Wokingham Borough Council’s Cabinet Reshuffle

Wokingham’s cabinet reshuffle has seen Cllr Angus Ross (right) take over responsibility for the controversial waste collection scheme from Cllr Gary Cowan (left).

With the “unfair” election behind him and, despite his belief that voters were mean to him, his overwhelming majority intact, Wokingham’s Tory council leader David Lee has reshuffled his top team. This is presumably a search for a little inspiration, following the last lot’s sparkling success in alienating vast chunks of the populace.

The most notable change is the jettisoning of two of the executives who were arguably the most damaged: Cllrs Gary Cowan and UllaKarin Clark.

Cllr Cowan’s performance regarding the new waste system was something of an unmitigated disaster. From day one the scheme was clearly flawed, and when those flaws became clear he alternated between joining his fellow cabinet members in the bunker, and giving disastrous interviews on BBC Radio Berkshire’s Andrew Peach show. I can’t decide which was my personal favourite moment: his 9m long bin bags, or his insistence that four different sizes of bags all across the borough were the result of a single defective batch.

This one isn’t a surprise for me. The scheme was unpopular and unsuccessful, and Gary was the council’s face of it. Losing two seats might not seem a huge setback, but it will have been a blow to David Lee’s ego. I expect Gary has taken the bulk of the blame, so his absence from the top table is no great surprise.

His replacement is Angus Ross, the former executive member for  planning (I think). I don’t honestly know much about Cllr Ross, he’s not been a particularly high profile member of the executive, so I’ll be interested to see how he performs now he’s been thrust into the spotlight.

The departure of Cllr Clark is, to me, equally unsurprising. Her brief of Internal Services included the library service, and with the announcement of who it’s being sold off to expected pretty imminently, it’s going to become a political hot potato (I say that because I’m going to make it a political hot potato).

I’m sure Cllr Clark is perfectly capable, but her defence of the library privatisation plan has been less than robust. She was the respondant to the petition against the plans, and her conduct was shambolic. She and her colleagues spent the debate chastising those who signed the petition, rather than taking the opportunity to explain, defend and persuade. And when the time came for voting on a motion, she was wholly unprepared and the executive had to write one there on the floor of the chamber.

But it’s the choice of her replacement which is the most interesting part: Hillside’s newly re-elected Cllr Pauline Jorgensen. This just might be the first piece of sound political manoeuvring I’ve seen on David Lee’s part, and an excellent choice. Cllr Jorgensen is sharp, keen and will make my job significantly harder. I know this because I’ve already had many debates and discussions with her on Twitter. I disagree with the vast majority of her policy positions, but I won’t deny that she’s very capable, and I hope she’ll raise the quality of debate in the chamber.

In other news, Cllr Keith Baker has added planning to his pre-existing highways brief, so please direct all planning permission complaints thither. Given that Cllr Baker is one of the highest profile executive members, readers might wonder at the consolidation of roles in his portfolio, but I would imagine David Lee decided that he needed someone who would be able to defend the building of 13,000 new homes by 2026.

Newcomer to the executive Cllr Alisatir Corrie takes on Matt Deegan’s brief for the regeneration, after Matt stood down in May, and Cllr Charlotte Haitham-Taylor has taken over on Children’s Services from Rob Stanton, who remains deputy leader. The cabinet in full is as follows:

Council Leader – Cllr David Lee (Norreys)

Deputy Leader – Cllr Rob Stanton (Finchampstead North)

Highways and Planning – Cllr Keith Baker (Coronation)

Finance – Cllr Anthony Pollock (Shinfield South)

Health and Wellbeing – Cllr Julian McGhee-Sumner (Wescott)

Internal Services – Cllr Pauline Jorgensen (Hillside)

Regeneration and Affordable Houses – Cllr Alistair Corrie (Evendons)

Evironment – Cllr Angus Ross (Wokingham Without)

Children’s Services – Cllr Charlotte Haitham-Taylor (Shinfield South)

“The City’s Son” by Tom Pollock – A Review

“The City’s Son” by Tom Pollock

(Jo Fletcher Books, 422pp, £12.99)

I’m not a particularly avid reader of Young Adult (YA) fiction, so felt a little out of my depth going into Tom Pollock’s debut novel. I had no idea whether to expect a piece of fantasy for early-teens, or something harder and grittier more suited to older readers (so broad and poorly defined is the concept, in my mind). To settle any doubt, I can confirm this belongs to the second camp.

