Local politics at a crossroad

Why do sane people keep repeating to me " you can't trust any of them"?

It's true, well nearly. In the whole bunch of the many politicians, officers of local government, media (papers, radio and tele), that I have got to know in this area there are extremely few I feel I can trust.

I have a very few politicians in about three hundred. They so commonly say lots, especially at election time, and do very little.Yes they are well meaning but in my view they don't do enough. My view in know is not typical - I expect a lot.

Local Government - I have only one officer that I could completely trust and that was Debbie Binch of County Council - and she has 'moved on' (I'm sure someone will contact me that she was needing a change) I have a great respect for Kate Lawson in planning but I wonder why she hasn't handed in her notice  with the kind of boss she has - Mark Shipman who I suspect is very unreliable. It's clear that other officers in SLDC fear for their jobs and hate what they are asked to do by boss Lawrence Conway. One gets the feeling that the whole organisation is beginning to fall apart. One senses that secrecy is everywhere and attempts to strangle criticism, rife. In County Council we had the dreaded Nick Raymond of highways notoriety who was conveniently being moved sideways out of our harm's way. One wonders what's going on with I.T.Shaw who are flourishing and Amey who were not given local contracts but instead to Colas from Newcastle for the cobbles work. Yes we're suspicious. We even get a lack of transparency from town clerks like Jayne Kendall and her predecessor who give you the least amount of info possible when we make enquiries.

Papers : The Evening Mail is a sucker for choosing to make stories sensational, though even they can write some good articles however even their reporters are distrustful of how their stories can be twisted by the editor and given a completely opposite slant. They've just done it to me on their article on Tuesday "Deadlock over future running of town park" where I'm made out to be a nutter when in fact the council officials are the people being irresponsible ( in taking their time to modify the seesaw).

The Westmorland Gazette is good at the top - I respect Mike Addison but some of their reporters are 'disappointing' to say the least, whilst others quietly admit to pressure being exerted from above.

BBC Radio Cumbria can again twist a story by cutting out a major part of a report put in by one of their reporters. I seem to get treated with kid gloves by the guy at the top rather than by people lower down.

So get to the point Geoff:

We have a front page headline in a National Paper "British politics at the crossroads"
This article talks about the decline in interest of the public in all the political parties and what can be done about it. It points to the increased use of Internet media which presents an alternative way of getting things done and of communicating.

The degree that SLDC led by officer Lawrence Conway and cllr Janet Willis are out of touch is illustrated by the heavy handed attitude to the Dangerous Pots in the Park issue and the bullying tactics of towards the  officers below them done for all to see at their meeting with us in Mill Dam Park. The public see through it all and are derisive of the pronouncements  of the 'tough' men in suits.

Yes change is certainly going to take place - things like this blog on the Internet enable the public to communicate and come together for shared action. All manner of people are coming out of the woodwork and getting encouragement to stand up and say/do something. We have strength using what I call 'click' campaigning. Our frustration at feeling powerless is changing rapidly.

I say confidently: it really is time for a radical change. Let's hope its not a totally irrational riot.

Watch this space.

The Mill Dam story in both papers

There is so much material for a newspaper to cover - how can they give a reliable account - the meeting went on for 90 minutes, discussing just one subject at a great pace. Think how many words were said. How can one write a balanced report. The Evening Mail's report is out, tomorrow we'll get one from the Westmorland Gazette !

In fact there was no report in the Westmorland Gazette as I suspect Mike Addison their editor needs more time to understand what exactly was said.

Let me try to summarise.

Lawrence Conway, SLDC chief exec, arrived with officer Deborah Wright, Park Engineer, Peter Clarke and Cllr Janet Willis, the deputy leader of the Council.

