tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79319966723845831202024-03-07T03:34:15.972+00:00The Orton BlogCouncillor Julie Howell, Orton Waterville Ward, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. <br> For
Orton Waterville, Orton Brimbles, Orton Goldhay, Orton Northgate, Orton Southgate & Orton Wistow.Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-86518922226447168502018-06-30T00:02:00.003+01:002018-08-23T15:32:12.083+01:00Orton Wistow Residents Strongly Oppose Access Road Proposal<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-F8DtOCIKLnYBSykXfObme4-uiZY82cGts9XDKCRS57eOzYgsVl9U5XuI0Ma5udYddno7_TgCsQujlgQaFGANz1icQQztJUczYlkD4F6L6uaFbmMOHtxIu2M6i4QHBTy-NSSTP1nlnC8R/s1600/protest+7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Councillor Julie Howell (centre) with Orton Wistow residents" border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-F8DtOCIKLnYBSykXfObme4-uiZY82cGts9XDKCRS57eOzYgsVl9U5XuI0Ma5udYddno7_TgCsQujlgQaFGANz1icQQztJUczYlkD4F6L6uaFbmMOHtxIu2M6i4QHBTy-NSSTP1nlnC8R/s640/protest+7.JPG" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Councillor Julie Howell (centre) with Orton Wistow residents</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">UPDATE: APPLICATION WITHDRAWN!</span></b></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Following a huge public outcry, the developer and the city council have confirmed that the application has been withdrawn and a fresh application that will not include plans for an access road between Lynchwood and Wistow Way will be submitted. </span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/campaigners-in-peterborough-win-battle-to-stop-link-road-going-through-the-street-where-they-live-1-8586895">Read more on the Peterborough Telegraph website</a>.</span></span></h3>
<h2>
<b><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></b></h2>
<h2>
<b><span style="color: #38761d;">What going on?</span></b></h2>
A few weeks ago I began to receive phone calls and emails from residents of Orton Wistow. They were all very concerned by some information they had received about an outline planning proposal for changes to Lynchwood Business Park, that would include the creation of an access road linking a car park within Lynchwood to Wistow Way. The exit point on Wistow Way would be directly opposite Napier Place Sheltered Housing and just along the road from Orton Wistow Primary School.<br />
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Concerned, I had a look at the plans and very quickly began to understand why the residents who had got in touch with me were so worried.<br />
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To begin with, only residents of Svenskaby got in touch. This was because they had received through their doors a notification from the council to let them know about the proposal and inviting them to comment as part of a formal consultation. However, Wistow is a close community, and pretty soon alarm had spread from one street to the next.<br />
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Quite apart from being a city councillor, I have twenty years of experience as a policy officer and campaigns manager. My immediate reaction to the situation was to address the concern and confusion by making sure that all Wistow residents had access to the facts.<br />
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I let the Peterborough Telegraph know that the proposal was causing great worry to residents, spoke live on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire's Breakfast Show.<br />
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<h2>
<span style="color: #38761d;">A very public meeting</span></h2>
On Tuesday 19th June, I called a public meeting so that residents who had concerns about the proposal could hear from one another and I could hear from them. To my astonishment, 650 residents attended the meeting, which was hosted by Orton Wistow Primary School (thank you to head teacher Simon Eardley for that).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWQluZ8DmltgoxwqWzN7Tqs-l9CpTp8BSnSe43aHq5Ls3zzyBmRoDAgJpjSAG7Bne38i5C58GKc3aP19a3D7Y8E6KB5bU3ixqBVTWci3vNO7D9wNugt6njBC0Es3XCv7kXujutN5c3EJV/s1600/public+meeting+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Public meeting" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWQluZ8DmltgoxwqWzN7Tqs-l9CpTp8BSnSe43aHq5Ls3zzyBmRoDAgJpjSAG7Bne38i5C58GKc3aP19a3D7Y8E6KB5bU3ixqBVTWci3vNO7D9wNugt6njBC0Es3XCv7kXujutN5c3EJV/s640/public+meeting+photo.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">650 residents attended the public meeting to express how they feel about the proposed access road</td></tr>
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650 is an incredible turnout by any standard. The vast majority of those who attended are not in favour of the access road. Many expressed concerns about road safety, noise, destruction of tree belt, pollution and irreparable damage to the unique character of Orton Wistow.<br />
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<h2>
<b><span style="color: #38761d;">Where can I view the plans?</span></b></h2>
You can view the proposal on the city council's planning portal at <a href="https://www.peterborough.gov.uk/council/planning-and-development/planning-and-building/search-applications/">https://www.peterborough.gov.uk/council/planning-and-development/planning-and-building/search-applications/</a>. Search for planning application <b>18/00923/OUT</b>. When you have found the application, click on 'Documents' and then on 'See Associated Documents' to view the details of the proposal.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4HsX4hhpjGW_nYpt6xu2oEA30uJrVbMckuRXyKWCrB9MrUveNkacqblCDXc06UQSqeDalN9EEsnxRZS57qd_w1VhWw8twzUUj99pIQyaFKzzN1U2l8nucOSBXlKWdb7D7UX3VXaiaUcp6/s1600/associated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="screenshot" border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1600" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4HsX4hhpjGW_nYpt6xu2oEA30uJrVbMckuRXyKWCrB9MrUveNkacqblCDXc06UQSqeDalN9EEsnxRZS57qd_w1VhWw8twzUUj99pIQyaFKzzN1U2l8nucOSBXlKWdb7D7UX3VXaiaUcp6/s640/associated.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The screen looks something like this<br />
