Archive for the ‘Chester’ Category

Monday, 13th September, 2010 at 6.00 pm – St Werburgh’s Centre, Brook Street, Chester

Agenda:
18:00 – 18:30 -> Completely informal, speak to ward Councillors, PCSOs, Police Officers, Wardens & Street Scene

18:30 – 19:30 -> Your Issues – Your chance to raise anything affecting your local community, or ask for things to be included in the next Forums.

19:30 – 19:45 -> Break – Anything that’s cropped up that you want more information on? Now’s your chance!

19:45 – 20:15 -> Updates from: Police, Wardens, Waste Management, Fire Service.

20:15 – 20:30 -> An update on the Chester Cultural Business Plan from Head of Service, Chris Cook.

(This is an open response to Cllr Reggie Jones, a Labour Councillor for Blacon in Chester)

Oh what a delight it must be to live in Labour Land, where the Government should interfere, spy on, and be treated to jubilation and praise by its ever thankful population.

Or so Cllr Reggie Jones would have you believe.

Allow me to go through his latest claims one-by-one:

1) Low income households will lose the most out of the budget.

£2.13 per week. I’m not disputing that for some it can represent difficult decisions, but this is the same Labour Party who scoffed at the £2.83 per week marriage allowance in the Conservative manifesto. If £2.83 is an insult, then in Labour Land £2.13 must be nothing? Moving on to…

1a) Using the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) report as a critique of the Coalition’s budget.

Labour criticised the IFS report in their April budget, saying it couldn’t factor everything in. In Labour Land they are right, everyone else is wrong and there’s no room for disagreement.

2) Claiming that David Cameron is stepping away from free bus travel, television licences, and winter fuel payments.

Bus travel is being increased to 65 for all – like the pension age for all. Similarly winter fuel payments, and there’s no change to the TV licence being free for over 75′s. I’m afraid Cllr Reggie Jones is scaremongering. Scaremongering is rife in Labour Land, what with Labour sending out targeted cancer leaflets saying people would die if they voted Conservative.

3) The Coalition is abandoning those in need with fixed term social housing.

Social housing should be in place for those who need it most. Is Cllr Reggie Jones suggesting that those reliant on benefits should play second fiddle to a couple who have, through their own success, worked their way up the ranks at work and earn over £60,000 a year? That’s what the Coalition’s policy is to prevent – along with a married couple having a 4 bedroomed house whilst a family of 5 squeeze into a two bed. In Labour Land this is fine, as each bedroom is the size of a small bungalow.

Reality bites, and it would do the Labour Party a great deal of benefit to wise up to the fact that people don’t live in cloud cuckoo land, they live in reality. A debt-ridden reality where people are grown up enough to understand and accept the difficult truth. Britain has no money left (don’t take my word for it, the former Labour Treasury Minister Liam Byrne MP said it!).

The state is a safety net – not a wheelchair. The nanny state is dead – long live freedom and society.

Firstly, thank you for allowing me to speak Mr Chairman. The application on its own merits has flaws – it is a retrospective application, but not labelled as such; indeed, at least one student is already in occupation. Work began on this property after April began, as the former occupier did not leave until March 31st. There was the initial plan to have 5 bedrooms. This then changed to 4 after it was realised a tenant would be trapped in event of a fire. One defence of this application is that it’s not guaranteed to be just students. Where is the corresponding guarantee that it won’t just be non-students?

This call-in is about so much more than this single, solitary HMO – this is evidenced in the report. It’s about the wider impact on the Garden Quarter. 40% of all properties are student-led HMOs, with unknown figures for young professionals. 40%. Imagine your communities having a 60% occupancy rate for half a year. 6 months of neglect. That is the reason I have called this application in – the straw that broke the camels’ back was applied years ago – we now seek to squash this poor animal out of existence, despite the opportunity to follow HO 16 and limit the number of HMO’s in Chester.

