Last Thursday Warrington Friends of the Earth hosted a “Question Time” style debate which kicked off the local General Election campaign. The event was skilfully chaired by Gareth Dunning of the Warrington Guardian. It attracted a lively audience, including councillors from all three parties and packed out the Friends Meeting House. It was particularly nice to see so many school and college students there showing both a political and an environmental awareness. Warrington’s recently elected member of the Youth Parliament, Melissa Hannon, made a good statement to get the event started.

The panel included David Mowat, Conservative; Nick Bent, Labour; Dr Jo Crotty, Liberal Democrat and Dave Coleman a Friends of the Earth spokesman. Unfortunately the Green Party were unable to take part.

All the panel members were given an opportunity to make an opening statement. These were, on the whole, non-partisan, setting a dignified and serious tone for the evening. All three political panel members stated their strongly held green views.

It was reassuring to find that David Mowat does not the share the climate change denying tendencies of some more extreme members of his party. He was modest about his environmental expertise, but gave clear answers most of the time. If he didn’t know an answer he said so, but he had a clear grasp of his party’s policies. His manner was slightly disengaged except when subject to a partisan attack, which sounded personal, from Nick Bent

Boyish and bright Nick Bent was disappointing. He was the only one of the candidates to stray from environmental issues onto partisan attacks, which didn’t go down well with the audience. At every opportunity he raised the Omega Incinerator scare story, which has no basis in fact, or claimed to have single-handedly campaigned to save two threatened re-cycling sites from the budget cuts. It was, in fact the public consultation that raised concern from established Warrington citizens which led to the budget being amended to keep these sites; not Bent’s bandwagon jumping. For an experienced lobbyist Bent was surprisingly poor at debate.

Jo Crotty was at an advantage because she is an environmental economist by training and profession. However she gave clear and understandable answers and engaged fully in the debate. Jo surprised some members of her own party by making clear her support for the local nuclear industry, in opposition to national LibDem policy. However, her views are in line with a North West LibDem motion passed at the Regional Conference in 2008. Jo also expressed concern about the amount the Council intends to spend on Waste management consultancy to explore energy from waste strategies over the next seven years.

The event was greatly assisted by the presence of Dave Coleman, an expert adviser to Friends of the Earth, on the panel. Without being patronising he was able to explain in plain English why many environmental choices are not as simple as they may at first seem. The event avoided emotional reactions to the trigger words “nuclear” and “incinerator” which some participants wanted to use as scare stories. There are committed members of Friends of the Earth who will not tolerate either of those technologies under any circumstances; however most of the discussion was far more balanced.

Richard Pearce from Low Carbon Lymm contributed a helpful brief review of the range of industrial scale recycling and energy recovery plants that are being built in the region and may potentially be used to process some of Warrington’s waste.

The evening ended with universal acclaim for the organisers for putting on such an informative event, for Gareth Dunning’s skilful chairmanship and to the candidates, all of whom made a valuable contribution to the meeting. It is a shame that there will not be many opportunities to see our parliamentary candidates for Warrington South in open debate during the campaign.
 

Available from Amazon

So why may this book be of interest to voters in Warrington South? Probably because they are unhappy about their taxes being used to provide expensive consultants with lavish lifestyles that allow them to become full time politicians to fight the election.

Of the three candidates in this election two have benefited from the public sector consultancy gravy train. David Mowat earned enough at Accenture to retire early, devote his time to charity and to funding himself to fight a target Parliamentary seat.

Brainy Nick Bent has spent his entire career working in the even more abstract world of think tanks, spin doctoring and political advising. He is a proud member of GMB (originally the General Municipal and Boilermakers union) which no doubt now has a special branch for spin-doctors, advisers and allied workers and has been campaigning full time since his adoption.

Dr Jo Crotty, no less brainy than the other two, at least has a real job, teaching real students in a university and has a formidable research record in the economics of sustainability as well as fighting for the residents of the ward she represents on Warrington Borough Council.

Jo has been campaigning hard for Warrington South and representing her constituents in Bewsey alongside her university duties. She doesn’t have the luxury of Ashcroft or Union money that the other candidates are now bickering about.

Only Jo offers the opportunity to vote for Real Change. The Liberal Democrats are the only party that has consistently opposed the consultants’ gravy trains, the off balance sheet accounting of PFI, and the New Labour obsession with forcing the use of both.