Result:

1. Lawrence Conway persisted in stating that the seesaw was perfectly safe despite the injuries experienced by local children, E.Clarke specifically. He never-the-less very reluctantly listened to our request that the seesaw should have the ground raised (which in our view would make the seesaw safer) and Deborah Wright assured us that this would be done by September, it being suggested that doing it this month had the potential of resulting lots of trampled mud while the children were still on holiday.
2. He insisted that the pottery removed from the park was potentially dangerous and would not be returned to the park
3. He went further and stated that any form of work in the park must cease : this included putting plants and bulbs in the park and the provision of picnic tables. This was for Health and Safety reasons that injuries could be incurred by the public using for instance a trowel to put plants in and the council would be vulnerable to being sued and would not be covered by their present public liability insurance.
4. He implied from his experience in Kendal that two benches in a park this size would be adequate. Janet Willis suggested that SLDC had no funds to install picnic tables themselves. Mr Lawrence was then told by his engineer that the one present in the park in 2009 was removed because it had been vandalised and was not replaced. The present situation with the presence of three picnic tables provided privately meant that SLDC where not liable and could be removed without notice any time they wished.
5. The conclusion is that without the work of volunteers the park could revert to the barren playground it was four years ago without adequate seating with only one usable bench and no flowers other than on the bushes.

In the mean time I'm getting some very positive feed back :

Someone I don't know, in her sixties, stopped me in the street: "Are you Geoff Dellow?" " I want you to know what a silly man that chief executive is." "All that fuss over the 'dangerous' pottery."

Then I find that there are now a couple of town councillors that support our actions in Mill Dam Park and believe SLDC are out of touch with the public.

We appear have reached the situation that the rule bound SLDC is resigned to sit back now and allow the park to go steadily downhill. The alternative is that councillors insist that money be spent on maintaining the high standard in the Park that officers Deborah Wright and Jim Maguire so much admired less than a month ago. OR that the present volunteers be encouraged to continue the work they are doing. With the appointment of Deborah Wright this situation may not happen. She, working with the excellent Peter Clarke could now do a brilliant job of maintaining the park and removing hazards they have already identified. Four years ago we had to rely on officer Tony Naylor who consistently failed to keep his promises. Now Deborah Wright has shown that SLDC can respond at lightening speed to a request for repairs to be made and have the work done within 18 hours.

The main question now is Janet Willis and fellow councillors what are you going to do to support the Mill Dam local people? We put a lot of work in now it's your turn.

I have just returned from a visit to Grange over Sands, a town of similar size to Ulverston with six young children six and under who thoroughly enjoyed all the facilities in Grange. What could be the reason for the obvious difference in the two towns? Could it be that Grange has councillors like Tom Harvey who fights tooth and nail for his town and people like the former Grange Mayor, Robert Leach who with another councillor started PromArt along their Parade back in 2003 with it's high voluntary gardening involvement. I am also aware of a completely different and very positive atmosphere in Grange's town offices; an atmosphere that has ensured that their Citizens Advice Bureau is sure to survive despite cuts as it is entirely run by volunteers with an absolute minimal professional guidance. They have also found a way of running their CAB something Ulverston may fail to have had for a full six months - again for lack of concern of our councillors. Well done Grange, we in Ulverston tended to look down on you back in the Eighties. Now despite your setbacks over your outdoor swimming pool, there remains  an admirable fighting spirit amongst your leadership so that you are even attracting creative people from Ulverston to not only support PromArt strongly but now they are set to be granted a commission for several thousands pounds work to add further attractions to Grange's flourishing town.

SLDC Website consultation - Have your say

I've just competed a very superficial survey made by SLDC regarding it's website.

To me it came across as very unsubstantial and not at all genuine. So I posting my responses here so that the public will know if they follow it up.

7 What DON’T you like about the SLDC website? Write in below 

The great difficulties in accessing specific info. Just one example : extreme difficulty in accessing the letters written in regarding a planning application. This is very unfriendly interface- you only find the info because you know it's there.
example: I used a complaint form and received no acknowledgement that it has been received - I expected an auto response in a similar way to the one I got when I registered for the complaint procedure

 

8 What would you like to see changed on the SLDC website? Write in below

More work put in to make it user friendly - I will gladly work with an official for two hours to look at specific detailed examination of how it can be improved. Mechanism would be myself and the official looking at the website while both on the phone together - you can't have better than that. I shall be very disappointed if you don't take this offer up and will report this on my blog at geoffdellow.blogspot.co.uk

It will be interesting to find out whether anyone follows this up.