(documents are being added all the time)</td></tr>
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<h2>
<span style="color: #38761d;">How can I comment on the proposal?</span></h2>
The city council is currently running a public consultation and your comments are very welcome. Just visit the online planning portal and once you have the details of the application on screen click on the 'Comments' tab to leave your feedback.<br />
<br />
The consultation remains open until 10 July 2018.<br />
<br />
If you know someone who wants to comment but who doesn't have access to the internet, they can send their comment by post to the case officer Mrs J MacLennan at Peterborough City Council, Town Hall, Bridge Street, Peterborough PE1 1HF quoting application reference 18/00923/OUT.<br />
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<h2>
<b><span style="color: #38761d;">What should I write in my comments?</span></b></h2>
<div>
What you write is up to you. However, the following tips may help.</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Important: start by writing whether you support or object to the proposal</li>
<li>Use your own words, don't copy someone else's comments</li>
<li>Write about the impact the proposed access road would have on you and your family</li>
<li>Ask everyone in your household to write in separately</li>
</ul>
<div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #38761d;">Things you might like to write about</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div>
<b>Character</b>: Orton Wistow is a quiet, safe residential area. The introduction of business park traffic onto Wistow Way is inappropriate, out of character and potentially dangerous.<br />
<br />
<b>Access</b>: Emergency vehicles may not be able to get through gridlocked traffic.<br />
Napier Place Sheltered Housing regularly requires emergency vehicle traffic.<br />
Moving the bus stops discourages residents from Napier Place from using public transport.<br />
Some Napier Place residents will not be able to walk the extra distance if the bus stops are moved.<br />
The proposal to move the school's four parking bays will exacerbated the traffic problems at the start and end of the school day.<br />
The access road will act as a 'rat run' between Wistow Way and Lynchwood Business Park.<br />
<br />
<b>Health</b>: Emissions from queuing traffic on Wistow Way are harmful.<br />
There will be additional harmful emissions due to the additional traffic on Wistow Way.<br />
Road noise will be increased.<br />
<br />
<b>Safety</b>: Pedestrians (including children and older people) will be forced to cross at the busy Napier Place junction to reach the bus stop and parking bays.<br />
Additional traffic will travel around the whole of Wistow Way as more vehicles will access the other end of Wistow Way to get to the access road.<br />
Risk from blind overtaking parked vehicles on the bend if parking bays are moved there.<br />
<br />
<b>Traffic</b>: Additional traffic could block Wistow Way while traffic queues on Oundle Road could block that too.<br />
Traffic exiting from Wistow Way will have to give way to traffic at Lynchwood.<br />
There will be delays at the blind corner due to cars parked in the (moved) parking bays and the (moved) bus stop.<br />
<br />
<b>Appearance</b>: Loss of trees will open up views of a large car park and five-storey office buildings.<br />
The tree belt serves as a 'buffer' between the residential estate and the business park. Part of the tree belt will be destroyed to create the access road.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #38761d;">And if you'd like to get a bit more technical... Policies affected by the development</span></h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><u>National Planning Policy Framework - Section 4 - Promoting Sustainable Transport</u></b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
All developments that generate significant amounts of movement should be supported by a Transport Statement or Transport Assessment. Plans and decisions should take account of whether:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>the opportunities for sustainable transport modes have been taken up depending on the nature and location of the site, to reduce the need for major transport infrastructure;</li>
<li>safe and suitable access to the site can be achieved for all people;</li>
<li>improvements can be undertaken within the transport network that cost effectively limit the significant impacts of the development. Development should only be prevented or refused on transport grounds where the residual cumulative impacts of development are severe.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b><u>Peterborough Planning Policies DPD (2012) - PP12 - The Transport Implications of Development</u></b></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Permission will only be granted if appropriate provision has been made for safe access by all user groups and <b>there would not be any unacceptable impact on the transportation network including highway safety</b>. </div>
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<b><u>Peterborough Local Plan 2016 to 2036 (Submission) - LP13 - Transport</u></b><br />
<br />
a) New development should ensure that appropriate provision is made for the transport needs that it will create including<b> reducing the need to travel by car, prioritisation of bus use, improved walking and cycling routes and facilities. </b><br />
b) The Transport Implications of Development - <b>Permission will only be granted where appropriate provision has been made for safe access of all user groups and subject to appropriate mitigation.</b><br />
c) Parking Standards - <b>permission will only be granted if appropriate parking provision for all modes of transport is made in accordance with standards.</b><br />
<br />
The Transport Implications of Development<br />
