Wyre Forest Gypsy Consultation The Council's Gypsy Consultation really has brought outtheworst I some people and very sadly that includes some elected members. One to two senior members of Health Concern have made statements that clearly breach the Equalities Act. Having taken legal advice from the Solicitor and Monitoring Officer of Wyre Forest DC I have now had to make a formal complaint of "using language likely to incite Racial hatred " to West Mercia Police this will take precedent over the complaints already made under the Ethics and Standards process at Wyre Forest DC. When I look back at the excellent work done by Dr Richard Taylor when he was MP and the efforts he made to have the suffering of the Romany Community during The Holocaust brought to public attention,it really brings home the depths to which IHC has plunged!

Wyre Forest Liberals and Independents form Joint Council Group

This Press Release was issued TODAY. It means EXACTLY what it says!

"The 5 strong Liberal Group on WFDC and the 2 member Independent Group are to sit as a joint Liberal and Independent Group on the Council it was announced yesterday. 
Both Councillor Fran Oborski and Councillor Helen Dyke have emphasised that the 2 Independent Councillors have not joined the Liberal Party , they remain as true Independent Councillors and are not members of any political party. 
"By forming this group we believe we will be in a stronger position to challenge the Conservative Administration and ensure that the views of the communities we represent will be heard as the Council sets out its plans for the future direction of public services in the District.
This is a working relationship designed to improve our service to the people we represent.
In many ways this is similar to Cllr Fran Oborski's position as the sole Liberal on Worcestershire County council where she sits with the Liberal democrats but has NO Political affiliation with them"

Neither Peter NOR Helen Dyke has joined The Liberal Party.
This Joint Group is to facilitate our working together on the Council, and NOTHING else!

A night of mixed fortunes but a Lib Dem DISASTER!

May 6th 2011 was a night of very mixed Election fortunes in Wyre Forest:
Labour, as expected won Broadwaters and Areley Kings but failed abysmally in Franche and very nearly lost in Habberley.
The Tories gained Mitton, held Greenhill (much to our disappointment) and narrowly missed knocking out Labour Leader, Mike Kelly, in Habberley.

As Liberals we held Offmore but were disappointed not to take Greenhill.

Health Concern were wiped out in Kidderminster, lost Mitton to the Tories and Areley Kings to Labour. They clung on with a massively reduced majority in Lickhill.


The REAL losers of the night were the Liberal Democrats. They fielded 7 Candidates, two of whom were supposedly fighting "target seats". The net result? A grand total for 7 Candidates of 909 votes an average of 130 (approx) per Candidate. In Sutton Park they came 4th, in Aggborough Spennells they came fifth, and THOSE were their two "target seats"!!

By contrast our three Liberal Candidates, two of whom fought "taget seats, scored 1634 votes in total, an approximate average of 545 votes per Candidate.

Sadly the inept way in which Nick Clegg forced the holding of the AV Referendum on the same day as the Local elections meant that the cause of Electoral Reform has been set back years!

Locally the biggest winner of the night was in Aggborough Spennells where ex Lib Dem now Independent Peter Kyke held on with a massive 831 votes whilst the Lib Dem challenger was a pathetic fifth!!

Labour setting out to MISLEAD the Electorate!

We have been forced to make a formal complaint to West Mercia Police and to issue the following Press Release following blatant lies from Wyre Forest Labour Agent Rachel Macphail in leaflets in Offmore and Greenhill!

RESS RELEASE from WYRE FOREST LIBERAL COUNCIL ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Issued by Cllr. Fran Oborski, Liberal Party National Executive Chair and Group Leader on Wyre Forest DC.

Wyre Forest Liberals have reported local Labour Party Agent, Rachel Macphail, to West Mercia Police as a result of her publishing and issuing leaflets which, by constantly referring to the Conservative-Liberal Government, and Tory-Liberal cuts are quite obviously seeking to link The Liberal Party in the public’s mind with the performance of The Liberal Democrats at a national level.

Liberal Group Leader on Wyre Forest and Chair of The Liberal Party National Executive Committee, Cllr Fran Oborski said today “ This is a deeply cynical move by the local Labour Party. The Liberal Party is NOT linked in any way at all with The Liberal Democrats coalition Government with the Conservative Party.

We have made it very clear on every Election leaflet we have issued (42,000 during this local Election Campaign) AND in our Press Advert in The Kidderminster Shuttle, that we are NOT the Liberal Democrats and we take grave exception to this behavior by the Labour Party.

It is particularly galling because whilst The Liberal Party is currently MORE successful than Labour in Wyre Forest, going into this Election with 5 Councillors to their four and expecting to make at least one gain; the Liberal Democrats are an irrelevance in Wyre Forest, going into this election with NO Councillors and likely to emerge on Friday with the same!

I there append here the details of the formal complaint to West Mercia Police from our Agent Cllr Tim Ingham:

