BILL CAMM REMEMBERED



BILL CAMM



I was talking to Mary Beilby, a long standing local journalist about Bill Camm. She recollected the time Bill popped in to give her a story about a local issue. Three of her children had been given wooden scooters and one had broken hers. Bill promptly went to his van. Came back with some tools mended the broken one and tightened up the others to make them safer. In all he was there for over an hour, mending the scooters and chatting to the kids. Quite typical of the way Bill gave freely to people of his time and expertise.

Father Simon Ellis of Long Eaton, said of Bill He was a "real gentleman and passionate man of politics." Not a bad epitaph for the little man with a big heart.

BATTLING BILL CAMM

BILL CAMM

Bill Camm's hard work on behalf of Sawley residents has been legendary. I always use him as an example to new Councillors of how to do their job. He was hard working, persistent and dedicated. He was a lightening conductor for local opinion. I hope we can create a proper memorial to him to mark his contribution to local politics and his dedication to local people.

BATTLING BILL LOSES FIGHT

Bill Camm

Councillor Bill Camm has died in Hospital. One of the most popular politicians in Derbyshire he will be sorely missed by both his colleagues and the people of Long Eaton and Sawley. Rest in peace Battling Bill.

BURTON COURT MOUNTAIN

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Still no word from Erewash Borough Council about why a mountain of refuse was left for weeks behind Burton Court Flats, off Regent Street, Long Eaton. However the rubbish has now been cleared. Someone told me that the reason the Council had not collected the bins was because a bed and mattress had been dumped there. Therefore they were unable to reach the bins to empty them. The Council itself have failed to respond to me apart from an initial phone call. Not good!

CALL TIME ON THE GREEN BAGS?

Whilst campaigning in Ilkeston I spotted this green recycling bag. Very appropriately hanging from an aeriel. Symbolic of the many recycled programmes on T.V., no doubt. But it reminded me of the problems many residents complain of when having to use the green bag system.



GREEN BAG FLYING HIGH



Erewash adopted a system of collecting recyclables in green bags. At the time it seemed the best practicable means. However since dry recyclates can now be separated later a new approach is needed.
In response to numerous public complaints about the bags the Tories policy is to sell residents a blue bin which is effectively a tax on recyclers.  Strangely the reduced cost of replacing lost or damaged green bags would have more than paid for the costs of leasing the blue bins. The Council could have leased the bins and given one to every resident free of charge. Outright purchase of the bins would have made even greater gains. With the beneficial side effect of cleaner streets and a more efficient collection operation.

We could also have given residents the option of using the brown composting bin for dry recyclates all year round. We should also have done more to encourage home composting which would have taken tons of waste away from the waste disposal system altogether. We could have  probably  pushed  Erewash recycling rates over the 50% level where we ought to be by now.
I think a step change is necessary in our recycling policies, following full consultation with the public and a study of other systems elsewhere. Particularly in areas that recycle more than Erewash does. Progress has been too long delayed.

TIPPING POINT CLEANED UP

Finally Erewash Borough Council have got the littered area I reported near Twelve Houses cleaned up. Tipping begets more tipping and the so-called Neighbourhood Wardens need to keep their eyes open. This mess was there for far too long without action being taken. My complaint went in on the 1st April and it took until 26th April until the eyesore was cleared. Not good enough. I haven't heard a peep from Erewash since my first complaint! Customer care, it's more like customer scare. No wonder most Erewash residents don't bother to report things.

STILL GOING FOR A BURTON



BURTON COURT RUBBISH MOUNTAIN



Having reported the gross accumulation of refuse at Burton Court, Regent Street, Long Eaton, many days ago to Erewash Borough Council. I had had one of those strange conversations with the Erewash receptionist which lingers in the mind. Something on the lines of  "I'll enter it as a call for service" was the response. From which I assumed that it wouldn't be entered as a "complaint" because complaints are a bad thing and show up on the Councils figures. Whereas a "call for service" is rather neutral and doesn't reflect badly on the Council. Erewash Environmental Health Department were quickly on the case and I received a call from them and a promise I would be kept up to date with the situation. I have heard nothing since.

Lo and behold when I went to do a check on the problem, the smelly mountain had grown even bigger. What is strange is that apparently Erewash should collect this domestic waste so they must have known about the accumulation in the first place. What the heck is going on! The rats must have had a happy Easter. I feel another "call for service" coming on......  

