The thill (?) of the open road

We’ve all moaned in recent months about the state of the County’s roads and pavements and even our local radio stations are handing out awards for the biggest or deepest pothole etc. Very shortly we’re going to have a new and potentially more serious problem on our hands. Whilst car drivers and cyclists tend to use the same mode of transport all year round, March / April brings many motorcyclists on to the roads for the warmer months.

I’ve made no secret of my midlife crisis bike licence last year, and I’ve certainly never advocated people using motorbikes rather than more sustainable methods of transport. I live in a village which is not blessed with a great bus service to the other 8 villages that I represent and therefore I do use a car or bike to get about. Now that the nights are getting lighter I’m going to try getting to more Parish Council meetings by bicycle.

The reason I flag this up is that Hardwick hosts the only DSA Motorbike Test Centre in the County. Students have to come here to take their bike test, and they will take their Part 2 test out on the local roads. Hitting a pothole in a car is one thing – but hitting one on a motorcycle could be lethal.

Here’s hoping we get some of them filled in on the main routes before someone is seriously injured.

Sport Relief Rocked

Last year, for Comic Relief, the Lib Dem group on the County Council were all pictured wearing red noses and we had a whip round to support this very good cause.

This year, the County Council’s call centre in St Ives got 160(ish) of us together to man the phone lines until from 19:00 Friday evening until 02:00 this morning taking donations as part of a nationwide team of call centres.

I can only express my extreme thanks and admiration to all those who worked so hard to raise over £100,000. Some (including myself) took donation calls, some kept us plied with refreshments and a few hardy soles stood outside in the rain directing cars so that those of us on the late shift didn’t have so far to walk when we left in the wee small hours. It worked like clockwork and heartfelt congratulations go to the organisers of the evening. I’ll be back to volunteer again next year!

And a special thanks must go to my son, whom I promised to keep anonymous, for the loan of his CVC football kit. As it was Sport Relief, we were a well turned out sporty lot on the helpline!

A day of two contrasts

Yesterday morning I was sat on the front row of the audience for what I thought would be a packed Cabinet Meeting regarding the Guided Bus. After the tales of woe and wringing of hands over contractual stalemate the previous week, I was expecting some robust discussion at the very least.

In the event it was underwhelming. A statement was read out that negotiations are being held at the very highest level and we shall wait and see what arises. At least the people of Cambridgeshire are finally being given some more information about the problems and the overspend – something missing for a long time now.

The late afternoon saw me at the Council’s Contact Centre in St Ives, having telephone training before Sports Relief on Friday. Sadly I’m the only County Councillor taking part (I hope more colleagues from all parties will join in next time), but I shall be manning a phone line taking donations from the public from 22:00 on Friday night until 02:00 the following morning.

I’m hoping to be allowed a lie in on Saturday Morning!

What’s going on?

We’ve all cracked jokes about the misguided bus and when it will open. Stagecoach themselves have an interesting new line in signs fixed to the side of their buses regarding the ever elusive opening date.

Today however marked a new low point in the project with the release in to the public domain of the most up to date information.

If you look at http://bit.ly/9MXEXC you’ll find agenda Item 9 of the meeting papers for next Tuesday’s Cabinet Meeting at the County Council. As a side issue you might like to know that all Cabinet meetings are open to the public and the Agenda and minutes are always available on the County’s website: http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/

This has now gone way beyond party politics and a “we told you so” spat in the playground. This is a significant amount of public money spent on a project which has yet to deliver in any sort of time frame and within any sort of acceptable margin of financial outlay.

And the saddest part – the impasse that says we don’t know what will happen next because our hands are tied. At least Councillors no longer appear to gagged aswell!

A long month .....

February was not a great month - we lost a family member and another is now in hospital. Sadly it sometimes takes a hard time to remind us all of where our priorities lie.

This time last year I was so chuffed – my younger son had his place at Secondary school and life was getting easier with both sons growing up.

A year on and I’m rapidly grinding teeth to a stump. Having brought 2 boys up on my own since they were 2 and 4 I thought I’d gone through the worst of it – the younger one having set a new standard for the terrible twos.

Now I’m deep in the delights of teenage hormones. I finally have two children old enough to be left at home alone for short periods – but not hormonally balanced to be left home together.

In some ways I see an analogy of the childish spats I referee on a daily basis with what’s happening at Westminster between the Conservative and Labour parties. Whilst us foot soldiers at ground level are coping with sweeping cuts and trying to hang on to basic services for local constituents, they are getting increasingly petty and slinging more mud and names at each other.

Whoever wins the next election – this looks like turning out to be the nastiest campaign for some time – and it’s only going to get worse. Shame they’re ignoring the real issues.

The enthusiasm of youth

My younger son bounded out of bed this morning yelling at the top of his voice that it was snowing. Us less enthusiastic folks noticed a solitary snowflake and rolled over for an extra 5 mins before braving the cold. Needless to say a new cold snap means that the new (and supposedly improved) central heating timer has decided to wave its white flag and stop working.

But it did get me thinking about when it is that we lose our enthusiasm for things. In my case, I probably haven’t lost it – son number one groans whenever he has to suffer both his brother and I on a particularly enthusiastic for life day. He feels Marvin the paranoid android probably had it right and that we are the equivalent of the Sunshine Corporation’s talking doors (apologies to those who never enjoyed the Hitchhikers guide top the Galaxy).

Well – it’s half term next week – so here’s hoping for a snowman or two.

In at the deep end.

I attended my first planning meeting at South Cambs District Council yesterday – speaking re a cottage in Coton, a proposed new development for Caldecote and the proposed sixth form college for Comberton. Given that we were in Cambourne I’m relieved I got all village names out in the right order!

What stunned me was the robustness of the debate. Officers were put through the mill by members to make sure that all issues were thoroughly thrashed out before a vote was taken. It was also heartening to see that members were not voting along any party lines – it was democracy at its best.

A long afternoon but very worthwhile and an experience I hope to repeat in the not too distant future.