Today I was on Beacon Heath to see the launch of a new initiative, Fire fighters on Mountain bikes on the Heath.  We also had a policewoman on one of their Mountain Bikes with us.

Annette and I were delighted to learn that firefighters will patrol the Heath aiming to prevent Heath fires.  They will be talking to youngsters about the dangers of fire, and also looking out for fires.  This time of year the Heath can be at it’s most vulnerable, the ground is dry, the undergrowth is dead and dry.  We have already had two big heath fires in other parts of Dorset this week.

Two of the bikes will be stationed at the Hamworthy Community Fire Station, close to Upton Heath.  When not on Heath watch duty, these teams will carry out Home Fire Safety checks in the local area.  This should be very efficient and bicycles will help us to reduce our carbon footprint and keep firefighters fit !

Today Annette and I visited Cobhams (Flight Refuelling) in Wimborne.  We met all of the Senior Management Team who were not in Singapore !  the Home Team !

It was a very interesting visit.  We talked a lot about Cobhams, 75 years old now and a major employer all that time in Wmborne.  A large local employer who produces a valuable product and has offices and plant all over the world.

They are completely rebuilding the site and we were taken on a tour of the new facilities.  The offices and work floor will relocate over the road to innovative new buildings, user friendly, atttractive, much more efficient in terms of energy and fit for the 21st Century.

The existing site, the huge site along the river, they hope to develop, with partners, for residential use,  much needed extra housing for Wimborne with a mix including affordable housing, all with the beautiful riverside views presently enjoyed by the office staff.

Thank you very much for an very interesting morning.

We are campaigning hard  for the approaching General Election.  Today Sandra, Michael, one of our Youth Group and I were out with Annette in the Spring sunshine calling on residents in the newest addition to the constituency, Wimborne and Colehill.

We are getting a very good reception on the doorstep, many people are delighted at last to be in a good position to elect a Liberal Democrat MP for their area.

Earlier on this evening Paddy Ashdown came to visit us in Lytchett Matravers.

An excellent evening !  He spoke about the four main issues before the Electorate. which he considers to be the Economy of Britain, the state of Politics and politicians, the disengagement of most people from Politicians, and Climate change, as he said, how we are destroying our world.

All of the questions asked him were Global in content, he was asked a lot of questions about areas of conflict, all of which he knows about, most of which he visits regularly.

He was asked about Afghanistan, why we are there and whether we should be.  He answered that we are there because of a UN resolution to send in Peace Keepers.  He feels we are at last making some headway there, but much of the delay and the problems have been caused by a lack of proper clear political direction.

He talked about the Middle East conflict and how he considers that Israel are slowly committing suicide, how the pattern of their behaviour is turning their allies away from them.

Finally he talked about Northern Ireland where he feels very optimistic  at last that we are moving towards a permanent and lasting conclusion of the troubles.

200 people had gathered enthusiastically to hear him speak.

‘Another suggestion is that dog owners take their dog to walk on the local bridal paths. This is totally unworkable. Dogs can not run free in these locations.’

Please, I  said BRIDLE paths not Bridal paths.  I don’t interfere with weddings.  I thoroughly enjoy walking on bridle paths, they are not fenced, I can run as freely as I like, try Stoney Down, plenty of lovely scents to follow.

Change ?  Will this not just be turning the clock back to the days of Maggie Thatcher ?

Vote for REAL Change !!  Vote for Vince Cable in charge of the economy.

The LibDems are looking forward to being able to REALLY  change the political climate in Britain

Sorry about the nuisance!  I have a great deal of trust in the voters in this area and I think that most are capable of making their minds up without badgering but we are told to to keep pushing the message through your door.  The most important message to you all is to Please use your Vote on the Day!

As far as I know we have never had any health problems connected with living close to the Tip.  Neighbours do complain periodically about noise and smells, but they are simply an irritation.

At the moment there is quite a lot of activity going on at the Waste Site, noise and a few odours.  They are engineering the next cell.  This  involves digging out a new area and moving and storing the spoil.  They are storing the spoil on the top of an exisiting finished area for a temporary period.

