Christmas lights go on across Willenhall today in spite of the best efforts of Walsall’s Tory lead Council reports Cllr Ian Shires Chair of the Willenhall Partnership.

“My thanks go to the hard work put in by members of the partnership. In particular I’d like to thank the Community Forum for their persistance in pressing this project. If it was left to the Tories in Walsall, Willenhall would have been a very dreary place this Christmas.”

Walsall’s Tory cabinet made a decision to go scrooge like when they set this years budget as a result Christmas festivities in Willenhall would have been confined to a few lights strung across the market place in the centre of the town.

As it is, as well as lights in Willenhall town centre, lights will go on today in High Road, Lane Head and at The Square on the Lichfield Road, New Invention. 

Colleagues in the Short Heath Lib Dem Focus Team have just received news that that a plan to squeeze in an access road which would have run in-front of the Woodlands Shopping Centre in Wood Lane, Short Heath.

Commenting on the refusal of planning permission Short Heath Ward councillor Doreen Shires said “This is good news. We had received a number of objections to this planning application. The owners of the precinct were looking to squeeze in a few more parking spaces in front of the shops.”

“This would have created many problems for pedestrians using the Zebra crossing to access the centre and indeed people exiting the Co-op would have been faced with cars manoeuvring for a parking space.”

“Not the best planning idea we’ve seen I must say.” concluded Doreen.

The Chancellor should have cut income tax to make the tax system permanently fairer, say the Liberal Democrats

Commenting on the Pre-Budget Report, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: “The Government acknowledges that the UK tax system is inherently unfair, but then announces that it will hit those struggling to make ends meet with yet higher tax bills by increasing National Insurance. Everyone earning over £19,000 will be hit.

“The new 45p Income Tax rate is nothing more than a fig leaf to cover a £5bn tax hike which will hit millions of low earners and businesses.”

“The Government has missed a golden opportunity to make the tax system permanently fairer which it could have done by cutting income taxes for those on low and middle incomes, paid for by getting rid of tax loopholes for the wealthy.“Instead of increasing investment in sustainable capital projects which benefit the country tomorrow as well as today, the Government has opted for a temporary cut in VAT which will benefit big spenders the most and not give the economy the boost it needs.”

“At a time of economic emergency, Gordon Brown has once again failed those who need help the most.”

Willenhall’s partnership have put forward the following public rights of way for further action:

• Myrtle Close to Oaken Drive on the Woodlands Estate, Short Heath
• Stroud Avenue to Redpine Crest, Brackendale, Short Heath
• Calves Croft, Temple Bar, Willenhall

Myrtle Close/Oaken Drive:-  Public consultation will take place in the area affected by a proposal to put in fencing in an attempt to reduce anti social behaviour. 

Stroud Avenue/Redpine Crest:- This particular alleyway is part of an ongoing project which will test Walsall Council’s draft gating policy. Further talks are planned to ensure residents affected by anti social behaviour at this site have clear access to reporting problems.

Calves Croft:- Possible solutions to this site are based around a planning application. Further talks are planned between the applicants, local residents and ward councillors to find the best way forward.

We will keep you in touch with progress on these projects.

What a difference a month makes. Last month Tory cabinet education supremo councillor Zahid Ali was recommending to his Tory colleagues that Sneyd School close. Last Thursday (20th November 2008) at a packed meeting of the all party Children’s and Young Peoples Scrutiny Panel he was forced to back track and admit that there were other options to closure which should be investigated. He also said that no matter what the outcome was, the community element would continue on the site.

At the same meeting the Managing Director of SERCO (who were recently awarded a 12 year contract to continue to run education in Walsall)  admitted that they had not come up with alternatives to closure at the time of the October cabinet meeting.

Speaking to the scrutiny panel Lib Dem cllr. Ian Shires asked SERCO’s MD why the company had recommended closure without putting other options to the cabinet. The answer was damning, they had not come up with a solution at that time. Ian asked again, why if they hadn’t come up with a solution did SERCO present 3 options in the cabinet report all of which recommended closure?

It is clear that SERCO’s handling of this issue along with the original actions of Tory cabinet member for education cllr. Ali needs further scrutiny once Sneyd’s future has been decided.

Meanwhile thanks to the tremendous support of the school’s head teacher, the school’s council, teachers, parents and not least of all the local community, other options are being considered which could lead to Sneyd School remaining open.

“It just goes to show” said cllr Ian Shires, “you can change things, you just have to want it badly enough. Well done.”

The scrutiny panel will meet again in December, in the meantime they intend to visit the school during the working day to view first hand just how much it has improved. They will also be looking at options to go for Trust as well as Academy status.

This website will keep you updated with progress. 

Astonishing what you can get away with. A 2% cut in interest rates within a month indicates that someone is either being very clever in revitalisingthe economy or they don’t know what they are doing, nor have they for quite some time.

There should be a lot of red faces in the country at the moment. I can’t help feeling that there are a lot of people in charge who are squeaking their way out of trouble when they should be held to account.For a start our “super” regulator as they were announced in the late 90s, has failed miserably.

