20/04/2010 by Steve Barclay.

The momentum of the campaign continues to build with a series of positive visits today to local businesses, and to the pre-school centre in Doddington.  It is a good chance to find out from the mums and local businesses their views of the election, and what they are looking for from their MP.  Cllr Geoffrey Harper and his wife Judith who used to teach at the primary school know lots of people in the community, and provide a great insight into local issues whilst taking me round.

Pubs have been facing a tough time and this is the same here.  One of the landlords told me how he has been opening for breakfast to get some extra revenue in, which is tough given the late finish.  It shows how hard times are, and excessive Government regulation has made this worse. 

What is striking in Doddington is the wide range of locally owned small businesses in what is a small village.  An example is Fields End Water where I met up with Charlie Boughton.  Two well stocked fishing lakes with competitions underway on a midweek day, with 18 people fishing one of the lakes alone.  It is one of the many innovative and forward looking businesses we have locally.

We finished off back at the association office for a few hours telephone canvassing, before catching up on the correspondence which is pouring in when it was too late to be making phone calls to voters. 

Steve visiting the pre school centre in Doddington to chat with local mums

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16/08/2009 by Steve Barclay.

Just an £80 fine for smashing shop windows- what happened to Labour’s promise to be tough on crime?

Saturday morning starts with a site visit to Delph ward in Whittlesey with Cllr Kay Mayor, Dee Laws, and Richard Gale regarding the recent flooding to local homes. 

The immediate issue is a defective drainage pipe (Anglia Water’s responsibility) and clearing the ditch this pipe connects to - as the photos show it is barely 2 ft deep and overgrown (suspect the land owner will have to pay for this work). Will liaise with Fenland DC engineers on who will get the ditch cleared and what the timescales will be.  There is also a longer term issue about house building on flood plains with another 500 new homes planned for North Whittlesey.  Chatting with Kay and Dee, it is clear there are a lot of different bodies involved and a lack of clarity over where the responsibility of each one starts and ends.  As wells as Anglia Water and FDC, other bodies involved include the RSPB, Environment Agency, North Level Drainage Board, Washland Commissioners, Whittlesey Town Council and Whittlesey Charities.  Agree to set up a meeting at Whittlesey Town Hall with all the stakeholders to try and bring more clarity to ownership of issues before any future flooding occurs.

Then visit Doddington Scouts who are doing a big clear out, before following up again at March boutique Star Dust with owner Lisa over a planning issue concerning her front door and the vandalism/ police response to her smashed windows.  Despite catching the offenders on CCTV and the police being nearby to make an arrest, the offender has received just an £80 fine.  This is far less than the cost of repairing the window -calling a firm out to board up the window alone costs £300 never mind repairing the glass.  New Labour’s promise to be ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ does not apply in North Cambridgeshire.  We need to support small independent shop keepers who bring variety and character to our High Streets.  A welcome first step would be making it clear than any vandalism of their premises will be taken seriously and punished.  An £80 fine is just not good enough. Don’t however let the vandals put you off what is a fantastic boutique shop.  Star Dust is very much open for business and has a new Autumn range.  Pay it a visit when you are in March - it is a great place to shop. 

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06/07/2009 by Steve Barclay.

It is the time of year for local festivals and Fenland excels.  First though on Saturday morning go to the association office for a meeting with a leading local podiatric professional.  We discuss how we can improve services to take care of older people‘s feet.  Not perhaps a high profile campaign topic but a priority issue for me (see campaigns).  Keeping older people mobile and on their feet will make a huge difference to their quality of life, whether getting out to a local over 60s club, to chat with friends or to collect their pension.  Mobility helps address the challenge of isolation which can be particularly bad in rural communities, and improves physical and mental well being.  I also think it saves money in the long run by avoiding the need for social services if people keep their mobility.  Podiatric services locally need to be improved and I want to learn more about it and help ensure it gets the attention it deserves.

After a very useful meeting, head over to join Fenland Council Leader Geoff and Judith Harper at the Doddington Carnival.  Realise as the first bucket comes round that I have brought no small change - bit of a gaff but Judith saves the day and spares my blushes.  Doddington puts on a fantastic carnival and the lorries look superb. The sunny weather could not be more different than last year‘s rain.  An appeal for help with next year‘s carnival organisation comes from the committee chairman and hopefully their will be extra volunteers.  Interesting discussion with the local scouts - they face a ludicrous ‘rain tax‘ with their water rates being threatened with a massive increase based on the size of the roof on the scout hut.  Scout groups, churches and community groups across the country are aghast at this change.  The Labour Government must really be losing its grip if it wants to alienate the scouts.

Then head off to Wisbech for the famous Rose Fair in perfect weather with a big crowd.  Flowers arranging is something I know absolutely nothing about but cannot fail to be impressed by the displays inside and outside St Peter and St Paul‘s Church.  It is no wonder that people travel from far away to attend.  A chance also for a catch up chat with Sonya and Malcolm Moss MP who have been in the procession and judging the winning floats.