We can hear and see what is going on.  I live close to the Tip, on Beacon Road, and I can hear and see what is going on, but I seldom have a problem with smells, though some closer neighbours do complain.   I walk my dog below the Tip everyday but only very rarely find a problem.

The Hill looks higher at the moment, as the spoil has added height.  Eventually the hill will end up higher than we have been used to as the plan is to restore it to the height that it was in the 1830’s, before any quarrying began.

They are making an effort to do this work during the winter months when we are not outside in our gardens and having Barbeques.

The Parish Council debated the question again (this year in good time, in October), but again voted against installing grit bins in the Parish.

The reasoning is that these bins would be important for just 8 or 10 days in the year.  For the remaining 350 days in the year they would be redundant, would sit on our street corners and probably be used as receptacles for rubbish, as happened in the past.

I, personally, would like to pilot a local grit bin scheme.  The residents of Victoria Close would like grit bins and they managed to persuade the Housing Assoc to contribute part of the cost.  I, myself, think that this would be an ideal place to pilot a scheme.  Mixed occupation, older people and families with children, and a community spirit.  However I could not persuade the Parish Council to support the scheme.

There are problems.  If you install a grit bin sponsored by the Parish Council then the County Council agree to refill the bin when necessary.  The grit delivered is for use and spreading on the Highway, not for the pavement and not for your own driveway.  Usually this is where it is used.

Another problem is insurance.  If you do not grit in front of your house or shop you cannot be liable for  accidents that happen there.  If you do grit and someone falls they can blame you and sue you for imperfect gritting.

I will keep trying to achieve a pilot scheme.

Councillor Dog                                                                      Saturday August 29^th 2009

Heck ! another job for me, being a Councillor Dog can been quite busy in August.  We have surveyed footpaths and bridleways, walked all around Beacon Heath to Upton and back with a Countryside officer and today’s job is before breakfast !!

Susan and I had an intriguing assignation at 08.30 this morning.  We had been invited for a quiet walk on Corfe Mullen Recreation Ground to see how well the Rec is cared for by the Dog Walkers, who are concerned by the threat of restrictions, Dog Control Orders.

Quite short notice, invited yesterday and Susan only confirmed at 7pm last night that we could be there.

8.30am, our morning walk, well before the teams started to play.  Out of the car and we met Keith Stannard and his wife and dog, then realized that a little way away there were all sorts of people !  12 hours is plenty of time for the midnight barking to do it’s work and the word had got around and lots of people had come to meet us!  Keith was very apologetic but No, we said, Great, the more the merrier! 

Perfect August morning too, clear blue sky, dew still on the grass, scents good.

We all walked quietly and sensibly round the pitches and down to the Dog Walking Field where we were all let off the lead and raced around together, lots of fun and lots of smells, good hedges to sniff in.  I made a lot of new friends, can’t remember everyone’s name but pretty good bunch this lot are!   Collies, Labradors, Golden Retrievers and some very lively terriers too.

We went on to look at the Picnic Field, then returned around the cricket pitch having a really good look.  At 9.15am, as the teams began to arrive we left for home and breakfast.

Our humans talked far too much as you can imagine, but Susan says that they had some really good and sensible discussions and stayed friends, as we all did.   While they were talking I lost my ball to Molly, found another, then lost that one.  Too many distractions and new friends to get to know. 

I have asked Susan to list the main points we noticed for you.

• There were more dogs than we were expecting, probably 30, many more than we ever see on Beacon Heath, this is obviously a very popular place to walk dogs.
• All were well behaved
• The whole area was extremely clean and tidy, we saw not one bit of dog poo.  That includes everywhere, the Dog Walking Field as well.  Much, much cleaner in fact than Beacon Heath.
• Credit must be given to everyone concerned, the groundsmen who look after the Rec and the public who use the area.
• We saw several people picking-up after their dogs and disposing properly in the bins.
• There was no evidence at all of fouling on the playing surface, we inspected all over.
• People did say that wild animals, foxes and badgers, sometimes mess on the pitches at night, but we do not want to be blamed for that.
• Everyone said that they would never run across the pitches when children were playing.  A couple of people were throwing balls for their dogs on the pitches, however the pitches were not being used then.
• Susan inspected her shoes when we got home and they were simply covered in grass cuttings.