The story primarily follows Beth, a random teenage girl, as she discovers a fantastical version of London (in a “city-within-the-city” sort of thing) and it’s street-urchin prince Filius Viae. She is dragged into a secret war against unassailable foes, a war between parts of the city itself.

Firstly, this is a really entertaining and enjoyable story. It’s very fast paced, brimming with imagination, and the characterisation is excellent. I defy you not to care for the major players as if they were real people by the end. I was unable to put this book down, and consumed it in a matter of days.

Secondly, it doesn’t take any prisoners. The story is brutal, at times harrowing, and when I use the words “fantasy” and “young adult” to describe it don’t expect the fight scenes to be sanitised and fluffy. I’ve already said that I’m no afficienado of YA fiction, but reading it I was impressed that it doesn’t patronise the reader. As a grown up (well…debatable…) I found it as thrilling as I expect its target audience will, and the conclusion didn’t cop out- honestly, I think the climax and resolution was my favourite part.

The “first book of the series” addendum on the front gave me a moment’s pause. Series are all well and good, but the prospect of having to read endless volumes (not to mention waiting for them) to get any sort of closure on the story can be a bit of a mood-killer (*cough* I’m looking at you George R.R. Martin). Thankfully, The City’s Son doesn’t fall into that camp. The novel could stand on its own, leaving the prospect of a sequel as a promise of delight to come, not a chore.

I did have some issues with the way in which it was written. At the beginning, the pace takes a while to build up, which makes the perspective flitting a little disorientating. Filius’ parts are written in first person, which is a good touch, but the fact that all the other characters’ storylines are in third person means it takes a few paragraphs to figure out whose shoes you’re in after a chapter break.

As I got deeper into the story, and the pace ratcheted up, I felt that problem went away, but to the reader starting out it might be something of a roadblock. I would recommend you push past it, though. It’s very definitely worth it.

In his acknowledgements, Pollock credits his influences, but they are very clearly worn. There is the distinctive mark of Neil Gaiman on Pollock’s imagination, and I had strong flavours of China Meiville’s fantastical love affair with London. This is absolutely not a criticism- Pollock has made this novel his own- but a clear indicator that if you like either of those two genre giants, you’re more than likely to enjoy this.

In the end, The City’s Son isn’t a flawless novel. It has its problems, its drawbacks, and the occasional jutting nail that snags the flow of the reading experience. But it is fun. Fast, slick, weird, crazy fun. And really I think that’s more important, don’t you?

The Heart of a Town

The memorial plaque to the 1993 IRA bombings in Warrington, which claimed the lives of two children, and which has been stolen by scrap metal thieves.

For the first sixteen years of my life, I lived and grew up in an industrial town in north west England called Warrington. Today that town is all over the news, and not for very good reasons.

A little background. In 1993, the IRA detonated a series of bombs in the town. The first was at a disused gasworks, and injured no one- though a policeman was shot and injured by the terrorists. The second and third went off consecutively in the crowded town centre, injuring many and killing two young children: Tim Parry and Johnathan Ball.

Since that day, the attrocity has become part of the town’s mythology. Tim Parry’s parents set up a charitable trust to promote peace, I remember studying the bombings at school, the town’s two MPs wrote to Bill Clinton to ask him to stop American citizens funding the IRA- and a memorial “River of Life” fountain was built in the town centre, where the bombs went off.

But today the news is all over the media that the plaque from that fountain has been stolen. Residents are sadden and confused, and Tim Parry’s father has voiced his disgust. It’s a reaction I think is impossible to share.

This wasn’t an attack on the town, or on the memory of the event. It would almost be understandable if it were. But this was nothing ideological, it was simply that the plaque was bronze and could be sold for scrap. The Telegraph are reporting that it would have been worth £30.