Planning permission for development that has transport implications will only be granted if:<br />
a) appropriate provision has been made for safe, convenient and sustainable access to, from and within the site by all user groups, taking account of the priorities set out in the LTP; and<br />
b) following appropriate mitigation<b> the development would not result in a residual cumulative severe impact on any element of the transportation network including highway safety.</b></div>
</div>
<div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d;">Thank you</span></b></h2>
I would like to thank the many hundreds of Orton Wistow residents and people who travel to Orton Wistow regularly (e.g. parents whose children attend Orton Wistow Primary School) for attending the public meeting, responding to the consultation and making others aware of it; the 12 residents who distributed leaflets for me; Simon Eardly, Head Teacher, Orton Wistow Primary School for use of meeting rooms; Luke Moore for invaluable research; members of Peterborough Green Party. More names will be added here!</div>
Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-22432732174005286482018-05-14T00:21:00.001+01:002018-05-14T13:04:58.366+01:00A Historic Night for Orton Waterville, Peterborough, you and me<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hhWFqaHcCdM" width="480"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
<b>Whoops.</b><br />
<br />
No false modesty, I genuinely wasn't expecting to win. Not this year. My team and I were fully prepared to come a very respectable second. So when the voters of Orton Waterville ward elected me as your new city councillor with more than 50% of the vote we honestly were lost for words.<br />
<br />
Elections are really difficult to win, especially if you're in a small local party with very little in the way of resources and have never won a seat in the city before. What's more, a week prior to the election our hallowed local paper the Peterborough Telegraph said that all sitting Conservatives were expected to keep their seats. No one said anything about the possibility of a historic landslide win to a Green Party candidate who had never won an election before.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgyrPWla3sPyI4kt2NxkikJx5RakHvy1sTz6D_-pl-ggU-76JGC1R58jIj5yaUKqq6SXNr-32Ccof1R2xaYqqtgDCO6aZ6K68Q9zPMlX5sTaTPbDS9rZzr4c-R-MrUa34ULjxS5dOJQVC6/s1600/results.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The results for Orton Waterville ward" border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="1203" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgyrPWla3sPyI4kt2NxkikJx5RakHvy1sTz6D_-pl-ggU-76JGC1R58jIj5yaUKqq6SXNr-32Ccof1R2xaYqqtgDCO6aZ6K68Q9zPMlX5sTaTPbDS9rZzr4c-R-MrUa34ULjxS5dOJQVC6/s640/results.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The result in full</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinjs1CKhlp8ZYHd9YKuGFf4_AER9-_x7UMZfWheWQ3EiHFm_OFmJlMGOpZy1t0NGQ4V71zE_voVcENYHC5YUQfsYx1wzplWY1m6EvDgGt875Ob94j09XRC5gLVVin1z3oJ-gQ4CRhJreot/s1600/donut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Peterborough politics pie chart" border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="512" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinjs1CKhlp8ZYHd9YKuGFf4_AER9-_x7UMZfWheWQ3EiHFm_OFmJlMGOpZy1t0NGQ4V71zE_voVcENYHC5YUQfsYx1wzplWY1m6EvDgGt875Ob94j09XRC5gLVVin1z3oJ-gQ4CRhJreot/s640/donut.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look! A little sliver of green!</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
<b>How did this happen? </b><br />
<br />
Hard work and high visibility. In the last couple of weeks leading up to the election we knew we were doing okay as high numbers of residents were telling me and my team that I am the only politician who knocks on their door throughout the year and the only local politician who takes the trouble to communicate with them. For me, communication is obvious and important - I just didn't realise just how important it was to Orton Waterville residents, nor how rarely the other local politicians were doing it.<br />
<br />
Another reason for the win was undoubtedly the large turnout of 39%. This may not sound like a very high number, but compared to other wards in the city it is impressive. We can put this down to many people deciding to vote in this election who usually would not and many of these people deciding to vote Green. Residents used to joke that you could stick a blue rosette on a potato in Orton Waterville and it would win. I don't believe that any seat should be 'safe', so my team and I worked hard for over two years to offer residents a genuine alternative. I thought we'd do okay, but I did not expect to leap from an 8% share of the vote to over 50% in a single election. That caught us all by surprise.<br />
<br />
And then there are the issues. I'm not talking about Green Party policies. In the Green Party we don't have 'the whip', unlike the other big parties. This means I'm free to speak my mind and to represent my community as I choose. So the issues I'm talking about are the ones that are important to you: the survival of our local post offices, the condition of our roads, fly-tipping, the accessibility of local buses, etc. Because I talk to you over and over I understand what is important to you and have already taken action on many of the issues that concern you.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwm2TRxib-2qCV6xEP-v-pIXRAWL-9CBZ6MOS7HlGEokBZHf8JVh9TaMMRDNiE3c30R-zeei8EE8Hkj7UTPxhK1kYMZnWeKUeM6YjBDukIGsLtTu_SS_7t1R_BYyW-BFNDloqNvaddF4_l/s1600/Election+Address+front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Just some of the things I've achieved in Orton Waterville ward over the past couple of years" border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="1368" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwm2TRxib-2qCV6xEP-v-pIXRAWL-9CBZ6MOS7HlGEokBZHf8JVh9TaMMRDNiE3c30R-zeei8EE8Hkj7UTPxhK1kYMZnWeKUeM6YjBDukIGsLtTu_SS_7t1R_BYyW-BFNDloqNvaddF4_l/s640/Election+Address+front.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just some of the things I've achieved in Orton Waterville ward over the past couple of years</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