“As Liberal Party Agent for the Wyre Forest District Council Elections on May 5th I am writing to make an Official Complaint about deliberately misleading leaflets being circulated by The Labour Party in this Election.
The Liberal Party is a totally independent Political Party, Registered with The Electoral Commission. We are entirely separate from and have NO links to The Liberal Democrats. We are not part of, neither do we support the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coaltion Government. On every leaflet WE have distributed in this Election we have made it extremely clear that we are NOT the Liberal Democrats.
Currently there are 5 LIBERAL Councillors on Wyre Forest DC, there are NO Liberal Democrats.
I attach a copy of a Labour Leaflet, issued on behalf of Lee Wright, Labour Candidate for the Offmore Comberton Ward.
On the side with his photo on it as a "letter " from Lee Wright in the middle paragraph where he is talking about new builds for local schools he states: "...are in doubt due to the Tory-Liberal government cancelling the national Building Schools for the future Scheme".
On the next panel, below a photo of David Cameron and Nick Clegg it states: " This Election is your chance to send a message to the Conservative-Liberal government....."
On the other side of the leaflet there is a panel, printed sideways headed Vote for Lee Wright on May 5th which then goes on to list "Lee's priorities The first of these is " Be the first line of defence against unfair Tory-Liberal cuts."
Across the bottom it then says "Remember- Lee's Right and the Conservative Liberals are wrong"
Similarly in a leaflet promoting Vicky Smith, Labour Candidate in Greenhill it states, under a photo of the Candidate in a "letter": "Like many of us I feel betrayed by the Conservative-Liberal coalition government....."
Once again, under a photo of David Cameron and Nick Clegg it says:
" This election is your chance to send a message to the Conservative-Liberal government....."
At the bottom of this panel it then says :
"Greenhill needs Councillors who will stand up against Tory/Liberal plans"
On the other side of the leaflet, on a panel similar to the one on the Lee Wright leaflet it once again says:
"Be the first line against Tory-Liberal cuts"
We believe a similar leaflet has been issued in Broadwaters Ward but have not yet found a copy.
The agent who is legally responsible for these leaflets is Rachel Macphail, of The Labour Party, Paddington House Kidderminster
WE believe that the contents of these leaflets is quite DELIBERATELY designed to mislead the local Electorate into thinking that the Liberal Party is the same as the Liberal Democrats and therefore to associate us with vicious cuts in public spending, including on the Police, with which we are not involved and do NOT support. As such we believe this to be an Offence under the Representation of The People and subsequent Acts of Parliament and is an Election Offence”

What a BRILLIANT St. George's Day!!
Today Friends of St. George's Park organised a "St.George's Day in St.George's Park" Family Fun Day.
It was a fantastic success.
We had free Face Painting, Free Bouncy Castle, Free Tea, Coffee, Squash and Cakes in St. George's Annexe. There was a brilliant wood carver, drumming with Narcoleptic Penguins, a Caribbean Barbeque, Bangladeshi snacks, ice cream, stalls and tombolas etc. We reckon we had over 1000 people through the Park during the day.
Friends of St.George's Park is a really great group to be involved with, we meet on the first Friday of the month at 7pm in the Radford Ave. Sure Start Centre and, under the firm Chairmanship of Spike our meetings only last one hour!
If you live near or use the Park please come and join us.

Single Site Update!
      Today the full details of the Wyre Forest DC Single Site Contract became public.
      Liberal Candidates and supporters have delivered over 4000 FOCUS, Single Site Special Leaflets today with a further 7000 to go out in the next few days.
        The basic text is:
  

Local company wins “Single Site”Contract and Delivers MASSIVE cost saving!

  Mike, John and Mark and the Local Liberal Teams are absolutely delighted that  local, Stourport-based construction company, Thomas Vale have been awarded the contract to build Wyre Forest Council’s new Single Site Office HQ at Finepoint Way, off Stourport Rd.

As part of this Contract Thomas Vale WILL:

· Build the new HQ for a MASSIVE  £650,000 UNDER budget!

· Employ a 100% LOCAL labour force

· Provide apprenticeships, work experience and local training   

· Use local (Worcestershire based) suppliers

· As a LOCAL Company their profits are a boost to OUR local economy

· Potentially offer a FURTHER £500,000 saving to be negotiated!
 

Why does the Council NEED a Single Site?

· The Coalition Government is CUTTING the Grants it gives to Local Councils. So to PROTECT services Wyre Forest Council MUST make admin savings

· The Council has already made major savings but a move to Single Site will save an additional £486,000 of Revenue EVERY year.

· Unless Wyre Forest makes those Revenue Savings it will have to CUT services to YOU.

· The money being spent on Single Site is CAPITAL, it can ONLY be spent on Buildings, the Council has got most of this money from the SALE of other buildings.

· The money spent on salaries, the day to day running costs of the Council and SERVICES to you is REVENUE. It comes from Council Tax and Government Grants.

The Total Single Site cost is now below £10 Million and may even come down to below £9.5 Million. As a comparison the new Wyre Forest Special School to be built next to Baxter College is expected to cost £18 Million.
SINGLE SITE: Wyre Forest Council and Thomas Vale PLC in Partnership putting JOBS and INVESTMENT into OUR Community!!

What about the Money the Council had Invested in Iceland?

More GOOD News! The Icelandic Courts have ruled that UK Councils, such as Wyre Forest, MUST have priority over other investors. This means that most of the £3M invested in Landsbanki WILL be returned to the

Council. Wyre Forest’s other Icelandic Investments have already started to be repaid!


We are delighted that these additional savings are being generated!

 

 

 

 

3rd. Former LABOUR MP jailed for "fiddling expenses"!

     Jim Devine, former Labour MP for Livingstone, has been jailed for 16 months for fiddling Parliamentary expenses. He is the third former Labour member to be imprisoned for this, joining former Parliamentary colleagues, Eric Illsley who is serving 12 months and David Chator who is serving 18mths.

The Shuttle drops a right Royal CLANGER!