 I will report back here if they do.

Mill Dam is 'my' park

A message to Cllr Janet Willis, the deputy leader of the council, who came along with the delegation from SLDC to the 'Dangerous Pots in the Park' meeting yesterday (Chief Exec, man-in-the-suit, Lawrence you-vill-not-garden-here Conway, Deborah Ugh-he's-my-boss Wright and Peter friendly-bodyguard, do-I-really-have-to-be-here, Clarke)

Janet,

Thanks for showing an interest today.

Some of your questions to me were inappropriate because you hadn't had the opportunity of learning my connection with this park.

Perhaps you will understand why I see Mill Dam Park as 'my' park!

Mill Dam is there now in it's present form largely because of my actions back in the eighties.

SLDC was left the land by Mr Woodburn, of The Town Mill, who I knew. I'm pretty sure - and can check - all the land including that built on for the sheltered housing  was left to the town by him for a playground and not housing. However SLDC nicked half of it to built the sheltered housing and then left the area unfenced for the children as six foot high mounds of builder's rubble with bricks and broken glass which children used on their bikes much to the concern of we locals.

We did two things back then :

1.We launched a competition in our Library with the help of our very sympathetic librarian, Barbara Adams; a competition to design a playground . Bernard Ellis and I then built a model of the winning design which was exhibited in the Library to gain publicity to get SLDC to in fact build our playground.

2. We also formed a local group who met a couple of times in Sun St opposite and then went to the Town Council to make them take action to support our park. This they did very reluctantly. We then campaigned with the district council themselves so that they gave in and agreed to spend about £10,000 on our park rather than for a lift in a building in Kendal.

Next we involved Playdale though one  of the sons of this , at the time, new business venture in providing us with equipment at a favourable rate. I can still remember his visit to the site in Mill Dam to discuss the layout --  all the timber posts , now falling apart, and the chain bridge you saw today date from the original park.

I had to move away to London in 1987 to train as a teacher at Goldsmiths  after another project of mine - the present Oxfam building at the head of the market square. ( I preferred to do this than continue my career as a Chemical Engineer which had originally led me to come to Ulverston to work for Glaxo and then to California to work for Shell near San Francisco, then return to Ulverston to purchase and convert The Falls, Mansriggs into what it is today).

I returned to Ulverston to retire in 2004, and started pottery projects in Union Lane and then Gill Banks http://www.myulverston.co.uk/railings/ and then at Lightburn park. This latter project was done with the approval of parks officer Tony Naylor and local councillors Norman Bishop-Rowe. This  project originally conceived by a local group in one of their houses was left in their hands headed by Tony Taylor of Lightburn Road.

I was aware at the time of the potential hazard of the broken pieces of pottery caused by vandals connected with the skateboarding project and took care to remove these so that damage was not caused to the blades of the machinery cutting the grass - I have emails to back this up.

Sadly the people left in charge of the project failed to take care in the same way I had done. The next I new was that the pottery and all our battons - paid for by me -had disappeared . They were not returned to me neither was I informed despite my contacts with Tony Naylor who is not known for his work ethic. I would like them back if they still exist !

In 2008 I ran for County Council as an independent and  launched my Blog so that the electorate might know about me - http://geoffdellow.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/welcome.html
I then spent a whole year visiting every house in the East Ward but failed to get elected. At this time I got to know James Airey well and imagined that we would be working together as Ulverston's two County councillors. The post is now held by Mark Wilson .


I started my involvement in Mill Dam Park as a result of this defeat. I reasoned that I needed to get down to grass roots and support the community (echoing my attempt to do the same when I bought and converted The Corner House - now Oxfam)  Parks are special  to me in that they enable people to meet together and get to know each other on neutral ground.

