Whatever happened to Bushwood?

I was reflecting on this question, as I waded through yet another bundle of vitriolic waffle from the lawyers hired by the chaps behind Bushwood (Labour's own legal hounds), who seem to have adopted a policy of - chuck enough mud & hope some of it sticks.

I am not permitted to comment on the content of their submissions, but suffice to say much of it could have been plucked directly from a script for Alice in Wonderland.

Aside from this slightly tedious & pedestrian miasma (which will resolve itself one day), the puzzlement is more around several years of soft soap selling by Bushwood, which appears to have come to nought. Where are their 'legions' of supporters who appear to have simply faded away.

All the promises made, the commitments to build every every sporting facility known to man appear dead in the water. Hundreds of hours of presentations to just about every group imaginable, tickets bought to any event that might assist the cause & political pressure brought to bear across all parties. How many dinners & functions have been attended to promote Bushwood?

But within the responses made to Central Beds call for land & planning proposals I caught sight of a familiar name, JB Planning, who have simply recycled the Bushwood plan, but with an even larger footprint in Caddington & Slip End.

I am pleased to report that at first glance the plan looks as equally unsustainable & unaffordable as last time, but if the wonderfully misnamed Luton & Central Bedfordshire Economic Partnership wish to continue pouring bad money after even worse down the proverbial then who am I to complain.

In the meantime Central Beds ploughs on with its own Core Strategy sans Luton & Caddington & Slip End continue preparing their Neighbourhood Plan. Strangely I have not seen a similar submission from JB Planning in response to the Neighbourhood Plan call for land & sites.

I do suspect that the mud slinging from Bushwood is intended to dampen my enthusiastic opposition to their plans to create a new town on our Green Belt, sorry chaps, but I will do what I need to do.

But one thing I can assure you (and please do add this to your bulging file of blog print outs), I oppose your plans for development across 800 acres of land because they are bad, unsustainable, unaffordable and would simply merge Caddington & Slip End into the urban conurbation of Luton, I do not oppose your plans for personal financial gain. 

I see Labour's Police Commissioner campaign is underway

An interesting collection of supporters for one of Labour's hopefuls for Bedfordshire's PCC election in November.

Many familiar faces, but I would be seriously worried if I had the support of Warren Kenny from the GMB. Rarely have I met such a tribal man in my life.

I hear Labour believe that Bedfordshire is the only force area in the East of England where they think they have a chance of winning, so resources will be directed accordingly.

Not sure this stands up to close scrutiny.

In Luton, Labour has a decent majority, but only one seat in Central Beds (with a majority of 6 votes) and is hardly a powerhouse in Bedford. Labour has no MP's outside Luton.

Election day will be a damp November Thursday with little else happening - whose voters are more likely to turn out? History tells us that the Conservative vote stands up better in most weathers, but in an election with a slightly weird 2nd preference vote who knows what will happen.

But on balance I think it is, without doubt a Conservative seat to lose & I am certain that a Luton based candidate is bad news for the rest of the County - Bedford & Central Beds already see the vast bulk of Police resources sucked into the Town - a Luton Police Commissioner is hardly likely to redress that situation.

Another opportunity for a modest giggle........!

Apparently someone called 'Terry' felt sufficiently moved at five thirty in the morning to send a message to a local (fan) web-site in praise of my achievements in life, although the spelling might just indicate a different author penned this ever so polite & factually correct missive.

Given that the telephone message alluded to, attacked me for preventing the National Front from holding a rally in Caddington, I doubt many people in the village would be desperately supportive of this chaps point of view.

Made me smile on this sunny summers day.

I assume biter actually means bitter, but not entirely sure what "his own failures is to attacks" means. In the meantime I will keep taking the pills.

Off now for a cosy pint with the former Labour Cllr, Steve Lowe.

Sir Michael Wilshaw's visit to Central Beds, as reported by the LD Express

London Luton Airport expansion update to the NIP

The owners of Luton Airport, Luton Borough Council, have given National Infrastructure Planning an indicative date when they plan to submit a planning application - for more information see -  http://infrastructure.planningportal.gov.uk/projects/eastern/future-luton-expansion/

I have, perhaps, too much in common with my Labour MP

At the Easyjet Parliamentary Reception, with Gavin Shuker MP. Seems we share a taste for Red ties and Blue shirts.

