another Tilgate & Furnace Green blogger?

It was exciting to be chosen by the Labour Party to stand for the Tilgate & Furnace Green County Council election, which takes place on June 4th. I also felt honoured, and a little daunted by the responsibility the Labour Party has placed on me to try to overturn a Tory majority of around 120.

The election themes seem to me to be well marked out.

First, there is the performance of the Tory County Council. We have all seen, and felt, the potholes in our roads, but some parts of town are worse than others. I was truly shocked by the state of the roads in Tilgate and Furnace Green. It will take a great deal of time and money to repair these roads, and as all County Council watchers know, the Tories would rather spend money on publicity, spin doctors, and trying to hold up the creation of the South Downs National Park than on Crawley’s roads. Then they have the nerve to blame the potholes on the government! 

Then there is the ‘inadequate’ state of the Council’s children’s services- described as such by Ofsted, and the inadequacies in adult social services. Potholes are the visible symptoms of Council mismanagement- how many other services have holes that we cannot see?   

Broken promises? How about the aborted plan to open Crawley library on Sundays? If the County Council leader cannot deliver on this, how on earth can we have faith that he can deliver a new hospital?

No doubt the elections could be overshadowed and influenced by national and international events. Europe will loom large, as the European elections are on the same day. What Gordon Brown and the government has done in order to kick start the economy will be a big factor. Interesting, isn’t it, that during the last recession mortgage rates rocketed, while during this one, rates are at historic lows. It’s safe to assume, then, that if the Tories were running the country we would be paying a great deal more for our home loans.

I fully support the steps our Labour government has taken to revive our economy and avoid financial disaster- the Tories would have done nothing.      

The  wild card in this election could well be the intervention of the BNP. Already, their ‘Truth Bus’ (sic) has visited Crawley and no doubt they will be pushing for votes here as they seek a European seat. What on earth they would do if they were successful is anyone’s guess. I sincerely hope that they won’t be successful, and I will be doing what I can, and urging others likewise, to prevent them realising their goal. Underneath the suits, it’s the same old racism and xenophobia at work, and I hope that my Conservative opponent, if he stands, can find the words to condemn them as forthrightly as Nicholas Soames has.

Last year I stood for Broadfield South in the Crawley Borough Council elections, and came second. OK, there were only two candidates, but I was very pleased to receive the endorsement of the former Tory turned Liberal Democrat councillor. Thank you, Marcella!

That election ended up getting quite lively towards the end, but even so, what struck me was the warmth and friendliness of all the people I spoke to. Usually, you can expect some heated exchanges on the doorstep, but there was nothing like that at all.

I hope the Tilgate& Furnace Green election will be similarly friendly, and I’ve no reason to doubt that it will be anything other. One thing’s for sure- win or lose, I am really looking forward to the coming campaign, and talking to the voters about their concerns.

The 2008 Crawley Blog and Media Awards

Yes, it’s that time of year again, the eagerly awaited, glittering evening of surprises and delights as the gongs are handed out to the emotional and overcome winners.   The man himself, Leonard Cohen, blagging the closing spot to sing ‘Hallelujah’ to the overall winner…does it get much better?

On with the show.

The first award, to the best conspiracy theory with a cause  blog or forum goes to…  http://gatwickcity.phpbb3now.com/viewforum.php?f=2

In making this award, the judges recognised the sheer iconoclastic quality of this forum, and its persistance as a thorn in the flesh of the Establishment.

Next up, most tortuous conspiracy theory of the year…. Roman Abramovich secretly owns West Sussex County Council…but I can’t remember who came up with that one.

Best blog with ‘Broadfield’ in its title…. https://broadfield1.wordpress.com

Best innovation…. http://crawleypotholes.blogspot.com/, courtesy of   http://rodneymcaree.blogspot.com/

Best football blog. After a penalty shoot out, there was still nothing between them, so this is a joint award between  http://rodneymcaree.blogspot.com/ and http://skuds.org/ (Skuds’ Sister’s Brother).

The Broadfield1 special award for the blog which takes itself too seriously, and is in need of a sense of humour injection and a spellchecker….there can only be one winner, come on down and take a bow  http://duncancrow.blogspot.com/ One judge cruelly commented that he thought the blog must have been written by Wackford Squeers, but we had to point out that Mr Squeers was a fictional Dickens character. But we could see what he meant…

Best community forum http://www.maidenbower.org.uk. If only the rest of Crawley could learn to moan and lobby like they do in the village…..

Forum most littered with titles (Councillor this, Leader of that)….. http://www.maidenbower.org.uk

Best antihunting blog http://stopcameron.homestead.com/index.html (Chris Gale)

Lifetime achievement award/daddy of all the blogs….http://skuds.org/  Skuds’ Sister’s Brother. The judges recognised the sheer quality of this blog and the diversity of its content. A real labour of love? and a huge contribution to the  Crawley blogosphere.