That's about the size of it: hard work, high visibility and offering a genuine alternative (and independent) voice. Those were the three things that inspired the residents of Orton Waterville ward to make history in Peterborough by voting in the first Green Party city councillor that we have ever had. I can't tell you how honoured and humbled I am. My team and I were utterly bewildered by the result. We expected to come second. We really, really did.<br />
<br />
<b>I've got to tell you about my team</b><br />
<br />
Elections are won by a hard-working team with a strategy and strong leadership and I can't tell you enough good things about my amazing team. To put sufficient resource behind Orton Waterville meant withdrawing resource from campaigns elsewhere in the city and that is a big ask to make of party members who have been selflessly campaigning in their wards for many years. It takes real sacrifice on the part of many candidates (we stood candidates in all 18 wards this election) to ensure the return (or near return, which was our expectation) of just one councillor. My team wholeheartedly got behind me and gave me, and you, everything they had. You've met many of them when they've been out delivering my leaflets or knocking on doors for me. They're amazing and I could not have done this without them.<br />
<br />
The same goes for our many volunteers, residents just like you who deliver my leaflets in their own streets. So many of you championed me and ensured the success that became our new reality on election night. You put posters in your windows, you talked about me to your friends and family members. You turned the tide towards my win. I am so humbled by everything that you did. Humbled and inspired. Thank you.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSN0ja7gKGOqDkaNMPDJNffjVQIgu0elmu4lj9zzEhxvueRiUp0ipMO-gghQ3AlBsM5X-RiylZ3MuEh97FRZF3wgpRvfW4jUXhhmqFESiDOieO7oxF1ILEv1lskZsPnT_EP7S8_xsIxyL7/s1600/cheer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Peterborough Green Party" border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="1600" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSN0ja7gKGOqDkaNMPDJNffjVQIgu0elmu4lj9zzEhxvueRiUp0ipMO-gghQ3AlBsM5X-RiylZ3MuEh97FRZF3wgpRvfW4jUXhhmqFESiDOieO7oxF1ILEv1lskZsPnT_EP7S8_xsIxyL7/s640/cheer.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My incredible team</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>What next?</b><br />
<br />
I've fought this election campaign for the past two years as if I was already your ward councillor. This means that you can expect from me what you've already grown used to: hard work, high visibility, regular communication. The main difference now is that I have greater access to council resources. If you thought I was effective before I was elected, just wait to see what's coming. I can hardly wait.<br />
<br />
My driver is to serve you. This is now my full-time job. My party wants me to be independent so I'm free to represent you the way you wish to be represented. I enjoy knowing many of you and being in constant touch with you. None of this will change now that I've been elected. In fact, expect to see me in your community more and more.<br />
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Thank you - I've led a full and rich life with many ups and many downs. But this has made me so proud and I can't wait for what's to come. Together, we'll make Orton Waterville ward an even more wonderful place to live.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZeTWL4QgZDN1wVpXlwxW7xviD2NhXJnUeYfIpkRSsF3-ToGe7OllIwjVfLm2SRiIptEcQIExylNc8lKN68PeAVbvlztJ7V5Q6uyo64FV6DCTi3FaQipF2zCwJYZFRYQARF7PDXeugctT/s1600/Green+Win.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Green win!" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZeTWL4QgZDN1wVpXlwxW7xviD2NhXJnUeYfIpkRSsF3-ToGe7OllIwjVfLm2SRiIptEcQIExylNc8lKN68PeAVbvlztJ7V5Q6uyo64FV6DCTi3FaQipF2zCwJYZFRYQARF7PDXeugctT/s640/Green+Win.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpR85PX2Z0Jjvn4bv_tzQNLDty_X1O1czXTnKPkRze9hk4jCEugjoFIywy2yTE8hQB38qOiY8zbGhd8jplWAy22kWCIMp2ztk9Ra2XUoOshEH5xvxXcRhb7e4xVoTUyhw4l5VVzHBsrz3d/s1600/PT+00518+Julies+Joy+at+becoming+the+first+ever+Green+city+councillor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Julie's joy at becoming the first ever Green city councillor in Peterborough" border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="1600" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpR85PX2Z0Jjvn4bv_tzQNLDty_X1O1czXTnKPkRze9hk4jCEugjoFIywy2yTE8hQB38qOiY8zbGhd8jplWAy22kWCIMp2ztk9Ra2XUoOshEH5xvxXcRhb7e4xVoTUyhw4l5VVzHBsrz3d/s640/PT+00518+Julies+Joy+at+becoming+the+first+ever+Green+city+councillor.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to enlarge</td></tr>
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<br />Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-37000477185166654622018-03-15T18:20:00.000+00:002018-03-15T19:09:38.719+00:00Standing up for Peterborough<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOgfNZf6Y4J3N5LdLiR8HquvkrvTnLz_QbNmIc7YhWiVT2UHn0KiLLqRCUMAS5nXfe91U0Upzhr-EXlvujnLi5YpRkj5W0f8QkqBJ3Vp5NfG_ieoaTJ86FxrXGw-_6YTO7MFmArS9Mm9Oi/s1600/Lack+of+government+funding.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Article from the Peterborough Telegraph: Lack of government funding in our city" border="0" data-original-height="780" data-original-width="1600" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOgfNZf6Y4J3N5LdLiR8HquvkrvTnLz_QbNmIc7YhWiVT2UHn0KiLLqRCUMAS5nXfe91U0Upzhr-EXlvujnLi5YpRkj5W0f8QkqBJ3Vp5NfG_ieoaTJ86FxrXGw-_6YTO7MFmArS9Mm9Oi/s640/Lack+of+government+funding.png" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Have you heard about the city council's 'Stand up for Peterborough' campaign?</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/politics/raw-deal-how-peterborough-is-being-short-changed-by-the-government-1-8409658">Read this article on the Peterborough Telegraph website</a>.<br />