Whatever you say about Gavin's politics, he is a marked improvement on the previous model, the one & only fragrant Margaret Moran.

Bedfordshire's first University Technical College (UTC)

This morning we were joined by (Lord) Ken Baker at the official opening of the first UTC in Houghton Regis this morning.

We first looked round the former Kingsland Upper School site with Ken Baker in Feb 2011, it is now a reality & a system of training young people for the workplace which is well overdue.

The German model of technical training has proved a massive help to their economy & the UTC will have the full support of local commerce & industry which will train young people for the kind of jobs that the local economy needs.

Ken Baker is joined by SW Beds MP, Andrew Selous, Chairman of Central Beds, Angela Barker and other local dignitaries for the planting of a commemorative tree.

A good start, but is this an example of "guided localism"?

Central Bedfordshire would quite like to keep the business rates that local businesses pay so we can reinvest in the local economy, not have a large chunk of our non-domestic rates dispatched northwards through grant redistribution.

Whenever I need a quick giggle I peep at my very own on-line stalking site!

Not content with repeating every silly-season story, this 'website' has taken the awesome decision to launch a blog, which in most peoples book is an opportunity to publish your very own original thoughts, comments & views for the delectation of readers (in this case circa 14 a day).

But in this instance it is simply a collection of cuttings, which are so obviously balanced in content & topic, taken from some slightly odd-ball sites and then described as a blog.

All rather funny really because it has absolutely no impact at all - whatever next ......... ?

The statement that "unless otherwise stated all entries in this blog ................... do not reflect the views of the editor" is rather superfluous, as few, if any, of the entries would qualify.

Gay weddings - not top of my list of urgent things government ought to be addressing!

Progress on superefast broadband in CentraL Beds!

Superfast broadband plan gets Government green light

Central Bedfordshire Council’s superfast broadband plan has been given the green light from the Government. This will mean massive investment in improved broadband infrastructure to improve connectivity and services for residents and support business productivity and growth.

Central Bedfordshire’s Local Broadband Plan will be partially funded by £620,000 from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Broadband Delivery UK team, with over £1.2 million being invested by the Council and Central Bedfordshire Together (the Local Strategic Partnership) to improve broadband services.

Under the plan a minimum of 90% of all premises would have access to superfast broadband (defined as being at least 24Mbit/s). The Local Broadband Plan will also aim to ensure that all premises in Central Bedfordshire have access to a minimum broadband service (at least 2Mbit/s) and increase the choice of broadband services and suppliers of services for local residents.

Cllr Richard Wenham, Deputy Executive Member for Corporate Resources at the council said: “We are delighted that the Government has given us the go-ahead to proceed with our superfast broadband roll out. This is an important step and we are focused on delivering the plan.

It demonstrates our commitment to improving local infrastructure.  We have already done a lot of preparation, which has been informed by what our residents, businesses and public sector partners in Central Bedfordshire have told us, but there is still time for people to contribute to our online broadband survey, and register their interest.

Rolling out superfast broadband in Central Bedfordshire will have a number of major benefits for the area. It will mean improved access to services for our residents and strengthen the local economy through supporting local business resilience, growth and innovation.”

The Council will now move forward to procure a private sector infrastructure partner and secure additional private investment into Central Bedfordshire.    The Local Broadband Plan has been developed in partnership with Milton Keynes and Bedford Borough Councils with Central Bedfordshire.

The superfast broadband survey and further details about broadband in Central Bedfordshire can be found at can be found at: www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/broadband

The insiduous fear that affects public services

Across the public sector a culture of fear resides, a culture where public servants are terrified of being described as racist. This insiduous fear affects decision making from the Police, Health, housing, benefits and Social Services; decisions are not always made on the bais of 'what is the right thing to do', but at times on the basis of least risk either to the individual or the organisation.

Not for one moment am I defending racist behaviour, but it is clear that decisions taken by front line services can be affected by a fear of human rights lawyers, legions of special interest groups and in this instance the accusation of racist behaviour.

An excellent article by Mark Austin in the Sunday Mirror talks about the Rochdale sex case where, even if the accusation is partly true, it would a appear a culture of non-intervention prevailed for this very reason - a fear of being labeled racist.

