The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

November 16, 2010

I’ve been fairly busy over the last few weeks, but thought it timely that I should blog on the various remembrance events that took place over the weekend.

I think its good, in fact important, that we continue to remember all those who gave their lives during all of the wars, in the service of our Country.  At the Baptist Church in Newtown on Sunday I spent time contemplating the difficult decisions our political leaders have to make when deciding to send our young people into war situations.

On Friday night I attended Welshpool’s Festival of Remembrance held in the Town Hall. The evening started with a parade of Standards, accompanied by music from the Porth-y-Waen Youth & the Training Silver Band. Then Welshpol town Councillors performed, and it ended with Stan Stennett leading a sing-a-long of songs from the 1940s. Of course I must not forget to mention that Ellie Jones (aged 10) who played the harp, and who I’ve spoken of before in a previous blog, is a relative of mine. She performed very well as usual. Well done to Welshpool Town Council and the Royal British Legion for all the work put into this event

On Sunday I attended the memorial service in Newtown. As a local Councillor I took part in the Remembrance Day Parade which marched though the town led by Newtown Silver Band. The parade ended at the war memorial at 11am, then onto the Baptist church for a joint service. All well organised by Newtown Royal British Legion. It was good to see such a high turnout on the streets of Newtown this year. From memory, I think it surpassed last year’s attendance which was encouraging.

As should also like to congratulate Prince William and Kate on their engagement today!

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Posted by russellgeorge

Coalition ‘Does God’

September 19, 2010

This post is kind of a part 2 to my earlier post on Newtown’s Mayor’s Civic Service at Hope Church this morning (see below) and also relevant in a week where “God” is all over the national media with the Pope’s visit.

I was pleased to read this article in the Mail this week. The Conservatives have  said that the new coalition ‘Does God’ and that religious faith will be restored to the heart of British politics.

The Conservative’s Lady Warsi said the previous government had got things ‘profoundly wrong’ on faith. Alistair Campbell once said the Labour government did not ‘do God’

Lady Warsi went on to say that the last government was also too suspicious of faith’s potential for contributing to society and because of these prejudices they didn’t create policies to unleash the positive power of faith in our society.  She insisted faith groups played a key role in David Cameron’s vision of a ‘Big Society’.

I was pleased to read her reference to “Street Pastors”, as this is a scheme that Hope Community Church has started in Newtown. Teams go out into the town on Saturday nights until 4am to work as street pastors making sure that people are less likely to run into trouble after a night out.

I’m not a Street Pastor myself, but I was very involved in helping the Church gain the support from the Town and County Council. The scheme now runs with the full backing of the Council and local Police.

Referring to the government’s commitment to faith based groups; Lady Warsi went on to comment that “I don’t just want to say to you that you have a lot to contribute to building the Big Society. I want to tell you that for me you are at the heart of society already and key to its future, and that this government will be on your side.”

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Posted by russellgeorge

Council tax increase – and I voted for it!

February 4, 2010

Well, what did happen on the council tax increase debate? The answer is that it is going to be an increase of 4.25% and what is surprising is that I voted for it!

One of my reasons for standing for election to the County Council two years ago was due to my frustrations in council and business tax going up each year, but the services we receive going down.

Last year, I voted against the 2.99% council tax increase, and supported the Conservatives proposals for just a 2% increase.

Taking into account that inflation is very low at present, the proposed increase of 4.25% seemed high in real terms. Under normal circumstances, I could never support such a high council tax increase, but at last weeks meeting I did support and vote for the 4.25%. I supported this with difficulty as I do find it hard to justify when people have either lost their jobs or are seeing a small increase in there wage packets.

When the 4.25% proposal was first brought forward a few weeks earlier at the council’s board, I didn’t support the increase.

This year’s council budget does seem to be designed to boost reserves, as the belt tightens on Council spending. To maintain much needed investment in our schools is my main reason for supporting this year’s increase.

Let’s not forget that following the forthcoming general election spending cuts will be inevitable whoever wins, and saving our secondary schools and other services, where we can, appears to me to be a valid cause.

Leave a Comment » | conservatives, council tax, councillors, powys county council, public services, taxes, welsh conservatives | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by russellgeorge

Dark days for Powys street lighting?

April 24, 2008

Our local authority has put off a decision to switch off a third of Powys’ 14,000 street lights for a year to save money and energy until next month.

In a few weeks I may be one of the councillors asked to consider this proposal. If councillors vote in favour of the project next month then 5,000 lights will be switched off in June.

The lighting bill is around £500,000 per year and is set to rise by £175,000 with rising costs and a tight budget.

After chatting to people in Trehafren last night, I could be mistaken for thinking the scheme was already underway, as a number of residents told me about lights around their homes not coming on.

Of course I knew that the scheme hadn’t really started, and wondered if it was it worth reporting the problem, given that they may be left turned off anyway in a few weeks!

I’m in favour of finding ways to save electricity, and I’m making this a priority in my shop. However, I’m also in favour of having good street lighting, particularly to increase public security and safety.

I’m not sure how much it costs to install one lamppost and light, but I expect the cost is fairly high. Surely, it doesn’t make any sense to spend money installing street lights, only to then introduce a policy not to turn them on?

3 Comments | councillors, elections, environment, issues, powys county council, public services, safety, street lighting | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by russellgeorge

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