Conclusion, we had fun, met lots of good people and saw plenty of evidence of good behaviour and we all hope that this consultation will bring out something positive.

Zac Jefferies August 29^th

Feelings are running quite high !

On the one hand the Rec is well used by all our Sports Clubs, over 200 youngsters take part in Junior Football for instance and the Sports Clubs are determined to protect the health of our children by eliminating dog fouling on the pitches.

On the other hand the Dog Walkers use the area very regularly, often 3 times a day, whatever the weather, and want to continue.  The whole area is a zone where dog mess must be bagged and picked and disposed of in the proper bins and almost everyone respects that.

The DCO would require dogs to be on leads everywhere except the Dog Walking Field, where they could run free,  and dogs banned from walking over the playing surface of the pitches.

Everyone is invited to contribute their views to dogorders@eastdorset.gov.uk  before September 30th

This may not look as though it is of immediate significance to Corfe Mullen and East Dorset.  However, if you were part of a family (from East Dorset) under constant threat of violence and perhaps death, would you not feel safer in a Refuge in Weymouth than one much closer to home ?

This is an important facility.  Please contact me if you are concerned.   I am.

Plan A was to close the road completely for 3 days so that we could not use our cars during the day unless we had ‘escaped’ with them before 7.30am and parked in the surrounding streets.  This was going to affect some 300 houses from Gladelands Way, to Beacon Road and all roads between.

We residents and Dorset County Council were not consulted until a few days ago.  You should know by now that we have negotiated long and hard and come up with Plan B.

Plan B means that the work will be done in 3 chunks.

On Tuesday the south part will be done, so Beacon Road will be closed, however residents will still be able to use Maxwell Road.  Both Corfe Way and Upton Way will be closed off so we will need to enter via Clarendon Road.

By Wednesday this part will be open but Maxwell Road and the Close will be closed off, residents in Maxwell Road will be able to use Beacon Road.  The end of Clarendon Road will be closed so we will all need to come via Upton Way and Corfe Way.  Residents in Gladelands and the Corfe Lodge Road area will be unable to drive to the end of Clarendon and will need to turn into Gladelands Way.

Day 3, Thursday will see Gladelands and the Corfe Lodge Road area including Beech Close and Lavender Way and also Dell Close completely shut off from 9am - 5.30pm.  Residents here will need to have ‘escaped’ with their cars and parked them outside the area if they need to use them during the day.

You should all have had a clear map delivered to you which explains all this.  if not, please get in touch with me.  I hope we have managed to minimise disruption, it is clear to all of us that the road needs to be resurfaced.

I am at home in Corfe Mullen this month, while half the world seems away, but if we have better weather there is nowhere to beat Dorset.

I am walking some of the footpaths in Corfe Mullen to report on the state of maintenance.  So far not too bad.  We have 40 marked footpaths in Corfe Mullen which are the responsibility of the County Council (there are lots more but they are not DCC ones) and regular maintenance has become a bit haphazard, mainly simply a response to complaints.

In September the Parish Coucnil will audit all the paths and try to create a timetable of regular inspection.  In the meantime any of you who use a footpath regularly could help us by reporting problems to the Parish Office, behind the Co-op and the Library (tel 698600).

During the election campaign some mischievous remarks were circulated about Green Belt Issues.  I did not reply during the campaign because it is not good form to enter into a ding-dong battle, however I should now like to clear up some things.

My opponent stated he would Stop Building on the Green Belt.  How I wish he could but I am sure most of you realize it is not a simple as this.  Your Councillor simply standing up and shouting, ‘Stop !  Not here ! Go somewhere else !’  would not work. 

I do not want the Green Belt boundary to be breached.  I have always worked vigorously to protect the integrity of our Green Belt.   I have also worked to find an alterative site for the required housing to be built on, but without success.

I have attended Cabinet Meetings when invited; I have no right to speak at a Cabinet Meeting and can never vote. There have been times when I have entered a written response.

Electing an alternative County Councillor would never have given Corfe Mullen a vote on the Cabinet.  Many decisions on Tory Dorset County Council are taken behind closed doors (ie the doors of the Cabinet) and the LibDems have long fought to change this.