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It cannot have escaped your attention. Essential services, services that are paid for in part via our council tax, are no longer up to scratch. Our streets are dirty. Housing lists are long. Treasured local services like Orton's bowling club are yet again under threat. What might not be so clear are the reasons why Peterborough City Council is currently experiencing such challenging circumstances.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Council tax just went up by 6% so why is there a problem?</span></b><br />
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There isn't one single reason for this present financial crisis. Management of the budget has a role to play, as do the decisions taken by city council. However, it is undeniably the case that Peterborough is suffering due to a dramatic cut in the amount of funding the Treasury makes available to our city council.<br />
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The problem is a programme of cuts known as 'austerity'. In 2013/14, Peterborough City Council received £55million via a Revenue Support Grant from the Treasury. This grant supports a range of council services. The grant will have reduced to £15million in 2018/19 and then right down to £10million in 2019/20, a reduction of 80% over seven years! It's not fair, not fair at all.<br />
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In response, Peterborough City Council Leader Cllr John Holdich launched a public campaign 'Stand up for Peterborough' on 30 November 2017, the aim of which is to garner local public support and to then lobby the Treasury for an increase in funding. If you haven't heard of this campaign you are not alone. I don't think many local residents in Orton have heard about it and from what I've heard support from the public has been slow to catch on.<br />
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My background is in campaigning for disabled people's rights. I understand why the city councillors feel that the 'Stand up for Peterborough' campaign should be effective. I also understand why it's failing to capture the imagination of residents. The trouble is, for a campaign like this to succeed it needs a massive amount of grassroots support, and this is something that very few local councillors in our city have managed to achieve. Essentially, if you want to attract the attention of residents over a particular issue you have to speak to them, clearly and frequently. You cannot suddenly spring a campaign on them out of the blue and expect them to support it. You have to work hard for residents all the time. When you do, then and only then, can you expect them to get on board. This is really basic stuff.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><b>So I went to Westminster</b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUf744wRZJmdtpkaF2Fql2GEb9GDRzx7Q6XfMafwLgXNMdrVtqu8OtUaDUDPt5Al6qFxSkbU6oODE2yMN1MdhO1EUUOCF8GtlSSfFqnPQiliMbkDaGX9tQxlsB4ClZTL83BAozPGgBt7El/s1600/1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img alt="Julie Howell with Caroline Lucas MP" border="0" data-original-height="1175" data-original-width="1458" height="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUf744wRZJmdtpkaF2Fql2GEb9GDRzx7Q6XfMafwLgXNMdrVtqu8OtUaDUDPt5Al6qFxSkbU6oODE2yMN1MdhO1EUUOCF8GtlSSfFqnPQiliMbkDaGX9tQxlsB4ClZTL83BAozPGgBt7El/s640/1.jpeg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I accompanied Caroline Lucas MP to the Treasury to hand in our letter</td></tr>
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I do care about Peterborough. I care a great deal. So I decided to take matters into my own hands. On Wednesday 28th February, when the snow was falling thick and fast in London, I travelled to Westminister. Once there, I met up with Green Party MP Caroline Lucas and together we walked to The Treasury where we handed in a letter for the attention of Phillip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequor.<br />
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This is what the letter said:<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Rt Hon Philip Hammond, MP<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Chancellor of the
Exchequer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">HM Treasury<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">I Horse Guards Road Date: 28 February 2018<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">London SW1A 2HQ Ref: ML.C0069.RD.22.02.18<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Dear Philip,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Spring Statement 2018 and local government funding<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">As Green Party councillors
and council candidates, we are writing to you, ahead of your Spring Statement
on 13 March, to urge you to <span style="background: white;">heed
warnings from the Local Government Association (LGA) of real and growing
uncertainty about how local services will be funded beyond 2020, and to
urgently provide local councils with the money they so clearly need to protect
services and restore spending on community and frontline services to
sustainable levels.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">As the LGA noted in
December:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“L</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">ocal
services are facing a £5.8 billion funding gap in 2019/20, as well as a £1.3
billion pressure to stabilise the adult social care provider market today. The
additional council tax flexibility – estimated by our analysis to be worth up
to £540 million in 2019/20 if all councils use it in both 2018/19 and 2019/20 –
is nowhere near enough to meet the funding gap. The Government needs to provide
new funding for all councils over the next few years so they can protect vital
local services from further cutbacks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is extremely disappointing that
the Government has again chosen not to address the continuing funding gap for
children’s and adult social care. We have repeatedly warned of the serious