On Tuesday we had the pleasure of a visit of THe Duke of Kent to various local project including to the Friends of St. George's Park. It was a super day, the rain mainly held off, pupils from St. george's Primary who had planted 3000 daffodil bulbs in the park were out in force (as were the daffs), pupils from King Charles 1 High School were playing basketball and doing BMX demos everything was brilliant.
The media were out in force taking photos.
The Shuttle sent a junior reporter who obviously was either VERY poorly briefed OR hadn't bothered to find out who the Royal visitor was, OR had NOT realised that the person the PUBLIC thinks of when Prince Edward is mentioned is the Queen's youngest son, Prince Edward Duke of Wessex!The story in this week's edition starts off by talking about a visit from the Duke of Kent and then, for the rest of the story describes him as PRINCE EDWARD!!! I think his name may well be Edward BUT the one who is KNOWN as Prince Edward by the public, is Prince Edward, Duke of Wessex.
The Duke of Kent is, I think, a cousin of The Queen, Prince Edward, Duke of Wessex, is her youngest SON. The main similarity is that they are "follicly challenged!"
Can we have consistency please?
Many  years ago a previous editor persisted in referring to me, in print, as Frank; at that time I threatened to refer to the paper as The Shittle if they couldn't get my name right! I don't know what to re-christen the paper this time!

 

GREENHILL PACT   

The March Greenhill PACT meeting was the best attended EVER, As usual the ONLY Councillors who bothered to attend were the local Greenhill LIBERAL Team!
We were delighted that Local Police Officer, Rob Piper was joined by Town Centre Officer Andy Forbes.
The following issues were raised and will be dealt with by Police and Councillors:

· The Deansway, car repairs and car sales are now taking place on the highway and wide verge area.
· Ray Court, issues around drugs and  alcohol
· Offmore Road between Chester Road and the railway bridge; residents have requested that consideration be given to making this stretch “One Way”.
· St. George’s Terrace, ongoing problems with motorists driving down the terrace, at speed, ignoring the “One Way Street”
· St George’s Terrace car repairing business being run from domestic  properties.
· Mobility Scooter being driven dangerously on the roads in the area.· Deliveries, by NON Tesco vehicles, to Tesco on Comberton Hill OUTSIDE the agreed delivery hours.
· Use of 27 Birmingham  Road.
· The need to regulate hours when HGVs will have access to new St. George’s School site on Birmingham Rd.
· Request for 30 mph repeater signs to be used on Birmingham Rd.
· Children being dropped off at local schools being let out of cars on the offside instead of the safe nearside!
· Wheelie bins not returned properly.
Town Centre Issues:
· Vehicles in the Pedestrian area ARE  being challenged.
· Accordion player causing a problem by Crown House.
· Future of former Morrisons (Safeway)
 

Next GREENHILL PACT

Monday July 18th, 7 pm

St. Ambrose Catholic Club, Leswell St.

 

Town Centre PACT Meetings are now held at The Hub, Kidderminster Town Hall between 10-12 on the following Thursdays:

14th April, 12th May,

9th June, 14th July, 11th August, 8th September,

12th October, 10th November, 8th December.

 

 

Just because HMRC sends you a P800 Tax Bill DOESN'T mean you owe them money!!

        Recently there was national press coverage about HMRC sending P800 notices to thousands of people claiming back unpaid tax, apparently from PAYE miscalculations. As I do a Self-Assessment Form every year I thought nothing of these press reports.
        Surprise, surprise. At the end of January I got a letter claiming that in APRIL 2009 they had sent me a P800 claiming I owed them over £2,200 and had to pay up in full by next week.
        Luckily for me the one sort of communication which I file safely is communications from HMRC and I KNEW I had NEVER received such a form.
        I wrote back to them, at the beginning of February disputing this non existent bill and challenging them to tell me how I owed it; I sat back and waited for a reply, and waited, and waited, and waited.....with payment due on Monday, yesterday I phoned them. I held on for 15 minutes in a queue to get answered by a reasl live human being; she took all my details, three times, she went off to check the file, she came back and asked me to read the letter to her again, she went to speak to her supervisor, she came back and asked me to hold on,.......eventually, after another 15 minutes she came back with the reply... " I have checked your file Mrs. Oborski, you filled in Self-Assessment Form in 2009, you never did owe us any money; there's a note on your file; you should receive a letter of explanation; please disregard the letter and any bill!!!
      It's a good job I keep records, it's a good job I don't believe everything I hear from "authority"!
      I wonder how many people, having received such letters have PAID HMRC money they don't owe them?
   

Don't let 2011 in Libya be OUR 1956

In 1956 the "free world" stood by whilst Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops rolled in Budapest and crushed the Hungarian Uprising.

In Benghazi NOW a Libyan democratic uprising leader is calling for support to stop the crushing of democratic forces by the oppressors in the Libyan state.
They are NOT asking for on the ground military intervention, they are begging for arms and for a no fly zone to protect them.

Those of us who lived through the betrayal of Hungary should be demanding that our Government does not let Libya down in the same way!

Failure in 1956 meant it was another 33 years before Hungary became free. We cannot afford to make Libya wait until 2044!

COUNCIL TO SCRUTINISE USE OF MEDIA DEVICES
Tonight's Wyre Forest Corporate Resources Scrutiny Committee meeting agreed to carry out an in depth Scrutiny via a Scrutiny Panel of the use of media devices, cameras, twitter, facebook etc during Council Meetings. Tavis will serve on the panel as will I Tav has already done some good preliminary work by getting a copy of Cambridge City Council's Protocol and I have checked with colleagues on other Councils across the country.

Will Wyre Forest Liberal Democrats NEVER learn?