On being given tulip bulbs from B&Q in late 2008 by the police for community use we started improving Mill Dam from a very barren park with little interest to what it is now: a tremendous success, much used my the community. Now after four years hard work , the building of a dedicated green house and the spending by me of £3,000 on this greenhouse, bulbs, manure, plants we have created a much valued park that people travel up to five miles to use.

James Airey is aware of much of this and now so are you!

If you stop and consider my personality and my ability to achieve things during my life time, you will realise that I am not impressed my the statements made by the SLDC personel. My work in Mill Dam and other projects will continue in exactly the same way as before the meeting today, you can be sure.

Now you are better informed and will perhaps understand who you are dealing with.

Dr Geoff Dellow (Ph.D Chem.Eng.) Birmingham University 1960. Formerly KEGS Five Ways and Hunter's Hill Open Air boarding school (who did a brilliant job of not only giving me good health - thanks Birmingham City Council - but an excellent education so that I went into the Grammar school in the top of a four form year)

My particular strengths are problem solving, creative projects (I have two patents to my name - one at Glaxo, one at Shell, California) and becoming a facilitator for other people along the lines of A.S.Neil and Carl Rogers.

Note our pottery group has now started working with Robert Leach of PromArt and a pottery project on the railings there through Grange town council and of course Deborah Wright !

Join the public visiting Mill Dam Park and pick some of our sweet peas along with me at 10 am on Sunday - I'm to be found their every week at this time.

Best wishes - happy dreams!

Ford Park Local Food Project

Those of you that have been visiting the Bistro at Ford Park will have noticed that there's a fascinating kitchen garden just opposite. In fact I've often seen children take off across the separating path to explore. They've even got a childsize wheelbarrow for the children to push around and feel they are part of the show.

Sarah McCormack and Kim Farr who run the garden are very keen to welcome all people to come and explore and even give advice on growing things. They've set up a blog to help us all to keep informed. Have a look:

http://fordparklocalfoodproject.blogspot.co.uk/

Those of you that read this blog regularly

My statisitics suggest that there are 200 of you.

Here is a thought that is becoming more predominant in my thinking. Are you thinking it too?

The world around us is becoming increasingly emotional and logical reasoning is going out the window.

Is this true?

How is it showing itself?

What are the good things and bad things about it?

How should we behave?

I'll be sharing my thoughts on this and looking for your feedback.

One area to focus on could be our concept of democracy - a system based on reason. However I would suggest that the actions of our chief executive of the pots in the park were 90% emotional. Similar things are happening in the area of planning. Getting councillors/politicians to do things seems to be 95% appealing to their emotions.

Consider this:

What technique that can be used by we, the public, will achieve a change in our town council?

One where a quiet person puts forward a very logical presentation on a topic - supermarkets for instance.

Alternatively if twenty angry people attend the council meeting and rant a rave that something needs done - NOW, NOW. - Take for instance the issue of the supermarkets, Robinsons in particular.

Was that won - at council level - by the reasoning or by the numbers? How was it that Cllr Janet Jenkinson was able at achieve a reversal at District level? Was that based on reasoning or emotion?

Are we back to rule by emotion and maybe even lynch mob I wonder? - I've already experienced the latter (Yes in the council chamber - all but one of the councillors against poor little me - as Colin Williams (the one), then a councillor, can testify)!

This I'm realising more and more is going on - was it always like this?

The Blame Culture

I open the paper this morning (The Independent) and read several stories were the media is pilloring social workers and teachers for not spotting ane doing something to stop crimes being committed on children or other vulnerable people.

And we all think that's fine - it's their job.

I don't agree - it's ours first.

The people committing the crimes are our neighbours; we know what is happening - if we don't we suspect, ignore and choose not to ask questions.

We can't expect 'the professionals' to cure our society - that's our job - the professionals are overloaded: they are just there to support us. We've an obligation to do something first.

So how about our CAB in Ulverston? what are we doing? There are certainly people who need this service - are we stepping in and checking with our neighbours to check that they are coping whilst this service is unavailable?