Most conspicuously absent blog…anything from the Liberal Democrats.

On now to the newspaper category awards, a crowded field this year.

Most improved newspaper….the Crawley News. A paper which actually digs for news, via Freedom of Information requests and so on. It just needs to do it more often to stand a chance of winning the coveted ‘Newspaper of the Year’ award. Come on Crawley News editor, you’ve got a whole year to show us what you can really do.

Best new local paper…the ‘Crawley Times’. After a shaky start as a house magazine for Henry Smith and  the Tory Party has become a useful addition to the local media scene, and soooo, inadvertently, revealing of the pretensions of the local Tory Establishment. It also publishes Broadfield1’s letters.

Best local newspaper video. There was one outstanding entry in this category…  Sewage pipe protestors take fight to town hall (Crawley Observer).

Overall winner of the prestigious ‘Newspaper of the Year’ award. After not very much consideration the judges decided the winner had to be the dearly beloved ‘Crawley Observer’, both for the consistent quality of its coverage, and the way it has maintained its circulation in difficult times. It also publishes Broadfield1’s letters.

 A big hand for the ‘Obby!!! 

 

There was one more award to be made, to the outstanding, take no prisoners, contribution to Crawley political comment and debate. The judges deliberated long into the night over this one, but finally decided there was one head and shoulders above the  rest, combining sharp comment, conspiracy theory, philosophy and politics in a rich stew guaranteed to make the great and the good and the freemasons gag and choke.

Yes folks, the overall winner is….. http://gatwickcity.phpbb3now.com/viewforum.php?f=6    The ‘Gatwick City of Ideas’ Discussion Forum!

And if you haven’t got an award, don’t let it chew ya,

Just be glad, and sing, Hallelujah!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE

Jeremy Paxman comments on the Crawley Times!

Jeremy Paxman said ‘While the Crawley Times does report Tory council matters pretty straightforwardly, as it should, there is still a fawning taste’.

Of course, he didn’t say that. Change ‘Crawley Times’ and ‘Tory council’ for BBC and royal family, and you’ve got the real quote. And to be fair (why? Ed.), the made up Paxman quote could only have really applied to the first two editions, with the paper becoming markedly less oleaginous to all things Tory as the weeks go by and Gordon Brown’s stock rises. (About the only stock outside Baghdad that is rising).

It was unfortunate to display on the front page of a paper published on Black Friday ‘WIN a seafood platter and bottle of Champagne’, but hey, who’s got a crystal ball?

If anything this week’s paper belongs to Claire Denman, portfolio holder for planning and economic development, who has several extensive quotes featured. The idea that Crawley is defying gravity by ‘floating above the credit crunch’ is quite amusing, but worryingly complacent nonetheless.

I’ve never understood why Claire apparently holds the position of deputy leader of the Tory group, but isn’t Crawley Council’s deputy leader. She’s intelligent, expresses her own views rather than have a council spokesperson speak for her, has a sense of humour and a human touch. And she would surely be more than capable of deputising for the Council leader if need be. For the Tory party, a really safe of hands, I would have thought, and not someone to flaunt a title.  I often disagree with what Claire says, but never with how she says it. I suppose, that with all the coverage she gets, she could almost be considered the Council’s de facto deputy leader. 

The main thrust of this week’s paper is the proposed Town Centre North shopping centre, John Lewis and all. Now, I’m all for diversifying Crawley’s economy, but surely, all that this will create will be many low paid shop assistant jobs. At a time of economic turmoil and a possible recession where will the money come from to be spent in these new, upmarket shops? City bonuses? Easy credit?

So I think that Crawley Council should either be more  active about attracting different types of employment to the town, or admit that there’s not much they can do at the moment. Simply talking a good case is  one of the reasons why the financial institutions have dropped us in it.

If the IMF is correct and we are on the brink of a global economic meltdown then this could be a nail biting weekend for many people. Most of the worst economic news seems to break on a Monday, so what will follow Black Friday?

Back to more parochial matters.

 We hear, via a very long grapevine, that Liberal Democrat councillor Linda Seekings was all set to be elected as vice-chair of the Council’s grants committee, only to have her election blocked at the last minute by the controlling Tory group, because they had concerns about her voice. If this is true, then it really does say something about the true nature of the Tories. It is one thing to deny someone a position on the basis of their politics, because that is the nature of party politics, like it or not. But if this really did happen because of Cllr Seekings’ voice, then this is surely a shocking act of discrimination.

 What would the voting public make of this?

 It makes what goes on at Tory Crawley Borough Council look like the worst kind of private club, rather than a modern, publicly accountable, publicly funded body

If it isn’t true, then no doubt someone will deny it.

  Or sue me.