Home Farm mudbath

Some encouraging news has come through about road cleaning in Lodge Road:




We recently applied a ‘back to black’ machine that cleans roads literally back to their original position.  We have also increased the frequency of Persimmon road sweeps.  We have a meeting with the utilities company this-afternoon to try and get the water on as quickly as possible so that we can carry out wheel cleaning on site.

Parish Council

Other headlines

Traffic calming - backed proposals for fewer raised tables, some wider raised tables/platforms, single roundabout at Crane way, new Coop corner and no pelican crossing at the cross keys. Now it goes out to consultation. I'll be flagging up where you can respond.

Colts - keen to develop better changing facilities in the recreation ground. Colts do more for young people in this village than anyone else. I hope we can meet their needs.

Diocese of St Albans is considering our enquiry about buying land for a cemetery extension.

The village caretaker's house is sold. Really sold. Like for money. Should ensure renovation of the hall goes ahead.

Clock chimes

As parish council representative at the war memorial on Sunday I was both horrified and mortified that the clock chimes which we are responsible for were not functioning at 11 am on Sunday - a key moment in the annual calendar. We understand the church has been routinely switching off the chimes for bell ringing on a Thursday evening and these have not been switched on again until after church on Sunday - two and a half days. Given the efforts we made four years ago to ensure that the chimes were not silenced at any time this is amazing.


We have agreed the following actions regarding the failure of the church clock to chime on  Sunday and during the 2 mins silence on Friday.

1. We write to the Royal British Legion apologising for this lapse in a piece of equipment we are responsible for and promising that we will ensure this does not happen again.
2. We request by letter and email that the church with immediate effect switches the chimes back on after bell-ringing on Thursday and leaves them on until bell-ringing on Sunday morning. They should then be switched on again immediately after the morning service. 3. We ask the clerk to put a letter into Cranfield Express (deadline end of this week) explaining  our actions and the circumstances.

Church chimes

I am informed that the church authorities routinely switch off the chimes from Thursday night bell ringing until after church Sunday. Still checking this but we will be discussing this on Wednesday evening. We fought a major legal battle in 2007 to ring the chimes 24/7. More soon.

Lodge Road

Is it a public thoroughfare or the works entrance to the Home Farm Building site? I'm still trying to crack this one. More info on Thursday night at the Home farm stakeholder meeting.

Clock chimes off? Not on my watch

Ceremony at the War memorial yesterday but someone switched the church clock chimes off and didn't put them back on? So no tolling of the 11th hour. Investigations are continuing. We'll keep you posted

Road cleaning

I understand there was a road cleaner on Lodge Road this morning doing a passable job. 

Confining a building site

Email sent this morning. Forwarded to Cranfield PC and Persimmon. 
It has to be remembered that this isn't just about the residents in in Lodge Road. There's the school buses, Theo who is blind, me  cycling and loads of other Cranfield residents who use Lodge Road as thoroughfare through to Court Road, by foot, on bikes with stabilisers and with push chairs. I hope we don't have to wait til the stakeholder meeting on 17 November for some resolution.  

Thank you Laurence

I walked the road this morning. Bearing in mind background on the technical side of road construction you would find, if tested, that the stopping distance for vehicles in the slippery conditions caused by the wet mud coating will have at least doubled. The risk to pedestrians, aside from skidding vehicles is proportionally increased and can be equated to walking on black ice. Bearing in mind that there are a lot of unsteady and elderly residents on Lodge Road and in the village it is totally unacceptable and is in Health and Safety a Significant Risk. There are additional enviromental risks of uncontrolled and potentially contaminated materials in the public domain and water courses. The erection of warning signs do not reduce risk or more importantly liability. Hastily erected hand written signs don't count.

I would also point out that as you have informed the local authority and the main contractor,Persimmon Homes, who cannot swerve their liabilities as it is their site and all works / subcontractors on the site whether directly or indirectly employed come under responsibility and liabilty, should there be a serious incident on the public highway  ie Lodge Road or the surrounding highways then the police will investigate using what is called the "Death Manual" It is obvious that the existing road conditions would be found to be a significant " factor in most cases" which means that local and senior managers up to director level are liable to private prosecution from the Local Authority, to Highways management , Persimmon and all the contactors and sub contractors involved in the site. The HSE take a very dim veiw and will also prosecute.

To remove the risk which is possible and therefore legally required the source of the problem has to be removed / rectified.

In this case it requires several changes to working procedures and practises of which the installation and maintainance of a powerful water recycling wheel wash combined with a jetting roadsweeper.

The comment is right    "" the building site should stay within the confines of its fenced restraints and not allowed to spread and affect the lives of the residents of Lodge Road and Cranfield"""

Cash for access

http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/News/Tories-under-fire-over-fundraising-dinner-04112011.htm






One commentator on the Beds on Sunday article states;


The Keech Hospice may want to review the Charity Commission's rules on joint fundraising with political parties: "Entering into a joint fundraising venture with a political party will almost certainly result in the charity giving support to that party, politician or political candidate. This would breach charity law."




