Cllr Roy Gerstner – Community Activist

The contractors for our Grass cutting and some garden services have not only been ‘Fired’, their HQ/Container in March was set alight last night (Fired)….it is believed that the culprits were looking for vehicle keys, but none are kept in the container.
There is to be a ‘new’ contractor – who I understand put in a ‘cheaper’ bid…..Looking overall at the ‘Landscape Groups’ work and record…I for one have complained on a few occasions about the ‘poor’ delivery and service we have had in Whittlesey…

Anyone fancy a cheap, well used, not very well maintained mower….don’t apply here….go to The Landscape Group…..ps, the 12 foot mower which cuts large areas like the Manor Field is out of action….

This is what ‘my’ frontage’ looks like – Not been maintained for well over a year…..No prizes here for a well maintained council/public area…. NIL POINTS….
(Click on picture to enlarge)

Here is some further information received this morning (01st Sept)

Click on Picture to enlarge….

After Sainsbury’s eventually received full planning permission for the supermarket and country park in June 2015. We all breathed relief however this was tempered by the news that Sainsbury’s then asked for an amendment to the planning permission. This was submitted as a non-material (minimal) change and it was thought would be passed without difficulty. However, Fenland District Council consider this to be a material change and therefore refused the amendment. Subsequently, Sainsbury’s have re-submitted the proposed amendment and we now await the decision of FDC in this regard.
One of the issues being, they want the store to be able to make home deliveries on a 24 hour basis…this by any standards is a Major change not only to its original plan, but the implication of ‘noise’ that could be generated by vehicles moving about…..again we wait and wait and wait….

There is a ‘public’ consultation into how to improve non-emergency patient transport in Cambridgeshire. Part of this will be ‘meetings’ held in Yes – every other market town, Wisbech, March and Chatteris – except us WE in Whittlesey have again been left out.
We have (2) active Patient Participation Groups (I am an original member of the New Queen Street PPG), we have a vocal strong chairman, so why are residents being disadvantaged by there not being a public meeting at our Town.
I will be attending one of these meetings and have made my displeasure known to the chair of the PPG and a couple of our councillors.
In the meantime if you or your relatives may be affected, you may request a hard copy, by phoning 01223 725304. Hard copies are also being sent to GP surgeries, pharmacies and libraries.

 The 7th annual Street Priders BBQ took place last week-end and for a change it remained dry through -out the festivities – we are always made very welcome at our secret beauty spot in Coates. (Click on picture to enlarge)

One of our projects this year, was to seed around a million wild flower seeds, this we did in (3) plots on the far side (Near the Bower river bank) Manor Field. The project was kindly sponsored by Bruce Roan and his generous customers at the ‘Letter B’ – after a bit of a slow start….all came out looking very colourful and friendly to our Insects and Bees.
 
(Click on picture to enlarge)

New signs around town, highlight the for-ever and ongoing Doggie Poo ‘issues’, these signs are very eye-catching and I and many others ‘hope’ that some notice is taken from these very ‘visible’ signs.

That said I think there has been a small improvement in this area….not noticing quite as much of the ‘stuff’ around, especially in the central town area.

The favourite places of course are the Manor Field and the associated walk along the Bower. The Stonald Road and Cycle Route out to the Millennium  Bridge.

Never quite getting answers from FDC’s Street Scene (Officers and HQ) as to how many if any perpetrators have ever been given the dreaded On-The-Spot Fine? – or if so did any actuals pay-up.

I see the ‘latest’ ‘initiative’ at FDC is ‘fining anyone in Wisbech who happens to drop ‘Dog Ends/Cigarette buts’… so why Wisbech, do the other 3 market towns in Fenland not ‘suffer’ or count…. I’ve highlighted before….
Shortly FDC will be asking the public where ‘saving can be made – I for one can think of one department where we can save well over £500K / Year – with very little ‘loss’ of service.

On my Litter picking travels today (I find it therapeutic!) I was fortunate to find a nice £10:00 note, it was on the grassed area besides the St Johns Ambulance HQ on Plough Road….naturally I will return it to its owner if they can prove it is theirs, otherwise it will go into my donations fund.

What a nice refreshing by-chance meeting with our Ex-PCSO Andy Halliday outside Sainsburys earlier this week. Andy has been a fully fledged PC for over 2 years now and is based at Bridge Street….Happy as always…
Now the ‘numpties’ on SL are whinging (As they do) (Rarely having anything positive to say)…are on about the efficiency of our PCSO’s in Whittlesey, before ‘posting’ why don’t they do a ‘little basic’ research into the remit of our PCSO’s in Cambridgeshire, they have ‘very limited’ powers and are classified as civilians. By all means report anything you feel is illegal, try the Police Station (Limited opening hours) or 101 for general issues.