Talk about failing to learn from the lessons of your OWN history! The Wyre Forest Liberal Democrat Constituency Executive appears to have a total inability to learn from experience!
  Back in 1996 my late husband, then a Lib Dem County and District Councillor, was forced out of the Party having been ordered to face a "kangaroo court" to explain his behaviour! His crime? He had had the "temerity" to seek to implement when part of a Coalition administration at County Hall (Labour/Lib Dem) Policies on which he had been ELECTED! The net effect of that debacle was: the resignation from the Lib Dems of the membership of their largest Branch all of whom transferred to The Liberal Party,the gradual collapse of the Liberal Democrat Council Group down to two Councillors and the development of a strong Liberal Group presence on Wyre Forest DC and with NO local Liberal Democrat representation on the County Council.
  Now, 15 years later the SAME Constituency Executive, with some of the SAME members, has managed to alienate the last 2 Wyre Forest District Councillors which they had in this Constituency! Helen and Peter Dyke are EXCELLENT Ward Councillors, they have been loyal members of the Lib Dems; any Constituency worth its salt would have moved heaven and earth to keep them on board! But not that shower, on no, they seem to write off the ONLY elected assets they possess.
   The Liberal Group on WFDC will continue to give Helen and Pete our full support. We have a "Political Non-Aggression PACT" with the local Lib Dems so we will not oppose them in Wards they are contesting BUT that also means that we will continue to support Helen and Pete Dyke in Aggborough Spennells, we will NOT be betraying good friends and colleagues!

 

 

Free Transport to Hagley Catholic High UNDER THREAT

   Ever since the 1944 Education Act there has been a “compact” with the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. This has meant that, in return for these Churches financially supporting Faith Schools, the “state” i.e. Local Authorities, has provided free transport to those schools for children of the appropriate denomination.
    That is why Hagley Catholic High School takes children from Wyre Forest, Stourbridge and South Birmingham, almost ALL its pupils travel by bus with a few (from Stourbridge and Kidderminster) travelling by train.
   The Tory controlled Worcestershire County Council is now threatening to STOP subsidised transport to Hagley for NEW pupils from September 2012, the only exception being for low income families receiving free school meals.
   This would mean families who could not use the train having to pay hundreds of pounds for each child to travel to school.
   Ironically, if Catholic families then decided not to send their children to Hagley but to choose a Non-Denominational School it would cause the Tories a real problem as there wouldn't be enough school places!
   The Liberal Team urge ALL our local Catholic families to visit the County Council website and take part in the Consultation on Home to School Transport!

 

 

That AV Referendum. What’s it ALL about?

 On May 5th as well as Local Council Elections you will have a Vote in a Referendum which if successful will change the way we vote in future UK General Elections.

What is AV?
AV stands for Alternative Vote.
How does it work?
Instead of Voting for ONE Candidate with an X you put the Candidates in YOUR order of preference.
You put 1 against your first choice
2 against your second choice
3 against your 3rd choice and so on.
You do NOT have to use ALL your choices.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY COUNT THE VOTES?

· First of all they count how many FIRST PREFERENCE Votes each Candidate has.

· If one Candidate has more than 50% of the vote, he or she is ELECTED.

· If NO Candidate has more than 50% of the vote, the BOTTOM Candidate is eliminated and his 2nd Preferences are distributed

· If NO Candidate still has over 50% then the process is repeated until a Candidate has over 50%

Why is this fairer?
It guarantees that EVERY MP is supported by a MAJORITY of their electorate and NO VOTES are wasted.

What would have happened here if we had had AV in 2010?
Dr. Richard Taylor would probably have WON the Wyre Forest Constituency!

LIBERALS FOR FAIRER VOTES.

Officially at a National level The Liberal Democrats, The Liberal Party, The Green Party, UKIP, The English Democrats are all IN FAVOUR of AV.
In Worcestershire Liberals, Lib Dems and Greens are signed up to the YES Campaign.
Tories are AGAINST AV, Labour are split.
The ONLY Parties Campaigning in Wyre Forest for a YES Vote, so far Are Liberals and Lib Dems.
Come and Join US!

VOTE YES on MAY 5th!

 

 

If there is ANYONE out there who would NOT, if asked, "sign a Petition to Stop The Council Wasting £10.5 Million!" Will they Please stand up NOW!

       Tonight's Wyre Forest Council Meeting dragged on for over 3 hours. The longest debate was on a Motion, proposed by John Campion that the Council reaffirmed its commitment to developing a new "Single Site" centralised office facility at Finepoint on the Stourport Road. A site which is actually in Stourport but which has a Kidderminster postcode.
        A petition was delivered by the former UKIP Parliamentary Candidate and signed by some 3,000 residents, not all of whom actually live in Wyre Forest, calling on the Council to abandon the scheme.
        The only Councillor who had, apparently, been approached in the street to sign the petition was Tory Counciloor Nicky Gale and she told us exactly what the petitioners were saying "Will you sign a Petition to Stop the Council Wasting £10.5 Million?" For heaven's sake! Anyone would sign a Petition faced with that request! 
           WHAT UKIP DIDN'T ASK was..."Will you sign a Petition asking the Council to continue to waste £480,000 a year of OUR money, this year and EVERY year by abandoning a project to spend £10.5Million of CAPITAL money, which can ONLY be spent on buildings, on a Single Office Site which by bringing all offices under one roof will allow it to save the £480,000 per year?"
             My guess is that, faced with the REAL question MOST sensible Wyre Forest residents would understand that single site is a SENSIBLE way of rationalising Council Offices to save revenue spending.
            Council procedure says that once a decision has been made it CANNOT be overturned within 6 months.
            WE HAD to debate Single Site because Wyre Forest's Constitution states that if a petrition is received with over 980 or so signatures it HAS TO BE DEBATED!
            The unfortunate consquence was that, because they both wanted to ALTER the Council's just reaffirmed policy on Single Site NEITHER the Labour NOR the Health Concern Budget Amendments could then be debated UNLESS the Council had resolved to suspend Standing Orders in order to allow that debate.
            I am AMAZED! For reasons best known to themselves the Labour Group FAILED to attempt to suspend Standing Orders. I acknowledge that the Tories could have easily defeated such a move BUT it would have served the "Democratic Interest" and I for one, would have voted with them to allow their budget to be debated!   