The memory of an act of atrocity, the murder of two innocent children, and more importantly the dignified response of the town has been desecrated for the sake of £30.

I don’t want to believe that anyone from the town, that anyone who understood what it signified, could have done this. I don’t know who did, but I hope that they are caught and punished- not out of some desire for vengeance, but so that they can know what it is that they’ve stolen, what it signifies, and why it is important.

Something similar happened in Maidenhead a while back. A statue, erected as a memorial to three children who were killed on a school trip, was stolen from the town centre for its value as scrap. The entire community felt disgust and outrage, that the meaning behind the statue had been so disrespected.

Metal theft has been a growing problem for a while, but the theft of such items as Warrington’s plaque and the Maidenhead statue, not to mention war memorials around the country which have seen similar treatment, are a step above the lead off roofs. It shows a disrespect for communities, for the ties that bind them together, and for the greater meaning behind these things.

Today, my heart weeps for my hometown, as it struggles to come to terms with this heartless act. That plaque was more than just a piece of metal. It was a reminder of what we can overcome and of the dignity that we are capable of.

Thames Valley Police Commissioner – Labour Nomination Hustings

Tim Starkey and Jon Harvey- the two shortlisted candidates for the Labour nomination for Thames Valley police & crime commissioner.

Last night, Wokingham Labour Party held a hustings for the two shortlisted candidates for the Labour nomination in November’s elections for the Police & Crime Commissioner of the Thames Valley region. The two candidates are Tim Starkey and Jon Harvey, who not only have satisfactorily near-rhyming names, but who both have shiny websites so you can read up on their policies.

It was a fairly well attended affair, with party members present from Reading East, Bracknell and my own Maidenhead as well as Wokingham, and the questioning was lively. It was, I thought, an excellent hustings.

Both candidates were well qualified for the job, and were brimming with ideas of how to improve policing in the Thames Valley. Tim is a barrister, who has worked in prosecution and defence, and a former Lib Dem parliamentary candidate who defected to Ed Miliband’s Labour in protest against the coalition policy. Jon is a lifelong Labour man with experience working as an adviser to police forces and politicians, and a town councillor in Buckingham.

One of the most positive things to come out of the hustings, I feel, is a very genuine belief from both Tim and Jon that a Labour candidate can win this. I think the local elections two weeks ago were something of a game-changer. Whilst Labour progress in Wokingham was a little stalled, elsewhere across the Thames Valley area we made big gains. And here we have something to offer.

One of the most interesting ideas I heard was from Tim. It’s number one on his list of five pledges:

“To restore officer numbers in the Thames Valley to 2010 levels could be paid for by a rise in the police precept of £4 a year for band D properties. I believe this is a price worth paying. “

I reckon he’s onto something. I believe that people are quite happy to pay taxes, if they can see where those taxes are going. And £4 per year is a small price to pay for a full-strength police force, and the piece of mind that would provide residents.

Jon touched upon another policing matter, of equal importance I would say to the drastic cuts in numbers: police privatisation. Back in March it emerged shockingly that two police forces had already offered major contracts to private security firms, and that others were considering following suit.

He also showed this worrying image:

Police privatisation is a serious threat. It also seems to be Conservative Party policy. Like Jon, I think that a great many ordinary residents of the Thames Valley area would find the idea of a private security guard patrolling their streets very worrying.

Like I said before, Labour do have a real shot at this. And though I haven’t made up my mind yet whether I’ll vote for Tim or Jon, I know whichever of them wins the selection, they would both make an excellent candidate and an excellent Police and Crime Commissioner.

Wokingham Tories to close Fosters care home

Despite the valiant efforts of residents, their families and Labour’s Greg Bello, Wokingham’s Conservatives have decided that they WILL be closing down.

As I predicted, so has it sadly come to pass. Not even two weeks on from the local elections, and all of the bad news, all of the unpopular decisions that the local Conservatives sat on during the election campaign are coming out. First off the blocks? The council will be closing down Fosters care home.

