns about the loss of a very important community facility when the Charles Burrell site closes. We’ve also debated the free bus service for the new development, and compared it to the lack of services for other areas. This list of inequalities could go on....

Recently, we have heard how the Leader of Breckland Council intends to advocate the removal of the 40% target for affordable housing as part of the development to the north of Thetford and instead allow developers to make a financial contribution. Increasing regeneration sounds laudable enough – but these proposals are very dangerous as they would accelerate the creation of a two tier Thetford with a much greater concentration of private homes to the North and an increased concentration of social housing to the South. We have already seen the start of this intensification of social housing with the garage court developments around Barnham Cross and the Sweyne Close improvements – all entirely social housing.

At the examination in public Breckland officers explained that the intention to allow growth was to facilitate regeneration – if this indeed was the motivation then one would have hoped for a much greater emphasis on this and some more concrete proposals. The lack of a Town Centre masterplan is a major concern as is the lack of sufficient energy resources for the new development which have still not been resolved.

As a Council, I believe we need to make clear our frustration at these proposals and I would therefore propose that come to a collective view that we consider this document to be unsound.

I would further suggest that as a council, we join with the Thetford Society and the Shadwell Estate who have come to a similar position and that we write to the inspector to formally outline this decision before the official judgement is published in the near future.

Examination in public; Thetford Area Action Plan

As an elected representative of many of the existing areas of Thetford that Policy TH36 would seek to address, and as a resident of these areas since birth, I find the policy greatly offensive for its hypocrisy and I dismay at the continuing reluctance of Breckland Council to commit in any firm way to meaningful regeneration of the areas of Thetford that require such urgent attention. Areas after all, ranked within the top 10% most deprived in the UK.

My fear is that Thetford will grow to the North, the housing will of course be shiny and new, homes will be well insulated, many with renewable technologies. The inadequacy of our existing estates will be highlighted to a greater extent than they already are. I have no confidence that this policy has any realistic chance of helping to address this situation and preventing further decline of these areas.

Concerns about a two tier Thetford have already been expressed, the sustainable urban extension will only be sustainable within its own parameters, but what to me is crucial is how this development links with Thetford itself. That cohesion will ultimately determine the success or failure of this growth.


I’d like to outline a few recent examples that demonstrate why this policy needs to be far more robust than it is and demonstrate why it is that I am concerned about the policy’s lack of detail and commitment, to resolving the potential imbalance across the town.

The opening sentence in the policy speaks of infill / redevelopment – unfortunately, we have seen too much infill, and not enough redevelopment thus far, and I fear that this trend will continue. Car parking areas, garage forecourts and green spaces have been built over – increasing the housing density for areas that are recognised as having too many dwellings already.

I have seen more focus on the pursuit of new dwellings than sincere regeneration. What has taken place thus far has felt like a window dressing exercise, primarily for PR purposes.

The policy contradicts itself when talking about how improvements need to be sympathetic to the existing area, whilst also exhibiting high standards, facets that do not exist currently, and continue to be ignored and flouted by Breckland Council and others. What improvements that have taken place have come after constant effort by the local community who have grown weary and apathetic about the constant talk of action over the last 20 years, only for their hopes to be dashed.

I find particularly frustrating Section B of the policy regarding mixed tenure.
There was a new housing development that took place on the Barnham Cross estate, it in-filled land that was used as green open space and used by local youngsters, the new development created 66 new units – all for social rent, in an area with the highest percentage of social housing units in Thetford. This was despite the best efforts of the local community who campaigned for a mixed tenure development, with units available for sale, and shared ownership. Further, the units were only built to Code Level 3, and the six passive house units – those that were to be high quality, environmentally friendly homes, were even re-planned at the late stage back to a basic code 3.

Hardly the aforementioned mixed tenure, high quality development that meets local needs.

The policy also calls for a “preferably increased amount of play areas”, and recognises that already Thetford is deficient of play area space. Coupled with this deficit, we also endure the most appalling quality of play areas imaginable – with most sites failing the requirements laid down by ROSPA in terms of safety standards, and offering little play value to local families with a simply laughable availability of equipment. Breckland Council has long wanted to foist the play areas onto the Town Council, for a totally inadequate sum of money, which is why I find it particularly frustrating that the report mentions in section 25.13 about Breckland Council wanting to work to increase provision, whilst simultaneously threatening what scarce resource we already have.

The contradictions in the policy are further exacerbated by section 25.10 – indeed, the Thetford Academy will be relocated to the North of Thetford; a further kick in the teeth for those of us in the South. Parents that I represent will now have to send their children from one side of Thetford to the other for school, with no transport plans currently in place. A 6 mile walk each day for most children from areas in the South of Thetford. What is of further concern is that the community looks set to lose the building that is the current school site. This of course has a dual role, being of use to the school and of benefit to the wider community. Further, the swimming pool that is a part of the site looks set to be lost, disadvantaging junior school age children from this area who will now be unlikely to undertake swimming as part of the school curriculum given the distance that will need to be travelled.

If our existing estates are to be improved, and not forgotten, then the policy needs to be far more detailed and far more robust to ensure that those with the responsibility to support our communities actually do so, and that the broken promises and disappointment felt by so many in Thetford does not continue for another generation.

My comments to Town Council re: Sort It on 24.04.12

Councillors, as the Chairman of the Sort It Development Trust I need to declare a prejudicial interest and leave whilst you are debating and voting upon this application for a donation. I am however allowed to make some comments regarding this beforehand.

I would very much urge the council to consider making the donation towards Sort It and to not delay the decision unnecessarily as is currently being proposed. The application asks for £250 to support the creation of a website that would promote local businesses and market traders – this is quite clearly something that the council should be supporting and would be of major benefit to our town and its people. For Sort It to be able to show that they have the backing of their Town Council will greatly assist in obtaining funding from other sources. That simple £250 from this council could be the springboard to much greater pots money.