Rose Fair Parade

Then on Sunday morning it is back to Wisbech and church for the Mayor‘s Civic Service.  An excellent sermon and, amidst all the running about, a chance to pause and take stock.  Then head over Sunday afternoon to Elgood‘s brewery to speak at an association lunch.  Returning home to March on Sunday evening, it does not seem long before the 5.30am Monday drive to work in London will kick in.

The winning float

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05/07/2008 by Steve Barclay.

A week-end of carnivals and festivals as I headed first to Doddington.  Even at 8.30am the bbqs were up and running with the most wonderful smell of bacon providing too much temptation. I succumbed to a second breakfast in the form of a bacon bap.

Outside the church there was an array of floats in lots of different vibrant colours.  You could sense the urgency as last minute touches were applied before the judges arrived.  A wonderful sight was the wide range of scarecrows throughout the village, as quite a few people had entered the carnival competition for the best scarecrow.  I don’t think it won but a particular favourite of mine was the Cadbury’s gorilla playing the drums.  Together with the bunting and flags it all created the perfect carnival feel.  The weather did not prevent 18 floats from taking part – a great feat for a village the size of Doddington.  

Then I headed over to Chatteris in the afternoon where fortunately the weather had improved in time for the Chatteris Medieval Festival.  This had displays of archery, groups of fighting knights an armour having pitched battles, birds of prey, and not to mention a hog roast and traditional beer tent.  So there was no shortage of entertainment to keep all ages entertained.  More about the medieval festival can be found in the Cambs Times.  It’s fair to say my attempts at firing a tradition long bow were not quite up to scratch – I doubt the French would have been too concerned at such efforts on the fields of Agincourt.

Then on Wednesday, a change of scene as I head to the Carlton Club in London for lunch with our Association Patrons and guest speaker Michael Gove MP.  Michael is Shadow Secretary of State for Education and one of the key figures within the new Conservative Party.  Sitting next to Michael provides a great opportunity to discuss with him the issues facing schools in the Fens.  He is partitularly keen to reverse the fall in social mobility that has occurred under Labour, and free up teachers to teach rather than respond to the ever increasing numbers of targets and interventions from Whitehall.

Archery at the Chatteris Medieval Festival

Doddington Village Show

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01/06/2008 by Steve Barclay.

A varied brief is one of the interesting elements of being a Parliamentary Candidate, and the last few days has been no exception. Yesterday included a wide range of meetings, including our Homeless Action Group in Wisbech which continues to make good progress.

This group was set up in response to a plea for help from Church leaders having to cope with a number of homeless people being brought to them by the local police when they had no where else to go.  We met again at the Police Station in Wisbech, with the group comprising experts on the subject of Homelessness from the Ferry Project, the police, Citizen’s Advice Bureau, a local councillor, and the Catholic and Protestant Church representatives.  If nothing else I am determined that the issue of homelessness is not ignored or swept under the carpet.  The real test though is whether more help is available for people sleeping rough next winter.  There are no easy answers, and it is a complex issue - not least as there are different types of situation behind the homelessness from those hitting some temporary personal hardship at one end to those with more serious additions and complex problems.  Our proposals should help push this issue up the agenda of political priorities and I feel that is itself important.

By contrast tonight I was in the beautiful setting of March Golf Club for a much happier subject - presenting the golf prizes.  A great day’s golf involving over 100 competitors was generously supported by Selby & Taylor, our local pharmacist based in March.  The club has a particularly welcoming atmosphere and the members kindly went out of the way to make Karen and I welcome.  I think the secret of presenting prizes at such events is to keep the speech very short (after a long day on the golf course I cannot imagine much appetite for speeches), before dishing out the well deserved silver.  With such a hot day and large field, winning the awards was no mean feat.  Afterwards Karen and I headed over to the home of Geoff and Judith Harper in Doddington for a lovely dinner and a catch up.

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05/03/2008 by Steve Barclay.

The Doddington Village Show on Friday night combined singing, comedy, and acting talent. It was my first time there and I was surprised that even though we arrived early almost all the seats were already taken. I found out that the show had been sold out all week - quite a feat for a village production. Fortunately my hosts Cllr Geoff Harper and Judith Harper had booked early and saved me a seat.It cannot be easy to get on the stage to sing or act in front of your neighbours, particularly for the youngest performers, but the standard was exceptional. The comedy was a personal favourite - although the amusement of the audience was enhanced by an elderly lady with a particularly distinctive laugh who could not stop laughing at a different time to everyone else! The rousing applause at the end was well deserved and reflected the high standard of the show.  Thanks to all those involved (on stage and behind the scenes) for a great night.

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