We will remember

Newmarket witnessed its annual act of Remembrance on sunday. As ever it was a moving and sombre occasion, well attended and superbly organised by the Royal British Legion, Tattersalls, Newmarket College, Newmarket Band and the Bowls Club to name a few. Seeing the young faces from the Air Training Cadets took me back to my own days in 1557 Squadron at school, growing up.

There is so much to say about this particular ceremony. I always find it incredibly moving. Listening to the 300+ names of fallen read out, I recognised many names from the community. These are families with a long heritage in this corner of England that is West Suffolk.

Every year I learn something new - and it is to the credit of film makers that each year they produce a new story or insight and report it so well. This year Jeremy Paxman brought us an excellent piece on World War 1 poet Wilfrid Owen. His life was cut short brutally as so many others, but the poems he scratched out during a piece of convalescence, and the letters he wrote from the frontline are regarded alongside Shakespeare, Wilde and the Beatles as classics of English literature.

Ian Hislop also presented a couple of programmes on Channel 4 about forgotten heroes and war memorials which were informative, respectful and haunting.

Well done both - British TV at its best.

I also found a website which shows many maps of the time - people movements, trenches etc. Well worth a mug of tea and a browse through one winter weekend afternoon.

The message that seemed to be coming through this year was forward looking. Here in Newmarket the message by Father Jeffrey was excellent: think about the price paid and consider the price we should pay to serve others around us today.

Nationally, as the number of veterans from the 1st World War dwindles, the attention properly is turning to include the fallen in recent and current conflicts, on those they leave behind and move amongst us today - widows, their children, their brothers, sisters and parents.

The pictures above are courtesy of the British Legion and show images from the new poppy advertising campaign, the “poppyman” with widow and young son of one of the fallen from the recent campaign in Iraq. They also produced a brilliant Poppyman blog.

Wear your poppy with pride. Every year.

A Local Blogger

A fellow blogger, Iain Dale, published a book recently that lists the top 500 political blogs in the UK.

One of them (in the top 100 no less!) caught my eye as it is local to us. Ellee Seymour describes herself as being “Near Cambridge”… which we could be translated as near Newmarket.

I don’t know how he worked out the order of the list (I believe a combination of votes, traffic estimates and other factors I believe) but as the All Saints Gazette is not in the Top 300 at least, I must draw comfort from the fact that I am trying to write this for the non-political residents of my ward in Newmarket.

Back with a Bang!

My apologies first for not being quicker to get back in the blogging habit after the summer break.

I restarted this morning with a quick look at traffic to this site in my absence. Had I lost the regular readers? Which posts were generating most interest? Would the distance of time offer a fresh perspective on the blog, its reasons and purpose?

What I did not expect, was to find that there have been up to 500 visitors a day in recent weeks. Perhaps a “no post” policy was the best option. Maybe my work here is done (!) and precious time can be given to other things…

Actually none of these. Most of the traffic was to this post. Newmarket, it appears is not drawing the attention of the world - but Google Earth is.

The spike started on the 26th September - and searching for the term “Google Earth” on Google’s own news page showed that on this date news broke here that a swastika shaped building had been identified on a naval base in California.

It appears that if you type “Google Earth” into Google’s image search page - this website and that post on August 1st 2005 is the number one image to appear. Perhaps now that a post has made the number one position on a Google search, my work here IS complete!

The Rise of the West

The dust has settled on the elections well and truly now and here in the West of Suffolk we have certainly done well.

• > Cllr Bill Sadler (Newmarket) is the Chairman of Suffolk County Council. Bill remains passionate about Newmarket and will be a strong representative and advocate for us, promoting our interests and agendas in Ipswich.
• > Cllr Lisa Chambers (Newmarket and Red Lodge) is the new holder of the Cultural Services Portfolio . This includes economic regeneration and tourism so is of huge importance for our Town and District. Lisa is tireless in her efforts and making a lot of friends in Ipswich.

It is good to have people like this on the team and to work with them - I’m just pleased to have helped them set up their own blogs.

