Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

LATE JULY

Parliament has risen for the summer, and we leave Westminster with the sound of bombs and handguns ringing in our ears. We will all keep a careful watch on the awful events of the bombings and its tragic aftermath as they unfold, and if we need to be recalled to discuss any government action we should be.

But in the meantime the summer recess is an opportunity to immerse ourselves, uninterrupted, in the constituency for a number of weeks, as well as recharge batteries. As I potter around these pleasant climes, a constant theme comes to mind: thank goodness I don’t represent Birmingham Central!

But there is plenty to be going on with. Public meetings on the new town at Sherford are planned. This scheme is slowly taking shape on the designer’s desk (all credit to the developers who seem to be listening to local concerns). The pressing need is to stir the Plymouth City Council into action to sort out the difficult transport issues.

The power station at Langage has once again reared its ugly head, with Centrica (British Gas) going out to tender on its build proposal. I met with the directors recently. Local opinion remains firmly against this unwanted blot on the landscape, but the shadow creeps ever closer.

A coherent response to some of the worst anti-social behaviour still needs to be found and discussions are ongoing between the police and the council about this. It is time to use the full panoply of powers.

Plymouth runs out of somewhere to tip its waste in 2007, just around the corner. I sense a new battle coming on as the scramble to find a new site (guess which area this is likely to be in) takes off.
400 jobs have now been lost as a result of the fire at the Hillyers factory in Plympton. The impressive owners are determined to start again, but will probably need a bit of public finance for a short period to rescue most of those jobs. I expect to be throwing myself at the Regional Development Agency any day now to seek help.
It promises to be a busy summer, but there are compensations.
The four swallow eggs laid in a nest in our front porch have all successfully hatched and flown, chattering, away. Our magnificent Irish wolfhound, the only survivor of his litter, is still going strong. Our second grandchild is due in August. All is well.

posted by Nigel on Thursday, August 04, 2005