A leading city councillor has called on cyclists to take greater care when travelling across Norwich. Antony Little, Tory group leader at City Hall, has said that residents in Norwich have contacted him after several near misses on the city’s busiest roads at peak times during the day.
Cllr Little said: “One particular accident black spot is the Eaton Road junction on Newmarket Road, particularly when children are going to and from school. Residents there are concerned that those cyclists who break the Highway Code are not only putting themselves at risk but other motorists and pedestrians too.
“I call on all road users to act responsibly at all times to avoid tragedy.”
Conservative spokesman for Eaton Ward, Niall Baxter, added that he had been campaigning on this issue for some time. He said: “A balance needs to be struck whereby the roads are safe enough for cyclists to use, meaning that they have no need to use the pavement.
“It is understandable why some cyclists worry about safety on the Newmarket Road, so our priority should be to make the road safer so that everybody feels they can use it. This will make the situation better for cyclists, motorists and pedestrians.”
Small businesses in Norwich will be saved under plans unveiled by the Conservatives. Struggling companies will be allowed to delay their VAT payments giving them breathing space and also helping to keep local workers in employment. The Conservatives would also cut National Insurance for the smallest businesses to help them through the difficult times.
Antony Little, Conservative Parliamentary spokesman for Norwich South, said that if these plans were implemented immediately many Norwich firms would be rescued from going to the wall.
Councillor Little said: “Along with our plans to freeze council tax and cut small business tax, these are measures that could be implemented immediately to help cash flow and in some cases prevent companies from going to the wall.
“It is vital that small businesses are helped so that jobs in Norwich are not lost. A Conservative government would be doing everything in its power to save local firms across the country as they are the lifeblood of the British economy. They are the measures a responsible Conservative government would take.”
Antony, in his role as Conservative Leader in Norwich, used an emergency question to council to ask if the Council could cut the number of days to pay an invoice. The Executive Member said they would look into what they could do to help.
When City Hall originally bid for unitary status, a lot of Conservatives out there in the yonder didn’t take the threat seriously – generally because it was, and still is, simply ridiculous that the areas worst performing council should apply more more powers. A lot of such Tories thus stuck their heads in the sand and hoped that the treasury / boundary commission / government would do their jobs for them and kill the unitary bird stone dead. I have to say that I believe the stalled start for the anti-unitary campaigners is one of the reasons why this has got as far as it has. Anyway …
Today I read in the local press that David Cameron has declared that if unitary has not passed before a general election then the party will scrap it altogether. (Read , and note that the comments are attributed to Shadow Local Government Minister Bob Neill rather than Cameron himself, but hey-ho). This is significant because it is the first time that the party has come out specifically against the plans in this way. At heart I’m sure a lot of Tories are pro-unitary, but most of us don’t want to pay £100m for the priviledge.
This move by Cameron / Neill will worry Labour – they know their only chance of stopping the “One County” bid is via flame-haired Communities Secretary Hazel Blears blocking it, but many Tories now know the only chance to block unitary full stop is by winning that general election.
I hope that all these anti-unitary Tory Councillors sitting on their big fat majorities remember this and get campaigning in key Norfolk marginals to ensure we win those seats then – wouldn’t it be ironic if they won by a country mile in their own seats only for us not to win the key seats and for Labour’s bonkers plans to progress.
So given all this, the continued spending of taxpayers cash makes my blood boil. Too much has been wasted by all sides on this now; Labour will be praying for this to move quickly, the Tories will try and block and then pray for that election. All this time, we all know who the biggest losers are.
Although I am fairly sure that both Keith Driver and Mary Cannell are pretty zen about the latest batch of “Spotlight” leaflets doing the rounds in Lakenham slamming the performace of the Labour council and government (see my post below), it seems that Labour high command are less satisfied with them and it seems an all-out witch-hunt is now underway to find the culprits. As the leaflets are anonymous and carry no imprint, they may struggle.
But I am now told by a very senior Labour source that they now strongly believe it to be the work of UKIP; or at least individuals within UKIP anyway with or without party permission. Let’s be clear; I’m not aware they’ve done anything illegal but Labour are clearly spooked by this method of campaigning.