The blame does not lay entirely with students, who seek an education – nor does it with private landlords who seek to run a business, and often in cases such as these provide retirement funds. The problem is that the studentification of Chester has gone on for so long. Chester ought to be a City with a University; not a University City where we are dependent on one organisation for the financial wellbeing of our City.

The report recommends approval because on its own it is harmless. As Cheshire West and Chester we are 4 Councils as 1 – we look at the wider picture. As a City Ward Councillor I want Ellesmere Port, Northwich and Winsford to succeed – it makes for a stronger Borough. The wider implications of this application being approved is that we continue to look at things on a case by case basis; not the greater impact. Do you really want 40% of a community empty for half a year – every year?

That is how residential amenity is affected and I urge members to reject this application.

Thank you.

Unfortunately the planning permission was granted, by a 5-1 majority, with 2 abstentions.

Members of the public got the chance to quiz their Councillors, find out what’s going on in the City and win a pair of tickets to Chester Zoo last weekend.

The Councillors took a stand at the Groves last weekend.

Councillor Richard Lowe said, “The event has proven to be a fantastic success. We now plan to hold more of these events in the hope the public will react positively to the non-formal setting of meeting room.”

“We spoke to dozens of residents over the two hours, and dealt with many queries from planning issues to pot holes to overgrown trees.”

Cllr Richard Lowe and ward colleagues Tom Parry and Max Drury have secured a number of bicycle bells to give away to City based cyclists. If you would like one please email Richard Lowe on richard.lowe@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

Over on ConservativeHome there’s a ‘Twenty Questions for the Class of 2010′ bit going on for new MPs. I’ve decided to introduce and adapt it here:

1. What is your earliest political memory? Margaret Thatcher leaving Downing Street. I was 6.

2. Complete the sentence: “I’m a Conservative because… I believe in liberty, ambition and competition”

3. Who is your political hero and why? Margaret Thatcher. She had a vision of what the future held for the UK, and went for it. Dr Ron Paul in active politics.

4. When did you decide you wanted to become an Councillor? I stood as a ‘paper’ candidate in Madeley, Newcastle Under Lyme in my last year at Keele in 2006, coming 29 votes short of the incumbent Labour Councillor (now a Tory!). When I moved to Chester 6 months later, I made a conscious decision then that I would eventually hope to be elected to serve my community.

5. What is your reading material of choice? Websites: Chester Chronicle, ConservativeHome, ESPN.com, Guido Fawkes, Charlotte Gore, Adam Smith Institute, WalesOnline. Print: Chester Standard, History Books & Sports Books.

6. Who is your favourite political interviewer/presenter on TV or radio? Jon Humphrys – THE Devil’s Advocate!

7. If you could run any council department, which would it be and why? Prosperity – My main work background has been in business support, and small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy. Anything a Local Authority can do to assist this can only be of benefit.

8. Which non-Conservative politician do you most admire? Dr Ron Paul. (UK-wise, David Laws.)

9. Who would you least want to get stuck with in a HQ lift? No-one really; I’d like to think party politics don’t affect how I interact with people – outside of the Council Chamber!

10. If you were in the US, would you be a Republican or a Democrat? Depends on the leader. In the 2008 election, Republican.

11. What do you enjoy doing to unwind and relax? Reading, play on the Xbox, watch tv.

12. What is your favourite book? I don’t really have one I keep going back to, so pass!

13. What is your favourite film? Back to the Future – all 3.

14. What is your favourite music? Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Elton John, Elvis Presley, KISS… and Girls Aloud!

15. What would be your ideal meal and where would you eat it? My own marinated chicken, over Jamaican-inspired rice, at home, with my wife.

16. What is your favourite holiday destination? New York City.

17. What do you hope to have achieved in your first term as a Councillor? To be a Councillor who listens and responds to the needs of the community I serve, who isn’t afraid to provide ideas for the success of the City, and who can be considered to have put the residents first.