SAVE CHURCH FARM

CHURCH FARM

Ockbrook and Borrowash Historical Society have launched a petition to force Erewash Borough Council to act to save Church Farm at Ockbrook. So far hundreds of signatures from concerned people have been added to the list. The petition has also raised peoples awareness of the parlous state of the buildings. It shows how important people consider heritage to be. This piece of Erewash history could be in danger of being lost if Erewash don't act quickly to save it. Erewash has pussy-footed for too long and I believe firm action is needed urgently.

This building dates back to the 17th Century and forms the back drop to All Saint's Church, which is also listed. It is a remnant of an important part of our economic and social history. It would be a tragedy if it were lost or further damage was allowed to occur to the building.

HELEN CLARK HANDING ME THE PETITION

Recently I was handed completed copies of the petition by Helen Clark to give to the Council. Still more signitures are on the way to add weight to the call for action. 

OUR FLAG LET DOWN

Erewash decided to fly the Union Flag outside the Civic Offices at Ilkeston and Long Eaton on a regular basis not as previously, just on special occasions. At the time I asked  Councillor Corbett to make sure the Flag was kept in good condition. He assured me it would be. I hate to see our Flag degraded by being dirty or damaged. Many months ago I wrote in a complaint to Erewash about the poor state of the Flag at Long Eaton asking for a new one to be raised. Despite my complaint the Flag has been left tattered and looking dirty. Erewash should be ashamed to treat our Flag so disrespectfully. So much for Councillor Corbett's assurances.  

PRIDE IN EREWASH?





A DISGRACE



It's been an uphill battle getting Erewash to get to grips with the problem of litter. I have put in complaint after complaint and it's had some effect. However there are still areas that are prominent in the local street scene but are regularly an eyesore. As you turn into Bennett Street, Long Eaton, either side are areas of private land very badly littered. Other businesses in the area selling food for instance may be detrimentally effected by the image given by this mess. The Council should be hot on the trail of careless landowners.

Where is the pride in Erewash? This sort of mess doesn't happen overnight so why no action by the Council? Could it be Erewash just doesn't care? 

COME IN NUMBER 19?

The number 19 bus that connects Sandiacre through New Sawley to Long Eaton is under threat. The Conservative controlled County Council has decided to cut the grant given toward running the service. Funding will cease on 1st August. Although it carries 42,000 passengers per year they have decided to pull the rug on the service, which may mean the 19 will soon cease.

With no local shops on the Fields Farm Estate this bus has proved a lifeline to many people, linking them with the Town Centre shops and other services such as the Medical Centres. Roland Hosker campaigned to get the service and now he is fighting to keep it. People ought to contact the County demanding that they reverse this bad decision which is so short sighted. If the service ceases it will encourage car use and make it more difficult for some people to shop in the Town Centre.

Our Long Eaton Central candidates Peter Ball, Clare Neill and Ann Stevenson are collecting a petition to present to County asking them to change their mind. The more people protest against these cuts the better. Again Conservative Councillors are making "savings" which then mean the public end up paying more.

VICTORIA PARK POOL

Erewash Tories are a curious bunch. Their inability to make good and timely decisions has cost us, the local taxpayers, dearly. 



VICTORIA PARK LEISURE CENTRE, ILKESTON.

 Users of Victoria Park Pool must be fed up with the disruption Erewash has caused them over the last few years. First it was shut to test for and then remove asbestos and now refurbishment is taking place. The bill will be almost as much as for building a  new modern pool. If they moved it to a nearby Council owned site they could have provided a bigger car park and sold the present site for housing. Thereby off-setting some of the costs. They had the money in the Bank, earning very little interest, left over from the transfer of the housing stock to Three Valleys H.A. They could also have kept Vicky Park running up until the handover of the new facility.

Despite commissioning a report that pointed them in the right direction they ignored that and blundered along. As a result of the public anger caused by the first closure they were embarrassed into a full refurbishment to save face. After all the works are complete the facilities will still be inadequate, both internally and in terms of the parking accommodation. It has broken their hearts to spend money in Ilkeston though. Poor old Tories!

HELLO,HELLO,HELLO!

Hello,hello,hello, traditionally the opening line of the local Gendarmerie, could soon be replaced by, goodbye,goodbye,goodbye. Thirty thousand Police and backup workers are facing the chop under the Con-Dem enforced cuts. Whilst the Con-Dems still stick to their line about protecting "front-line services", those same front-line services are being hit right across the whole Nation.

Where now are the Tories who were shouting for more Bobbies on the beat? Where now is the media banging on about "Broken Britain"? The media, Tory rank and file and the dwindling Lib-Dems are strangely muted on the issue of Police cuts. They are even arguing that Police numbers are irrelevant to the levels of crime. Don't times change!