So if you want an end to the ping pong politics, and they really do pong, of the two old parties that have colluded in plundering the public sector, vote Jo, vote Liberal Democrat.

It wasn’t just Nick Clegg who gave an inspirational speech, Chris Huhne gave an excellent speech too.

Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and Chris Huhne make a formidable team who will come into their own against the lack lustre front benchers from the ping pong, it’s our turn, parties.

Roll on the campaign and the opportunity for the voters to vote for Real Change by backing Jo Crotty here in Warrington South.

I am pleased to hear that members of the Lymm Youth and Community Association (LYCA) committee have met with officers of Warrington Borough Council and have agreed a way forward in negotiating a new lease for the Youth Club building.

When concluded this will allow LYCA to develop their programme of activities for the whole community in the building to demonstrate the need for such facilities in Lymm.

The Playgroup had the official opening of their new secure outdoor playspace by the Village Hall at lunchtime today. It was delightful to see the children enjoying what is a surprisingly big paved space.

This is an essential facility for the children. The Playgroup is required to provide such space to meet the Early Years Foundation Stage requirements of the Department for Children Schools and Families, so without this the Playgroup’s future could have been under threat. Warrington Borough Council were able to fund a fencing scheme.

The Playgroup committee had to go through several sets of proposals to the, somewhat sceptical, Parish Council because of the sensitivity of the location. However their final idea of safe, secure, soft, see-through panels which are locked into the ground, but can be put away, finally won the Parish Council over.

These look very good indeed while providing a safe space for the children to run about, ride bicycles and enjoy outdoor play. Congratulations to the Playgroup committee for persevering and putting together such a good scheme which will be enjoyed by generations of children.

A new journey planner based on cycling routes and centred on Lymm has just become available at http://lymm.cyclestreets.net/ . It looks like this:

 This is a beta test version so it is still being developed and improved. The beauty of the planner is that it is based on the Open Street Map which is a resource built and maintained by volunteers around the world and available for free use and reproduction – no royalty payments – Ever! All you need do is acknowledge that your map is copied from Open Street Map or Open Cycle Map.

Cycle tracks and paths are being added all the time and the street network is constantly being added to and improved. If you find an error or want to add something to the map, it is easy to join in and do so.

I feel inspired by Nick Clegg’s excellent conference speech. Take the time to read it and see if it inspires you.

Lymm Youth Club

Statement by Cllrs Robert Barr, Ian Marks, Sheila Woodyatt

who are members of:

Warrington Borough Council and Lymm Parish Council.

A very enthusiastic and hard working group led by Neville Davies has helped members of the original Youth Club Committee bring the Youth Club Premises on the Lymm waterfront at Bridgewater Street back into use.  We welcome this.

Unfortunately this has been done in an acrimonious atmosphere in which accusations have been thrown at Warrington Borough Council and the three Borough Councillors which are unfair and untrue. The purpose of this note is to clarify our position and form a basis for resolving the points on which we agree and those on which we disagree.

Ownership of the Youth Club building and the plot on which it stands.

The land at Bridgewater Street belonged to Lymm Urban District Council.  In 1966 the land was leased to the four Trustees nominated by the Lymm Youth Club to enable them to build on the site. Under local government reorganisation in 1974 ownership of the site was transferred to Warrington Borough Council. The lease expired in 2006,   However, as early as 2004, the Property Services department of Warrington Borough Council tried to begin negotiations over a renewal.  Unfortunately there was no longer a panel of trustees able to take on the lease.   Negotiations continued through 2006 up to and beyond the expiry of the original lease.  These negotiations are still continuing.  Warrington Borough Council interprets the lease, their registered title, and the history of the site as giving ownership.

The ‘Neville Davies group’ has publicly challenged this, claims to have legal advice to the contrary and claims that they have grounds for suing both the Council and the Borough Councillors over this matter.  No specific charges have been made by the group and the group has provided no evidence of the legal advice they have had.

All three Borough Councillors have made it clear that if this matter requires legal resolution, that must happen and all parties must abide by the outcome so the future of both the building and the club can be settled.

Youth provision at the club

In recent years the youth activities at the club have been provided, somewhat sporadically, by a group of volunteers who also did their best to bring the building up to a standard suitable for use.  It has been extremely difficult to do both, so the involvement of the ‘Neville Davies group’ in managing the building was welcomed, by all three Borough Councillors.