I have attended countless meetings about the Regional Spatial Strategy, I have spoken many times, however Minutes of these meetings are not verbatim, what I have said is not always reported in the Minutes.

Many of these meetings are concerned with other aspects of the RSS which is an enormous document; Corfe Mullen is only a small part of the whole Regional Plan.  Many meetings have dealt with Dorchester, Bournemouth, Hurn airport etc etc.

I will continue to use all legitimate ways to protest about this development that few local people are happy about.  Let me also remind you that it was a Tory County Council who suggested that Corfe Mullen was a suitable place for development in the first place.

The result was

Susan Jefferies LibDems     1453

Brian Lane Tories                 1399

Evans UKIP                             554

Majority  54     Turnout   42%

As  County Councillor the only expenses I claim for are petrol and the occasional train ticket when travelling for Council business.

The LibDems have had their sticky fingers in the till less htan most.  Our own MP, Annette Brooke hardly features.  If you check her website you can find her modest expenses for a small rented flat in London, you can even see photographs which show that it is simply a place to lay her head and a tiny kitchen in which to have breakfast and prepare the simplest late supper.  In fact I am thinking of going up there and cheering it up for her, it could do with a few pictures of Dorset and a couple of colourful cushions !

Nest most important on the doorstep is protecting the integrity of our Green Belt.

I am sure you all realise that we LibDems have been fighting this issue right from when it first reared it’s ugly head nearly 3 years ago.  The Tory Council Council offered Corfe Mullen as a possible place in which to build in the first place, which is what has made this such an uphill struggle.  Their protests now are too little too late and simply window dressing.

Elections in four weeks, activity building up, I will keep you all informed.

We have a County Council Election alongside the European Election, both conducted under different systems.

In the County Council Elections you have 3 candidates to choose from

1. Myself, the County Councillor who has represented Corfe Mullen for the past 5 years and worked very hard, every day, to try to keep Corfe Mullen the place that we all want to live in.  We keep you informed all through the year, and you will get even more through the door over the next week or two.
2. A candidate who has been campaigning for 2 years as a non political person, who has suddenly accepted Tory funding ?!!  He is passionate about preventing building on the Green Belt, are not we all ?  But he has an added impetus, it is right in his back yard.  He is promising the earth, I simply ask you all to judge for yourselves what is possible.  We, the LibDems, promise never to offer you unrealistic outcomes.
3. UKIP, I need say no more.

For Europe you vote for a party list.  You will get more information through the post.  What happens is that the votes are allocated per party, the most successful party elects the first 3 or 4 on their list, the next probably 2 or 3 and so on.

Top of the LibDem list is Graham Watson who has been our LibDem MEP for the last 10 years, a hugely successful and respected MEP Graham is the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the whole of Europe.  He works incredibly hard and somehow manages to visit every part of his Constituency which includes 52 Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies, he represents the whole of the South West right down to Gibraltar on his own.  If we can muster just a few more votes them we can also elect Dr Kay Barnard, a very well qualified candidate who will share Graham’s burden.

Pleas don’t elect another UKIP candidate, they never even turn up in Brussels.

In Corfe Mullen our Library opening hours have been cut from 30 hours a week to 20 hours.  The staff report that during the hours they are open they are busier than ever, the same number of visitors and the same amount of work to deal with in two thirds of the time.

We are also very sad to lose both our long standing Library staff, we will miss them.   However we are very pleased to welcome our new Librarian to Corfe Mullen.

We now have a Children’s Centre in our Library.  This is available whenever the library is open and is also making full use of the days when the library is closed.  Many local people have said that they are pleased to see that our lovely building is being fully utilized.

Across Dorset:

• Staff numbers are being reduced and redundancies have taken place
• Expensive Self Service machines are being installed reducing the personal touch even further. In Corfe Mullen the Library will be closed from March 16th – 20th to allow the installation to take place.
• The cuts in hours all took effect in November, half of Dorset’s libraries are now closed on at least one day, one third are closed on 2 or even 3 days during the week, and evening openings are very restricted.
• A further cut in the Book Fund means the shelves are looking emptier.
• Charges are being levied for the use of computers.
• Library opening hours are:

Dorset have announced a Council Tax increase of 3.5%.  On the face of it this sounds like good news but this is a blatant election ploy. 