Tory County Council Budget hurts the young and the vulnerable!

    Sadly at the February 17th County Council Meeting the Tories, supported by Health Concern,Labour and "so-called" Independent Cllr. Mumshad Ahmed voted DOWN a Liberal/Liberal Democrat Budget Amendment which would have seen additional cuts made in "back office" functions, the removal of a Senior Officer post and its support posts, a 10% cut in Councillors Allowances with the removal of one Cabinet position and a massive reduction in the costs of so-called "Council Communications".
Our proposals would have released over £1.3Million a year which would have been put into providing Positive Activities for young people, putting £500,000 BACK into Supporting People to help keep older and vulnerable people living in their communities, releasing £250,000 to enable the County to continue to subsidise some of the public bus services which the Tories are currently threatening to cut and would have allowed us to keep subsidised school/college transport for the Over 16s.

The pathetic Labour Group then voted with the Liberal?Liberal Democrat Group AGAINST the Tory Budget which was, of course, supported by Health Concern and Ahmed. What a shower!

 

Labour’s Political Dogma would “write off” £500,000 of YOUR Money!

     We all know that the last LABOUR Government left the Country’s economy in a total mess. However, it really was quite a surprise to learn that Wyre Forest Labour Councillors want to throw away the £500,000 of capital money already spent on the planned Council Office move to a Single Site!
   The Labour Budget proposals were to abandon the scheme, “write off “ the money already spent, use Council “reserves” to make up the shortfall in revenue savings for 3 years and then have a “Budget Black Hole” of at least £480,000 a year from 2015.
   Liberal Councillors believe that moving to Single Site, getting rid of expensive to run, inefficient buildings like the Civic Centre in Stourport, and stopping renting the awful Duke Place Offices (leased by the then Health Concern Leader, now Labour Councillor, Howard Martin when he ran the Council) makes good economic sense. It will make the Council more efficient and save YOU money!
    Getting rid of the Civic Centre will also allow the Council, with partners, to create a far better "theatre space" in Stourport.
   Hopefully, today's Wyre Forest Council Meeting will finally "put to bed" the "Single Site" issue and allow the Council to move ahead, spending money saved by moving to Single Site on doing what Council's are supposed to do, providing SERVICES  for local residents.

What a month!
January 2011 was certainly the kind of month I could have done without.
Having had a brill Christmas and New Year I then went on to develop the filthiest cold I'd had for years, and three weeks later it is still lingering on! I am wheezing for Britain! My New Year's Resolution was to get fit!!! So I drag myself to the gym 3 times a week! Perhaps I should give up!
So far I have spent far too much time at County Hall looking at budgets and then done the same thing with Wyre Forest Budgets.
The fun things have been 2 trips, as Polish Consul, to Polish Saturday Schools in Hereford and Worcester and the Kidderminster Polish Community Oplatek at the Polish Restaurant on Comberton Hill.
I was honoured to, once again, organise the Wyre Forest Holocaust Memorial Commemoration on Jan 30th and I am grateful to the Civic Dignitaries and Faith Leaders who attended.

Christmas Greetings!

    On behalf of all Wyre Forest Liberal Councillors and Candidates I'd like to wish everyone a Peaceful and Joyous Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Particular thanks to all those who have kept us moving during the snow; to the County Highways gritting and snow ploughing teams, to the farmers who have helped in rural areas and to the Wyre Forest Refuse and Recycling Crews who, when it has been too dangerous to take the  "freighters" out, have done sterling work keeping the town centre pavements safe.

My personal weather prediction..... I have just ordered (and paid for in advance to avoid the VAT rise) a set of winter wheels and tyres which should arrive mid January, such is the demand, so I predict that once they arrive.....we will have a heatwave!!

I should like to congratulate the 21 Liberal Democrat Rebels!

• Annette Brooke
• Sir Menzies Campbell
• Michael Crockart
• Tim Farron
• Andrew George
• Mike Hancock
• Julian Huppert
• Charles Kennedy
• John Leech
• Stephen Lloyd
• Greg Mulholland
• John Pugh
• Alan Reid
• Dan Rogerson
• Bob Russell
• Adrian Sanders
• Ian Swales
• Mark Williams
• Roger Williams
• Jenny Willott
• Simon Wright

These are the 21 Lib Dem MPs who had the courage of their convictions and Voted AGAINST the proposal to increase Tuition Fees.
It is true that the Coalition Proposals are NOT as horrendous as many people claim but that is NOT the point.
Whatever merit the proposals may or may not have, Liberal Democrat Candidates ALL signed a Pledge NOT to vote for any increase in Tuition Fees and therefore, sorry guys, but to vote FOR the increase was DISHONOURABLE, nothing MORE, nothing LESS!
Nick Clegg appears to have lost the confidence of a VERY large number of his Parliamentary colleagues!
21 Lib Dems did the truely Honourable thing tonight.
Well Done!

Initial thoughts for the Car Parking Scrutiny Review Panel.

These are my initial comments on the Cabinet proposals:

1. Having Chaired the last thorough Car Parks Review; the following information will be needed about EACH Car Park individually (Similar information was used to inform the last review):
   1. What is the average “Ticket Income” received per week?
   2. How many “Unrestricted” Season Ticket holders use this Car Park, Monday to Friday?
   3. How many “Unrestricted” Season Ticket holders use this Car Park at weekends?
   4. How many “Restricted” Season Ticket holders use this Car Park, Monday to Friday?
   5. How many “Restricted” Season Ticket holders use this Car Park at weekends?
   6. What is the average “stay” of people who purchase tickets from the machines on each Car Park?
   7. How many of each type of Season Ticket have been issued this year?