However the issue of the youth provision and the best way to deliver it in Lymm remains, which is why we welcome the opportunity that the three year lease offers to test that.  The youth club has been in difficulties since the withdrawal of youth worker support under the previous administration at Warrington Borough Council.

Lymm offers a very wide range of youth activities in sports clubs, music groups, scouts, guides, air cadets, church groups and out of hours school provision.  It is not unreasonable to ask what the role of the youth club is in the future?   We are not saying it isn’t necessary, but a 10 year peppercorn lease on the assumption that there is an ongoing requirement is not a reasonable demand.

Conspiracy theories

The many conspiracy theories which are being put about such as linking the withdrawal of youth support with a desire to sell the site, or any contacts with potential developers are entirely without foundation and could be interpreted as being intentionally defamatory.

 It is true that the Borough Councillors did investigate the possibility of a joint development on the site that would have provided a community facility together with a Primary Care Trust clinic or jointly with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.  Both fell through.  It is also true that the possibility of developing this and other sites on the waterfront to provide enabling development for community facilities and other improvements to the village are being considered and may be put to the public for consultation.  The ‘Neville Davies group’ have stated that they are not necessarily averse to this, provided a replacement facility is also on the waterfront or near the village centre.

Community provision

A full list of community spaces used for non-commercial community activities around the village is being compiled.  This is because the Youth Club is not the only community centre that needs support.  We believe that what really matters is that the right spaces, in good usable condition, are available for all the community activities in the village.  It is the activities that matter, not necessarily the buildings in which they are housed.

This is why we are encouraging the ‘Neville Davies group’ to test the demand for additional community space in the building on which they have done so much work to bring it back into usable condition.  If such a demand is demonstrated, it will make it much easier to ensure the future of either the youth club building or any replacement or alternative.

It was for this reason that one of the Borough Councillors, when working with the Youth Club committee on a business plan to secure the future of the premises suggested that they should turn themselves into the Lymm Youth and Community Association to widen the user base for the building and to ensure that it is used for community activities for most nights of the week.

Moving forward
 
It is entirely unhelpful to move forward in an atmosphere of conflict.  Warrington’s Property Services staff and the three Borough Councillors are doing all that they can to ensure that the full potential of the Youth Club building is fairly tested.  However collectively they have a responsibility to the residents of Lymm and the people of Warrington to ensure that resources are properly used.  The government demands this, and the next government, given the state of public sector finances, will not change that.  The case for community facilities for the youth of Lymm as well as people of all ages has to be made.  If it is, then it should be possible to do something constructive.  The preservation of the existing youth club building must be a lower priority than the provision of appropriate youth and community facilities to meet the demonstrable need of the residents of Lymm.

9th March 2010

I have written before about why I am a Liberal Democrat and my belief in our party’s commitment to a freedom I can believe in. I’ve also confessed my former association with the Conservatives.

Now I have to confess to having woken with a spring in my step when the “new dawn” of Blair’s term as Prime Minister began on the 2nd May 1997, even though I didn’t vote Labour then, never have and doubt I ever will.

It didn’t take long for disillusion to set in. Members of my family and close friends marched against the war in Iraq, I would have been there too if I could. Too many Tory policies were kept on. The party was too cosy with the City while, as it turned out, turning a blind eye to the excesses and dangers of deregulation. Progress on fairness was put on the back boiler for too long.

Good things were done however; essential investment in schools, universities hospitals and the transport infrastructure, among them, but probably at too high a price. In the end New Labour was at its worst when it was too much like the Conservatives and that was far too often.

Now the Guardian journalist and commentator John Kampfner has encapsulated exactly what I feel in an excellent article and pamphlet.

If you had hope in the New Labour project read these and think carefully where to cast your vote in the coming election.

Did Helen Southworth live up to your expectations? Will the smooth message from David Mowat, oiled by money from the Ashcroft cash machine and his own resources, sway you? Will brainy Nick Bent’s infantile campaign, supported by an enthusiastic bunch of schoolboys, impress you? Or will you vote for fairness, principled politics and the best interests of Warrington by voting for Jo Crotty?

If your are interested in the ideas behind the politics of the coming election I strongly urge you to read John Kampfner’s article and pamphlet.