18. Tell us one interesting, unusual or surprising fact about yourself. I’ve met David Hasslehoff, and have an autographed copy of his autobiography. Does that count as unusual??

19. Tell us one interesting, unusual or surprising fact about your constituency. Chester Racecourse is the oldest sporting venue in continual use in the UK, with the first race occurring in 1540 – 470 years ago.

20. Share with us your most amusing story or favourite anecdote from the campaign trail. Constantly being told I looked too young to be a Councillor, but it was always followed by “it’s a good thing!”.

The new Member of Parliament for Chester has made his maiden speech at 17:17 on the 27 May 2010 under the Energy and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
debate; below it is in full:

May I be the first to congratulate my hon. Friend Nick de Bois on his entertaining and interesting speech? May I also thank everyone else who has made a maiden speech today? I have learned a lot and I hope that hon. Members will learn a bit from me too.

In the few weeks that I have been here, I have been absolutely amazed that almost every Member I have spoken to, on hearing that I represent the City of Chester, has delighted in telling me of their happy trips to my city. Whether they have been to Chester races, studied at the law college or been there for a romantic weekend away, they have all, without exception, left with a wonderful memory of their visit.

I am proud to say that Chester has always welcomed visitors. Our first recorded visitors were the Romans, who established the legionary fortress on the lower reaches of the River Dee, built the city walls, laid out the road network and enjoyed themselves at the amphitheatre so much that they stayed for almost 400 years. In AD 973, King Edgar came to Chester and established himself as the King of all England when he got the kings of the other northern kingdoms to row him up the river and he started to lay the foundations of what is now the United Kingdom. That marked the start of the long relationship between the city and the Crown that Chester has enjoyed for more than 1,000 years.

The Normans came to our city, built a castle and our magnificent cathedral and then used the city as the base for their conquest of north Wales. The English did not get it all their own way, however: several times the Welsh raided the city, destroyed the bridges across the river and burned down many buildings outside the walls. It is from that period that our famous statute came into force, which forbids Welshmen from entering the city walls after dark and allows those who are in the city at night to be legally shot with a crossbow. Apparently, that statute was never repealed. Fortunately, we live in happier times and, except for the one day of the year when Chester play Wrexham at football, we live in friendship with our Welsh neighbours.

Speaking of football, I must congratulate my predecessor, Christine Russell. When Chester City football club went into administration earlier this year, she was at the forefront of the campaign to bring football back to Chester. I am proud to say that at the start of this month the supporters group City Fans United established a new Chester football club, and we can now look forward to football returning to the Deva stadium in the autumn. Much of that is due to the hard work that was put in behind the scenes by the previous Member for the City of Chester.

Christine also championed international development and improved child care, but she will be most remembered in Chester for her conscientious casework in the city and the help that she gave to so many local people. I have known her for more than 10 years, and although we had many disagreements over politics, I salute the good work that she did locally and I know it is not going to be easy to follow in her footsteps. I have also been delighted by the good will that still exists on both sides of the Chamber towards Christine’s predecessor Gyles Brandreth and his predecessor Sir Peter Morrison, and I hope to be a worthy successor to them all.

Chester is the jewel in crown of the north-west of England, but there is still much that we need to do. Our Gateway theatre closed down in 2007 and we need help to ensure that our dream of having a new theatre and performing arts centre in the city is delivered. I was particularly pleased to hear that the new Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport had promised that lottery funding would be restored to the arts, thus providing many opportunities for towns and cities such as Chester to improve their arts facilities.

We are also lucky to have in the City of Chester Chester zoo, which is one of the leading visitor attractions in the country and a world leader in animal conservation. It has big plans to expand to help to conserve more endangered species, and I look forward to championing it and its good work within Parliament.

Our ancient city walls, our amphitheatre and the mediaeval rows have all been neglected in the past and now need us to protect and champion our heritage. That is why I will be supporting a bid, put in by the local Conservative council, to obtain world heritage site status for the city centre.