A considerable number of vulnerable young women were seriously let down in Rochdale because the 'authorities' failed to intervene to prevent terrible crimes being committed.

The Chief Prosecutor in this case was brave enough to state that "imported cultural baggage" played a part in this case.

Across immigration, policing to social services we see public servants bending over backwards to avoid a racist tag. Since when did middle class old ladies from Tunbridge Wells pose a threat to aircraft & warrant the kind of invasive searches that we regularly see at airports.

If the Police are looking for a mugger who is 6' white and shaven headed, why would they stop anyone who does not fit that description? Similarly if certain crimes in an area are being committed by people from the black community, why would they feel obliged to stop & question anyone else?

There is a strong argument that public services should be colour blind in the way that they operate & if the Rochdale case means we take a long hard look at how we have let vulnerable people down through fear of a racist accusation then that can only be a good thing.

Gay marriage - an issue largely driven by the Metro Elite

Probably a matter of conscience & if it comes to a vote in Parliament I assume it will be a free vote, but this just shows the slightly wacky agenda forced on the government because it is in bed with the Liberals.

Some very cruel wits compared the relaunch of the coalition as a reaffirmation of marriage vows & Nick Clegg as the blushing bride - as Nadine Dorries said on HIGNFY we all know what happens to the bride on the wedding night!

Invitation to watch Luton Town play York at Wembley

What a great result for Luton Town, given its troubled recent history.

I look forward to watching the game - my first time at Wembley to watch a soccer game. All previous trips have been to watch Rugby Football.

Was there a demo in London yesterday?

For all the hype & noise around the public sector workers strike yesterday it seems as though it was something of a damp squib.

24 hours later would not even know that a demo had taken place!

Westminster street cleaners are remarkably efficient in clearing up after the alphabet soup of unions once they had made their small but noisy protest in Central London.

Violent thugs in Slip End robbery

Shocking incident at The Frog & Rhubarb in Slip End

The dangers of Twitter

All started from a re-tweet I did from a constituent's comment on Twitter.

Europe Day - May 9th

This is what we are supposed to celebrating today:

I might just find something more useful to be doing all day. On 9th May 1950 Robert Schman presented his ideas on an organised Europe - I doubt he imagined it would end up with quite the mess we have today.

Old answer phone messages

I was clearing some old answer phone messages this evening & came across one from 2007 which was left by an elderly gentleman in Caddington, who did not leave his name.

In this message he berates me for preventing (quite legally) the National Front from hiring the school hall at Heathfield Lower School. It is a fascinating message, which would appear to have been left by one my bestest friends in the whole wide world.

The message is quite extraordinary - it seems I was anti-democratic & acting like Robert Mugabe when I refused to hire the school hall to a neo-nazi group who had put up a council candidate in the 2007 local elections.

If I can transfer the message into a sound clip I will post it, the voice will be quite recognisable to many local people.  

Central Beds hits the London Metro

This strikes me as a straightforward error, not exactly headline news for a London daily paper. I understand it will be corrected, not at the tax-payers expense!

Must have been a quiet news day!

Jeremy Clarkson on Tom Watson MP

BBC 3 Counties radio

I have been asked to respond to the comments by Nadine Dorries MP for Mid Beds on air tomorrow morning at just after 08:00

I will do my best to avoid anything too personal, but I think the general consensus is that making such comments so close to elections & making such personal comments about the PM was perhaps, on reflection, not the wisest thing to do.

Can not imagine anything I would prefer doing on a Bank Holiday Monday?

A response to a mistaken resident of Luton

Never in Bedfordshire!

Spotted by a sharp eyed colleague!

They are both nuts!

Tomorrow sees another demo in Luton by EDL and a counter-demo by the 'Unite Against Fascism'. I am not entirely clear why either feel the need to inflict yet another PR disaster to that town?

At the core of both groups are people I instinctively find very unpleasant. Best solution I can think of is to ignore them & why the UAF feel the need to provide yet more publicity for the EDL by doing a counter-demo is frankly bemusing.

Anyone who joins either demo is either naive or just plain daft. Both groups should go away & do something mildly useful.

Margaret Moran

A rare & perhaps unique photo of Margaret Moran hard at work in Newark Bay yesterday.

The tug that is - courtesy of Tugster: a waterblog

The much lamented MP of the same name has her very own set of choppy waters to contend with.

