Oh dear!! More maps needed!

At local elections it is hard enough to get a decent electoral turnout without candidates delivering their leaflets in the wrong Ward!

Hurcott Rd. for much of its length is the boundary between Greenhill and Broadwaters.; BUT opposite Sladen, from below the gulley leading to Baxter Gardens Park, down to the Stourbridge Rd. BOTH sides are in Broadwaters. Cllr Paul Harrison lives above Chester Rd. North, firmly in Greenhill; he has been receiving election leaflets from the Tory Candidate for Broadwaters!! OOPS!! Map needed!

R.I.P. Martin Fellows LL.B

We are all very sad to hear of the death last night of Martin Fellows the Associate Town Clerk and Clerk to the Kidderminster Town Charter Trustees. Martin had a long and distinguished record of service to our community.

Only one more day!

Nearly the eve of poll and raining nicely!

Just printing the last minute leaflets! I am so very grateful for the superb leafletting teams we have in Offmore and Greenhill. We have got local leafletters in Broadwaters as well now which is a really great help!

What a bad tempered Election Campaign some people are having!

I've just had the "dubious" pleasure of seeing a totally misleading Stourport Health Concern leaflet with a picture of a bulldozer by the Civic Centre.

According to the leaflet the plan is to demolish the Civic and provide a small meeting room and hub!

That's funny: last I heard the plan was to SELL the site a build a Civic Hall etc over the Raven St Car Park. Why on earth would anyone demolish the Civic first if the site was to be sold?

The leaflet also, totally inaccurately, claims there are plans to borrow money to provide a crematorium when the actual proposal is for a privately funded crematorium at NO PUBLIC cost!

This misleading piece of electoral rubbish also has an inaccurate "imprint".

They don't seem to know where their candidate lives!

The one thing that is certain is that, when we wake up next Friday, Wyre Forest will still be a hung Council and there will be a need to create an Administration for the next two years. The sort of unpleasant language and tactics from some parts of Health Concern seem to indicate a unpleasant couple of years!

This week's Shuttle"! I've just lost a bet!!

For the last 7 years or so EVERY YEAR, the week before EVERY LOCAL ELECTION the Shuttle has printed a, usually spurious, "Hospital Panic Story" on its front page, aimed at stirring up the "we like what the rest of you say, but we have to vote for the hospital" non-thinking vote!

I'd got a fiver on them playing that game again!

It has got so bad that most of the "mainstream parties" had rechristened the paper as "Health Concern Gazette".

This year, AMAZING, NO HOSPITAL STORY!!!

Let's see if it has an impact!

Anonymous postings!

I reserve the right to remove ANY postings to which I object from this blog.

If YOU don't like that, tough, write your own blog!

I usually remove anonymous postings because anonymity is simply cowardice!

Single Site; Health Concern's plans could cost you up to £1,000 a day!

The whole point about Single Site is to SAVE money!

A full survey of Council Employees has ALREADY established that the maximum savings will arise if the new Offices are in Kidderminster.

The reason is stunningly simple!

Wyre Forest DC currently employs 517 Full and Part-time Staff.

Of those 443 are based in Kidderminster, 60 are based in Stourport and 14 are based in Bewdley.

The Bewdley staff would NOT be affected by Single Site as they are mainly Tourist Information Centre and Museum Based.

Of the Stourport Staff 1 is a Caretaker and probably another 4 or 5 would stay to provide "Hub" services; leaving around 55 to transfer.

Local Government Pay and Conditions Regulations (indeed ALL Public Sector Pay and Conditions) state that if an Employer causes and Employees normal place of work to change and this causes the employee to have to travel further to work then the Employer MUST pay the additional mileage at the normal Local Government rate.

If we err on the cautious side and say that 250 of the "Kidderminster" workforce would be eligible for this payment that would be about £1,000 per day (250x10 miles x 40p per mile). That would equal £5,000 per week!

Assuming 30 days per year Annual Leave that means 46 weeks x £5,000 = £230,000 per year = £920,000 over 4 years!

All that "wasted" money because as far as the Health Concern Group is concerned, common sense doesn't count; the ONLY thing that matters is that the Stourport tail is allowed to wag the Health Concern dog!

All that is without considering the enormous cost of having to demolish and rebuild most of the Civic Centre which is currently neither eco-friendly NOR DDA compliant plus paying for extra offices into which to decant existing staff while the demolition and building took place plus the problem that an extended Civic Centre would mean major parking problems as staff competed with tourists for the Car Parks at the rear of the Civic!

Never mind though, it allows Health Concern to play at being Stourport nationalists, who cares about intelligent use of resources anyway?