In Chester, we have huge ambitions to bring investment into the city, and I will be playing my part, from Parliament, to help my constituents to achieve their dreams.

Chester is also a garrison town. We are the spiritual home to the 1st Battalion the Mercian Regiment-the Cheshires-and I am proud to have a former commanding officer sitting before me. We are also the current home to the 1st Battalion the Royal Welsh Regiment, and all of us in Chester are proud to welcome the battalion back from its recent tour in Afghanistan and looking forward to its homecoming parade in front of Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in a fortnight’s time.

Chester has thrived as a tourist destination and as a shopping centre. Anyone can stand at the cross in the centre of the city and see visitors from almost every corner of the earth, and I urge all Members to come to Chester and to see for themselves why they, and I, love the city so much.

Chester is an ancient city, but it is also a modern city. Financial giants, such as Bank of America, Lloyds Banking Group and M&S Money, have major bases and employ thousands of people in the City of Chester. It is, quite rightly, a priority of the coalition Government to curb the excesses of the past few years and to re-regulate the banks, but I would implore the Government to remember that financial services create huge wealth for our country and for many places like Chester and that not all people who work in financial services are the greedy bankers of lore. We need to make sure that good financial institutions are able to expand and prosper and that new companies and products are able to enter into the marketplace and by doing so improve the service and reduce the cost of the financial services offered to their consumers. We need stronger and better regulation, but we also need to make sure that it is simpler.

Within the City of Chester constituency, we are also proud to host Urenco’s uranium enrichment plant at Capenhurst. We are all aware of the problems to our energy supply that we face over the next few years. Many of our older coal-fired power stations and nuclear power stations are due for closure. Since 2004, Britain has gone from being a net exporter to a net importer of natural gas, making us dependent on foreign sources and raising concerns over the security of our energy supply. We also, of course, have a duty to ensure that we reduce our nation’s carbon footprint. We want to ensure that all members of our society have access to affordable energy and to see a reduction in fuel poverty.

The 2006 energy review estimated that up to 25 GW of new generating capacity would be needed over the next two decades to fill the gap. That is 25 GW out of a current 76 GW generating capacity-a huge gap by any estimate. The UK is, quite rightly, committed to a renewable energy target of 15% by 2020, and renewables have an important role to play in the sustainability and security of Britain’s future energy supply. But, as the Secretary of State told us earlier, Britain currently generates only 6.6% of its energy requirements from renewable resources. The 15% target by 2020 is extremely challenging and will require a massive step change in the development of renewable supplies if it is to be achieved. Even if we do achieve that target, we will still have a gap of more than 10 GW of generating capacity to fill. As a Member of Parliament with a key part of the UK’s nuclear infrastructure in his constituency, I ask the Secretary of State and the Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change, my hon. Friend Charles Hendry, to look favourably on the use of new nuclear power generation to help fill the gap.

Nuclear power is clean. It is a low-carbon source of electricity generation. We have secure long-term supplies of fuel. Modern reactors are incredibly safe, and it is a future technology in which Britain can still lead the world. Operators and owners of nuclear power stations have been jumping at the opportunities offered by the previous Government’s draft nuclear policy statement, and there are now 10 sites judged as potentially suitable on, or near to, existing stations. Those sites obviously have to be subject to the normal planning process for major projects, but the Government need to bring forward a national planning statement for ratification by Parliament as soon as possible.

Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to make my maiden speech during such an important debate for our country, and for Chester.

The retrospective application for a ‘massage parlour’ at 2, Cheyney Road has been REJECTED by the planning board this evening.

The joint statement put to the board by your 3 ward Councillors was as follows:

On behalf of my fellow ward councillors, Richard Lowe and Max Drury, I [Cllr Tom Parry] would like to thank the planning board for hearing this call-in.

Let me make this crystal clear: We three councillors very strongly object to the proposal to grant retrospective planning permission for the ‘Massage Parlour’ at 2, Cheyney Road.

