WELCOME TO THIS WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL WORLD OF FENLAND
WHAT a strange world we journalists inhabit, and do you know I wouldn't change it for all the potatoes at Fenmarc.
Maybe its the Fen mornings that appeal so much, or perhaps the pleasant lunchtimes propping up the bar of the March Conservative Club.
Or maybe, indeed more likely, it's the variety that we thrive on, and these past few days have provided plenty of that.
Take, for example, the rather odd notice that's just appeared outside the Griffin Hotel in March proclaiming the news that Cambs Police want a review of the premises licence "in the interests of the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety and the protection of children from harm."
I watched as the hotel's chef adjusted his menu on High Street this morning, oblivious to the difficulties which now beckon. Or perhaps he did realise, and regarded the sign as simply part of the job. Certainly no one going in blinked an eyelid or, so far as I could see, cared that much. That's the Fens for you.
And up the road there's the issue of Martins the newsagents, which has been taken over, and where home deliveries have now stopped, paper boys and girls are owed money by the previous owners, and parents are getting irate as they try to sort out missing payments.
Cross the road to the town hall and the sweetness and light that normally pervades the air is given over to a fierce dispute among townsfolk over whether Councillor Peter Skoulding, who runs Snowmountain Investments, should be allowed to build two homes for his grandchildren on a piece of land off Cavalry Park which many residents thought was owned by the district council and destined to be a permanent open space.
Fenland seems to think so, having tended the plot for many years, but lo and behold Cllr Skoulding appears with the deeds- and planning application- but wisely stayed home on Monday when the town council offered their overwhelming view that the application be rejected. Off to Fenland Hall we go for the final decision in a few weeks time.
Cllr Skoulding was lurking in the background at last night’s Tory group as former leader Alan Melton prepared to encounter him over his bid to offer £200,000 of Fenland's money for his infamous Gateway to March project, a project that was scuppered by councillors from the other Fenland towns who opposed preference being given to March. Two councillors, incidentally, missed the meeting, having decided their membership of the Freemasons was too important, and since Council Leader Geoff Harper had postponed the meeting from last week, felt able to proffer their apologies tonight and go AWOL. Councillor Bernard Keane a new mason? Yes, indeed and since he’s likely to be the new vice chairman of Fenland Council, predict busy times ahead for the former March Mayor.
Did a vote of confidence in Councillor Simon King for his failure to withdraw from a recent overview and scrutiny meeting when the Citizens Advice Bureau was under discussion (he's a trustee) go through? Quite honestly does the public care?
Where does the issue of caring sufficiently come into it anyway? Do I care whether Fenland Council is running out of time over the use of portacabins at Fenland Hall where the temporary consent expires in a few weeks time? Thanks to the caller who suggested I kept a watching brief, but really aren't there more important issues to contend with?
Emails from Robert Pinnock, which originate (or not as the case may be) from his arch opponent in the Options Fenland debate keep arriving- am I really to believe, as Councillor Kit Owen would have me believe, that a third party has regularly gained access to Ron Butcher's computer and fired off any number of 'dear Robert' emails? Hardly, particularly as the bulk of them appear so innocuous as to be pretty useless to my investigative mind.
But the debate is interesting, as to is the debate over the future of Fenland's current spin doctor, Terry Brownbill. Ratification of the permanent press officer is well overdue, and rumour has it that Mr Brownbill's 'pitch' for the contract was undercut, and so an orderly transfer of duties was made more difficult for the senior management team. Seething in the background is my former colleague, the former press officer, Wendy Coles, moved over to a youth and community development officer role who was given no real reason for being displaced, and would probably have done rather well in the job had she been allowed to get on with it rather than issue press releases via a committee.
So what else is keeping your blogger's mind occupied? Plenty as it happens, but let's cut to the chase and have a look at Fenland Options, and two aspects of it:
1: Fenland is unlikely to vote in favour of transfer. There, I've said it. My reasons for saying it are quite simple- most councillors now don't believe in it any more. Many councillors have growing doubts as to whether selling off the family silver is such a good idea after all. And many councillors believe, as I do, that too much money has been thrown at getting tenants to vote yes that overkill has arrived. If they want us to transfer that badly, would seem to be the rationale, then there's something flawed about the process.
2: I think the tenants of sheltered housing schemes - and there are 13 such schemes in Fenland- are being used as pawns in this increasingly annoying game of housing chess.
Two years ago they lost their resident managers - in reality on cost grounds but the decision was dressed as being supported by the majority of tenants who thought non resident managers was the best thing to happen. There was, of course, a down side to all this inasmuch as the council was told no one actually wanted to become a resident manager, those days seemingly having past. That's what Cabinet was told. That's what full council was told. That's what happened. Lo and behold cometh the hour - or in this case transfer- cometh the change. Now Circle Anglia's concept of scheme managers is the icing on the cake, the thing tenants want most, and the thing only they can deliver. In reality not that much is going to change since I'm told the only substantive change will be a scheme manager for every scheme rather than, as is the case at the moment, some schemes sharing a manager. Sheltered housing schemes are major political footballs, and played an important part in winning over the first ballot- albeit by a slim majority-that got us all onto the transfer vote in the first place. If any tenants of sheltered housing thinks transfer is going to provide them with a resident manager, I hope they realise it won't. I have to say, however, that listening to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire this week, who have been covering the topic of sheltered housing, elderly residents get a much better deal with housing associations than with local authorities. If I lived in sheltered housing I, too, would favour a housing association as landlord as opposed to my local council.
And so to the day job.....with no time to report on this scribe's on going battle to get published a £25,000 consultant's report on car park charges, no time to tell you of a rather enjoyable lunch with a senior councillor last week ( he enjoyed a 12 oz rump steak, all the trimmings, and a rather large portion of crumble) and no time to report on the exchange of emails this week with Perry Holmes, newly appointed monitoring officer to FDC but who, as he told me, also includes among his work load many other legal responsibilities too numerous to mention here (but available on request).
I'm sure I shall be tempted back into blogging very soon about these - and perhaps we might even catch up with the increasing frustrations of Chatteris town councillor Chris Howes, whose multifarious battles with FDC have taken on novelette (is there such a word?) proportions.
He is nothing if not prolific, and probably the best guardian of local democracy there is. The themes running through his, as yet, unpublished campaigns range from what happened behind the scenes at last July's by election, to issues of probity among elected members of FDC.
And to sign off, what did happen to Pop Jolley? His fall from grace was swift and the threat of a comeback pervaded the air for much of 2006.
That was until someone or something happened to squash his ambitions. Was it the million pound plus purchase of land in Wisbech that jettisoned his possible return to the political arena? Or could it be, as I now believe, his disinclination to lay out clear and forcefully his reasons for departing in the first place so that his peers - and the public- can test those claims he makes openly and honestly about the hand he was dealt.
With Cllr Harper showing no desire to vacate the leadership (you ask why should he, to which I reply, quite right), you might think a period of calm in Fenland politics beckons.
My advice? Don't bet on it.
PS: Just added this on the morning after the latest council meeting, with its emphasis on the state of the district debate. Geoff Harper's statesmanlike delivery of an excellent assessment of Fenland's performance needs to be considered against former leader Alan Melton's own vision for the future. Alan couldn't resist mentioning that, had he not been cast out, this would have been his final speech as leader prior to next May's elections. All I can say is what an intriguing time now for us all who watch the political battles unfold in advance of the hustings.