consequences of funding pressures facing these services, for both the people
that rely on them and the financial sustainability of other services councils
provide. An injection of new money from central government is the only way to
protect the vital services which care for older and disabled people, protect
children and support families.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Indeed, our local experience confirms that the current </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">funding gap presents an existential challenge not only
to valued community services, but to <i>essential</i>
frontline services such as support for users of adult social care, older
people, looked-after children, care leavers, those with disabilities or special
educational needs, survivors of domestic violence, and low-income families in
crisis. And it is having a </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">deeply </span><span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt;">negative impact on initiatives needed to
improve equality, sustainability and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">resilience, such as providing genuinely affordable, energy efficient
homes, supporting socially necessary bus services, transforming how we collect
and sort waste, and public-backed investment in renewable energy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">This cannot go
on. We believe the Government must act now to end this unprecedented and
ultimately counter-productive erosion of local government. Strong communities
require strong local services to support the most vulnerable and those in
temporary crisis. It is vital that essential local services are both protected
from further cuts and restored to sustainable levels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Yours
sincerely, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>Julie Howell, Peterborough</b></span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="800" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/259842825" style="text-align: center;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width=""></iframe><br />
<b style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-size: large;">Standing up for Peterborough</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I am not opposed to Peterborough City Council's 'Stand Up For Peterborough' campaign. However, some of us have always stood up for Peterborough and feel disappointed that the situation has been allowed to get as bad as it has before our city councillors made any effort to inform the rest of us of our city's plight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I also doubt very much that many of our city councillors really support the campaign. When you visit the campaign website you are offered an opportunity to download a campaign 'frame' to add to your Facebook profile image. To date, I haven't found a single city councillor using it. If they have so little faith in the campaign, why should we lend our support to it?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">The MP for Orton (and the rest of the NW Cambs constituency) is Shailesh Vara (rarely seen here but he is pretty responsive on email in my experience). He made a video supporting the 'Stand Up For Peterborough' campaign. When I looked at it just now it only had 28 views, and it's been on YouTube since 27 November 2017. That's not very impressive really, is it? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span>
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AgUK8GnnG5E" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">My experience of Orton residents is that they are smart, switched on and perfectly able to stand up for themselves. But we can only do this effectively as a community when we know what's going on.</span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Find out more about Peterborough City Council's '<b><a href="https://www.peterborough.gov.uk/council/campaigns/stand-up-for-peterborough/">Stand up for Peterborough</a></b>' campaign. </span></div>
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Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-81628765578431188282017-08-29T17:46:00.001+01:002017-08-30T17:08:32.959+01:00Improving Debdale Pond<div id="fb-root">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydctJHltSx6eafQ0D9G5rNCObgfRbasuxJ1qkIunQUi3hDp90ZoL7JG6NDEDq24ZhzGG793JLXocJcPrQX2ek2YsvNcs1A7Al9p5EqYNOwBdTP92yvpnI3LYHD1tvIyQM3-2k_6HZtKxI/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Julie Howell holding loppers" border="0" data-original-height="855" data-original-width="644" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydctJHltSx6eafQ0D9G5rNCObgfRbasuxJ1qkIunQUi3hDp90ZoL7JG6NDEDq24ZhzGG793JLXocJcPrQX2ek2YsvNcs1A7Al9p5EqYNOwBdTP92yvpnI3LYHD1tvIyQM3-2k_6HZtKxI/s640/13.jpg" title="" width="482" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not sure I intended to be so 'hands on' but I really enjoyed it!</td></tr>
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<br />
An exciting update for you.<br />
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Just over a year ago I wrote a blog entitled '<b><a href="http://howell4ortonwaterville.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/watch-these-spaces.html">Watch These Spaces</a></b>'. In the blog, I talked about the pond at Debdale in Orton Waterville and the parish council's plans to return it to a better state for the benefit of local wildlife.<br />
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This is how the pond looked then, in August 2016...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2nqKF8E3ZYI94HTGTjslZx5qBas-gmdcluqKSeTPXDON4XXFJVLsAA8HEU18n675EjChHBMIVgFkVkErYRxP5ye-RPns4sgjs7_MzfFRgKVmqEvJeMWzxp2105JE7jb2oDi0g0Z48nYwg/s1600/mill+pond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Debdale pond a year ago was in a mess" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2nqKF8E3ZYI94HTGTjslZx5qBas-gmdcluqKSeTPXDON4XXFJVLsAA8HEU18n675EjChHBMIVgFkVkErYRxP5ye-RPns4sgjs7_MzfFRgKVmqEvJeMWzxp2105JE7jb2oDi0g0Z48nYwg/s640/mill+pond.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