Lea Castle Hospital, Let's have TRUTH, NOT Lies!

I chaired the Community and Regeneration Committee when it considered the future of the Lea Castle Hospital site.

The ONLY Party to oppose the closure totally was the Labour Party!

Everyone else who spoke accepted the inevitability of closure but wanted local provision.

I had to "haul up the only Health Concern Councillor who spoke because he, insultingly, referreed to Lea Castle clients as "these poor children" when they are of course ALL adults! Neither he NOR hios colleagues voted against the closure.

Health Concern made no mention of Richard Taylor's so-called alternative.

As Vice-Chair of County Health Overview and Scrutiny I have met the action group and attended all the meetings (I had to leave the Coventry and Warks meeting at the Town Hall to go to a Wyre Forest commitment.

Apart from Dr Taylor being at the public meeting at the Town Hall and their presence at the Community and Regeneration Committee, Health Concern have NOT BOTHERED to come to meetings about Lea Castle.

Now they are issuing leaflets that are completelt untruthful.

What a dishonourable shower they are!

Primary School Admissions! More distressed families, and County Council not apparently aware of forthcoming regulatrion changes!

The dreaded Primary School allocation letters have been issued and I've already had phone calls from distressed parents whose kids have been allocated places at schools they cannot be physically got to because of parental employment or lack of transport.

One of the issues that MOST angers local parents is the County council stance which FORBIDS local Councillors from representing their constituents at School Admission Appeals.

I am therefore extremely grateful to one angry parent who sought my advice, he is himself a Birmingham secondary School teacher, and who drew my attention to the latest posting on the Department for Children, Schools and Families website which states:

"Appeal panels - support from local MPs and councillors

The Secretary of State has made clear that MPs are not prohibited from supporting their constituents by the Appeals Code. The Department for Children, Schools and Families intends to amend the Code, as part of the wider improvements to the admissions system, which will be consulted on in the early summer, to clarify that both MPs and local councillors can support parents at hearings as long as there is no conflict of interest."

I am now seeking an urgent meeting with County Officers!
I certainly don't have a conflict of interests but, unlike some county admissions officers, I do know how transport links do, and do NOT, work in Kidderminster!!

Will somebody PLEASE buy the Tories a Street map of Kidderminster?

Last Cllr Clee made a fool of himself talking about planting on the "Birmingham Rd Island". This year the Tory Candidate for Broadwaters is saying he has asked for a new street sign on the "Birmingham Rd" Island.

The ONLY problem is, of course, as ANYONE who knows the local area can tell you. There is NO Traffic Island on Birmingham Rd!

Birmingham Rd ends at St. Ambrose RC Church. The road down to the Ring Rd Island is, of course, Coventry St!

Candidates who don't know the names of local streets are a pain!

Bewdley and Rock!

There are no Liberal or Liberal Democrat Candidates in Bewdley or Rock because both Wards have long serving Independent Councillors who do a good job of representing their communities (Louise Edgington and John Simmonds) and we didn't want to oppose them and split the vote!

Elections and Candidates

Reading people's comments is quite amusing (apart from the pathetic!)

It's obvious that the GOVERNMENT'S description of the Role of the Councillor has NOT penetrated to some of our readers.

According to HMG Councillors are Elected to take the role of the COMMUNITY'S LEADERS! So although comments that you do'nt have to be a Councillor to play a leading/active role in a community are ok but, Councillors have a Statutory Role as Community Leaders.

Although future policy proposals ARE important, Council Policy decisions can have to change because of changes in Government Policy which MUST be adhered to even if we don't like it.

There MOST discerning voters DO take a Councillor's Record into account and I believe one of our commentors is TOTALLY WRONG, it really is action in the COMMUNITY that is MUCH more important than what someone does or does not say in a Council Meeting. It really is All Year Round Availability and Community Service that REALLY counts.

Anyone who thinks that posing in the Council Chamber is important has lost the plot!

To do the job properly you have to be attending PACT Meetings, TCC Meetings, Urban Safety Groups, Neighbourhood Partnerships etc AND dealing with the Casework. (and if you are dead lucky you might get the occasional day off!!)

Liberal Candidates Nominated

Wyre Forest Liberal and Radical Association has 6 Candidates Nominated for the May 1st Wyre Forest District Council Elections:

Cllr Graham Ballinger, Greenhill

Cllr Fran Oborski, Offmore Comberton

Shazu Miah, Broadwaters

Alane Harvey, Franche

Iain Price, Areley Kings

Alex Harvey, Wribbenhall

As last year we and Wyre Forest Lib Dems are not opposing each other and between the two parties we hope to be contesting at least eleven seats.