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

SUMMER

MPs rise for the summer this week. Thank goodness. The intensity of the Westminster hothouse means that we are all on our knees by mid-July. Everyone is bothered and bad tempered at this time of year and it is time for a break from sweltering, fume-ridden London.
It is a time to return full time to normal life for a few weeks. I always look forward to not having to go to London. Apart from 10 days in France Jan and I will be hiding away at Newnham where she has helpfully provided a long list of things to do around the house and garden. Can’t wait.
It is also a good time to catch up the essential reading list that keeps getting put to the bottom of the pile. This will include the soon to be published detailed plan on transport solutions for Sherford. From what I have seen so far, it’s not looking good. More on that soon. August will fly by and September is a great opportunity to visit all the local organisations that haven’t quite found a place into the Friday diary of the past few months.
But what of the bigger picture? There is intrigue and drama at Westminster once again. The government faces many challenges, but the biggest story in town by far is when the PM will step down and who will succeed him and whether he/she will then call a snap election. This could happen as early as next autumn. The rapid pace of change set by David Cameron over the past few months has left many colleagues gasping for breath. Personally, I welcome his radical approach: we change or we die. So after 9 years of fairly static politics, everything is up for grabs. This is a good thing for the health of our democracy.
But we go into recess with the international situation in real crisis. The situation in the Middle East is bad enough as it is, but it also possesses the potential to get much worse. The alarming sectarian violence in Iraq, the knife-edge diplomacy necessary to prevent Iran becoming a nuclear power, the radical Islamist pressures throughout the entire region, all add up to possible powder-keg. I hope I am wrong.
But it was ever thus. Politics, whether local, national or international, will never be “over”. There is always a fresh challenge. It is why we love it. Time to recharge the batteries in preparation.

posted by Nigel on Friday, July 28, 2006

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

ADVERTISING HOARDINGS

The best thing about my job is the rich variety of things that come across my desk, both local and national. At a time when we are all exercised by serious international events that could end up changing our world, nonetheless significant local issues clamour for equal attention; the negative impact on existing communities of the power station and new town to name but two.

But I would like to raise a concern of a different order that is beginning to drive me potty: the spread of advertising hoardings, some of them very tacky, on the major entrances into Plymouth, especially at Marsh Mills.

Many of them are illegal. The law states that planning permission must be granted for all static adverts, although not for mobile ones. This is why we often see cars and vans parked with huge notices on their roofs, announcing undreamed of bargains. We also see purpose designed vehicles flaunting their wares as they trundle around our roads and occasionally parking up: fair enough.

But most of those billboards now sprouting around the entrances to Plympton and Plymstock are static. They are on legs. They are about as mobile as I would be on the rugby field these days. They are clearly in contravention of the rules.
Why does it matter? It matters because they look tacky – not just my opinion, but a view shared by several of you who have written over the months expressing your concern. But it’s more serious than that. I have written before about the “broken windows” theory from the USA. Once an area starts to go downhill (allowing broken windows to remain unmended) it attracts further deterioration. Litter and graffiti follow, then more vandalism and crime and so on. If we allow these unlawful displays to remain it could easily encourage a further deterioration in the visual quality of our location.

I have raised this three times with the city council, but they are either unwilling or unable to take action. It is, I’m afraid a further reminder that although progress is being made in some departments, we still have to suffer a poor local authority.

I spoke recently to a local business that runs legitimate mobile display vans. In Exeter if these vans even park up for longer than they should the council take robust action. In Plymouth flagrant breaches of the law seem to be permitted. Not good enough.

posted by Nigel on Friday, July 28, 2006

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

OPTIONS

Good policy can come with a sting in the tail. It is laudable that major new housing developments should have to generate a certain amount of their power by renewable onsite means, thus helping to save carbon emissions. I accept that sometimes it is necessary for his kind of policy to be imposed from on high to bring about desirable change on the ground; otherwise things would never change. OK so far.

But the decision revealed in its recent plans by South Hams Council that twenty five per cent (rising to fifty percent by the end of the power) needed to light up the new homes at Sherford must be generated in this way creates a new set of challenges for local communities already reeling under the pace of change. To generate that kind of electricity will require (we are told) five massive wind turbines.

Most local people have slowly come to terms with the proposed development at Sherford which we cannot stop. The developers have done a good job in listening to local community representatives and shaped their design to best meet the wishes of the area. But many problems remain to be solved, not least the transport links, and I continue to reserve my position on the scheme overall until we can see that our existing roads are not going to be swamped. Final decisions will be made over the next 18 months or so. Please don’t forget to have your say by responding to the South Hams consultation.

Some people like wind turbines, the majority don’t. But no one can dispute that the eastern approach to Plymouth is about to be radically changed. On one side of the A38: a brand new power station its chimney stack visible for miles; on the other, 5 gyrating visitors from Mars.

My cry is for joined up strategic thinking from our civil servants and local government. Somebody should be looking at a map of this area and say: look, they’ve had to take a power station they don’t want to generate power locally; we can’t impose wind turbines on them as well. Or at least cut the 25 % requirement to a more manageable level. Fantasy thinking? It would seem so, but I will be trying to persuade the relevant authorities. These two developments, effectively side by side, must be seen in the round, and their collective impact on Plymton and Plymstock has got to be softened.

posted by Nigel on Monday, July 17, 2006