10/12/2009 by Steve Barclay.

Was at the Sutton parish council meeting last night which was a chance to hear about the problems of heavy lorries going through the village.  There are real concerns that numbers will increase significantly in future years with various major building works using quarry from the Mepal pits. 

Sutton parish council also told me about various road safety measures they would like to put in place, one of which is a zebra crossing.  Apparently the county council are quoting £35K to build a crossing in the village (you might think painting a few white lines and putting a light at each end would cost a bit less).  It seems the work requires various consultants, all of which come at a price.   

Given that zebra crossings are being built up and down the country and are not a new design process, surely a smarter and cheaper approach could be developed?  With the country in massive debt, the days of throwing money around are over and we need to be innovative in looking for cheaper, more efficient ways of doing things.  Hopefully some fresh thinking can be applied.

Good to see County Cllr Phil Read at the meeting, but sadly no county council official turned up.  That was a shame as without any written explanation either from officials, the meeting lacked factual information about the legal scope for action by the county council.  Not surprisingly, the absence of clear legal and factual information creates confusion and rumour. Residents quite rightly want to know e.g. what powers the county council has to put restrictions on future planning permissions, and what proportion of journeys relate to existing planning permissions where they may be no legal scope to act.

Sent a detailed note on the meeting to Cambs County Council Leader Jill Tuck and our MP Malcolm Moss, who I also chatted to on the phone afterwards.  Malcolm is already working on this issue and was aware of the points raised and has written to the county council.  Lets hope by the time of the next public meeting in February next year residents will have a detailed update from county council officers, so that we can start to put in measures to control the flow of lorries through the village.  I will update on this in the new year.
   

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24/09/2009 by Steve Barclay.

Why is the decision to cut our paramedic cover being made by people who are both unelected themselves and not answerable to an elected body?  Why is there so much confusion over exactly who is making this decision and why?  Is it too much to ask that residents in Littleport, Sutton and Little Downham get a straight answer when their lives could be put a risk by a reduction in paramedic cover?

The East of England Ambulance Trust covers Essex, Sussex, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. It is so large nobody seems to know what is going on.  As one secretary just said to me on the phone, “we are so big now we don’t know everyone anymore and it does not always link up.“ 

Even a straightforward question as to where the Chief Executive is based does not get a straight answer.  The Head Office is in Bury St Edmonds (or at least that is where the Chief Executive‘s PA is located), but most of the time the senior managers I am told are travelling.  The Trust also has offices in Norwich, Bedford, and Essex.  Clearly the tight travel cost controls which apply to those of us working in the private sector don’t apply here.  Why not cut the travel budget and pay for paramedics instead?

Voters have no control over those making these decisions.  Nor do their elected representatives.  East Cambridgeshire District Council Leader Fred Brown is opposed to these cuts.  Our Member of Parliament Malcolm Moss is opposed.  No MEP from any political party has called for these cuts.  And yet a paramedic car has been taken from a rural area, which is a potentially life threatening journey away from the nearest hospital, and moved to Cambridge which has Addenbrooke‘s Hospital on its doorstop.

In theory the East of England Ambulance Trust answers to the Strategic Health Authority, but in practice their remit seems confused (staff at the Ambulance Trust again were unable to set out the grounds for where their respective remits start and stop).  The process is further complicated as their decision are also influenced by the various Primary Care Trusts.  Other decision making bodies are also involved, like Cambridgeshire Horizons.  So many officials and committees, yet still no answers.

Residents in East Cambridgeshire are right to be angry.  They deserve to know who is responsible.  It is easy for me to point to the Government, but the problem runs deeper than that.  Yes Labour‘s national targets play a part, and yes they are to blame for the crazy confused governance structure.  But what is worse is that senior and well paid managers in the Ambulance Trust appear to see accountability to taxpayers paying their salaries as a petty inconvenience treated with disdain. 

If the East of England Ambulance Trust thinks it is immune from effective accountability then they may have a shock after the General Election.  The next Government needs to ensure decisions like this affecting the public are taken by those elected directly by the public, or immediately answerable to elected figures held responsible on their behalf.

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22/06/2008 by Steve Barclay.

Out on the doorstep in Sutton this week-end as part of our efforts to distribute 45,000 leaflets across the constituency this month.  A team of us met up at the home of Cllr Phil Read on the High Street, just a stones throw from the chemists and butchers where I popped in to catch up on local news.

The cost of petrol is hitting people hard.  Many local shops in the village have closed over the years, so people are now in a catch 22 as they are told by the government to use their cars less but little is done to support rural communities, forcing them to shop in Ely.  A specific issue raised was the desire for a tea / coffee shop in the village which would be great in particular for young mums.  There is clearly a strong sense of community in Sutton - even my deliveries had to be temporarily suspended as I was called over to the temporary stall outside the spar for a chat and to play my part in buying local raffle tickets.  There were also plenty of firm views expressed on Gordon Brown which despite the light rain put a spring in my step.  Afterwards we rounded off a productive morning with a bite to eat at the Anchor Inn at Sutton Gault.

In the evening, Karen and I headed over to Peterborough for a farmer’s dinner.  The food in particular was excellent - with so many local farm producers present you would expect it to be locally sourced after all.  After a fun night, on Sunday I headed over to Cllr. Pete Murphy’s who kindly hosted an association get together at his home in Chatteris.  It was the perfect venue as I had no need to take the car to get there and could just have a pleasant short stroll in the sunshine from my own home in Chatteris down the road.

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