I believe when this was discussed at the committee there were concerns that a financial projection and a constitution had not been provided but I believe these have now been submitted, so I can see no reason why we could not make a decision to award the money at our meeting this evening, and embrace the momentum that there clearly is with this initiative. Thank-you.



Councillors, this is another debate that I cannot take part in but I just want to outline what this discussion is about as it has become somewhat confusing. Sort It wants to focus on a number projects over the next few months and initially, one of those projects is a night market or food fayre as it is more likely to be. A team from Sort It has been working on this project and they have the support of the current market superintendent who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team which is to be commended. The plan would be to run the fayre on a Tuesday evening, primarily focusing on food stall retailers rather than traditional market stalls. At this stage, the idea is little more than that – an idea. The team first need to secure the support of the council before developing the proposal any further I am hopeful that the council can give its backing this evening and task officers to work with the team so that the concept can be taken forward to the next stage.

Recent newspaper clippings; 8th May 2012

Published letter re: Councillor expenses

Letter regarding Senior Councillor expenses

Further to the article last week regarding the new Breckland Council Cabinet appointments, I would also like to add my congratulations to Councillor Ian Sherwood and Elizabeth Gould upon joining the Cabinet and to thank those departing Councillors whose services are deemed no longer required. I would however like to pick up on one point in the article. Leader of the Conservative run Council Mr Nunn states; “As we face unprecedented challenges in local Government...” Indeed, Breckland like many other authorities are looking to cut services in response to diminishing funds being handed to them by Central Government. Whilst looking at his Cabinet, Mr Nunn should also be looking at how much those Councillors that hold these positions actually get paid. A Breckland Cabinet member gets £11,050 annually – on top of the £5,200 they get paid for being a Councillor. This compares very favourably to the £6,600 that the same position gets in Kings Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council, the £5,700 in St Edmunsbury and the £4,600 in South Norfolk. In addition to this, Breckland Cabinet members get an additional level of support through the ‘Executive Support Member’ role, the Councillor that holds this post gets an extra £1,850 a year on top of their Councillor salary – this is a role that does not exist in many councils and one has to wonder why it is required particularly when Cabinet members themselves are paid so well. Indeed, as Leader of Breckland, Mr Nunn gets an additional £20,700 a year (plus his £5,200) whilst the Leaders of Kings Lynn & West Norfolk (£14,760), St Edmunsbury (£10,638) and South Norfolk (£9,250) are all paid considerably less. Mr Nunn of course also gets an additional £8,929 annually for also being a Norfolk County Councillor. Should Breckland not be following the Government’s line of “we’re all in this together” and looking to reduce their own allowances, especially if they are looking to make drastic cuts to the services provided to local people. Councillor salaries are often regarded as a ‘cheap shot’ when looking for cuts, however, I am a strong defender of councillors receiving a remuneration for the many hours work that they put in – indeed, I would not be able to undertake my role as a Councillor if it were not for the £5,200 that I receive and the extra £2,600 that I receive for being Leader of the Opposition (strangely somewhat less that neighbouring authorities) but that remuneration should be fair and balanced and when compared to neighbouring areas, clearly that is not the case currently.

Two press releases this week and a job vacancy...

Press coverage on shared services debate....

Breckland Labour Groups views on shared management plans with Great Yarmouth

It seems like only yesterday that Breckland formally began sharing services with South Holland. That was a leap into the dark for this council and as far as I am concerned there has been an insufficient amount of analysis as to whether or not that venture was a success. Can any of us say without any doubt that there has been no affect on the quality and level of services provided by either authority? I don’t believe that we have a clear answer to this question which is principally why I believe we should not be making this decision today. Given the information made available, the Breckland Labour Group does not support this rush to share services with another authority and feels that the risks associated with this move to be of concern, particularly given the limited financial savings available. One assumes, indeed, one would hope that there has been considerable debate amongst the Conservative group regarding this proposal and that members have been privy to more discussion and debate, and therefore more information than we have had. But as a Labour group, we simply do not have the information at hand to make an informed decision which is why we will be opposing this plan. On the 2nd March, I did email senior council officers and ask for information such as; figures related to staff turnover over the past few years, staff absenteeism rates and levels of complaints from the public. These for me would have been indicators of the affect of sharing with South Holland and therefore a good barometer of sorts. This information has not been provided, so I can only assume that this information has not been collated as part of this process as it was not readily at hand to provide to me. We are fully supportive that this council looks to do things differently and that it is prepared to push boundaries but, that boldness can easily become foolhardiness. The creation of “Great Shrekland”, as some employees of Great Yarmouth Council have decided to call it, does not offer the same benefits as when this council joined with South Holland, and comes too soon after this initial sharing of services took place. There is also a more fundamental issue here. I fail to understand the wider vision for this. Logic would suggest that in order to get maximum benefit from sharing services you would join up with those authorities that are geographically closest. Yarmouth is after all as close to the country of Holland, as it is to the district of South Holland. Again, to get maximum benefit from the expertise of the employees, logic would suggest that the authorities would be based in the same geographical location, facing roughly the same issues – there is little that connects Great Yarmouth to the area of Breckland or indeed South Holland. Furthermore, at what point do these councils stop adding to the family? How many should join before it becomes too many? This of course leads one to consider, what would happen if there was a view taken that shared services was no longer the best option for either district? Unsharing services would be even more difficult than sharing them in the first place. Finally, does this latest development not further make this authorities decision to spend tens of thousands of pounds on opposing a unitary council for Norfolk look even more foolish? As the shared services family grows, does this not look even more like a unitary council, just lacking the unitary governance structure.

Great write-up for SORT IT in EDP Fri 02/03/12