It is all very well giving a light touch approach to regulation and then only reacting with a heavy hand when something goes wrong, but it depends upon which part of the financial services industry you are talking about. If it is a sector which through incompetence, deviousness or greed can bring the nation to a grinding halt, then one would perceive that a little more prescriptive regulation and control would be a good idea!

Yes I know the credit crunch all started in the USA, but the fact is the UK and elsewhere jumped on the gravy train. Little thought was given to the impact of re-packaging such high-risk debt or enough attention paid to the risk rating of capital to ensure sufficient reserves were retained by banks.

 No one could foresee the global impact of this debacle as it unfolded last month, but let’s face it, there have been some clues along the way and one would imagine that our “super” regulator would have had access to information enabling them to deal with potential risks before they got out of hand. It would seem they have at least admitted their own incompetence with senior individuals working in banking regulation leaving over the last 12 months.

Now what about the Bank of England? They all seem like jolly good chaps. But for years we have heard the Monitary Planning Committee telling us that the changes (or lack of them) being made to interest rates are with foresight to cope with the economy in 18-24 months time and meeting inflation targets.

They have also been very quick to point out the boom and bust impact that large interest rate cuts would have on us all. Industry has been crying out for cuts for months with a lot more foretelling despite the Bank of England’s protestations of what this might do to inflation. In the main the cries fell on deaf ears until….

….Mr Brown, Mr Darling and their band of merry men appeared suddenly all to save us and get us out of a crisis. They have had absolutely nothing to do with us getting into the crisis apparently. They have come up with several new and innovative ways to halt a recession and give us long lasting stability and growth.

Cutting interest rates (sorry the Monitary Policy Committee is supposed to do that aren’t they?) and telling the banks to pass those on immediately will save a bit of face. Borrowing huge sums to prop up the financial system in the short term will save a bit more. I get the feeling that someone has recently realisedjust how unpopular he is and is trying to win us all over. Whatever next – tax cuts?

The Children’s Scrutiny and Performance Panel will meet in on Thursday 20th November 2008 to hear evidence and investigate possible ways forward for Sneyd Community School. The meeting will be in public and will take place at the school in Vernon Way off Sneyd Lane at 6pm.

Yet again Willenhall North Ward councillors Ian Shires, Pete Hughes and Val Woodruff first alerted to developments at the school by the “Express and Star” who ran an article in their Walsall Edition on Thursday 13th November 2008. “Call me paranoid if you like” said Lib Dem cllr, Ian Shires, “but I think it’s more than just coincidence that we were not informed. I have raised my concerns with the Tory Leader of the Council John O’Hare and have also let my feelings be known to the Chief Executive Paul Shehan.”

On the positive side it appears that The Ormiston Trust is interested in transforming the school into an academy. Ian Cleland, the chief executive of Ormiston Education said in the Express and Star article. ”We are very committed to community education and we certainly empathise with the governors’ wish to maintain education within the local community.”

Welcoming these remarks Lib Dem cllr Pete Hughes who is a governor at the school said, “The school is very important to people in north Willenhall. Without it our kids would be sent to the far corners of the borough for their secondary education as there is insufficient room in other secondary schools within Willenhall to accommodate those displaced by a closure.”

Lib Dem cllr Ian Shires and his other ward councillor colleague Val Woodruff also pointed out the importance of Sneyd Community School to those in the north Willenhall area who use the school’s community facilities.

Problems of lack of parking facilities in Shepherds Drive, Short Heath are being investigated by Willenhall Housing Trust as part of their environmental improvements programme for 2009/10 following a petition organised by colleagues in Short Heath Ward reports Lib Dem cllr. Doreen Shires.

The programme for this year has been finalised, but because of the problems being experienced by residents the Major Works team have been asked if Shepherd Drive can be taken into consideration when the programme for 2009/10 is prepared  

Work is being carried out shortly on the roadside gulley at the corner of Chaucer Avenue and Tennyson Road in order to resolve the flooding problem reports Lib Dem cllr. Ian Shires. This is part of ongoing works following a number of complaints to the Lib Dem Focus Team.

Just a bit further along Chaucer Avenue where it becomes Broadmeadows Road a problem with the foul drain has been reported to Severn Trent as this comes under their jurisdiction. We will keep you informed of progress.

The November meeting of Willenhall Local Neighbourhood Partnership takes place Thursday 13th November 2008 (sorry for the short notice but www.ianshires.mycouncillor.org.uk has suffered some “essential maintenance” over the past week). The meeting will take place at 6pm at the “Lighthouse Children’s Centre” Heath Road, New Invention.

On the agenda there will be the following presentations:-

• Environmental Issues: This will be delivered by the pupils of Beacon Primary School and follows on from the question and answer session held at the school on 7th October 2008 where Lib Dem cllr Ian Shires was  quizzed on the local environment.
• Community Enterprise: To explore ideas to ensure that Willenhall residents are better placed to deal with the effects of the “credit crunch.”
• Wood Street Cemetery; An update on this ongoing environmental improvement project.
• Willenhall Action Plan: Looks at the key issues affecting Willenhall in these difficult times.

The committee will also be briefed on possible footpath closures in advance of the working group meeting on the subject on Tuesday 18th November along with a look at road safety improvements in Sandbeds Road, Short Heath, and the results of the community cash bids.

Look forward to seeing you there.