My thanks to the Whittlesey Business Forum, for inviting me to their meeting on Wednesday evening. On this occasion some 13 attendees, (Not all Businesses), including some councillors. A very interesting meeting – with ‘some’ ideas’ on how best to promote our Town. Retail has and is changing at a very rapid rate, our proximity to Peterborough as the major shopping hub and of course The Internet…Some at the ‘Forum’ think the clock can be turned back to ‘Old fashioned shops’ – sorry, selling a couple of specialist items a day is not going to sustain a business.
We have a ‘fair’ variety of shops and ‘plenty’ of take-aways, there is of course a ‘need’ for specialist shops, but some have tried and many have failed.
Most people including myself (Guilty) do a great deal of shopping/travel on the Internet because it is convenient, not always the cheapest and many become just lazy.
A couple of months ago, there was 13 vacant units in our town centre, many have been re-occupied, but it is the same story….use it or loose it, I for one am now making a conscious effort to shop more locally, as I did on Thursday when I used our Garden Centre on Station Road, instead of driving to Peterborough for the couple of items I needed.

The result of yesterdays (2nd) election in the Bassenhally ward has been announced.
Firstly, congratulations to Cllr Martin Curtis on the convincing majority, the commiserations to the (2) other candidates:
M Curtis     308
C Gale            77
D Chapman  51

I make this a total of 436 votes cast, (if) as reported the election costs (To the Whittlesey ratepayer was £7,000) then this makes each vote costing £16:00 each.
Irrespective of who/what/why was at fault causing the election to be triggered, my whole argument as quoted in the Cambs Times© on several occasions has been well and truly vindicated, irrespective of the need for open democracy…. we had an election in May.
If any of the candidates had to have paid for this election a doubt very much if any would have stood.
£16:00 for each vote cast, is our money, £7,000 of Whittlesey rate payers money ‘could’ have been better spent….

Lets move on  – its history now…. – and as the Cameron Man says…. Lessons may have been learnt – but I doubt it!….

See Headline story @ www.cambstimes.co.uk/home (today 21st August 2015)

           
Sgt Paul Harris     PCSO Sam Dyer  PCSO Ian Moll

So our Community & Neighbourhood Watch team in Whittlesey are loosing not only our
Pro-active Sergeant Paul Harris but also part-time Whittlesey PCSO Sam Dyer at the end of the month, Paul is being replaced by Sgt Ben Di Meo, and at present not sure about the PCSO replacement. Although as Chairman of Whittlesey NHW I do my best to promote our Neighbourhood Watch Team, we are but a ‘few’ again who try to look after our community and neighbours, like all groups we need more on board to help our police team when ever we can. Not a great amount of ‘work’ involved, just ears and eyes for your street and neighbours.

On a more anti-social issue, I see there is another ‘A’ board hoarding advertising their business on a ‘spot’ that Street Pride has a Gateway project. Considering it took us 6 months of getting permissions from various official bodies to place our ‘Street Furniture’ in place – Sponsored by some very generous local businesses, we started with (1) ugly hoarding, now have a (2nd) and I wonder if all Tom, Dick and Harry would like to advertise in this spot. It spoils the project totally…. I am on the case….

Since the boundary changes earlier this year, which has altered many wards, Bassenhally now consists ‘mainly’ of the ‘Avenues’ and the ‘Birds Estates’, for us that are interested, I wonder ‘who’ has managed to motivate their ‘core’ electorate to ‘vote’.
This bi-election will again be ‘a party’ based affair, some have questioned me – why I did not make a stand, several reasons, some which have already been noted….
The elections in May, when the ‘majority’ of voters decided ‘who’ they wished elected.
The ‘political’ landscape has favoured those who are standing on a ‘Party’ platform.
I do not wish to be disrespectful to anyone on the way they wish to use ‘their’ vote – that’s what democracy is about.
I work with all individuals – for the best result for our town & villages and on a whole they work with me in return, naturally there are a ‘few’ who think, they are not too be ‘asked’, ‘questioned’ or to be held accountable – well that again is up to the electorate to decide when elections take place.
Lets wait for the ‘result’

’09:30 ‘ Just been informed by a resident on Eastrea Road, that they have had election leaflets from the Labour & Lib Dem candidates only – None from the Conservative candidate….’stange’…

Another ‘chance’ meeting with prospective councillor Colin Gale this morning, revealed unfortunately, he hasn’t researched where the Whittlesey Town Council HQ/Offices are! – come on Colin? – he informs me (Monday am) that he has been informed that Martin Curtis has already won the election which is being held on the 20th and the counting of votes immediately afterwards at the Alderman Jacobs school……so why bother having and election and its associated costs if one candidate has already declared himself the winner.
It maybe the case…. however I would like the votes counted first please….