An insight into the plans for growth at Luton Airport

Yesterday a group of Councillors from Central Beds met with the MD at Luton Airport to discuss plans that the operating company have for airport over the next decade or so.

This was followed by a trip around the airport to see was planned for where & of course a visit to the control tower, where I could not resist snapping my colleague Sue Clerk standing what was apparently a sign telling us the daily security status.

A view that I am sure will go down well with certain druggies locally!

Green councillor in cannabis row
A Green Party councillor has apologised after saying on Twitter that he smoked cannabis only when “murdering, raping and looting” during an online debate about legalising the drug. Ben Duncan, the party’s home affairs spokesman and Brighton and Hove City Council Cabinet Member for Communities, said he meant to be “light-hearted and ironic”. Cllr Duncan had suggested in a blog that Brighton could attract tourists being turned away from Amsterdam’s “coffee shops”.

Tom Watson MP, as seen by The Times

What a strange man!

The MP for West Bromwich East is the somewhat thuggish Tom Watson & a member of the Culture & Media Select Committee.

A fixer & enforcer under previous Labour Governments, Mr Watson is now intent on bringing down the Murdoch empire.

He is probably not someone you would take home to meet your mum, but he certainly milked the press coverage yesterday for all it was worth & he came over as tribal, venal & very partisan.

Me thinks the Select Committee investigation would have been much more powerful had it been supported by all parties.

I have no idea if the Murdoch's misled parliament or not, but I am left with distinct feeling that Labour are getting their own back for the support given to the Tories at the last election.

What do you suspect Mr Watson's special interest is within this committee, doubt it is culture or sport.

More development along the M1 in Luton

Proposed Development of 110 Residential dwellinghouses and Associated Parking at land off Roebuck Close, Luton

Luton Borough Council does seem determined to build on every square inch of available land within the Borough & a new planning application has been published to the North of the new 'tower blocks' across the M1 in Farley Hill.

This seems to be a matter for Luton to determine & there is no obvious direct impact locally,other than the inevitable pressure on local roads etc.

This makes the Green Belt, which was designed to prevent the coalescence of communities, even more important than ever. 

All change at Luton Borough Council

I am hearing of significant changes to the 'leading lights' within the Luton Borough Council Labour Group.

I hear Hazel Simmonds, a decent egg, remains Leader, but there is a change at Deputy Leader level & lots of Portfolio changes.

It will be interesting to see how these changes affect the relationship between Luton & its neighbours - I do hope they mean better relations, because Luton has taken some very short term decisions which I am not sure the test of time will be desperately kind to.

It appear that the Labour Group selects the Executive & the Leader allots Portfolio's - tough on the Leader if she does not like those she is given I suppose.

I can but aspire.......!

A response to my questions around the future of Luton Airport is published in the Luton on Sunday today. Whilst I would be honoured to represent any part of Luton, alas I do not & I am not in fact a Luton Councillor, nor am I technically a Luton Conservative.

In fact I wrote in support of Luton's City bid & I was a co-signatory to a letter to the Cities Minister along with Cllr Hazel Simmons & Gavin Shuker MP.

The Love Luton campaign was I think a good thing for Luton generally.

A strange letter indeed & I think the author is perhaps not a fan!

It has taken 16 years of hard slog to get to this point!

One of first campaigns I was involved with when I was first elected in 1997 was the one to get the Timberlands Traveller site sorted out - it was little more than a war zone at times, with running gun battles outside & a place where the rule of law stopped at the gates.

The site, even though it had only 10 pitches, had a huge impact on the surrounding community & clearly required a signifiant change.

Central Beds has now emptied the site in advance of it being refurbished & it now has the gates locked & the access road covered in concrete blocks. An opportunity to ensure that the site is far better integrated with the wider community & not an eyesore which caused neighbours to fear even walking past.

Timberlands in 2004

Timberlands 2012

Margaret Moran pleads unfit to stand trial

Margaret Moran the little lamented former MP for Luton South has a court appearance in Lewes this morning to plead that she is unfit to stand trial for 21 charges of fraud & false accounting.

Surely every criminal feels stress, depression & anxiety when they are asked to face a court? Not entirely sure that being a former MP should mean you avoid due process & pay the penalty for your actions.