The Tories are desperate to stay popular now. However they plan to raise Council Tax by 4.9% next year and 4.5% the year after to catch up.

Their budget does not address any of the financial problems we have been highlighting. They have no plans to reduce expenditure on consultants or public relations, which this year amounted to £2.5 million.

Council Services will not be maintained at their current level.

The small increased budget will not address the problems in Adult Social Care. Dorset is rated  among the lowest in England with one star. We are expected to assist people to remain living in their own homes with dignity. The average authority helps three times as many older people as Dorset does.

A slightly increased budget for Children’s Services will address some problems, but there is still a big backlog.

Liberal Democrats would invest in front line services, Adult Social care, Road Maintenance and Child Care Services. We rely on the council providing these important services.

Annette Brooke, MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole has also expressed concern over the poor financial management of Dorset County Council.

Don’t be fooled !!  It will cost you more in the long  run -  4.9% next year

After a party,  YOU clear up please,, not me………………..

Actually lots of the cans were still half full, can’t you even finish a whole can of Fosters ?

There are only 45 pupils at the school but they wanted to give 7 boxes of their outgrown books, beautiful books, wonderful books, to the children in Sierra Leone.  I couldn’t count them all but I think there were over 300 books.

All the children carried the books out to my car and we took some lovely pictures to record the moment.

The whole school by my car !

I went into the Main Library in Dorchester today and they are overwhelmed with Books, at least 4,000 at the last count.  A further 2,000 are waIting at the School Library Service in Blandford.  I am confident that there are least another 2,000 - 3,000 on their way from the schools through the Library system.

I believe that Dorset will be able to donate at least 10,000 books to this very worth while project.

I asked each Dorset school child to donate one outgrown book to the project and I am sure that most children gave 2 and some children must have given 10 books !  Thank you all so much !!  I hope your bedrooms are all nice and tidy!

There are thousands of children in school in Sierra Leone who have never seen a book.   Can you believe that ?  This is a gift to those children, the scale of which we cannot comprehend.

I will keep you in touch with progress.

There have been quite a lot of to-ing and fro-ing  on this over the last few weeks.  4.9%. 4.5%. 4.0%, now we settle on 3.5%.

A blatant election ploy.  The Tories are desperate to stay popular.  They have included plans to raise Council Tax by 4.9% next year and 4.5% the year after to catch up.

This rise of 3.5% will not even allow Council Services to be maintained at their current level.  The cuts that we have been experiencing will accelerate.  Adult Social Services, at the moment rated the lowest in the country will continue to decline.

Everyone is feeling the pinch, everyone needs the Council to deliver.  Front line services need to be shored up.

4.5% would have cost the average Council Tax payer 50p a week more, and given them the reassurance that services could be maintained and developed.  4.9% would have barely cost £1 a week more and would have meant that  the increased resources could have been invested in enhanced front line services, Adult Social care, Road maintenance and Child Care Services, all things that we use and cannot do on our own and depend on the Council to look after for us.

Don’t be fooled !!  It will cost you more in the long run

I am sure most of you understand that as we get snow like this so seldom it would not be sensible to invest in double the number of gritters and snowploughs, which would spend much of their time idle in storage.  Equally stockpiling huge quantities of road salt would be uneconomic.

At the present time the protocol for gritting roads has been to prioritise category 1 and category 2 roads, ie the main routes.  The means that in Corfe Mullen the Blandford Road and Wareham Road were gritted, but the minor roads and the residential roads were not.  It was particularly treacherous outside our two First Schools, Henbury View and Rushcombe as Hanham Road and Hillside Road were not gritted.

This protocol is to be reviewed and I have asked that roads around First/Primary schools be considered to be included.

Salt bins, which are refilled by the County Council, are available in some places and allow residents to spread the salt themselves.  We have had enquiries fir more of these, each costs £200 and again spend several winters unused.  However we should review these too and a salt bin at each school would seem sensible.   There is one at Rushcombe First School and this was invaluable, many thank to Mrs Mahon’s husband who I understand spread salt around the school premises each morning !

