This afternoon saw Ellie and I leaflet a village of Charlesworth.
The views across and down the Glossop valley from there are stunning, especially with the grey, misty, low lying rain clouds that were passing through (as seen below from Haydn Drive).
Labour’s candidate for the May County Council elections in Glossopdale has accused the leader of Derbyshire County Council of reneging on his promise that information days at the Victoria Hall Library would be held when the County Council submitted plans for it’s new Library on the site of the Old St. Lukes School site.
Damien Greenhalgh said that the failure to put into action a specific pledge represented another letdown on the part of the County Council to pay regard to the feelings of local people.
In his open letter published on 8th November 2012, County Council Leader Councillor Andrew Lewer said “We are keen to work alongside local people.”
He then went on to write that he “would urge local people to get involved by commenting on the plans when the Council seeks planning permission over the next few weeks, or by attending one of our information days at the library…”
With consultation due to end on 14th February, Mr Greenhalgh said there appeared to be no intention to hold a realistic and reasonable discussion with the Glossopdale community.
“When a senior Borough Councillor phoned the Library on Monday afternoon (4th. Feb), staff confirmed that no consultation had so far been held, but that a senior manager would return his call. A very senior officer rang back to confirm that there was no intention to hold any information days at the library until after the planning application had been granted.”
“If they do end up holding a meeting, it will be as a result of this intervention rather than because they intended to listen to the people of Glossopdale.”
Damien Greenhalgh said that an additional Derbyshire planning committee had been called for 13th March. He suspected that this was to allow the application to go forward would not consider whether people wanted investment in Victoria Hall or in the demolition of the old St Lukes building.
Derbyshire County Council Labour Leader Anne Western has already promised a new consultation will be undertaken in conjunction with High Peak Council if Labour take over at the May elections.
Derbyshire County Council Labour Group Leader Anne Western has made a pledge to the people of Glossopdale that if elected, Derbyshire Labour will consult on the best ways to sustain library provision in the Victoria Hall and make best use of the “campus of buildings” that cluster around the library.
She has also given an assurance that the £2,000,000 which Labour set aside more than five years ago, will still be available for a fully-costed value for money project that will enhance both library and adult education provision.
“The absence of consultation by the present Conservative County Council leadership on this project so far has been outrageous. There appears to be no local support for their latest proposal, no serious attempts to identify a new venue for social services staff and no serious intention to listen to SOUL and other organisations about their vision for future use.”
Councillor Western revealed that she had been kept appraised of local feelings by the two Labour County Council candidates for Glossopdale, Maggie Mooney and Damien Greenhalgh.
“They tell me that in conversation, and whilst knocking on doors from Simmondley to Old Glossop, they have heard no positive comments from anyone about the proposal to abandon the Victoria Hall as the community’s library.”
She acknow
ledged that Local Councillors have to make difficult choices, particularly in today’s financial climate.
“But to completely ignore the SOUL’s petition of a thousand plus signatures and not even consult on the new proposal is totally unacceptable.”
Councillor Western said that a public consultation would be conducted in conjunction with High Peak Borough Council, who will also be expected to contribute to the strategy and funding of improvements.
“In these hard times, and until we have examined County Council finances in detail, there are very few commitments that we can make. But Glossop library is an exception as the money has been sitting around for the last four years. It may buy less than it would have done four years ago, but in my view it remains ear-marked.”
Maggie Mooney confirmed that she was pleased with the assurances she had been given.
Damien Greenhalgh said that he had still to hear any voices supporting the abandonment of the Victoria Hall, the demolition of the old St. Luke’s building and the construction of a library that appeared out of keeping with the surrounding properties.
Friday saw Derbyshire Labour’s Alan Charles elected as the first Police And Crime Commissioner for Derbyshire.
I would like to reiterate my sincere congratulations to him and his team on their victory, and equally the victory for the people of Derbyshire:- with their police service now safeguarded from the threat of privatisation.
I also know that in Alan we have a vociferous champion for public services in this county, who will fight the proposed reckless government cuts of 20%.
Alan gained 44.3% of electors first preference votes and 61.1% once second preferences has been share between himself and the Tory candidate Simon Spencer. See full results below:
Derbyshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Election 2012 Results
Although Alan received this majority, this was on an official turnout of just 14.75% which is extremely disappointing – especially in a mature democracy such as ours.
So where does blame lie for this? Squarely at the desks of Theresa May and David Cameron!