Isn't it great when you read a positive story by contrast. Happening here on our doorstep along with a brave and very determined family who have set their goal to live flat out  - until they die which could be soon.

Are Persimmons walking all over our planning department?

Why else would the planning department put up this F****** St*****My******* Notice up in Stanley Street?

This is the latest stage in a battle with Persimmons to get it to comply with the regulations that were place on it as conditions for the granting of planning permission for the housing development in Union Lane.

If believe in stopping big business walking all over the general public then here is an issue you should get involved in.

Yes and we, the little people, can exert our influence and encourage our planning department to stand up to them instead of being manipulated by this determined company that uses it's influence and money to achieve whatever it wants.

What can you do?

All of you could have a good reason to write to Kate Lawson as suggested in the notice and ask her to put another notice up that made sense to the general public and to you in particular. We're all good at 'smelling a rat' and here's one that sticks.

Email  K.Lawson@southlakeland.gov.uk and ask very simply:

"Please Ms Lawson could you put up a notice that we all can understand so that we can comment intelligently "

If you do this you'll be surprised the planning department will suddenly find the courage to behave itself because it will be under the spotlight - something it hasn't been used to up till now.

Oh, what a wonderful day.

This feeling was echoed by a friend of mine who wrote to me - and I've cheekily nicked his email to me just now -

"Singing "O SUCH A PERFECT DAY" and others
What price a sunrise?
My bride and I enjoyed the street food. Also the street music.
 Taste of Cumbria fresh homemade food at its best.
Grilled chicken breast on crisp salad drizzled with balsamic and sweet chilli sauce cholesterol heaven £ 3.20.
We must support this basic" Great" food outlet.
Otherwise we will have a Mc donalds."

Someone else said, as we listened to the Panpipe band in the Market Square: "We thought we'd have a real holiday - and when we stoppped and thought where we'd like to go we realised - We'd 'Go' nowhere other than stay just here in Ulverston and enjoy a wo nderful place for a holiday!

Yes Ulverston is truly special - if you'll excuse this contraversial phrase.
Throughout the town people from all over the world were enioying the town. One gentlemanly old man with a white beard for Spain who spoke next to no English 'said'( I translate) as he gave me the drawing that he had just drawn (coming up) - I'll be back on this seat next year - and I'll have learnt to speak English.

Drawn by the guy above while sat on the Sun bench looking across the road to the travel agent ! ?

It is now nine o'clock and my wonderful day is still continuing with the amazing music coming from the Prom in London. Oh. My what an orchestra and the music they played. The musicians put their heart and soul into the music, the audience were thrilled and we at home just lay back and lapped up every minute of it.

The day ended for me at 10:30pm having phoned another friend while I excitedly unpack the new stereo zoom microscope that had arrived in the morning and put it into action. Welcome to a new world as I examined a piece of paper with a few letters printed on it. I could see every fibre and the printer's ink glistened speck by spec. Now to find some things from nature to examine!

More fill in stories to follow - but now back to the music.

Citizen's Advice Bureau - Anything Happening ?

Not as far as I can tell.

The same old depressing notices are in the old centre's window in Theatre street: the message that comes across is that no one cares.

An enquiry to Jayne Kendall unusually achieves no response whatsoever.

What can we do to help matters along?

Contact Cllr Mark Wilson - he is the key person as he said that there would be no problem at Christmas time - there clearly is. He is Ulverston's District Councillor for the area with the most CAB users who at the moment find thay can't find help and are discovering that in practice the only place to find help is to go to Barrow and depressingly starting all over from scratch. He is also in touch with other local government at Town and County level as our representative. He will also have the ear of our MP John Woodcock. He is also very influential with the Co-op movement.

Over to you Mark  - Mark Wilson  
phone  Tel No: 07930921902

Both of which are available on the Town Council website

Mark. Could you organise a new and uptodate sign to go in the Theatre street window?

Why don't I contact him direct - because he still hasn't replied to my previous email. However you will be a fresh voice and Mark, I suspect will be very pleased (and surprised) to hear from anyone else who cares about this.