My first month as a Councillor

I am gradually getting used to my new role as a District Councillor. I have been appointed to three Council Committees - resources, audit and economy - and have attended one meeting of each. I have also attended one Council meeting, and there is another special council meeting in July to discuss the plans for new development in Aylesbury.
There is some concern about the limited time and opportunity for response to the development plans, but in this the Council is obliged to follow the Government's timetable, or run the risk of losing its planning powers altogether.
More locally, I have been following up some of the concerns which Steeple Claydon residents have been contacting me about since my election. These include:
- orange cones at three different locations in and around the village. Bucks County Council have told me that they will carry out the necessary repairs at two of these locations (West St. and North End Road) and the third location is the site of a badget sett ! It's good to know our County Council is concerned about the local wildlife.
- one resident is concerned about the pumping station below West St which has an outlet pipe going into Padbury Brook. We went to visit the location last weekend - a good place to walk the dog. I have contacted Anglian Water who are responsible for the pumping station to see if they can check the quality of the water going into the brook.
- there is concern about youths misbehaving in the recreation ground, with broken bottles on the skateboard park.
- I have raised concerns about the condition of the roads in three places: the bottom of Addison Road, the road going out of the villiage towards Charndon (which I go down every day on my way to work) and the junction of this road with the road to Twyford which is very bad. The
County Council have said that none of these roads is in a 'dangerous condition'.

Success on 3rd May

It's been a while since my last blog - I was too busy campaigning. I was out on the doorsteps for most of April - usually an hour in the evenings on my way home from work, and all day on Saturdays (Sunday as well in the week before the election). I visited every house in the Ward at least once, and had fantastic help from 5 supporters who helped to deliver leaflets - I could never have managed to cover the whole area without them. The farms particularly appreciated
a visit, even if my car suffered on some of the tracks. Generally speaking I had a very warm reception, and I have spoken to several people who said they heard about me from a neighbour who had been visited. So I really think the personal contact made all the difference, and it certainly helped me to learn what are the priorities in the area.

These are (in no particular order): the roads and pavements, getting streetlights fixed, providing something for teenagers to do , stopping petty crime and vandalism, flytipping (particularly tyres apparently), concern about losing the weekly rubbish collection, and
better public transport. Plenty for me to follow up on.

I was up all night on the 3rd May celebrating the nationwide Conservative successes, but
unfortunately I had to fly to Barcelona on 4th May for an Oxfam meeting (my employers)
which had been fixed a long time ago and could not be rescheduled, so I missed my own count.
My wife Angelina attended and said it was very exciting. I won with 379 votes, which was exactly the total of the two independent candidates, so if one of them had refrained from standing it would have been a much closer contest.

One issue which came up during the election was the planning application for a composting
(brown bin) recycling facility on the edge of the village. I could see some advantages (cheap compost for the local farms) but also some disadvantages (lorries on the minor roads), and felt
that if it happened at least the village should be able to benefit by introducing brown bin
collections there as well. Anyway, it now seems that it will not be located here after all.

Another issue which I have learnt about since the election is the application by an organisation called the Trail Riders Association to upgrade the bridleways through Romer Wood into a 'byway open to all traffic'. I have looked at the submissions to the County Council, which include
references to various maps dating back to the 18th Century in an attempt to establish whether there has ever been a road through the woods. The Bucks County Council have rejected the request, and it has now gone for appeal to the Secretary of State for the Environment.
I hope that he confirms the decision, as it would be a great shame for the woods to be disturbed
by motorbike trails which would be a hazard to pedestrians and horseriders.

Campaigning in Steeple Claydon

My nomination papers have been accepted and there is no turning back now. I have had a great
deal of support and encouragement from the generally positive reception I have had on the doorstep so far. I have canvassed in parts of East Claydon and Steeple Claydon: today I covered
West Street and Addison Road.
It is always good to have something to hand out to voters as I go along, and so far all I have is the 'sorry you were out' cards, which only give my name and contact number. The main election
leaflets should be printed this week and then I will need to get them out as soon as possible.
I am hoping to cover as much of the ward as possible in face to face meetings as they are so important in getting myself known.
There is a Labour candidate standing, and two independents, but no Liberal which is good news for me. At the last election the Conservative candidate was returned unopposed, so it is hard to gauge the strength of the various parties.
As far as local issues are concerned, one major concern is the state of the roads, which is poor even for north Bucks, and the fact that they were not gritted in the winter. Another is crime and vandalism: I came across one house which had obviously been broken into with a broken glass panel beside the front door. They need a bus shelter, but one person I spoke to said if they had one it would just be vandalised, which is sad but probably true.
Happy Easter to all readers.

Induction of the Revd David Knight

Yesterday evening I attended the induction of the Revd David Knight as Vicar of the Claydons,
in the beautiful parish church of St. Michael's Steeple Claydon. The Church was full of villagers, friends and well-wishers and there was a lovely atmosphere. There are three churches in the parish: Steeple Claydon, East Claydon and Middle Claydon, which is in the grounds of the National Trust property Claydon House. Sir Edmund Verney Bt. of Claydon House, the patron of the living, presented Fr. Knight to the Bishop of Buckingham, who appointed him to the 'cure of souls' in the parish. The service was a lovely mixture of the formal and informal, with some fine singing by the church choir.

Getting to know Steeple Claydon

Since being selected as Conservative candidate for the Steeple Claydon ward in next May's Aylesbury Vale District Council elections, I have been taking every opportunity to learn about the villages and their concerns. The ward covers Steeple Claydon, Middle Claydon, East Claydon and Botolph Claydon, as well as Sandhill and Verney Junction. Last week I attended the Steeple Claydon Parish Council meeting in the beautiful new Library which has been created by the efforts of the whole community and shows how much people care about the village and its amenities. Some of the subjects discussed included gritting the roads (this was just before the heavy snowfall), maintenance of the village hall and sports pavilion on the recreation ground, planning applications, the mobile library, and the state of the roads. I drive through the village on my way to work every day and am getting to know it well. Last weekend despite the snow I
joined a group of party members in delivering leaflets to most of the houses in the village together with a questionnaire to ask people what their main local concerns were. I shall be interested to see the replies. I was pleasantly surprised when at one of the first houses I visited
I was welcomed by a man whom said he was a strong supporter and would be happy to help.
This has to be balanced against the kids who threw snowballs at me a bit later on !! But generally it was fun to be out and about in the area I hope to serve as a District Councillor for many years to come. Today I composed a message for my first election leaflet and will copy it onto this blog later. My next task is to assemble a team of local supporters who will be able to help with canvassing, delivering leaflets etc. between now and the election. The election is less
than 4 months away so we need to get organised. On Monday I am hoping to attend the service of installation of the new Vicar at Steeple Claydon parish church at 7.30 pm.