In the run-up to this PCC election – which cost £1 million here in Derbyshire alone – the government was rightly criticised for not doing enough to publicise these election and for virtually guaranteeing a low turnout by holding ballots in the cold and dark month of November. This, despite stating they wanted independent candidates to have a fighting chance. And worst of all has been its proven incompetence, at best, and maladministration, at worst, epitomised by the £350,000 spent printing Welsh ballot papers in English rather than both English and Welsh.
This costly and extremely flawed flagship policy is a further example of Cameron’s maxim for all government policy:
Insufficiently funded, incompetently executed and unpopular with voters.
So here’s wishing Alan and all his fellow Commissioners the best of luck in protecting our communities from crime, and from the long cutting tentacles of the Coalition Government.
Tomorrow sees polls open for people to vote for Derbyshire first Police and Crime Commissioner.
Whether you agree with the creation of these posts or not, this flawed election is very important. All who have the opportunity to vote should do so.
The Labour Party must rightly contest these elections; the alternative would be to let the Tories push forward with their plan for massive private contracts for important public policing including neighbourhood patrols – that’s despite the G4S debacle this summer.
In Alan Charles we have a fantastic candidate. He has pledged to :
Polling station are open across Glossopdale from 7am to 10pm.
So please take take 5 minutes out of your day to vote ALAN CHARLES for Derbyshire PCC!
Labour Party members from across the Glossopdale gathered together at a hustings event at Glossop Labour Club last night to put the candidates shortlisted for the county council selection to one final test before picking a new candidate.
I am happy to be able to report that at that meeting I was selected, with more than two-thirds of the vote, as the second of two of Glossopdale Labour’s prospective candidates for the Glossop and Charlesworth county council seat in the 2013 elections, joining the wonderful Maggie Mooney. A team that will offer the right mix of youth and experience.
I am delighted to have been selected – it’s a huge honour and privilege, but now the work really starts to make sure that we win this seat for Labour to return fairness to County Hall with a Labour Administration in May 2013.
I would just like to thank those that came and caste their vote on such a cold and wet Friday evening, those that sent messages of support in advance and afterwards, Anthony McKeown – the procedural secretary – for his organisation of it and of course Roger Wilkinson for his friendly competition.
Smiles all round: Damien after the vote with Derbyshire County Party Secretary Joe Murphy (L) and County Councillor Dave Wilcox (R)
This morning saw the first meeting of the Glossopdale Branch Labour Party (BLP) since the election on 5th May 2011. One of the first items on the agenda was the election of a new Secretary of the Branch Party, a position which I was subsequently elected to. It is the role of Secretary to hold well attended, effective and regular BLP meetings – this is something I look forward to achieving and I would just like to thank the members of the Branch for putting their faith in me, I hope it is something I will be able to return.
The position having become vacant due to the long standing Secretary Cllr Anthony Mckeown standing down on being appointed the Deputy Leader of and Executive Member for Community Services on High Peak Borough Council which will require a lot of his time.
I would like to thank Anthony whole heartedly for his hard work and dedication to the Branch and its members over the ten years he has held the position. In that time he has built up a great bank of knowledge that I will be sure to make use of as I grow into the role.
Despite the impressive gains in Glossopdale, with Labour now holding ten of the fifteen seats in the area there will be many challenges over the next few years for members in Glossopdale and the High Peak. The new Labour minority administration has many difficult decisions to make in the wake of the extremely financial settlement from central government.
We as a Branch will seek to involve, improve and ensure that the services offered by the Council meet the needs of local residents both now and in the future as we seek with your help to be your voice in tough times.
Result
We’ve all had some time to digest the results of the 5th May, and what a result – one that turned our streets and hills red. High Peak Labour exceeded are expectations to take 21 seats in the 43 seat council i.e. one short of an overall majority.
In Glossopdale, Labour now holds 10 of the 15 seats in the area thanks to gains in the Old Glossop, Padfield, Tintwistle and Hadfield South wards.
What next
The Labour Group met on Sunday morning to make some initial decisions. One of its first decision was to it re-elected Caitlin Bisknell as Leader of the Labour Group and Anthony Mckeown as Deputy Leader. The Group was informed that the Liberal Democrat Group and Independent Group would not stand in the way of Labour becoming the controlling group by forming a minority administration, i.e. they would not to go into a formal coalition or informal agreement with other parties or members.
The group will meet again next Sunday to make some further decisions. Decisions – by election – such as the make-up of the Executive and the Group’s appointees to the Council’s committees and external bodies.
Damientg 
