At Last - CCTV in the Castle Gardens

A big word of congratulations to my Bowthorpe Conservative colleague, Cllr. Niki George, who has won his long campaign to get CCTV installed into the Castle Gardens to tackle anti-social behaviour (click here for more).

Cllr George has really pushed this inssue, including multiple questions to council; the re-buffs he got from Labour on the issue made him more determined to do this.

This kind of news shows why grassroots democracy is so important; it can pay off if you have the determination. Well Done Niki.

The Truth About the Play Parks

I was very pleased to note the honesty of Labour's Bert Bremner in the Evening News when he acknowledged that I had voted at council to support Bowthorpe residents with a massive injection of cash into our play parks. I am grateful to Bert, but it is a pity though that this honesty didn't make it into the latest Labour leaflets in the area which make claims about both myself and my colleagues in Bowthorpe. Maybe I could take this chance to set the record straight?

At that meeting we were being asked to vote for a big package of spending which included money for the playparks in Bowthorpe, as well as elsewhere in the City. I had some doubts about the package as a whole but I could not see this vital invetsment into my community be lost. That is why I voted in favour of the investment; in addition I would have spoken up on this too but unfortunately I was not called to speak in the debate despite wanting to.

However Labour seem not to recognise this fact; nevermind that the weak LibDem opposition at City Hall failed to support the money altogether, they must be so worried about the threat that the Conservatives pose that they attack me personally over this issue.

At the time my colleague Councillors were unable to make that vote; it was before the Conservative triumph in the by-election and thus Andrew Wiltshire wasn't elected. Sadly Niki George was very ill on the day of the meeting and wasn't well enough to stay until the end. The fact that Niki dragged himself into City Hall when very ill to oppose Labour's 3.9% council tax hike and rent hikes for council tenants was quite impressive; but still Labour wish to blacken his name by accusing him of deliberately not staying for the vote. You might have thought that given their troubles with Labour trying to smear Conservatives they would have thought this through more carefully.

So I really want the people of Bowthorpe and Earlham to know exactly what their Councillors did and why - honestly and openly. It is sad that Labour cannot find a way to campaign in a positive way; such negative and dishonest attacks only turn people off voting altogether. I want the Conservative campaign in this election to be honest, upbeat and positive about our local communities and what we can achieve together.

Tories announce local poll candidates

The Norwich Conservatives have announced the 13 candidates who will contest the local elections on 1st May, ensuring that everybody in the City has the chance to vote for a Conservative candidate.

Conservative Group Leader Cllr Antony Little said: "Everyone in the City now has a chance to vote for a hard working, common sense ConservativeCouncillor who will put tackling anti-social behaviour, cleaning up the streets and fighting for our Post Offices at the heart of their work."

"The Conservatives are a very different political party for Norwich - the only party that spoke up against the millions wasted on the unitary project and the only party that voted to freeze council tax levels this year."

"Last year we won the same number of wards as the LibDems and gained as many seats as the Greens. Every year we win more votes and more Councillors. This year could be crucial, and every new Conservative Councillor will mean we have a better chance of a value-for-money council that puts residents first."

The full list of candidates is:
Bowthorpe - Niki George
Catton Grove - John Fisher
Crome - Ernie Horth
Eaton - Niall Baxter
Lakenham - Eileen Wyatt
Mancroft - Andrew Wiltshire
Mile Cross - Clive Smith
Nelson - Malcolm Chamberlin
Sewell - David Mackie
Thorpe Hamlet - Matthew Davison
Town Close - Tak Man Li
University - Paul Wells
Wensum - Mike Gillespie

Back on the Streets

Apologies for lack of posting about the campaign trail, but its so hectic at the moment there is so much to write that I don't know where to start! (So I didn't start ... you get the picture ...)

Yesterday a big group of us went to Clover Hill in Bowthorpe; and we found a fantastic reception on the doorsteps. One of the big problems in working with Niki George is getting him from door-to-door - he just wants to talk to people and they want to talk to him! Niki has managed to involve a lot of new people in his campaign and all they saw of him was the occassional glimpse whilst we canvass the rest of the street!

The campaign so far has seen a fair amount of "shadow boxing" with Labour; they've been saying some rather interesting things about us (as a party) and about me in particular. I'm sure this won't do them any good; the last time they tried this was against Eve Collishaw in Catton Grove last year and it spectacularly backfired. It did again this time - the voter said that because of Labour's attitude, she was willing to think about voting Conservative this time.

The issues that were raised were mainly centered around anti-social behaviour, road safety and recycling. Interestingly the bus lane was raised a fair few times and so was the whole unitary mess.

A good day out all-in-all; Bowthorpe Ward's shaping up to be another cracker!

If they're in, they're Tory

Today was mainly spent as part of a big group of canvassers hitting the streets of Bowthorpe. Although I am sure that blogger-campaigners always say this, but today it's true, it was the most amazing day of canvassing I can remember in a long, long time.

The feeling on the doorstep was very positive - towards both us locally and also towards the national party. People who we canvassed as Labour for the last 3 elections were saying they were thinking of switching. The Conservative vote was very solid indeed. Reviewing the canvass cards tonight, what is clear is if they were in, they were voting Conservative. In fact it became the running joke of the day that if you met somebody it must have been positive.

Nobody goes into local politics to be thanked, but what was also nice was the feedback about the work that John and I put in - people were very pleased with the Three Score cleanup, the ASB tackling and the CCTV in Clover Hill. It's nice to be thanked every now and again! One of our group, who came to help us canvass from a neighbouring authority, said that she wished all of our councillors worked as hard as we did in Bowthorpe because it would help us to hold seats given the feedback from the doorstep.

Very little word about Labour - a couple of people mentioned they were opposed to the 20mph campaign Labour are currently running in Three Score; this is interesting because all politicans assume road safety is a vote winner. Maybe not? People were saying that any 20mph zone would be ignored and it was unenforceable; road calming (of one sort or another) is what is required. We're certainly going to have to knock on a few more doors about this matter I think.

Finally a word about Niki. I've campaigned for a lot of candidates in my time, some of whom I have been impressed with and others less so. In fact, I've delivered leaflets for some people where I know I preferred the opposition! But Niki is really growing into the role and I am more and more impressed with his thinking and his doorstep manner. Local people are certainly warming to him. It helps being a young, enthusiastic candidate I suppose! Niki is rallying a lot of troops to his colours, so good on him.

Overall, good to be back on the stump. Being a Councillor means being in touch with your ward and the people of Bowthorpe have given us a lot to think about today. Democracy in action!

CCTV Please!

Today was a day back on the streets, knocking on doors and talking to people around Bowthorpe about key local issues.

Following the awful stabbing in Clover Hill village centre last week, we launched a new campaign "CCTV Please" asking people to sign a petition to get the council to introduce cameras and make the area safer. We had loads of people on the streets gathering signatures and we were really pleased to be backed by the police, the victim's sister and also the newsagents in the centre who have had their lives blighted by the anti-social behaviour in Clover Hill.

During the time we did a walkabout and made loads of notes about other issues - litter, graffiti and over hanging bushes - that can be dealt with to make the area nicer.

There was a good feeling on the street today - not just because we are championing a popular and important initiative but because somebody was taking action. A few residents around Peverell Road wanted to know why after 30 years representing the seat why Labour hadn't already done this. A good question!

We will keep the pressure on and are out delivering leaflets next week about this issue - more can be found here. This afternoon I met with John and Niki to plan our activites over the summer - a lot to do!