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

FLOODING

Times change, issues change, water rises. All over the constituency, but especially in Plympton and Ivybridge, more and more problems of flooding are being drawn to my attention. This was quite rare when I was first elected 14 years ago, now the problems pour in regularly. What’s going on?

Most of our settled communities have been here for a while and the drain infrastructure was put in by our ancestors in very different days, in some cases Victorian times. Many more houses have now been built, and the whole system is struggling to cope with increased demand by a higher number of householders. As more land is covered with concrete and tarmac, there is less soil available to soak up the surface water to at least slow it down on its journey to the nearest watercourse; so the pressure on the existing system gets greater. Many have turned their garden or part of it into hard standing for cars making even less water draining into the soil, but running off immediately into the gutters and from there to the drains.

Add to that changing weather patterns and you have a structure under pressure. Whether you believe in global warming or not (and I do) there is no doubt that climate change is firmly with us. Who can remember these violent flash foods in our youth and the freakish velocity of the rain? I can’t.

So a creaking system is being assaulted by increasingly violent weather patterns and the pressure is leading to floods and water incursion on roads, gardens and houses throughout this low lying area.

What can we do? For some years now planning permission in flood plains or where there have been flooding problems has been rigorously controlled and rightly so. That must continue.
There are usually three agencies that have responsibility to sort out these problems: the council, south west water and the Environment Agency. There can sometimes be a tendency to pass the buck, (although they have all been very helpful locally when I have sought their help to solve flooding problems) and this inclination has to be watched. We must ensure that sufficient resources are made available to deal with these challenges that can seriously impact the health of a community.

It should also be a further spur to do what we can domestically and internationally to reduce carbon emissions that are almost certainly fuelling this climate change.
What do you think?

posted by Nigel on Monday, January 29, 2007

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

2007

2007 promises to be a year of momentous decisions locally. Soon an internal Navy review board will recommend to the Ministry of Defence how to save money on its naval base infrastructure, in short: whether Portsmouth or Devonport Naval Base should be closed. For many of us, the recent cuts to our Navy are already too deep and short-sighted. I do not welcome the down-sizing of our armed forces in this way or the closure of either naval base, but if there has to be one, naturally, I am fighting tooth and nail for Devonport to prevail. In many ways, this decision dwarfs the Trident decision of 1993 because if the government decide to close Devonport, the dockyard would also shrivel away to next to nothing. But for once all of the arguments, strategic, financial and military support our case for Devonport to be the remaining south coast naval base. We have a smart and united campaign in this region to try and extract the right decision from the corridors of power and it will be a very real focus in the coming months.

Linked to this is the future of the dockyard, caught up in the swirling changes impacting the defence procurement industry. At the moment, Devonport Management Limited is owned by a US company that seems indifferent to the long term prosperity of the yard or this region. The government is threatening to exercise its rights as a special shareholder in DML to bring the company back into UK ownership. But the likely new owner will be an existing UK defence company with other interests to protect in other parts of the country, maybe even Babcock which owns Rosyth. So will the long term future of Devonport be near the top of their priority list? All of this will also come to maturity in the next few weeks and needs careful watching.
Closer to home final decisions on the new settlement at Sherford will be signed off by an independent inspector in the next four months. Although we cannot stop this unwanted settlement from happening, many decisions, especially on how to deal with the increased traffic flows, have yet to be determined. The public examination of current plans starts in late January and the outcomes will impact all of us living east of the Plym.

One way or another, it is clear that 2007 is not going to pass us by quietly.
Happy New Year!

posted by Nigel on Thursday, January 18, 2007

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

HOUSE BLINGING

You either hate it or you love it and personally I love it. No, not marmite, but house-blinging: the fashion that has spread across the pond from America to decorate the outside of our homes in twinkling Christmas lights and regalia as we approach the big day. From the gleaming Santas wobbling in the garden, the reindeers and elves pulsating on the walls, the dripping roof lights, the flashing stars bedecked over trees and shrubs, it is all so wonderfully over the top. Jan and I find a different way home from every evening engagement, just to enjoy the displays put on by increasing numbers of households. It all adds to the special feel of this special time of year.

If I could adorn the entire front of our house with massive flashing lights, and power up every tree in the garden, I would. Unfortunately I do not possess the technical knowledge to know how to do this. Anyway, house-blingers of Plympton, Plymstock and Ivybridge, I am with you in spirit.

Some of you will be concerned that this obsession has little to do with the true meaning of Christmas and in one sense that is so. But then, huge turkey meals and binge drinking, hurriedly scribbled cards from people you sit next to at work, and the giving and receiving of presents that you would never buy for yourself in a thousand years has precious little to commend it either. How lovely, a fibre glass gear stick cover, just what I always wanted. None of this has much to do with the birth of the saviour of the world!

But turning on the gaudy lights marks this time of year as being exceptional, and also as a celebration we make together, not just as families, but as communities and as a nation. There are plenty of voices out there telling us that we should tone down our Christmas celebrations, that it is not politically correct. Complete nonsense of course.

For those of us, who wish to worship the baby born in Bethlehem, the baby that grew to be our redeemer, it is our responsibility to make the time and space to do that. We can easily step back from all the bling to give our personal thanks that 2,000 years or so ago the people living in darkness received a great light.
The flashing Santas do not prevent us from doing this. Go for it

posted by Nigel on Monday, January 08, 2007