I’ll admit it, this one hurts. Elderly and vulnerable residents will have to move to other care homes in the Wokingham area, which will be a very traumatic process causing harm to their physical health and entirely possibly deaths as a result of the stress.

And that’s not even considering the harm to the families of residents, as well as the staff who face job uncertainty in an already terrible economic situation.

It also hurts, because my friend (and Labour candidate for Bulmershe & Whitegates) Greg Bello has been working hard campaigning to save Fosters. This went beyond just an election issue, when I spoke to him the other day he was genuinely upset that this decision had been taken.

The thing that really grates, though, is the habitual dishonesty which seems to have surrounded the decision. I did quite a bit of canvassing over in Woodley, and we were pushing hard on the Fosters issue, warning people that it was under threat. The Tories’ response was that no decision had been made. Except, that doesn’t seem to have been true, does it? Whether or not the official decision-making process had been gone through, the Tory administration already knew what they would decide.

This is the Conservatives’ modus operandi. They know that some of their plans are going to be unpopular, so rather than try and explain their reasoning they keep it secret until after the election, so it won’t damage their chances or risk their hegemony. They did it with the libraries last year, only announcing that they were selling off the service a week or two after the election, with no prior mention given in campaign materials. They did it with the new bins scheme, suppressing news of the scheme and leaving a situation where an unfit scheme was rendered worse by lack of awareness of it.

If you’re interested in reading more about how Wokingham Conservatives do business, it’s worth reading this blog from a (non-partisan) local resident about how they (specifically council leader David Lee) lied about housing policy and their core strategy, back at the 2010 local elections. I wish things like this would get a wider airing, because if people knew what was going on I think they’d be shocked and appalled.

But the nub of this issue, here and now, is that some of the most vulnerable of Wokingham’s citizens are going to suffer because the council wants to pay less for their care. That, to me, is disgusting. My grandfather suffers from dementia and a few years back had to go into residential care. Initially there was some trouble, and he moved through three homes before he was settled, and the physical impact of the stress on him was heartbreaking to see.

I shudder to think of the damage that this short-sighted decision will cause to so many.

A Pot to Piss In

The boarded-up toilet block in Twyford, and the sign pinned to the door.

The elections are over, but the problems assailing Wokingham borough are still here. Despite the fact that local Tory leader Cllr Lee reckons that the results were terribly unfair on his party, they are still in control and their unpopular, controversial and unworkable policies roll on unhestitatingly.

And we’re still resisting them.

Case in point, the closure of public toilets across the borough. Despite the problems raised, despite the objections from the elderly, the disabled, those with children, the council remain convinced that the local loos scheme is an adequate replacement for the closed public toilets blocks.

We, the local Labour party, have raised in conjunction with other local community groups a petition against the policy, calling for the council to reconsider. Attention has largely been focused, so far, on Wokingham town centre and Woodley. But recently the prospects for public conveniences in those places have increased: Woodley Town Council have their eye on money from development to re-open the toilets, and certain executive council members have been hinting that the Wokingham town centre regeneration will include new toilets.

So with these developments, the petition appears to have more significant for other areas of the borough: for Winnersh,  Finchampstead, and Earley- and the northern parishes. Twyford and Wargrave, which I consider “my patch”, also have closed-down toilet blocks. They sit, boarded-up and half-derelict, whilst an inadequate agreement with local businesses replaces them.

The petition has crossed the requisite number of signatures, and will be presented to the council at its meeting next Thursday (24th), and will trigger a debate at the meeting on 19th July. It will be interesting to see whether this follows the pattern of the previous debate, on library privatisation, where the Conservatives were disdainful and dismissive of the signatories. I don’t suppose they will change their minds, but at least they won’t be able to ignore it.

I fully expect that Cllr Lee’s favourite excuse will make an appearance. It’s already seen an outing this week in the Twyford Advertiser, which referred to “Cllr Lee’s cash-strapped council“. I’ve already laid out how Wokingham’s “worst-funded” status is more than mitigated by its high council tax take. And the idea that we are too poor to provide public toilets is patent lunacy.