The answer may lie in a conversation I was having with a fellow (non-Tory) Councillor this week. If the county elections go ahead as planned next year, then Lakenham will be one of a number of crucial seats for Labour in Norwich. If the county elections follow the pattern of city elections, the Labour group at county could be heading for wipeout and third place on the council. Don’t forget Labour currently hold the county divisions of Wensum (now solidly Green at City level), Mancroft (ditto), Bowthorpe (all 3 City seats are now Tory held) and Catton Grove (where the Conservatives hold 2 of the 3 City seats). So, what’s special about Lakenham? Firstly it is the seat of their County Leader Sue Whittaker but secondly it was won by the LibDems last May with a half decent majority. Whittaker may look rather nervously at all this – UKIP may be no electoral threat, but their anti-Labour campaigning could tilt the electoral wind against her. So for the health of the Labour Party in Norfolk, the “vindictive” leaflet is keeping some at Labour HQ awake at night.
UPDATE: Of course! A friend reminds me … whenever Labout elect a leader at county hall there is the usual debate about which urban area the leader comes from – Norwich, KL or Yarmouth. Norwich Labour are very determined that they should provide, as the county capital, the leadership and the City were thrilled when Whittaker got the job from Kings Lynn North & Central Councillor Irene MacDonald a while back. If Whittaker loses her seat, Norwich Labour are concerned that the top job would revert to a non-Norwich Labour Councillor within just a few years of them having obtained it. The obvious successor to Sue Whittaker is Bowthorpe’s Gail Harris … but given the drubbing Brenda Ferris got in Bowthorpe in ‘08 you wouldn’t bet on Harris holding on either. So Norwich Labour are fighting for Whittaker to hold on for more than just party pride – they are doing it for city pride too. Mind you, the Labour Group at County post-2009 may not be worth leading!
By 8.30 this morning I was at the Norwich City Council Group Leader’s Meeting – I wish I could say more, but the issues involved are largely confidential – but it is a method by which all the players on a hung council can work together constructively and honestly; it usually works. This morning was a long one and we seemed to go round and round a bit followed by deciding on a volley of reports.
By this afternoon I was at a Norfolk Conservatives Meeting; a forum by which senior representatives of the party can get together and work together constructively and honestly; it usually works. This meeting was, too, a long one.
If you spend a long time in politics, sometimes you leave meetings and wonder what you did when you were then and what was actually achieved. No, come on, we’ve all been in them.
In between these two meetings I did achieve something; a very tricky housing problem that took a great deal of time and a visit to the Customer Service Centre at City Hall. It took a while, but we got a result – a decision that will make a great difference to the life of one family. I thought little of it at the time but as I sit back blogging tonight, and wonder what I did today it was this act that stood out.
I got back home to spend a few hours in the sunshine with the girls …
For those out of the loop the current situation on Norwich City Council is: Labour 15 (n/c) Green 13 (+3) LibDem 6 (-5) Cons 5 (+2)
Hence nobody has anywhere near a majority and with a coalition not functioning, the Green Party has finally spoken about the elephant in the room – who will now run the council – saying they want an executive “of all the talents” with a 4 party administration. This idea has been shot down in flames – certainly by 2 of the parties involved – amongst a big debate about the future of the council now.
Does Labour have the strenght amongst their 15 strong group to support a talented 8 man Exec plus fill 3 key committee chairmanships? How far will the opposition Councillors fill jobs within the political system? I don’t know (for once!) but I do think it’s odd that we’re almost a week after the poll and we haven’t yet really thrashed this through.
Norwich people have voted for a patchwork quilt of political parties in the City, we now have to make it work. How we do that is vitally important and we ought to get down to working out how sooner rather than later.
I will summarise the results below (I’m really too tired to even think at the moment) but some clear themes emerged from the night that I think the media may miss.
Theme 1: Positive campaigning won – Conservatives and Greens stayed positive throughout and both made net gains. Some of the Labour literature was shocking during the campaign and the stories we have heard of LibDem canvassing were next-to-vile.
Theme 2: Labour’s been robbed of a frontbench. They’ve lost Housing Executive Member Julie Westmacott – to be fair, one of the few members with a real grasp of complex Housing issues – and also Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Culture Brenda Ferris. I know Steve Moprhew wants to reshape his top team but I cannot see where the talent is coming from.
Theme 3: The true scale of the LibDem collapse. Yes, they lost Mancroft, Town Close, Mile Cross and Thorpe Hamlet. But the true scale of their loss comes in the study of the results in detail. They came FOURTH in Bowthorpe, Catton Grove and Crome. They lost the seat and plunged to FOURTH in Unviersity, Mancroft and Wensum. They went from first to third in Mile Cross; they also went into third in Nelson. In Sewell Ward they came FIFTH. The Conservatives came second in Mile Cross and Crome and came third and above in all but one seat.
