Crewe and Nantwich By-election May 2008

I led a team of workers from South Derbyshire to assist in the vital Crewe and Nantwich By-election.

When we were out on the doorsteps it was heartening to hear people’s stories. Hardworking families and those living on fixed incomes and pensions wanted to send a clear message to Gordon Brown.
They were telling us Brown wrecked pensions as Chancellor, reminded us that he sold our gold at a knock down price and as both as Chancellor and Prime Minister continued to raise taxes…hurting those who have worked hard in the past and continue to work hard today to support their families. In Crewe the issues were clear:

Sort out crime
Sort out the economy
Stop punishing the motorist

The Conservatives secured a 17.6% swing from Labour in the Crewe and Nantwich by election – a similar swing would see the so far unselected Labour candidate for South Derbyshire defeated by 16,000 votes…overturning Labour’s current slim majority of 2,800. (Estimated result 2005 based upon the new parliamentary boundaries and 74% turnout)

I have no doubt that sooner or later the people of South Derbyshire will benefit from this stunning Conservative victory: Brown will either listen to us…or go.

Only the Conservatives understand how to improve the economy and our quality of life.

The photograph shows me at Conservative HQ with Shadow Health Minister Stephen O’Brien (MP for the constituency of Eddisbury , which borders Crewe) helping in the by election.

Ground-breaking ceremony for the new leisure centre and sports facility

On Monday 21 April, 2008 we held the ground-breaking ceremony at John Port School in Etwall to celebrate the start of work on the new £7 million multi-purpose leisure centre and sports facility.

A new leisure centre has been needed for the last two decades. The patience of people in the northern parishes has finally paid off. Now at last the long-held dream has been made a multi-million pound reality.
The financial contributors include not only South Derbyshire District Council but also Derbyshire County Council, John Port School, Sport England, the East Midlands Development Agency through the Derby and Derbyshire Economic Partnership, Toyota Manufacturing UK and not least the Etwall Leisure Centre Community Group.

The long-awaited leisure centre offers far more than was originally planned in the 1990s.
This replaces the existing leisure centre's swimming pool and spectators' room.
It will have a 25m six lane swimming pool, a six court sports hall to accommodate a wide range of sports, a regional badminton facility with Olympic training potential, a fitness suite, meeting rooms, a café with parking and landscaping. The leisure and sports facilities will be constructed to Sport England standards. The innovative design and construction include 19 special ‘green’ elements making it as eco friendly to build and run as possible.

The multi-million pound leisure centre and sports facility is being constructed by Tomlinsons who
plan to have all work completed by Summer 2009 so that local people can enjoy these state of the art facilities in good time for the Olympics in 2012.

The centre will be particularly used by people in the surrounding area and I was delighted to be joined at the event by Councillors Amy Plenderleith and Julie Patten shown here with me in the photo.


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Broadband Blues

Broadband Blues

In South Derbyshire it is noticeable how variable the quality of Broadband connectivity is. In different locations people have complained to me saying that their complaints have fallen on deaf ears with BT.

Because of these concerns the Scrutiny Committee at our Council started an investigation, calling Tom Hamilton, Regional Manager for the East Midlands from BT to answer questions about broadband access.

At the February meeting Tom Hamilton told the Scrutiny Committee that only 90 specific properties in South Derbyshire were unable to get a broadband internet connection. We were concerned about variability in quality as well as lack of service. These issues all seemed to be a surprise to Mr Hamilton.

We have asked people to contact us to put together a dossier of Case Studies to present to BT. If they know the facts they can then get on with fixing the problem.

If you live in South Derbyshire and are having problems with broadband access, please contact the District Council by the end of May. Please outline the specific details of any problems you are experiencing and the broadband provider you use and either email broadband@south-derbys.gov.uk, or write to Broadband, Customer Services, South Derbyshire District Council, Civic Offices, Civic Way, Swadlincote Derbyshire DE11 0AH or by phone Customer Services on 01283 595795.

It is interesting that this is not just a problem in South Derbyshire as Simon Hart of the Countryside Alliance writes …..

Rural broadband revolution? “Reports that 59% of rural people are now connected to broadband in comparison with 57% of their urban counterparts confirmed the rural digital revolution, but fails to examine the full story.
While broadband use within the British countryside has recently soared, the figure quoted fails to take connection speed into account. Most consumer broadband providers offer 2mbps or 8mbps, with those who cannot receive these connections required to pay the same price. Large parts of rural Britain are unable to receive faster connection speeds and as such, are stuck paying higher prices for lower service. BT's own research confirms that people who are living just three of four miles away from the local exchange will probably receive actual thoroughput speeds in kilobites that than megabites per second, while still paying exactly the same price as those who receive the same services but much faster.
There was also comment on the variety of services used over the internet, with rural people mostly making use of banking, shopping and entertainment sites. This comes as no surprise to those of us who have been campaigning long and hard to protect rural bank branches, the post office network and championing local food providers. What other options do those in rural communities have when banking services may be several miles away and only open during the working day? The closure of local services within rural communities have made the internet more vital than ever, and means that slow connectivity is even more of a problem than within some urban areas.
The digital revolution is readily welcomed in rural communities, and is a great step forwards for rural enterprise, but such unfairness in connection speeds must be addressed by broadband providers. Rural people deserve the same service provided in urban areas, and should not have to suffer simply because of their location. “
Simon Hart


How I agree with that.