I believe that Henbury View does not have a salt bin,  that should be put right !

All Dorset schools have now been asked if they can gather together some books for this very worthwhile project, to send children’s books to Sierra Leone where the children are desperate to learn to read.  If every school child in Dorset can donate one book they have outgrown, we shoud be able to donate 200,000 books, several van loads to the project.

The Library Service have agreed that each school can deliver their books to their local Library, who will arrange the transport the books to Dorchester, to the Main Library from where the Project will collect them and ship them onwards to Sierra Leone.

Thank you very much indeed to the Dorset Library Service.

I feel sure, that when I can surmount this hurdle Dorset will be able to  make a worthwhile contribution to stimulate Literacy in Sierra Leone.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article5154022.ece

Labour MP  Claire Curtis-Thomas visited and asked the people what they needed most.  Expecting to hear that they wanted hospitals, schools, water pumps and so on, Claire is an Engineer, she was surprised to be told time and time again, BOOKS.

A whole generation of children have missed out on schooling and everyone in the country knows that the only sure way out of poverty is through education.   They know that a child born to a mother who can read has a far higher chance of survival that that born into an illiterate family.  They have a grave shortage of books (one for every 100 children in the country) and are desperate for books.

Claire Curtis-Thomas is conducting an Appeal for children’s books for Sierra Leone callled The Big Read for Sierra Leone, and I think it would be wonderful if we could ask every schoolchild in Dorset if they could donate one or two books they have outgrown to this Appeal for Christmas.  I feel sure that most of our children will be fortunate enough to receive at least one new book for Christmas and giving one they have outgrown would make such a difference to these less fortunate children.

To this end I am trying to galvanise schools and Libraries throughout Dorset.  The Waterloo Schools Project will pick up the books from us if we can accumulate them in one or two main centres and I am sure our schools and the Dorset Library Service should be able to help us there.   I hope you can help me by publicising this Appeal.

If you want more information a link to the Big Read website is on the left hand side of this page.

The Tories have finally admitted publicly what we all knew.  The project is way over budget, an overspend of nearly 5 times that which we had originally.  The £3m extra the County Council were going to add to the £29m provided by the Government has become £19m extra. How can this be ?  It has also been confirmed that this extra money will affect the school Capital programme through the rest of the County.  £19m that could have been spent repairing and extending existing schools all gets poured into one school in one area.

The total now looks like £50.6m and will it stop there ?  I have never known a project of this size not go further over budget as it progresses.  How can this have been so badly mismanaged before it even begun ?

I believe that work has restarted, thank goodness, but the students are unlikely to be able to move in for Sept 2010 as originally planned.

In August the Chief Executive was still awaiting news, not demanding news but waiting for it to come to him.  Is he still waiting ?   All briefings are still behind closed doors which does not reassure the public, the students who come to school past the building site every day, and the parents anxiously awaiting developments.  Remember they were hoping for a ‘brand new state of the art school’  ready for September 2010.

Rumour has it  that ground works have restarted, excellent !  Does this mean contracts are signed?  Keep an eye out.

Friday October 10th from 6.30pm until 9pm they are listening to bats.

The next morning Saturday October 11th from 9am to 11am they will be opening up the moth traps they had laid overnight.   I can assure you, from personal experience, that this is a facinating experience.  During the night hundreds of moths will have drifted into these traps, and small mammals too, mice and voles.  They will be quite unharmed and will be released slowly after identification and counting.

Do come to the Corfe Mullen nature Reserve, properly clad with warm clothes and wellies, to have a look.  Children must be with an adult please.

More details from the Corfe Mullen Nature Watch website in the left hand panel.

This morning I was at Lockyers Middle School at 8.30am. 

One of the Parents, Lisa, and her daughter Saffron, have collected over 700 signatures in a petition begging for a Puffin Crossing on the Blandford Road outside the school.  We presented the petition to Tim Westwood of the Traffic division at Dorset County Council.