NOW HERE'S A FUNNY THING

Recently the Ockbrook and Borrowash Parish Council got really sniffy when it was pointed out that in a survey of local people over 80% of responders thought there ought to be a Parish Office in Borrowash Village Centre. 



THE "BUNKER".

 Curiously when faced with legitimate public opinion on the issue they responded with an attack on the local Labour Party.

More people frequent Borrowash Village centre than ever go past the "Village Hall". So it isn't surprising residents would like a more prominent location, is it? It seems to offend the local Tories who are very sensitive about the issue. I wonder why? Could it be they know the public are right and they are wrong? Obviously the present Parish Council prefer their bunker up in Ockbrook.

BEING LEISURELY WITH THE TRUTH



In the Tories latest propaganda being put round both by Erewash Council and by their own Party, they claim to have done lots of improvements to Long Eaton's West Park Leisure Centre. Most of the money spent was on overdue repairs. However Sport England gave over £400,000 for the improvements.



WEST PARK LEISURE CENTRE



The Sport England money was given subject to the Tory run Council committing itself to free swimming for people sixteen years old and under and over 59's. After "winning" the General Election by lying their way to power and by buying off the Lib-Dems. The local Conservatives reneged on their promise and cancelled the free swimming initiative.

Nationally Tory promises are not worth a light and locally they are also very leisurely with the truth.

GONE FOR A BURTON?



BURTON COURT, LONG EATON.



Whilst out campaigning in Long Eaton I came across this awesome collection of rubbish behind the new flats off Oxford Street. I rang Erewash Borough Council and complained. They said they would enter it as a "call for service" a term which presumably has some bureaucratic significance. It may perhaps mean it doesn't get logged by the Council as a "complaint" if it's a "call for service". Thereby cutting down the number of complaints the Council receives. Pretty sneaky eh! Errorwash rides again.

PARISH PUMPING



COLLEGE STREET TOILET SHUT UNDER TORY CUTS



The Tories in Erewash are hopping mad over our disclosures about the way money has been syphoned into Parish Council's for services that they have cut in urban areas. What seems perverse to me is that some of the Parish Councillors that are receiving extra funding are the same ones, with a different hat, that are cutting Borough services. Some are  elected to urban seats where they appear to vote habitually against the interests of their own electors.

The Tories may huff and puff but as Mandy Rice-Davies famously said about another Tory who tried to cover something up, "Well, he would, wouldn't he?"

LYING WITH THE WRONG PEOPLE

Tory candidate in Derby, Ashley "Paul" Waterhouse has been found out by BBC Radio. After he had been informed that as a Candidate during an Election period they were unable to include him in a debate on politicians facing a more rigorous screening of their backgrounds. He then rang up calling himself Paul. When some listeners recognised his voice and phoned in, the Radio people checked and after the third time of asking he admitted the deception.

HOWARD GRIFFITHS

Have the Tories been in coalition with the Lib-Dems too long? We are used to "the end justifying the means" type propaganda, much used at By-Elections by Lib-Dems. But are the Tories catching the lying bug?

The Chair of Derby South Conservative Association Phil Bailey was quoted responding to the incident as saying "I think it was a genuine mistake. I don't think it was deceit and lies." Have they been in contact with the Lib-Dems for too long? As the song says "You can tell a man that boozes by the company he chooses and the pig got up and slowly walked away."

RAIL GATEWAY TO EREWASH



LONG EATON STATION



Road, Rail and even Waterways form gateways to the Borough and should be looked after with care. Long Eaton Station is a gateway to the Borough but it is hardly an image that strikes the eye favourably. I would like to see a sprucing up of the whole Station area. The Station should aim to give a pleasing impression when entering or leaving Erewash, but I don't believe it does that. You never get a second chance to make a first impression and that goes for stations as well as people. More effort is needed by all concerned to spruce up our "gateways", including Long Eaton Station.

TIPPING POINT



 BLOT ON THE LANDSCAPE

 The lack of progress on the Stanton site has annoyed me for years. We should have been working with the owners to start establishing "green zones" and planting landscaping that will be maturing whilst at the same time helping market the area to industry and commerce. Instead much of the site looks derelict and uncared for and just to add insult to injury, more illegal tipping has recently taken place on the land.

Rubbish has been dumped on the Quarry Hill Road side of the site about 150 yards from "Twelve Houses". If anyone knows who tipped this rubbish please contact Erewash Borough Council they would love to interview the person responsible.