(I have just learned that former Suffolk County and Lakenheath Parish Cllr - Mary Crane from was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Honours. Congratulations!)

Green Road Blues

Ann Sweeney and Penny McLaine of Stamford St woke up to a shock last week.

Beyond the barriers of the roadworks on Green Rd, contractors could be seen putting in kerb stones - not along the edges of the road, but across it.

Green Rd has been used for over 100 years and its temporary closure has already caused huge disruption to the surrounding streets in our ward. But the prospect of a permanent closure is a different matter. 

Residents have had to get used to gridlock at the junction of Stamford St, Warrington St and Cardigan St. This is no rat-run, but the normal traffic of residents and businesses from within the ward. These drivers know the difficulties and negotiate this junction with good grace, common sense and courtesy. However the additional diverted traffic load (up Warrington St from the Avenue and along Stamford St from Granby St) is unworkable.

One accident has occurred already (ironically involving a Forest Heath lorry). It is only a matter of time before there is a personal injury.

What is going on here?

Jim Nunn, SCC West Area Highways Manager, issued a TEMPORARY road closure notice for Green Rd on 2nd March 2007. So why is Taylor Woodrow undertaking works of a more permanent nature?

There has been no consultation on, or notice of a permanent closure of Green Rd. Some residents received a note from Taylor Woodrow however this makes no mention of the permanent closure. An extension to the temporary closure was posted on lamp-posts but again, no mention was made of a permanent closure. Telephone calls to Suffolk County Council officers have failed to clarify the matter, including reference, mysteriously, to “temporary permanent” closures. Perhaps I should have called this post “This Temporary Closure is Permanent”?

Surely Suffolk CC’s failure to publish accurate information invalidates their consultation and makes these works illegitimate? This consultation was ambiguous at best and misleading at worst. 

Whose idea was it to reroute the traffic?

A temporary closure is understandable and necessary. But it has highlighted the folly of thinking traffic could be diverted along Stamford St even on a temporary basis. When was this decision made? What evidence did they use to inform the closure of this road and reroute the traffic? Were any traffic surveys carried out?

Ann and Penny have written to the County asking for the “illegitimate” work to be stopped immediately. They have asked for the evidence and data used to justify the diversion through the Stamford and Warrington St junction. They have asked how this could be considered when Suffolk were aware of the parking difficulties through their own survey last year.

Ann and Penny have not only enlisted me - they have already spoken with Geoff Jaggard and County Councillors Lisa Chambers and Bill Sadler. They have also arranged for Richard Spring MP to visit next Friday.

They started to ask questions - and a campaign was born. When I met them this week and took this photo, they had received 200 letters. By the time I joined them and other protesters at the barricades this lunchtime, they had received over 270.

But right now, they only want one more.

A reply from Suffolk County Council assuring them that Green Rd will be re-opened at the end of the advertised closure period.

What Can You Do?

I have given the Green Road Campaign its own page (see the tabs above or click here). From there you can send a message of support, leave your name and email address or just keep up to date with progress.

That Shrinking Feeling

Well my sixth prediction was off the mark. Wrong again! 

There will be not one, but two opposition groups at Forest Heath as the LibDems and the Forest Heath Independent Alliance could not find common ground and will remain on separate paths.

The FHIA have changed their name however to become the “Newmarket Independent Alliance”. They have also added to their ranks by recruiting the no-longer-independent-independent, Andy Drummond.

This reunites Andy and Warwick under the same banner they were in back in 2003 - the West Suffolk Independent Alliance. This dwindled in the months and years that followed election as members went their separate ways. It reappeared at these elections as the Forest Heath Independent Alliance. It appears this has lasted an even shorter time, becoming the Newmarket Independent Alliance within 1 month.

Have they been drinking from the same bottle marked “Drink Me” as Alice in Wonderland did - and found she started to shrink? Just a thought, but if Warwick (a Severals Ward representative) now leaves, Andy and Ruth could call themselves the St Mary’s Independent Alliance and the journey would be complete!