The idea of the first hour free sounds attractive but it is only of use on car parks where you can genuinely complete a shopping trip in one hour and I really don't see most of the car parks proposed filling that role, the free hour must be of use for  the average shopper completing in one hour not a galloping athlete.

1. I am unhappy about the choice of Kidderminster car parks for first hour free because the only one of any use is Comberton Hill and that only for shopping on the Hill.
2. The others are too far from town to be of any real use
3. Even at St Marys by the time you've walked into town you could just about go to the Post Office or buy something in the Bull Ring then rush back. These proposals are are still going back on a definite commitment not to charge at St Marys on Sundays which dates back to the introduction of Sunday Trading.
4. No-one parks at The Horsefair anyway, you might get some one hour use but not much more; the whole purpose of constructing that car park was to relieve parking problems on Broad St. The introduction of charges has been a complete failure so far! Broad St is parked to the hilt and the car park is empty!
5. What will anyone actually achieve with a Free Hour of Car Parking on Stadium Close? It is far to far from town to use a “free hour” usefully. Will Stadium Close still be free on Match Days?
6. I am very worried about restricting the use of the "Restricted Season Tickets" to out of centre car parks.  Many low paid office workers use them and most of those are women who must have access to town centre car parks because of access after dark (and I mean 5.30 pm November to March not midnight).No-one working in the Town Centre should expect to use a subway to get to their car.
7. When we did the previous Parking Review which I Chaired we were very careful NOT to put vulnerable workers at risk. At the end of the Report they say there are NO Equalities issues, I dispute that because it puts vulnerable workers at risk if they have to park outside the Ring Road.
8. First hour free on the current short stay at Bromsgrove St would have  been far more use because it would have helped patients using the  Health Centre which was why the short stay spaces there were introduced.
9. When the current system was set up it was done following a very thorough analysis of car park usage in terms of who, what sort of tickets and for how long: I assume this has been repeated but I can see no evidence.
10. On Vale Rd I still think the original decision to link charging to a pedestrian refuge was correct. Crossing three lanes of traffic all going in the same direction is NOT safe! As Mitton Gardens is unadopted I assume residents could in some way gate it to prevent public street parking?
11. Returning to Kidderminster; If the proposals  had given 1 hour free, 2nd Hour 80p and then a massive hike on Market St they would have helped people going to the Library and The Hub while stopping College use.

 
Fran Oborski 20-11-10

.

Remembrance Sunday.
    Today's Remembrance Sunday Service at the Kidderminster War Memorial and then in St.Marys Church saw one of the largest parades ever. It is really very noticeable how many more young people are attending.
    Today Anne Brandon,mother of Corporal Richie Brandon who died last year in Afghanistan,took part in the Service,lighting the Peace Candle.
    This year the "Civilian" wreathes were laid at the foot of the Angel of Peace whilst the "Military" wreathes were laid at the War Memorial Wall. As John Campion,Leader of Wyre Forest Councilis away on holiday, Cllr.Nathan Desmond laid his wreath along with MarkGarnier MP and myself. We laid our wreathes immediately after The Mayor who laid the official wreath on behalf of the town.
   Laying a wreath on behalf of the Polish Government is,to me,one of my most important tasks as Honorary Consul.

Tory Controlled Worcestershire County Council is FAILING to Safeguard our most Vulnerable Children!

Back in 2008 a Joint Area Review of Worcestershire County Council's arrangements for Safeguarding our most vulnerable children and for Looking After Childen in Care of the Local Authority were judged as GOOD. We were PROUD to be one of the BEST Local Authorities in the Country. All our services to these children were GOOD! AND we were judged to have excellent prospects for improvement.

Around 3 weeks ago County Councillors received an "e mail" from the then Leader,Dr.Lord, saying that with immediate effect the TWO Cabinet Members with responsibility for Children's Services would have their roles exchanged. Suddenly Cllr.Marcus Hart who had had the lead Safeguarding Role plus responsibility for the Education of Children aged 0-11 LOST all his Safeguarding and "Care" Responsibilities and, instead, became responsible for ALL Education ONLY, whilst Cllr. Liz Eyre, who had previously had responsibility for Education of pupils aged 11+ , was given TOTAL responsibility for ALL aspects of Childen's Care and Safeguarding! No reasons were given. But now we KNOW!

This morning OFSTED published the result of an Inspection carried out last month into Safeguarding and Looked After Children. The results are DEVASTATING!

Safeguarding

services

Overall effectiveness Grade 4 (inadequate)

     The overall effectiveness of safeguarding services is inadequate.

Performance is inconsistent and the protection needs of some children are

not assured.

Outcomes for children and young people

The effectiveness of services in taking reasonable steps to ensure that

children and young people are safe. Grade 4 (inadequate)

   The effectiveness of services in taking reasonable steps to ensure that

children and young people are safe is inadequate. The safeguarding needs

of children and young people have not been assessed or responded to

effectively in every case. The council’s own audit of child protection cases

prior to the inspection found that almost all contained evidence of delay,

and a small number required immediate action to ensure that children

were safe. 

The quality of provision Grade 4 (inadequate)

   Service responsiveness is inadequate. Despite clear, published guidance

on thresholds for referral to children’s social care services, inappropriate

referrals are still being made by some agencies.


In some other Authorities Cabinet Members (and in some cases Chief Officers) have "fallen on their swords" after this degree of collapse in standards!
But this is WORCESTERSHIRE!!!