In the picture, taken by Danika Westwood are myself, Lisa, the Head, Saffron, Annette Brooke MP, Deputy Head and Tim Westwood.

The Blandford Road outside the school is busy .  Impressive numbers of children walk or cycle to school which is to be encouraged.  They are helped across the road by a Lollipop Crossing Patrol at school time.

Over the last few years there have been many changes of Patrol person due to illness and retirement, recruiting a replacement each time is never easy.

Residents would like an automatic crossing  as many people cross the road at other times of day, to go the the Nursery School, playgroup on the Rec, and the Post Office.  Middle School age is an age when children are learning independence and many would prefer to be able to cross the road without being ’shown’ across the road.

Traffic surveys have been done and all the criteria suggests that an automatic crossing is appropriate, we simply need to make sure that the crossing is in the County budget for next year.

Thank you so much to Lisa and Saffron for all their hard work !

£10 includes coach fare,  meeting in the Palace of Westminster short tour of the House of Commons.  Leaves at 8.30am.

I have just returned from a very successful Protest Meeting in the Village Hall.

Over 250 people attended, every seat was filled and another 50 people stood all around the Hall.  It was a well organised and lively meeting, ably Chaired by our Parish Council Chairman Peter Haward.

Our MP Annette Brooke opened the proceedings, pointing out that she had started to object to the idea of an additional 700 houses in Corfe Mullen three years ago, knowing that it was not a good idea, not thought through and would not be popular once we all knew more about it.  She has asked Questions in the House of Commons over a period of two years and is now running an online petition which she will present on the floor of the House in October.

Other speakers were Brian Lane from Keep Corfe Mullen Green, Terry Stewart from CPRE (Campaign for the Protection of Rural England), Spencer Flower the Leader of East Dorset District Council and Nick King, a Bournemouth Councillor who is also involved with protesting about Green Belt development in the Bournemouth area.

Lots of questions were asked.  Everyone wanted to know what they could do, now, and later, if the threat is not raised.

Now, the answer is please write to the Regional Government.  Instructions were placed on every chair, I cannot duplicate one here as I had to give my copy away !  We ran out !  Further copies are available from the Parish Council Office or the Library in Corfe Mullen. Write to arrive before October 24th 2008.

Tomorrow morning, some people will demonstrate outside County Hall in Dorchester at 9.15am before the Cabinet meet to discuss their Response to Hazel Blears adjustments to the Regional Spatial Strategy.

Thursday October 9th a coach leaves at 8.30am to travel to London to arrive at 12.30 to demonstrate outside the Palace of Westminster to the MP’s as they return to Parliament.  Annette Brooke MP has arranged that they have a room inside the House of Commons and meet with appropriate people.

After that, rather wait and see.  If the RSS is accepted our options are limited, the next stage is to demand a Judicial Review of the whole process which has been decidedly undemocratic.

A fighting Fund was opened on the spur of the moment and about £200 was collected in a bucket.

Come along to ask questions and find out what you can do

Please come along, give your views, ask your questions and learn what to do from Annette Brooke MP and the committee.

So far Dorset, Poole and Bournemouth Councils have failed to fully object to the building of 700 homes on the Green Belt in Corfe Mullen.  No other area has such a threat to their Green belt standing.

The Councils have objected to the additional 1000 homes planned and also objected to the 2,750 homes planned between Lytchett Minster and Lytchett Matravers in the ‘Western Extension’.  But the 700 homes in Corfe Mullen still stand.

A very successful Rally today in Bournemouth, the opening Speaker was Annette Brooke MP.

The Corfe Mullen gang were there in force.

Lots of people and lots of banners.

Simon Hughes came out of conference to join us but the Tories denied him the chance to speak.  Their loss.

I went in to Bournemouth last night to a training session and the BIC was a hive of activity, consoles and wires everywhere !  The car park was gloriously empty, don’t think it will be the same today so I am going in by bus using my bus pass.

Don’t forget 11.30am on Sunday, a Rally to Save our Green Belt in Bournemouth Square where Annette is speaking again.

The Tories in Poole are therefore showing their support for building on their neighbour’s Green Belt areas.  What does that show ??