Bowthorpe: Con GAIN from Labour, removing Labour Deputy Brenda Ferris on an 8% swing and with a big majority. Catton Grove: Con GAIN from Labour, with roughly the same majority as last year Crome: Lab HOLD but with a much reduced majority Eaton: LibDem HOLD with a good majority but a much increased Tory vote Lakenham: LibDem HOLD, a surprise result but caused by a collapse in the Labour vote Mancroft: Green GAIN from LibDem with a big majority Mile Cross: Lab GAIN from LibDem, with a sizeable majority Nelson: Green HOLD, even with losing a thousand votes this was safe Green territory Sewell: Lab HOLD with a much, much reduced majority over the Greens Thorpe Hamlet: Green GAIN from LibDem, with the irony of turning a 1 vote LibDem majority into a 501 Green majority Town Close: Green GAIN from LibDem, easy result with big majority University: Lab GAIN from LibDem, but with the Greens in a keen second place Wensum: Green HOLD, easily.
Yesterday was the last day to get your nomination paper in for the City elections. You can get a full run down but I thought I’d just summerise the situation. The main 4 parties are contesting every seat – Conservative, Labour, Green and LibDems – plus there’s UKIP in Lakenham and Norwich-over-the-Water in Sewell.
In terms of interesting candidates; For the LibDems its all change; the talented Gordon Dean is relgated to an absolute thrashing in Catton Grove, whilst his former Councillor Colleague Chris Thomas takes on Mile Cross – the LibDems say this indicates how seriously they are taking the ward, but I didn’t know Chris was that keen on getting back on the council. Nelson stalwart David Fairbairn now ends up defending Hereward’s old patch in Lakenham, whilst Judith Lubbock takes on Eaton. Interestingly former Heathersett Councillor Jackie Sutton – who lost her seat in the South Norfolk Tory landslide of 07 – reappears as candidate for ultra-marginal Thorpe Hamlet. Lastly I suppose is the decision of another former Councillor, Ian Williams, to take on Sewell. The NOTWP candidate will I’m sure shake this seat up and any party who effectivly harnesses the anti-Labour vote may do well. Williams has been, in his (and my) time, a formiddable candidate and this could now be the ward to watch.
Labour have had an easier time of candidate selection. Their sitting Councillors have a tough time – Mick Banham in Sewell, Brenda Ferris in Bowthorpe and Julie Westmacott in Catton Grove all have the fights of their lives. Deborah Gilwahi (Mile Cross), Brenda Arthur (University) and Bob Sanderson (Lakenham) all hope to step into LibDem shoes and the hopes of the party will essentially rest upon their shoulders. Dvaid Bradford, a real champion, stands again for Crome. The most interesting candidate in many ways is Steph Clark – standing in Wensum – incidentally standing against a LibDem called Brian Clark. Labour feel they have a real chance here and have certainly done a lot of work. And, of course, we have to mention the gallant Phil Taylor who is leading the Labour chances in Eaton.
The Greens have a full slate again; one switch is being made with Adrian Holmes leaving Wensum and seeking election in Mancroft leaving his old ward to UEA student Ruth Makoff. There are also some relationship candidates this time. Adrian Ramsay’s girlfriend is their candidate in Bowthorpe and Janet Bearman’s husband is standing in Eaton. Stop-the-War campaigner Peter Offord leads their charge in ultra-marginal Thorpe Hamlet. In Town Close the unknown Samir Jeraj is standing (more of this later).
You can read more about the decision of the Conservatives on the County Council to offer an emergency grant to the Puppet Theatre , but it is worht noting that part of the political reasoning for unitary was that the county council never paid any attention to the City.
It is rather pleasing to see good ol’ Morph and co. posing for the cameras with their support, but then failing to actually help, and then see a Tory-run council step in with practical measures to help. I’m sure this example won’t make any pro-unitary leaflets from the City but it does rather blow yet another hole in their arguement.
“You see, this is what happens when you’re not allowed to rig votes,” – Mrs Little
“Quite,” – Mr Little
Not for the first time we started the evening on opposing sides (Mrs Little for Ryhdian, Mr Little for Same Difference) and ended up united against a common enemy.
I’m going to have to stop watching the X-Factor – it’s destroying whatever sanity I have left after being at school and on Norwich City Council.
, , , | 
Posted by antonylittle 
, , , , , , , , | 
Posted by antonylittle 
, , , , , | 
Posted by antonylittle 