Public Conveniences – Are they Fit for Purpose?

Being born and bred in Shrewsbury I know and speak to many local residents every day, and one of the most regular topics to come up is the state of Shrewsbury’s public conveniences. A good range of well presented and maintained public toilets is a key part of any enjoyable visit to our town centre. Sadly the position is not all it should be.

Regularly I am told the standard of equipment and presentation is below what our residents and visitors have a right to expect.  The image of Shrewsbury they portray to visitors is one of not caring  whether they have a comfortable and  relaxed visit at all.  It is vital for the economic health of Shrewsbury that we make the most of the opportunities and income well planned tourism offers.
The current provision of public toilets in Shrewsbury is just not doing that.

What a massive shame it is that our Tory led Borough and County Councils instead chose to waste some £750,000 on the Darwin “celebrations” and the hugely costly Quantum Leap slinky sculpture.

Investing wisely in our basic facilities in my view would have been the sensible course, and would be far more likely to bring the repeat visits the Darwin fiasco has so conspicuously failed to produce.

Broken Britain – A Genuine Picture?

Sometimes when reading the letters pages of the local press, one can be given a rather depressing and nihilistic view of the world. Often, the same narrow band of correspondents are pushing an intolerant view of life, choosing to focus upon that which divides society rather than what brings us together.

Other times, those with a particular axe to grind will seek to make political capital out of isolated national tragedies far from Shrewsbury. A recent instance is David Cameron’s ‘Broken Britain’ claims following the child violence case in South Yorkshire.

Personally I prefer to concentrate on the facts, and recognise that not all was well in the good old days. For example the number of violent deaths among children in England and Wales fell by almost 40% in the past 30 years, or nearly 50% when taking into account growth in the child population, according to the recent report by Bournemouth University.

Improvements in social care systems, along with a greater focus on child poverty, had helped lower the death rate. Thirty years ago England and Wales were the third or fourth highest child killers in the western world, but we’re now fourth lowest.

These national tragedies are terrible and one violent death of a child is too many but this research clearly proves the way to protect children’s lives is to invest in our social care systems, fight child poverty and support those families who need it.

To consider cutting initiatives such as Labour’s Sure Start scheme, which provides health, education, parenting and employment services to pre-school children and parents, is in my opinion, bordering on the cruel.

I hope our Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski will confirm that he will back our four Shrewsbury Sure Start centres in Monkmoor, Crowmoor, Harlescott and Meole Brace, and not permit any cuts in their funding laid out nationally by his own party.

Tories are going soft on crime

“Tories are going soft on crime” says Jon Tandy as crime in West Mercia falls by 6% “These figures show that Labour’s tough action is working in YOUR area.”

Figures released today (Thursday Jan 21st) show that crime across the West Mercia Police area, covering Shrewsbury, has fallen by 6%. Across the country, crime has fallen by 8%, with burglary, robbery and violence all down this quarter.

This welcome drop, which will be welcomed by people across West Mercia, is the latest indication that Labour’s tough line and investment in frontline services is making our communities safer.

Labour’s Jon Tandy PPC said: “Today’s crime figures chime with the unemployment figures earlier this week. Just
as Labour’s investment has helped keep people in work through the recession, investment in policing and communities is helping make people safer in their homes and on the streets of Shrewsbury.

“Though every crime committed is terrible for the victim, and every job lost a personal tragedy, the evidence clearly shows that Labour investment is working, both on crime and the economy.

“It’s also clearer than ever that the Tories would be a disaster for both, choking off recovery with their irresponsible economic plans and opposing tough action on crime and anti-social behaviour.”
I know from recent debates in Shropshire Council that local Tories are fixated on future cuts in services no matter what the consequences for local residents in terms of our local quality of life.

“Today’s figures show that the crimes the public care most about are falling across the county with burglary, robbery and violence all down this quarter and overall police recorded crime reduced by six per cent.
“I’m very pleased to see that confidence in the police is increasing and the number of people worried about high levels of antisocial behaviour has fallen to 15 per cent – the lowest on record. The British Crime Survey also shows and the risk of being a victim is at its lowest point ever.

“The fall in crime across the West Midlands region shows the difference that can be made when we work together to tackle crime and is a testament to the effort and commitment shown by police and crime reduction partners around the region.”

Instead of the local Tories regularly knocking the Police, they should thank them for their part in these real concrete improvements, and support them as we seek to drive local crime down still further.

Darwin Desperation

I’ve been told that the local Tories have a photo of me drinking champagne at the Darwin birthday party back in February. They intend to use it “Against me” apparently. Hopefully this is idle speculation, because if not it represents a pretty desperate view of the world.

As an elected Borough and County Councillor, it was not unreasonable for me to attend such an event. For the record all I had was a plastic cup of either champagne or sparkling wine along with around 100 other people. It was hardly the free event of the century. At the time I had no idea of the  huge eventual total cost of the Darwin celebrations – if I had any idea of the eventual cost I would have choked on my drink.

Instead of pointless stunts, what the residents want (see  Shrewsbury Chronicle 14th January 2010 page 9) are answers to my questions about how the councils managed to spend £750,000 on these celebrations with very little apparent accountability.

The Shropshire Star published two very good reports on the final cost of what many residents feel was almost a fiasco. Yet we are still waiting for some credible figures to show exactly how much real inward investment and business was brought into Shrewsbury in return for this huge expense. The ruling Tory Group on Shropshire Council ought to be turning their attention to this question in my view.

SHREWSBURY-MORE ON THE TORY RECORD

Other matters raised in Cllr Peter Nutting’s letter included the new livestock market up at the Battlefield junction.

My concern has to be that less than 2% of local residents are employed in agriculture, yet SABC spent some £5m on the new market. The return in rent we local taxpayers get from the new market is less than 1%-hardly a great investment of our money. Peter says the market is hugely popular-not according to the Farmer’s Weekly throughput figures I’ve read. Bridgnorth and Market Drayton markets sell around 10 times the number of beef cattle than does our market.

The Shrewsbury area is surrounded by livestock markets-6 within 20 miles at Oswestry, Welshpool, Ludlow, Bishops Castle, Bridgnorth and Market Drayton. Why was it necessary to build yet another market for around 1% of the population-was this a good use of public money?

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