I will be there in the public gallery of the council chambers both on Thursday, to see the presentation of the petition, and in July, for the debate. I would urge any residents who have become disillusioned and sceptical of the Tories’ methods and attitudes to join me there. You never know, we may even force them to deal with Wokingham’s problems, rather than simply insult its people.

UPDATE: It’s been brought to my attention that, in much the same manner as their Woodley counterpart, Winnersh Parish Council are planning to build a public toilet. The difference here is that Winnersh is doing it out of its own budget. So it seems that the the slack left by the borough council’s cost-cutting abdication of responsibility is being taken up further down the chain at the parish council level. Wonderful.

“On Stranger Tides” by Tim Powers – A Review

“On Stranger Tides” by Tim Powers

(Corvus, 416pp, £7.99)

I went into this book knowing very little about it. Really the only thing I had to go on was the rather lacklustre Pirates of the Caribbean film based on it, which is hardly the best endorsement.

But I found myself very pleasantly surprised with the result. The actual similarity between the book and the film is limited to the name, the fountain of youth, and the involvement of Blackbeard. If the film had been more like the book, then it might not have been the disappointment it turned out to be.

So why did I like “On Stranger Tides” so much? Well, the first thing it has going for it is excellent characters. The pirate genre lends itself to colourful, imaginative and exciting casts, and Powers doesn’t disappoint. Main character Jack Shandy is the classic character who never really wanted to be a pirate, but found an outlaw life thrust upon him, whilst Blackbeard manages to be engagingly bad, but more than simply a cardboard-cut-out comic villain. Add to the mix a host of brash but morally-questionable buccaneers and you couldn’t really want for better pirate fare.

One thing that I was a little less passionate about was the ending. Throughout, Powers keeps the story fast paced and exciting, with the action running right up to the end. Which is great, but it makes the ending feel rather abrupt. To go from full-throttle to over zap quickly killed the mood a little, but I couldn’t say what I would have changed and it didn’t damage the reading experience too much.

Overall I would definitely recommend this book. I was somewhat sceptical at first, believing that pirate stories were something of a genre cul-de-sac, but Powers’ excellent writing and brilliant story converted me very quickly.

Recipe – Halloumi, Red Pepper and Chilli Sandwich

 

Halloumi, red pepper and sweet chilli sandwich

This is a pretty simple dish, devised by Ashleigh and I a few months back. It’s perfect for lazy afternoons, and is entirely suitable for vegetarians. If you’re vegan, I guess you could do it without the cheese, but that kind of defeats the point… When we first made it, we used halloumi with chilli flakes in it, but I’ve subsequently struggled to find this, so have added chilli flakes into the recipe.

Ingredients

• 250g Halloumi cheese
• 1 x red pepper
• Chilli flakes
• 4 x Bread rolls (I usually use panini rolls or ciabatta, but it would work well with any white bread, I reckon)
• Sweet chili sauce

Makes four sandwiches. Feeds however many four sandwiches will feed.

Method

1. Slice the red pepper and fry in oil for a few minutes, with a pinch or two of dried chilli flakes. Once they start to soften, remove them and place under a low grill to keep warm.
2. Cut the halloumi into approximately one centimetre thick slices, and fry in the same oil that you cooked the pepper in (if you like things a little extra spicy, you can add another pinch of chilli flakes now). Keep the heat high, until the moisture that comes out of the cheese has boiled off, and then turn it down to medium.
3. Fry the halloumi slices for about three minutes on each side, until they are starting to brown. Whilst frying, halve the bread rolls, and place under the grill for a few minutes to crisp up.
4. Lay the halloumi slices on one half of the bread, scatter the pepper slices on top, and crown with a drizzle of sweet chili sauce. Put the other half of the bread on top, and enjoy!

Well-Rested and Recovered

Hola from sunny Barcelona!

Some of you may have noticed that this blog has fallen pretty silent over the last week or so. No, I haven’t lost interest and decided to shut up since the election, and reports of my death or defection are very greatly exaggerated. I have, in fact, been in Barcelona.