How on earth did a Cabinet Member ALLOW this degree of DETERIORATION in such a VITAL Service. How could ANYONE knowingly preside over the collapse in service standards to such desperately vulnerable children!? And if the Cabinet Member DIDN'T know....Why Not?

How on earth could so called "Service Chiefs" ALLOW this to happen on their watch?

Worcestershire's Children need dedicated Cabinet Members looking after both their Care AND their Education.

Tories in disarray in Broadwaters?

    Now we find that Broadwaters Tory Campaigner i.e. Candidate Steve Walker has resigned from the Conservative Party over the Broadwaters Car Park issue.
He apparently also objects to their Party Policy on Social Housing, Benefits and University Tuition Fees.....Welcome to the real world! So does The Liberal Party and, to be fair to them, most actual MEMBERS of the Lib Dems.
Sadly no-one has ever known where Labour stand on Tuition Fees as they went AGAINST their own Manifesto and introduced them in the first place!

If, however, he is looking for an "easy ride " into being a Candidate for another Party next May he probably needs to realise that other Parties already have Candidates selected! (Mark Haynes for us and, I believe, Adrian Sewell for Labour!)

More on Car Parking and Broadwaters
Last Night I attended another packed out car parking meeting, this time at Broadwaters Drive. The UNANIMOUS view of EVERYONE present was that the Broadwaters Drive Car Park MUST be taken out of the Car Parks Order and, in common with car parks at other parks, be kept free for users of the park and The Rose Theatre!
Indeed a former Council Officer present assured us that as far as the Land registry is concerned, the car park is actually part of Broad Waters Park.
These are my comments on the rest of the Cabinet proposals:
I like first hour free but ONLY on carparks where you can genuinely complete a shopping trip in one hour and I really don't see most of the carparks proposed filling that role.
And I mean the average shopper completing in one hour not a galloping athlete.I am unhappy about the choice of Kidderminster car parks for first hour free because the only one of any use is Comberton Hill
The others are too far from town to be of any real use
Even at St Marys by the time you've walked into town you could just about go to the Post Office or buy something in the Bull Ring then rush back
No-one parks at The Horsefair anyway, you might get some one hour use but not much more; the whole purpose of constructing that car park was to relieve parking problems on Broad St. The introduction of charges has been a complete failure so far!
What is happening about Stadium Close on Match Days? Will it still be free?
I am very worried about restricting the use of the "Restricted Season Tickets"  many low paid office workers use them and most of those are women who must have access to town centre carparks because of access after dark (and I mean 5.30 pm November to March not midnight).No-one working in the Town Centre should expect to use a subway to get to their car.
1 hour free on the current short stay at Bromsgrove St would have helped patients using the the Health Centre which was why the short stay spaces were introduced.
When the current system was set up it was done following a very thorough analysis of car park usage in terms of who, what sort of tickets and for how long: I assume this has been repeated but I can see no evidence.
On Vale Rd I still think the original decision to link charging to a pedestrian refuge was correct. As Mitton Gardens is unadopted I assume residents could in someway gate it to prevent public street parking?
If they had given 1 hour free, 2nd Hour 80p and then a massive hike on Market St they would have helped people going to the Library and The Hub while stopping College use.
All in all this whole package reeks of having been subjected to a massive cut and paste once local residents started to voice their fears and objections.
I believe it still needs to go back to the drawing board.

More on Dr.George Lord



This is taken from the BBC News Website!
The former leader of Worcestershire County Council is being investigated by police for an alleged sexual offence 30 years ago.

Dr George Lord quit as leader and a Conservative councillor after separate allegations were made that he had acted inappropriately towards staff.

West Mercia Police said it was investigating the alleged historical sexual offence against a woman.

Dr Lord has not commented on Saturday's resignation or any of the allegations.

"As this is now an ongoing police investigation no further information will be given at this stage, including the identities of anyone concerned with the case," a police spokesman added.

Wyre Forest Tory Cabinet Car Parking Proposals.

So here it is! The famous or do I mean INFAMOUS Phase 2 Car Parking Review. This is a cut and paste from next week's Cabinet Agenda!

First hour free on quite a lot of car parks including Vale Rd and St Marys (short Church Services obviously needed!)

