A Little Sunshine

08/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

A Little Sunshine
I’ve been getting all sorts of good news this week and I thought it would be fun to share a little of the sunshine. Surrounded as we are by recession and gloom so often it doesn’t hurt to highlight the places where things have gone well. First of all, perhaps blog readers will remember Lisa Goddard? She was the lady who featured on the front page of the local newspaper a couple of months ago, furious about the state of her road and the way vibrations and noise were affecting the quality of life for her and her neighbours. 

I took the case up, joining Lisa’s campaign and talking to the leader of the council, Jill Tuck, about the issue.  To her credit Jill took immediate action, bringing forward planned repairs to the road.  I kept on the case, nudging gentle reminders, but really there wasn’t a lot I needed to do.  The council roads team dealt with the matter swiftly and professionally. 

I’ve just spoken to Lisa Goddard on the phone who expressed her gratitude for all the assistance and support she had been given and was effusive in her praise of local government in this area.  She said that the road repairs were fantastic, that she was surprised by how quickly action was taken and expressed how happy she was to: “Finally get a good night’s sleep.”  Lisa is right, the council reacted very effectively in this case, but she must also take credit for the positive outcome.  She worked hard and was a powerful advocate for her case.  It’s an example of council and residents working together as a team and a brilliant one at that!

Interesting to note, though: When Lisa was unhappy about the state of her roads she got the front page of the local paper in short order.  When she phoned up to tell them how well the job had been done they apparently said they would “return her call”.  She’s still waiting.  Ho Hum.

Meanwhile, another well-known local resident Tony Kiddle has had an ongoing problem with his streetlights.   None of them were working and the council seemed to think the road was “unadopted”.  I took the case up on his behalf and I promised him I would make sure the lights were fixed.  And this week - guess what - the lights were fixed! Yay!  Tony is passionate about a number of local causes and I know I’ll be working with him again on other issues.  But here’s another case of something that needed doing and then got done, thanks to teamwork and a responsive council.

Finally, rumour has reached me that the PCSO’s in Wisbech have been visiting residents of The Crescent and telling them about this “new plan” the police have to avoid full closure of Ghost Passage and only use two gates instead of four.  It sounds very familiar to me.  But never mind.  The important thing is that they’ve listened and are rethinking the idea to meet the resident’s concerns. 

Some people have called me naive because I believe in “local people working together for the good of the community” as expressed in my council candidate leaflet before the elections.  I suppose it does look a little “apple pie and ice cream” if you want to be cynical.  But you’ve just read several cases of exactly that happening in the last month.  These may be small matters in the grand scheme of things, but they matter to people here and isn’t it nice to read good news once in a while?

Posted in A1101, Cambs. County Council, Wisbech, Leverington, Conservatives | No Comments »