The week that ended......31 May 2015

If you step outside you would not guess that it is the end of May. it feels more like the beginning of March. Hopefully, the weather will realise that we need to get the sun in quick time.

So this week has been a bit busy and a sense of normality setting in. Wednesday was the annual meeting of the Council and I did a blog post about that here. For me it saddens me that the tone for the Council was set in such a way that Labour are obsessed with trying to micro managing everything, including the opposition. They do this so then the opposition lose their seats. There are a number of good examples that people can choose from. For me it is not trying to get what you can for yourself personally but the best for your community and that is why they will never micro manage us.

Local Life is a great little magazine and I am sure that many have it dropping through their doors. Have a look at the back inside page, A view from the Lump. We get a great little mention in their and it did make me and others chuckle. If you have not seen it here it is again below.

Local Life Inside back Page

ASHFIELD

In our work as local Cllrs we are working with a couple of football teams to help them get on Ashfield to play games and after the Council removed the changing rooms, hopefully we can get them back on. Time will tell. Also on Ashfield a number of people are commenting about the state of Ashfield, and surrounding paths and fields. This is a concern for us too and we are discussing the issues with the Council. Again hopefully we can get these resolved.

Ashfield is a great issue for the Village Green, for obvious reasons. I would have loved to announce the dates for the Village Green Public inquiry  this week but Wigan Council have not accepted my two other proposal for dates and  now we are in limbo a bit. This next week we should know more about the matter and move forward. The issue is I put forward week 3 of August. Wigan Council could not do that date for one of their witness's was not available. Fine, it is holiday season. My second proposal was 2 weeks later - the first week in September. Council declined those again saying that they want to do it before Sept. My initial feeling is that if it is Sept then we have most of our witness's back of Holiday and also the field will be being used in it's prime. This would strengthen our case.

 

Also if it was Sept then once the Public Inquiry has concluded it may take the Inspector a number of months to take in everything that was put to him from both sides and then to write his report with his recommendation. That will then be sent to us all, including the Council. Then that report and recommendation will have to go before the licencing and regulation committee. That again can take time for them to consider and take a vote on it. That could mean that the final verdict would be around or just after Xmas. Should it come after Xmas Wigan Council are worried that it could well help myself in the election as we will all know what the inspector has recommended. Reason why I say this is because it will be fresh in people's mind. If they can push it so that we can get everything in by November the Council will hope people will have forgotten about in by May (the next Local Elections).

We'll see what this week brings - who knows. For me the Council are now arguing over 2 weeks. We have waited this long why does 2 weeks matter?

Coming Week

This coming week is a busy week with a number of committees kicking off, which I will be attending. Who knows there may even be people waiting for me outside to accost me like what happened today after my surgery. It just makes me smile how some people are. But hey, if they want to waste time hanging about for me only to shout and swear then they have little to offer. I must say this person that waited for me is not one of the people I directly suspect with regards the ongoing Police Investigation (which I will not be commenting on until after the investigation has concluded for obvious reasons). Like I said they could not communicate why he was there or what he wanted just shouting and swearing, he promised to come and see me again. Why ? Who knows.

Cllr George Fairhurst is also back in the Village after his UK holiday and great election win that has been described as a thumping win. For an independent to win in a General Election is massive as turn out increases for the major parties. See the article above.

Summing Up

Some people have already started talking about next year's election, really? The Labour Candidate has now come 3rd 2 years on the trot and with the stuff that she is coming out with then I would hope that the Labour Party choose her again. Let's see if we can make it 3rd place 3 yrs in a row. The way this Labour Council ignore Standish is despicable and only keeping them out sends the message, again see the article above. The Tory candidate has said he will be running again and that's up to him. For me it is business as usual and representing and fighting for the people of Standish and the community of Standish. Unlike the other two just mention who just want to pedal their national party politics.      

Finally, it has been a great month for the blog. I have mentioned in the past how much it gets read. This month has seen a record number of hits and just under 10,000 is huge and it demonstrates that so many people read it, so thank you.