Councillor Report Jan 2004

Doesn't the year fly by fast? It's February already and it only seems like Christmas was last week and we were all making New Years resolutions. I thought it would be a great idea for this month to write a review of 2003 to see how things went and what might happen in 2004.

In the May 2003 elections you were kind enough to choose me as your new representative on the Borough Council. I was the first Conservative Councillor for the ward in many years, so it was very pleasing to win with such a large majority. With the talk of New Years resolutions, it got me thinking about promises, in particular those that I'd made during the election.

At that time and since then I've always said that it's my duty to follow the wishes of the local residents. With that in mind in 2003 I acted on the three main issues that concerned people in the ward, Nythe Skateboard Park, Council Tax and Covingham Humps as well as many smaller personal issues.

On the first matter of the Skateboard Park, you should all know by now from previous articles that I worked with the Stratton St. Margaret Parish Council and the Council officers to stop the Skateboard Park being located in Nythe. After much wrangling, the Parish Council have agreed to work with the Borough to locate the equipment at the Oasis.

Council tax was and still is an issue that residents contact me about, and it's something that I have personally been working on since I was elected in May. Back then the new Conservative administration set up a Budget Strategy Task Group. I was one of the founding members which meet regularly to scrutinise the budgets of every department. With the remit of making Council departments produce forward thinking business plans and making sure they were focusing on the core competencies. Through this and the hard work of the Lead Members, we should hopefully have a considerably lower council tax increase this year t! han the last couple of years of the Labour administration. I just wish the members from the other parties would turn up more often!

Finally, there was the issue of the Covingham Humps. Again from previous articles, you'll know I put a motion to full Council back in September over the issue. After being passed to Cabinet and then back again, at the Full Council meeting in January I re-tabled the motion to have the humps removed. You'll be pleased to know that the humps on Covingham Drive will be removed. All other parts of the scheme are to remain and be monitored. A report is now being produced that will highlight ways that the methods of calming traffic that the residents suggested from the August/September 2003 consultation can be introduced in to the scheme. All Conservative councillors voted for the motion and all Labour and Lib Dem Councillors voted a! gainst. It was a shame that the Labour and Lib Deb groups were not prepared to listen to local residents.

As for this year, well it's a hard one to predict. I'll keep listening and acting on your behalf. My wife and I have our first child due in March which is leading us to move as well. We've got local Borough, Covingham Parish and European elections in June, which I'm sure will raise a few eyebrows along the way. Other than that, only time will tell. As always, if there's anything I can help with, please feel free to drop me a line.