Cllr Roy Gerstner – Community Activist

As previously stated anything that comes via my letterbox in respect the elections will be all treated with the same scrutiny – the latest ‘expensive’ political poster comes from the Liberal Democrats – Now ‘they’ are all producing some very costly material to convince the electorate to vote for them – (I in the past can only afford simple publicity as I fund it myself as I do this website) – still that’s big politics playing with the big boys (Out of my league). Anyway I do have a lot of respect for One LibDem Councillor that being Gavin Booth – Gavin has worked against a lot of odds for many years and known in his ward of Parsons Drove as a very hard working councillor – however he is not standing in Whittlesey – the areas I/we are interested in.
What I am very disappointed yet again and I know I harp on about this but think it is very important to the elector – None of our LibDem would be councillor/Mayor has attended any Local Council meetings, be it Full Council, Planning or Finance Committees – If they were that ‘passionate’ about Whittlesey – why wait until an election to ‘start’ engaging, at least ‘most’ of the present Councillors are approachable and available and are ALL Local residents.
The other extremely annoying FACT is that on all of this ‘expensive’ publicity’ promises – at no point can I find out How to contact this prospective councillor – No Phone Number,
No Address, No e-mail and no Website – Sorry guys I’ll NOT be voting for either of you.
Promises I have heard for the past 40+ years that I have been listening – and I am still waiting for ‘most’ of those promises.

It takes a lot of guts and commitment to stand for public office, these candidates have the advantage of the ‘BiG Party publicity machine behind them, they are very successful at fund raising and producing this very good, slick publicity material.

So Gentlemen – my details are at the top of the page, I am always open to dialogue, engagement or just a friendly chat over a coffee – the invitation stands to everyone not just the LibDems – try and convince me !!!

Like most of us I get very frustrated by the amount of time it takes for issues to be solved and addressed….but keep plugging away and there are some successes ….My reporting of the poor state of the ‘Tiled area’ around our ancient monument – The Buttercross saw it cleaned up within 36 hours.
The (3) vandalised toilets – although still not repaired is on the Big Radar and never fear I will be chasing it.
Our Vagrant Mr Latvia – although not an overly Big problem – has returned to Peterborough – but he maybe back….
Finally the Illegal vehicle causing issues on Station Road has also been addressed….
Not a bad week for ‘A member of the public’ – Maybe ask your prospective County Councillors what success they have had this week for Whittlesey….or are these minor trivia issues beyond them to look at…

 
Before…..                       36 hours later a significant cleaner area for all to enjoy

These ‘issues’ may seem very minor -but they have all had an impact on our Town as a whole.
Finally Mr Albie Burrell is doing his best to break his Community Exclusion Order with a number of residents giving statements to our Police of him breaking his terms and conditions….carry on Sonny and you will see something better than an Exclusion Order

I wonder what next weeks ‘challenges’ may be!

See agenda below.
Note that the Planning application for houses near/besides Whittlesey Railway Station has been withdrawn

My thanks to Cllr Mrs Mayor for her update this morning – she has gone to Corporate Director of FDC Mr Richard Cassidy – who informs that FDC are awaiting spare parts.

I worked for The ‘Mickey Mouse Company’© and I was very proud to do so I might add.
As the Senior Support Engineer if something broke down and had an adverse effect of The Customer experience’ I and my team were expected to fix the problem in more than quick time (Or you found yourself unemployed).
Now I know there is somewhat differences – The Disney Corporation© had a vast amount of money and I didn’t work to a budget – Fix it or replace it – and do it pronto.
FDC in the past were always wanting to focus on their customer satisfaction.

Again I thank all the Councillors who are on the case.
Public toilets although not a statutory requirement – however if you have them they should be fit for purpose – come on FDC ….Get them fixed please…

ps I am also informed that the Buttercross flooring will be cleaned today.

One of my remits was as the Support Engineer for the Multi Million $ Walt Disney Theatre

©RG

Whittlesey & District Business Forum & The Fens Magazine are organising a ‘Fun Walk’
9th July – Click on picture for full details – help support two local excellent groups.

The guest speaker was not Inspector Will  Davis but Sergeant Richard Lugg who now heads the ‘Problem Solving Team’ which consists of 2 PC’s and 7 PCSO’s.
They look after Whittlesey and many other parts of rural Fenland.
He explained the teams remit and some of the success they had in dealing with anti-social behaviour – apparently Low Life are not given ASBO’s any more they are called ‘Criminal Behaviour Orders’ Sgt Lugg appeared very positive and upbeat with the engagements he had with his area.
I did ask him before the meeting for ‘More’ PCSO visibility at our Library/Community Hub, where the public might be able to report or ask questions – he said he would pass it on.
Good update from Cllr Miscandlon on hoping to get ‘MUST FARM’ better recognised and a home here in Whittlesey – still early days, but again positive news.