Much has been made of moral or ethical issues in this case. One might wonder why an innocent massage parlour should attract such controversy. Or why a rear entrance is necessary for clients’ discretion. Or why the windows of the property are boarded up. Or why ‘massage parlours’ of this type might provide ‘corrective facilities’ or a ‘small dungeon’ with a ‘limited range of equipment’.

For the avoidance of doubt, this is not the sort of massage parlour to which one would be referred by one’s GP for the relief of rheumatic pain.

Of course, moral and ethical issues do not, by convention, carry weight in planning decisions.

Our arguments in objecting to this recommendation are based on planning considerations:

· Cheyney Road and the nearby streets provide the setting of a respectable residential area with a mixed population of permanent residents and a sizable student population. The proposed change of use is out of character with this residential area and the premises are located some 250 yards from an infants school and Sure Start Centre. – in contrast to the applicants’ existing business, described as ‘an isolated bungalow’ which is located ‘where its presence is not going to cause bother to any other individuals or businesses’. Clearly this cannot be said for 2, Cheyney Road where the location does not sit happily with the setting.

· It is well documented that there are considerable parking problems in this area of Chester and indeed my colleagues and I have been working with local residents and council officers to progress the introduction of a residents’ parking scheme for these streets such are the problems. The previous usage was a local venue accessed principally on foot as one of many such bar restaurants in the City. The propose change of use is more of a destination venue, based on a business model that draws clients from a wide geographically area, necessarily by private motor car, exacerbating the parking problems faced by local residents.

· In its use, this property is now accessed by the rear, with the frontage carrying the appearance of derelict property – I need not explain the associated detrimental visual amenity to the area. The rear access is shared with two neighbouring properties. It is clear that use of the shared rear access for business purposes is not appropriate due to the proximity to the neighbouring housing.

We believe that to grant planning permission which would allow continued use of 2, Cheyney Road as a ‘massage parlour’ – a term synonymous with brothel – would be detrimental to residential amenity by virtue of the fact that the usage is out of character with the residential context of the area, the increase is parking problems for local residents and the loss of amenity to the residents of neighbouring properties due to the shared rear access.

I hope that you, as members of the planning board will roundly reject this application on these sound planning grounds.

This is clearly a motion in favour of common sense; comparing an existing “isolated business” to one that has thus far caused damage to neighbouring properties, and is 250m away from a primary school and a Sure Start centre is impossible; whilst morality couldn’t come into it, having a damaging effect on the character and amenity of the area did.

I would like to, on behalf of my fellow ward Councillors, thank the Planning Board for both hearing our objections, and also for refusing this application. The Garden Quarter is not, nor will it ever, be suited for such a development.

Over at Liberty Central on the Guardian’s website, you can read the following article.

Within it, are 10 questions to ask your parliamentary candidates – which, following on from my previous post about asking questions of the candidates in the City of Chester, have also been put to them.

For a quick and easy link, the postcard with questions are below:

If you live in, or have an interest in Chester, you may want to visit this website: http://chesterforum.posterous.com/ – alternatively, follow http://twitter.com/chesterforum on Twitter.

It’s being run by a Chester resident who’s taking questions to put to three of the Parliamentary Candidates – Christine Russell (Labour), Lizzie Jewkes (Liberal Democrat) and Stephen Mosley (Conservative).

Current questions that have been asked are:

1. What individual difference can you make in the Commons? (No nonsense about Brown, Cameron, Clegg being wonderful etc)
2. Would Proportional Representation be more appropriate in a seat like City of Chester?
3. Will you blindly follow the party whip or can you express your genuine concerns in public?
4. What support will you give businesses in Chester?
5. How would your best friend describe you?
6. What proportion of your time do you think you’ll spend in Chester vs the Commons?

So go on, ask!

The question I’m asking?

What’s your perspective on the erosion of civil liberties and freedom in the United Kingdom?