In Council - July 2009 & Armed Robbery

22/07/2009 by Steve Tierney.

The Bramley Line
Today’s full county council meeting was a somewhat muted affair, thanks to the absence of Cllr Moss-Eccardt, everyone’s favourite procedural expert.  In fact, during the first few agenda items I began to wonder if the Liberal Democrat contingent had been suddenly struck dumb - so quiet were their ranks.  Not so!  When it came time to talk about the Bramley Line our colleagues on the opposite benches became highly animated.  You would almost be forgiven for thinking that this was a clever political machination.  They had clearly spent some time getting all their ducks in a row.

I should probably explain.  The Bramley Line is the disused railway track which runs from Wisbech to March.  To cut a long story short the people of Wisbech would quite like it opened again, the people of March (who already have a railway station and probably see no need to burden themselves with more rail traffic) aren’t so sure.  There is a very active and dedicated group of local enthusiasts who have been working for several years to get the line re-opened.  There are Conservative councillors like Cllr. Simon King who are part of that group and have been working alongside them towards this goal.  To the best of my knowledge nobody has really seen any Lib Dem councillors anywhere near the project - ever.  This could well be because Fen Folk prefer not to elect them anywhere in the region.  But even so… their sudden interest and support furrowed some brows.

Perhaps the Liberal Democrats had really grown a sudden fervent interest in the Fens traffic infrastructure?  If so, good. Any ideas and support are always welcome.  But there are some amongst us who think what actually happened is that they saw an opportunity for division.  The Bramley Line is a very interesting project, but it’s also a controversial one.  Not everybody feels the economic case has been made for it yet.  Some people prefer other options for improving transport in the area (like giving the A47 the dual-carriageway treatment all the way to Wisbech.)

So when Cllr D.Jenkins (leader of the Liberal Democrats) proposed that a new funding method called TIF be considered to assist in the re-opening of the Bramley Line some people questioned the motives.  I have to say I really don’t know if this was a machiaevellian move or not and I think I’m prepared to give the benefit of the doubt and presume that it was just an honest, well-meant idea.  What a shame then that the motion had to include a load of party-political swipes that devalued it and forced the Conservatives to table an amendment that stripped the unhealthy fat from the bone and left only the meat for consumption.

Cue lots of long speeches by councillors on all sides which basically seemed to be saying the same things from slightly different perspectives.  Cllr. Alan Melton delivered one of the blistering verbal barrages for which he is so famous in support of better transport all over the Fens.  Cllr. Geoff Harper read a prepared speech full of deft lyrical flourishes in which he pointed out the many improvements that had already taken place - in order that proper perspective be maintained.  Speaking to the chamber myself, I took the opportunity to make it quite clear that Conservatives do not oppose rail, nor the Bramley Line (quite the opposite, as far as I’m concerned) and that our amendment unequivocally expressed that we felt this was a strong option that deserved serious consideration.  There’s no lip service there.  We do.  Because it is.

All’s well that ends well, the amended motion met the approval of all councillors and resulted in a (very rare) unanimous vote of “yes”.  Which doesn’t mean the Bramley Line is suddenly going to find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but does surely bring Wisbech one step closer to getting the rail link it wants so badly.

Armed Robbery
When I got home from the council meeting today I was surprised to find the Police in my shop and a member of my staff clearly badly shaken by something.  It turns out that we had been victim of a robbery.  Two young men had entered the shop and snatched a laptop from behind the counter (one made a distraction while the other snatched, then both ran.)  Dominic, who works for me part-time, gave chase!  Following the two men out of the shop he managed to grab one of them.  During the struggle a gun fell from inside the jacket of the criminal and landed on the pavement.  The man made a grab for the gun, Dominic (no doubt terrified of the consequences of this nutcase getting his hands on the weapon) kicked it across the street.  The man struggled free and both of them fled with the laptop - leaving the weapon behind. 

Now it appears that the gun was actually not a ‘real’ gun, but an airsoft weapon or something that looked very authentic.  At least, that’s what the police suggested before they bagged it up as evidence.  Even so, you wouldn’t want to be shot in the eye with something like that, nor meet the sort of person who carries it around.  The police officer was clear that somebody caught carrying one of these would expect prison time.

I’m a little torn about all this.  In the first instance I’m horrified that this sort of thing can have happened on my doorstep (quite literally), I’m angry that I wasn’t here to try and prevent the crime and I’m furious that they have (so far at least) apparently gotten away with it.   But I have got to give it to my staff member Dominic, who found himself in a dangerous and frightening situation and whose first instinct, against all common sense, was to come out fighting.  I suspect many people would have let the criminals go.  Why risk your safety for a part-time job and a single stolen item?  Even the police were keen to point out that they suggest people do not try and tackle criminals of this type.  What did Dominic do?  He chased two guys out onto the street, struggled with them and relieved them of a firearm.  

Where I come from they call that sort of person a hero.
  

Posted in Fenland District Council, Cambs. County Council, Wisbech, Conservatives | No Comments »