Council’s current parking charges in its pay & display car parks differs across thethree towns with differing charging periods and differing charges applying. Further,within towns, particularly Kidderminster, there are differing charges between carparks which have developed piecemeal over time. The current charges are shown atAppendix 1. The aim of this second stage of the review is to assume a more rationalapproach to the way charges are applied within towns and a more consistentapproach to the way charges are applied between towns.
The car park at Broadwaters is the only free public car park now remaining in the 2010 Order and, clearly, this is inconsistent with the other car parks in the 2010 Order.
Discussions are underway with local user groups in the vicinity of the site about the future of this car park and the outcome of these discussions will feed into the budget process in advance of February; as this process is ongoing it will not be included in the matters for scrutiny. However, if the outcome is that charges will be applied, then the car park will fall into the ‘Outer’ category shown at Appendix 2.
Appendix 2 sets out the proposed new schedule of charges to come into effect from 3rd October 2011 and is based on the application of three charging rates within towns depending on the location of the car park to the principal town centre retail function.
Central car parks are those nearest to the principal retail core where a high turnover of spaces is expected and, therefore, short stay charging applies. The central car parks are Market Street, Kidderminster; Raven Street, Stourport and Load Street, Bewdley. All three towns will have the same charging applied and this will see an ‘up to 30 minutes’ charge introduced in Kidderminster and Stourport and an ‘up to 1 hour’charge in Stourport; the ‘Up to 2 hours’ in Raven Street will be removed.
The next charging tier will be an ‘Inner’ rate which will cover all the car parks within the Kidderminster immediate town centre vicinity, the Riverside car parks in Stourport (and Bridge Street if that is brought into operation) and Dog Lane in Bewdley. There will be a range of pricing in these car parks that facilitates short, medium and long stay. Whilst all three towns will have identical charges for periods of stay ‘up to 3 hours’, the ‘over 3 hours’ and 24-48 hours periods in Stourport and Bewdley will be set higher than Kidderminster to reflect the visitor trade that those two towns attract which places greater demand on long stay spaces. It is recognised that demand for spaces from visitors in the two market towns places greater pressure on their use and therefore a higher charge is more appropriate than in Kidderminster to encourage long stay parking in these towns to migrate to the outer car parks.
The next charging tier is an ‘Outer’ rate which will apply to those car parks outside the immediate vicinity of the town centre in Kidderminster – Castle Road, Comberton Place, Stadium Close, Horsefair and St Mary’s (and Broadwaters if charges are introduced), Vale Road and the Sports Centre in Stourport and Gardners’ Meadow in Bewdley. Here, three key elements of charge apply; firstly, the first hour of any stay will be at no charge, there then applies the same prices as ‘Inner’ car parks for periods of up to 2 and 3 hours but significantly lower charges for all day and longer charges.A final charging tier of ‘Rural’ then recognises The Avenue as a village car park for Blakedown.
All ticket prices reflect an anticipated 2.5% inflationary increase as part of the budget setting for 2011/12 onwards across all of the Council’s locally set charges.
Regarding Season Tickets, these prices too reflect the anticipated annual price rise.
However, as part of the changes agreed for the 2010 Order it was agreed that
Resident Season Tickets would be phased out by April 2012 and, therefore, the 12 month Resident Season Tickets will not be available for purchase after 31st March 2011 and the 6 month Tickets will not be available after 30th September 2011. As the proposed charges are due to come into effect on 3rd October 2011, the Resident Season Ticket category no longer appears on the list. Again, for purposes of consistency, it is proposed that Restricted Season Tickets are only available for the Outer car parks where longer periods of stay impact less on the turnover of spaces, that would mean that these tickets remain available for use in Castle Road, Comberton Hill, Horsefair, Stadium Close in Kidderminster, Gardners’ Meadow and Dog Lane in Bewdley, Vale Road and Stourport Sports Centre car parks in Stourport and The Avenue in Blakedown. They would also become available for St Mary’s in Kidderminster. In Bewdley it is recognised that Dog Lane is classified as an ‘Inner’ car park but it is considered that whilst the restructuring of the Residents’ Season Ticket is still in progress, it will be necessary to allow Restricted Season tickets to be used at Dog Lane for a transitionary period.
Full Season Tickets would be available for use on all car parks. However, for the three central car parks the restriction will continue to apply that they may only be used for a maximum of 1 hour continuous stay with no return within 2 hours.
Senior Citizen Tickets availability remains unchanged.

 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 The financial implications of the revised pricing structure indicate that the proposals are broadly revenue neutral, based on historic information regarding ticket purchases in the various car parks. However, whilst the model gives this indication, it cannot account for behavioural changes in the way visitors use the car parks and the actual impact of the proposed changes will have to be monitored once the changes are in operation.

LEGAL AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

 A variation to the charging schedule within the Parking Order will need to be advertised in accordance with the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Local Authorities' Traffic Order (Procedure)(England and Wales) Regulations 1996.

Conservative Leader of County Council in shock resignation!

Members of Worcestershire County Council have just received this "e mail" from Cllr. Adrian Hardman, Conservative Deputy Leader of the County Council.
"Over the course of the last week some allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards staff have been made against Dr George Lord, Leader of Worcestershire County Council.
        As is normal practice in these circumstances the individual against whom any allegations are being made is presented with the information when it is at an unsubstantiated stage.
     Dr Lord recognised the disruption this situation could cause to the work of the council and decided to resign from the Council with  immediate effect on Saturday 6^th Nov.
I as Deputy Leader will automatically take over as Leader until the formal process of appointing a new Leader is implemented and my focus, with the support of both elected members and officers, will be on supporting the staff involved in these allegations and importantly maintaining the momentum within the council to meet the challenges it faces in the current economic climate."

I assume that the resignation is in order to avoid the Personal and Political embassassment which would ensue from an Ethics and Standards investigation. Such a high profile departure will be a National Embarrassment to the Conservative Party.
I have no idea WHAT the actual accusations may refer to but, from personal experience I know Dr. Lord to be an ill-mannered BULLY, who, when he had been canvassing in the St. Chads Division for the, unsuccessful Tory Candidate in the by-election after Mike's death, was heard to say to colleagues at County Hall that he had been "visiting the peasants of Kidderminster, in their HOVELS!"
My only comment is: GOOD RIDDANCE!

           

Time for fans to get behind the Harriers!
       I'm not exactly the greatest football fan on earth! Well after all, I was brought up from the age of 18 months in South Wales and, being educated at a mixed Welsh Grammar School, I misspent my youth on the terraces of the old Cardiff Arms Park (North Stand) with occasional forays to Murrayfield and Twickenham.

However, I do believe that a thriving local team is an important part of the life of any town;and, with their commitment to sport in the community and their work with young people, the Harriers play a very important part in the life of our community.

Several local residents,and keen fans have told me how pleased they are to see Dave Reynolds back at the helm! Well with debts of £250,000 to clear at the club those who want the club to survive and prosper need to dig deep.

Local businessman John Davies, of Hire It on the Worcester Rd.is initially seeking 50 local businessmen to fund £5000 each,I wish him well. Equally there may well be 250 local people who could donate £1000 each or 500 who could find £500.Either way if YOU value your local club and can spare something NOW is the time to come forward!