I have known Andy for several years now so this is all good clean fun and a part of the sparring in politics. As we heard from an experienced Councillor last night, disagreements get left in the chamber and it is good to go for a drink (different bottle!) after.

However, there is a serious point. An opposition is a good thing and Forest Heath will benefit from having one as long as their focus remains on their District wide responsibilities, and not just narrow parochial interests.

Marathon Swim

I came across this blog from Bury St Edmunds Councillor Paul Hopfensperger, recently. He is swimming the English Channel and the blog covers his training.

A friend of mine managed the swim some years ago and it is truly an heroic task. There is a rich history to the event - most recently David Walliams - and Paul will be a worthy addition to the list if he is successful.

He has my complete respect for even trying. More people have scaled Everest, fewer than 10% who attempt it complete it, and training is 2 - 8 hours a day for up to year… often in freezing conditions.

Why not visit his site and consider supporting his charity?

Marathons of any sort deserve admiration. Seven time winner of the Tour de France, American Lance Armstrong, ran the NY marathon after retiring from cycling and said it was the hardest thing he had ever done. He did it in under 3 hours - my best time was in 1997 when I did it in about 4hrs 19minutes.

Blogging and marathons seem to go hand in hand… when I ran the London Marathon in 2004 as Mayor I started a diary for the Newmarket Journal. That diary was a sort of precursor to the blog you are reading today!

BFP on the BNP

Rumours reach my ears that the BNP are fielding candidates in St Edmundsbury and Forest Heath at the local elections in May (you will not find a link to them on this page or any other on my site).

My source tells me the Bury Free Press (aka the BFP!) reported this yesterday (friday) but I cannot find the article in their online version - see side bar for link.

I respect freedom of speech and have always encouraged challenge at elections. As Voltaire said,

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” 

But at this point in time, I will reserve further comment until I can confirm the story.

“Your Correspondent”

Perhaps you recognise this familiar introduction to radio news pieces from “your correspondent”?

It got me thinking about blogs and technology - and the fact that this can be brought to you from any computer, anywhere with a connection to the internet. Then this morning a colleague who runs a much bigger blog than this posted a picture of where he lives and often blogs, in Salisbury.

So I thought I would do the same. I am away for a couple of days visiting my mother so I have read the local news here and here (more on them later). But I am writing this blog entry from the Welsh mountains. 

This was taken last July from the same place - albeit sunnier and less windy.

I have also come across a widget that will allow me to put a map in the right hand column of this blog which would allow me to show you where I post blog entries from - or where you are reading them from.

On second thoughts…

Better and Better and Best

Not long ago I posted that West Suffolk College was one of only 5 FE Colleges in the country to receive Oftsed’s “Outstanding” classification in all 5 categories.

Well Sunday it was revealed that the best just got better!

I have been biting my lip since January, however, when as Governors, we learned that we had also made it onto the list of Top 100 Employers, sponsored by the Sunday Times. The feature was published on Sunday (page 83).

We were at our Governors’ conference when we heard the news. Fittingly, one of the subjects we were discussing was how you measure improvement when you are outperforming all the Government’s measures. How do you go from good to great?

Some of the things that underpin the College’s performance are a great team of dedicated professionals (low staff turnover is one of the measures used to compile the Top 100 Employers list), hard work, strong leadership, strategic a passion and belief in education, relentless self-scrutiny (in fact tomorrow, as part of this self-scrutiny, I chair the first meeting of a Task Group set up to look at this provision), an interest in and care for students - and a laser like focus on quality.

The list goes on, but there is something else I have noticed too - a strong sense of its role in the community.

With over 20,000 students - the majority part time, adult learners, the College has a massive impact on and is an integral part of our community in West Suffolk. The skills and courses it contributes to the economic and social fabric of the area are vital to our quality of life and economic well being.

Once again, Ann and the team show Suffolk is a leader and stands shoulder to shoulder with the best. They are a credit to us all. Well done!