A number of people have spoken to me about the forthcoming elections – County, Mayor and General Election – and asked me how I’m going to vote – normally I say I’m voting the same as you? – But on this occasion I am voting for None of the Candidates –

My thanks to (3) Councillors and the Town Clerk who have been chasing my complaint and comments.
Today I received a reply via Cllr David Mason/Cllr Dee Laws from Mr Mark Mathews, Head of Environmental Services.

“I share your concerns that the contractor has not responded and resolved the issue yet.
We signed the order off for the work early in April hoping to avoid delay and potentially more damage.
Unfortunately the Whittlesey facilities are a different design to the other toilets and I’m informed that the work involved is more than just replacing the boxes.
We will chase the contractor concerned and try and have the work completed as soon as possible”

Now I/we have a better picture – I wonder ‘why’ our facilities are different to the rest of Fenland and that the work involved is more than just replacing the boxes – That I read as costing more money.

Again my thanks to the Councillors for taking up the issues and keeping me informed.

There is still no update on the (3) Out of Order Public Toilets behind ‘The George’ (The only public toilets in Whittlesey). As previously reported these have been Out of Oder for a number of weeks – due to vandalism.
The question that needs asking now – are there spare parts available for these toilets or were FDC advised when commissioning the toilets that the Paybox system was about to become obsolete? – I can report that the Boxes have again been Got at/vandalised yesterday. If this is the case – is the system suitable and will they for-ever become a victim of vandalism – Costing the ratepayer I would image quite a lot of money.
If the toilets are the same throughout Fenland – why are parts taking so long to source?
I have today reported the extremely dirty state of the Buttercross ‘Tiled area’ – I was informed some years ago, that the area was ‘Power Washed Weekly’ I would seriously challenge this…..hopefully FDC will clean up.

Whittlesey & District Business Forum – Falcon Hotel 18:30

I am hoping to attend this meeting, the guest speaker will be Inspector Will Davies, Fenland Police Operational Manager – I and many others will be very interested in Insp
Davies presentation – especially Policing in Whittlesey.

Amey Roadshow 2017 Stall-Holder Booking Form – Wisbech
Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing in hope that you might be of interest in participating in our ECO Family Fun day held in Cambridgeshire.  I am an Education Officer for Cambridgeshire at Amey Waste Services, responsible for promoting recycling messages to residents throughout Cambridgeshire.  We are working in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council on a PFI contract to deliver waste management services to the whole county.
Part of our remit here is to promote key messages about waste and recycling practices.   We organise Outreach programmes, school visits at the centre,  as well as visits for students, community groups and anyone else who would like to learn more about what we do. Our practice involves  providing workshops, giving talks or doing activities / crafts with the public to demonstrate what we do and to deliver our important message.  This year alone, we have organised over 70 school / group visits to site, and attended a further 70+ groups / events / schools to provide talks, activities and support where required.   All of this is offered absolutely free to whomever finds it useful.

We are running a series of events in 2017 during half terms and holidays promoting Reduce, Reuse and Recycle and waste awareness in all the districts of Cambridgeshire.  As part of the theme, we will be inviting vendors to run stalls and activities related to waste awareness and eco-friendly food stalls which are aimed at incorporating all the waste streams we use at home, how not to contaminate the bins, where our waste goes and what you can do about it at home.  In particular, about contamination of the green waste bins and the importance of making sure what is placed in the green waste bin is as natural as possible as well as composting messages.   If successful, I will be continuing the theme with a series of other events around Cambridgeshire throughout 2017.

The second of these events will be held on the 30^thMay 2017 at the Queen Marys Centre , Wisbech from 10am to 2pm.  Would you be interested in joining us? If so, please see attached a booking form.  It is free to run a stall and you can promote your group or business as long as you keep the theme to the messages above.  We would appreciate if you would consider donating a raffle prize to a draw we will hold on the day.
Examples of other stalls/activities we are looking at having (some are booked in, some are still in discussions):
As part of the composting / green waste element, I am looking to have a Superworm themed event in one area with storytelling session for kids with waste themed books (ideas welcome) and some worm hotels the kids can make and take home.

CCORN hopefully to come and run a stall (they recycle paints brought to the household recycling centre) to do a reuse session and bring kit.

Carbon footprint Cambridge – Repair Café
Amey activity stall with sorting & modelling activities.
Re-Imagine
A soup kitchen WOUP
REBOOT
Littleport Timebank
Any ethical cakemakers
Soil Association
CBKA
Ely Nappy library – reusable nappies
We would love to chat you and discuss some ideas for making it work and more about what you do.  Let me know when you are free and the best number to call you on.
Look forward to hearing from you soon.
Kind Regards,
Rebecca Hargarve BA (Hons) MSc
Education Officer (Waste Treatment, Cambridgeshire)
Amey

Amey Roadshow 2017 Stall-Holder Booking Form – Wisbech

Seen yesterday late afternoon at Kings Delph heading in the Peterborough direction.
I heard he had more ‘friends’ in Peterborough.