Fast forward to August 2017 and work has begun.<br />
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On the Sunday of the August bank holiday, I joined members of Peterborough Conservation Volunteers as they raked out the pond and cleared the scrub, using pieces of wood that might otherwise be discarded to reinforce the boundaries around this important site.<br />
<br />
It was a very hot day and it was very hot work. Those of us working raking out the pond were given very long rakes and the conditions we very stinky and very muddy. I joked about falling over... and then slipped over, but no one avoided a good coating in mud.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga1IDvTKkEaBrfhs9dO1QhvAxTB5T8B7Ji3xsfZ6c6UgHmyqohOm1Iptj5DprcDL0pIA_eD8PPmRQ1hqOGWGd4ExPzLlh9hSPWdKsh-NfSyKH3XIr_WSJVrWOwL6JhGsgOHs81wiHDHybt/s1600/17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Julie Howell raking Debdale pond" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga1IDvTKkEaBrfhs9dO1QhvAxTB5T8B7Ji3xsfZ6c6UgHmyqohOm1Iptj5DprcDL0pIA_eD8PPmRQ1hqOGWGd4ExPzLlh9hSPWdKsh-NfSyKH3XIr_WSJVrWOwL6JhGsgOHs81wiHDHybt/s640/17.jpg" title="" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whatever your ability you can have a go! <br />
I did my best and like to think I made a modest difference.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbFOXnUk3xDNl0AdSgVbnpi4shdtAWeVkL2AHFT66klhbsw91DbJ2oxAD1maWhJfH9UQH046ZamMH49n1Ie0k6w84sQ2egaGQTlXAlWiH-5wDZqxnBvFJ-RT2sWzdjqA8sunca35WBWjL/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Roger Proudfoot raking Debdale pond" border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbFOXnUk3xDNl0AdSgVbnpi4shdtAWeVkL2AHFT66klhbsw91DbJ2oxAD1maWhJfH9UQH046ZamMH49n1Ie0k6w84sQ2egaGQTlXAlWiH-5wDZqxnBvFJ-RT2sWzdjqA8sunca35WBWjL/s1600/8.jpg" title="" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roger Proudfoot, Orton Waterville Parish Councillor and <br />
joint coordinator (with me!) of Peterborough Green Party</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9YDZKuljL_DC-G8HZS6OwWRJIkhII-Bt6hdKcThDNLnY7LVL0tSovPz5h1JwNietw1kMKqM6_4HfbZyFIkVA2GW8lDIP4qgG-z5HaCDlH7I7otokTWYYTA1x_kXTVn6trqKhrwOMfHSkb/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Julie's dirty hand" border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="540" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9YDZKuljL_DC-G8HZS6OwWRJIkhII-Bt6hdKcThDNLnY7LVL0tSovPz5h1JwNietw1kMKqM6_4HfbZyFIkVA2GW8lDIP4qgG-z5HaCDlH7I7otokTWYYTA1x_kXTVn6trqKhrwOMfHSkb/s640/4.jpg" title="" width="488" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inevitably I slipped over. Sadly no one filmed it - I might have raised £250 from You've Been Framed.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/WhiteHawkAtomic/videos/10155501600185390/" data-show-text="false" data-width="500">
<blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/WhiteHawkAtomic/videos/10155501600185390/" class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/WhiteHawkAtomic/videos/10155501600185390/"></a><br />
Posted by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7931996672384583120#" role="button">Julie Howell</a> on Sunday, 27 August 2017</blockquote>
</div>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Making progress</i></b></span><br />
<br />
The pond is a former agricultural pond. Most of Waterville parish was farmland a century ago. Peterborough Conservation volunteers told me that when working on the pond in the past they had retrieved a number of old cattle bones from it. We retrieved an animal bone on this occasion too, although it is more likely that this one was thrown into the pond by someone who had just eaten takeaway food.<br />
<br />
At the start of the day the pond looked like this. The pond has good tree cover which means many dead branches had either fallen or been thrown into it. There was also a fair amount of rubbish in the pond, hurled in by passing humans.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNJ8m4C3V9F80NUo_QgbPIRKH6q3XPfOsdn9o6m0Kj_jwmU0SXwPpfr2UX3XuvT9advhcjow3gXSAjFTvpWkimyHNY6fJRUKicbaXTkVyqW6JmZbTC8SEEpt3ButqGaDqZ4_48XQlRLWE/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A group of volunteers raking Debdale pond" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPNJ8m4C3V9F80NUo_QgbPIRKH6q3XPfOsdn9o6m0Kj_jwmU0SXwPpfr2UX3XuvT9advhcjow3gXSAjFTvpWkimyHNY6fJRUKicbaXTkVyqW6JmZbTC8SEEpt3ButqGaDqZ4_48XQlRLWE/s640/2.jpg" title="" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hard at work to clear the pond of branches and debris.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
At the end of the day the pond looked like this! All of the harmful and potentially harmful debris has been removed and the pond is now a safer and more suitable environment for local wildlife, including great crested newts.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_ZplqWIigazui-upnvJOPfnOA0Y7VsnjEUDQDtvIJjEq-vSpQuzaW4n6Dc00-aXBcm8yp3e0JCNy2V3lpjR4m8iTgk8HJFPG9XSECxjvrGC4E4AEVvjzrkM8BrUFoQs4Muftu6COp6V4/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Debdale pond after being raked" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_ZplqWIigazui-upnvJOPfnOA0Y7VsnjEUDQDtvIJjEq-vSpQuzaW4n6Dc00-aXBcm8yp3e0JCNy2V3lpjR4m8iTgk8HJFPG9XSECxjvrGC4E4AEVvjzrkM8BrUFoQs4Muftu6COp6V4/s640/3.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wow. What a difference.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJXkXxsdfudVe-WHjqJBBHNNmtD4pa8m629rh-Jc2E7MJuK3pfnrlAWxcJfVR4s4EdPEBBpvIdmiGueJMHT-et-zeUtsO42epXsE8wmmPB70E9eKmzkIoAny_jPrCm-dDfVALXHTA-9pOK/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Pile of wood used to create a dead hedge" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJXkXxsdfudVe-WHjqJBBHNNmtD4pa8m629rh-Jc2E7MJuK3pfnrlAWxcJfVR4s4EdPEBBpvIdmiGueJMHT-et-zeUtsO42epXsE8wmmPB70E9eKmzkIoAny_jPrCm-dDfVALXHTA-9pOK/s640/15.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fallen branches are used to make 'dead hedges' to improve protection of the site.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Peterborough Conservation Volunteers</i></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></b>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjisTNpe9BgCFvB40CwYSD4izZjExzfvhdK-aOZ5nxS1TrVI7YJNm_YjrKU-0OKJLOmaDhEgj-zHmU6-wQpQL_LCqWqU10ttqEiYFdBneqi3GMr6VjY1sbWy6rgA6O3GvwD19ZewLw1yZM9/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Peterborough Conservation Volunteers break for tea" border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="540" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjisTNpe9BgCFvB40CwYSD4izZjExzfvhdK-aOZ5nxS1TrVI7YJNm_YjrKU-0OKJLOmaDhEgj-zHmU6-wQpQL_LCqWqU10ttqEiYFdBneqi3GMr6VjY1sbWy6rgA6O3GvwD19ZewLw1yZM9/s640/6.jpg" title="" width="508" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They even make the tea!</td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></b>