Having worked myself to a state of near exhaustion during the campaign (yeah, all that leaflet-delivering and door-knocking? That was me. No army of activists, just me) I decided I needed a break. Fortunately this coincided with Ashleigh handing in the last of her final year university work, and deciding much the same thing.

So off we went to Southend’s shiny new airport, hopped on a plane, and a couple of hours later we were sunning ourselves in the Catalan capital. I exaggerate the simplicity, but not really by much.

It was, needless to say, wonderful. Barcelona is a beautiful city, and in five days I feel that we touched a little of what it has to offer. We went with an itenerary that filled up barely half of each day, giving us time to explore and find those little gems that hide away in quiet parts of town.

And the food. I think emergency diet procedures will have to be begun fairly imminently, because I have seldom eaten so well. And if any of you ever find yourself in the Sant Antoni area of Barcelona, whether you’re vegetarian or not go and find the little restaurant Sesamo. You will absolutely not be disappointed.

But I’m back now. I’ve seen the Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Las Ramblas, the Olympic Port (if our Olympic infrastructure lasts half as well as Barcelona’s, then it might have been worth the cost. Might.) and a thousand other must see sights. And I feel more rested than I have in a long time.

Life can take the vitality out of you a bit sometimes, and politics even more so. So many nights of good sleep and days of worry-free enjoyment have wiped away most of the accumulated exhaustion. And spending the time with the woman I love made it all the more perfect.

So for those hoping I had gone away permanently, my apologies. Because I’m back now, with a renewed appetite for life and for the fight. Let’s see what tomorrow has to offer, shall we?

Wokingham Councillor quits Lib Dems to sit as Independent

Sue Smith with local Lib Dem leader Prue Bray, after winning her Loddon seat back in 2010.

The voting might be over and done with, but the excitement isn’t over yet in Wokingham. Only a few hours after the votes had been counted and as the local Lib Dems were celebrating gaining a seat from the Tories, I spied this tweet:

Resigned from LibDems after nearly 30 years. National party not one I joined. Will complete term as Ind councillor.

— Sue Smith (@suehardingsmith) May 3, 2012

For a little background, Sue represents Loddon ward on Wokingham Borough Council, the same ward in which the Lib Dems narrowly held a (different) seat this week despite their sitting councillor Phil Challis (another Lib Dem who I believe is privately less than thrilled with the national situation) standing down. I imagine that put the dampeners on her former colleagues’ celebrations at having bucked their party’s national trend.

I can’t really argue with Sue’s decision- I myself have been incredibly disappointed with the national performance and actions of her former party, and I’m not even a member of it! She claimed on Twitter that she had decided to resign after the Health Bill passed, but delayed her announcement to reduce the damage in the local elections. I’m not entirely sure how that works, given that in the event she made the announcement only an hour after the polls had opened.

Sitting the remainder of her term as an independent councillor will see her in the company of Charvil’s new representative Nick Ray. I still know unsatisfactorily little about him, but it will be interesting to see whether the  left-leaning Cllr Smith will be able to work with him.

I certainly think that the celebratory tone of Tory councillor Paul Swaddle was scraping the barrel a bit:

@BBCBerkshire have you heard a Lib Dem (Sue Smith)has just resigned from Group and gone Independent wiping out gain.

— Paul Swaddle (@paulswaddle) May 4, 2012

Whilst what he says is true, technically, I find it hard to believe that Cllr Smith will now be voting with him and his party. She describes how she joined the SDP thirty years ago, and is disallusioned with the coalition and presumably the right-wing leadership of the Lib Dems nationally. If her response is to join with the Conservatives, then I’ll have to seriously consider my future commenting on Wokingham local politics, because it will make no sense at all.

So what impact does this have? Well, I don’t want to say none, but… The thing is in Wokingham, that to a large degree you’re either Tory or you’re not. Cllr Smith’s political beliefs don’t seem to have changed, rather her tolerance for Clegg and co playing human shield for the Conservatives has been exhausted. Honestly, despite his meaningless apologies to unseated Lib Dem councillors, I can see this sort of thing becoming much more common across the country. And given the general political positions of many of the local party’s members, maybe even in Wokingham too.