If you think you could manage launching just one more young person into the big wide world then please consider it.  What we are looking for is realistic people who can set firm boundaries.

No children are born bad.  Some lose their way because they have to deal with more problems than they should need to at a young age, allow them to be children again, in a secure environment and most will be able to become secure and sensible adults.

It is a hugely worthwhile job, but don’t expect to be able to spend hours on the golf course as well !

Please think about it.  Many of us in Corfe Mullen have a spare bedroom that is not being properly used.  We also need short break carers, people who will take a children with problems just for perhaps one weekend a month, to give their own family a short break.

The time is 11.30am in Bournemouth Square.

40 people came. on a wet morning, but the rain held off for an hour for us.  John Palmer is managing this area as inobtrusively as possible, keeping all the right conditions and plants for wildlife and it is an excellent example of how the floodplains must have been for hundreds of years

.

I forgot my camera !  Cardinal sin, so I only managed pictures on my phone, and the light wasn’t good, as anyone who can remember Saturday morning knows.

CMNW are arranging other walks in Corfe Mullen in October, please look on their website, link on the left hand side.

First date is a Protest Rally on Sunday September 14th, forming together at Bournemouth Pier at 11.30am to march at 12 noon to Bournemouth Gardens when various speakers will support the cause.

Do come, please wear something green and wave a banner saying Save Corfe Mullen’s Green Belt or something like that.

Areas like this are what we are trying to save

Nigel tested the equipment and I took photographs and kept my feet firmly on the ground.   We saw a lot of interesting stuff, and quite easily made up our minds about which companies really knew their market.

I hope we can start the ball rolling to bring some of what we saw into Corfe Mullen.  Our next step is to consult with the young people.

For those of you who are interested, there is a teenage play area in Three Legged Cross, in woodland just opposite a row of shops.

SAVE  DORSET’S  GREEN  BELT  CAMPAIGN

How to Protest to the Secretary of State’s  DICTATION

If you wish to write your own letter, then ideally you should download the form from the Government Office of the South West web site.  The form can be downloaded from:

http://gosw.limehouse.co.uk/portal/regional_strategies/drss

If you do not have access to a computer to download the form you can send a letter detailing your views to:

BS3 6ED

You should state that you are commenting on Section 4.7 of the Regional Spatial Strategy and section HMA 7 of the Secretary of State’s Changes, which are the sections pertaining to South East Dorset.

The letters must be received by them by 24^th October 2008.

Your letter should include the following:

Make the letter personal; tell the RSS Team how these developments will impact upon you.  Such as :

Ø       The proposals will change forever the unique character of our communities.

Ø       Our infrastructure is already over burdened, it can’t cope with development of this size. There is no new money for Infrastructure to support all the houses.

Ø       Development on green belt sites will be environmentally damaging and will detrimentally effect residents quality of life greatly.

Ø       The proposals make no provision for ensuring family housing is built.  Our area doesn’t need more flats, rather small developments of affordable family homes to enable sustainable communities.

Ø       There is no proposal to ensure local people, particularly those attempting to get on to the housing ladder, have priority when considering the developments. 

Ø       The proposals assume economic growth of 3.2% per annum between now and 2026, this is unrealistic and unsustainable.

Ø       The 60,000 extra cars in the conurbation will mean Traffic Congestion Charging and Heavy Air Pollution.

SAVE  BEAUTIFUL  DORSET

700 homes destined for Corfe Mullen are still in the plan and also a new town joining Upton with Lytchett Monster with 2,750 new homes, a concrete jungle………… ?

Plans at the moment centre around a Protest March on Sunday September 14th at noon from Bournemouth Pier up Bournemouth Gardens, with everyone wearing green.

Also a Meeting in Corfe Mullen Village Hall hosted by the Parish Council when our MP Annette Brooke will give us her views, on Tuesday September 30th at 7pm.

The deadline for protests in this round is October 17th and everyone is being urged to write to Dorset County Council and the Government of the South West before then.   Dorset County Council Cabinet will debate their response on October 1st.

Online petitions have been set up, also instructions as to how to write a letter and to whom so I will direct you to appropriate sites.

www.keepmiddorsetgreen.org.uk  for the MP’s online petition