I have to admit I hadn't thought of this issue up to now.  

Lodge Road

Anger has been building in Lodge Road among residents who find the road often unwashed and, even when it is washed, still a mess due to the lorries carrying mud on and off the Home Farm site. One resident rang me this morning in some distress, living on Lodge Road he says, is like living on a building site.

Last week the Parish Council agreed to call for a Persimmon/TW/CBC site meeting to look at the state of the road and the desperate need for a proper wheel wash for those vehicles. I'm trying to speed up that process.

I have noted the mess myself stretching all the way down the Salford Road, not just in Lodge Road. To my knowledge CBC has not responded to emails I have sent about this recently

Cash for access

This is a copy of my letter to Baroness Warsi, co-chair of the Conservative Party regarding the Event involving Michael Gove at Woburn Safari Park on 18 November.


I am writing in connection with a public event organised by Mid Beds Conservative Association on 18 November at Woburn Safari Park.

It is also the Association's annual dinner and fundraiser  with Michael Gove in his role as secretary of state for education, which I heard about via an email to our Parish Council clerk (see below). 

This is the first time I have encountered the local Conservative Association using civic communication channels to invite members of the public to a party function.  This is highly inappropriate, similar to an MP using their House of Commons postage for party matters. 

If Mr Gove has time to come to Bedfordshire to meet the public and answers questions I don't think the local Conservative Association should be charging the public for the right to hear him. Cash for access to ministers is an unfortunate trend in national politics. I speak as a Labour Party member and I have noted the same trends with the last government. I object to it wherever it occurs and when it turns up in Bedfordshire and in my parish council emails I  am obliged to challenge it.

I would welcome a response from you that recognises that MBCA's marketing of the event and Mr Gove is  wrong, it will not happen again and a assurance that this is not happening elsewhere. 

Our Parish Council voted to complain  to MBCA regarding this email. I have also been quoted in the local media voicing my own objections. 

It is vital that governments, of whatever political colour, make it clear that  ministers are not available on payment of a fee.

Yours sincerely

PCllr Laurence Pollock

8 Broad Green

Cranfield

Bedford MK43 0JQ

Cash for access to government ministers?

The Parish Council is planning  to write a complaint to Mid Beds Conservative Association  who are using access to the secretary of state  for education Michael Gove as local fundraiser for their party. 

To my amazement this invitation - see below - to a MBCA event at £50 a head, half going to Keech and half to the Party was circulated through local parish councils. This is totally inappropriate. Those emails lists are for civic, non party-political information. 

After Fox and Werrity (and new Labour wasn't without its cash for access and favours scandals) don't they ever learn?

I will also be writing to Baroness Warsi, co-chair of the Conservative Party making  my own personal complaint. Is Mr Gove generally for hire for weddings, christenings and barmitzvahs?

From: Admin [mailto:admin@midbedsconservatives.com]
Sent: 31 October 2011 09:42
To: Admin
Subject: Rt Hon Michael Gove MP Dinner 18th November 2011

Mid Beds Conservative Association

Annual Dinner

Friday 18th November 2011

Your chance to meet with guest speaker

Rt Hon Michael Gove MP

Secretary of State for Education

Speech and questions from the floor

Woburn Safari Lodge

Woburn Park, Woburn, Beds MK17 9QN

Heads & Tails

Tombola

Tickets £50.00

Please call or email

01462 811992 or admin@midbedsconservatives.com

Proceeds to be divided equally between

Keech Hospice Care & MBCA


7.30pm    Guests arrive                            Dress   Lounge suit

8.00pm    Dinner

9.30pm    Speaker and Questions

10.30pm  Coffee

11.30pm  Carriages


Mid Beds Conservatives Association

St Michael's Close

High Street

Shefford

Beds

SG17 5DD

Traffic calming disappointment

The revised traffic calming cuts down the number of raised tables. It seems like there is a consensus on that one. But the lack of a pelican or light controlled crossing at the Cross Keys is a major set back.  Alan Morris puts it very well:


It's disappointing that the proposal to covert the pedestrian crossing, outside the Cross Keys in Cranfield, to be light controlled has been removed from the traffic calming plan.  


The reason that the Parish Council originally supported this idea was to provide one crossing in the village which would allow those members of the village who are visually impaired (one of whom is a Parish Councillor) to be made aware that it is safe to step off the curb.  


Modern cars, particularly hybrid cars in electric drive mode, are very quiet so a blind person would not be in a position to know that a car was near and would not be able to stop if one ventured onto the crossing.  


I am aware that transport officers take the view that motorist understand pedestrians have right of way and thus will always yield to a person standing at a crossing.  This is a kindly view of the British driver, touching in it's sentiment but utterly unrealistic - I'm just glad that I'm not visually impaired and don't run the risk of being impaled by a motorist who is late for an appointment and does not wish to lose more time by stopping at crossing!