<br />
PCV is a local nature conservation group who help manage wildlife sites in and around Peterborough. They meet every Sunday to carry our many varied activities. They practice traditional skills and over a period of time you will find yourself helping them with coppicing, hedge laying, fencing and dry stone walling. Over the years they have formed close working links with the local Wildlife Trust, Natural England, The Woodland Trust and the local council. Much of their work is closely linked with the protection of locally or nationally rare species.<br />
<br />
To find out more, visit <b><a href="http://www.p-c-v.co.uk/">Peterborough Conservation Volunteers</a></b>.<br />
<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Get involved</i></span></b><br />
<br />
The next pond clearance will be on Sunday 22nd October 2017 from 10am. This time, Cherry Orton Pond at the top of Cherry Orton Road will be getting attention. Residents are very welcome to come along. You can watch or you can get directly involved - just be sure to wear appropriate clothing for getting wet and dirty.<br />
<br />
Don't worry that you don't have much ability when it comes to this kind of work. I have multiple sclerosis and another condition known as sjogrens syndrome (tennis player Venus Williams also has this one) that mean I have pain in my shoulders and very little upper body strength - although I have very strong legs as I walk everywhere! I generally feel a bit left out from physical activity, but the PCV volunteers made everyone feel very welcome and stressed that we could all so as much or as little as we wanted to do.<br />
<br />
Although I really enjoyed raking the pond it made me tired very quickly, so I switched to clearing the forest path for a while. I am very proud to say that I cleared the little stretch of path that you see in this picture.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNLuC0mS16BcftJY4yXv2FYIrt3AjL0rEgUJJc8Pen7Ni6Gn7BU9P3wnqEYJ_3XzwG88NSYgqADGeDY_PQtQm55pMyGWqycOhyVwpOvxaG3NRvYf2449cPFktqdYcXZ6vn_8fKTpMPgod/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Section of path cleared by Julie Howell" border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="540" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNLuC0mS16BcftJY4yXv2FYIrt3AjL0rEgUJJc8Pen7Ni6Gn7BU9P3wnqEYJ_3XzwG88NSYgqADGeDY_PQtQm55pMyGWqycOhyVwpOvxaG3NRvYf2449cPFktqdYcXZ6vn_8fKTpMPgod/s640/12.jpg" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I cleared this section of path ALL ON MY OWN. Very proud. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
So don't be put off by lack of ability. Most of the volunteers are aged 50+ and it's your willingness to improve your local area that counts. If you can't join in as fully as you'd like to, that is no problem as the team is clearly very pleased that local people show an interest in conserving their local nature reserves.<br />
<br />
FACT: The 'proper' name for Cherry Orton Pond is 'Top Town Pond'. Cherry Orton Road only got its name in 1950. Before this, the road leading up through Orton Waterville village was known as Town Street, although it seems local people tended to refer to it is 'the village road'. I'm told that some residents of Orton Goldhay know the pond as 'Black Pond' but no one seems to know how this name came into use. If you have any ideas, please let me know!<br />
<br />
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: I’m in Debdale pond in Orton Waterville this morning with some
volunteers and people from the Wildlife Trusts to clear out this pond because
there’s a lovely pond here that could be made into a feature for residents to
enjoy to an extent but most importantly it’s a nature pond and we have great
crested newts here. So I’m doing really sweaty work clearing out the pond. I’ve
got my welly boots on even though it’s August. I’ll show you what we’re doing
here. So I’ve got this great long rake to rake the muck out and we’re just
removing branches, you see the branches, well some have fallen from the trees
but a lot have been chucked in by human beings. We’re also clearing the paths
around here so that people can easily get through to here so they can enjoy
what nature provides. But we’re not turning it into a municipal type of pond.
If you look up you’ll see there’s not an awful lot of daylight comes through
because of the tree cover. There’s quite a lot of us here today. It’s lovely.
It’s really hot actually. Sunday morning. Something I can’t get across to you.
I’m using this rake in order to pull out all of the debris that’s in the pond.
But it stinks. My goodness, does it stink. So it’s not the most pleasant. But
it’s really, really worthwhile so I’m very pleased to do this. And it’s great
to be out on a Sunday morning. It’s fantastic. <br />
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Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-50593701643814531042017-08-24T17:26:00.000+01:002018-05-01T14:25:59.259+01:00Farewell Waterville Ash<div id="fb-root">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMHvdgeT-kdMppz93NNc4V36eLIN97oI-b45ZDn_vzhPsyQ1m7Ho8_qG1YW8xS_0cCrkTy3mNwJ9iDYcIT1TK9wwzgHx_mNAAQSiHQ27G1515VOXRtOxZN-lKjdlEUDSILoKU9QwFZ4Df/s1600/Waterville+Ash+Tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ash tree" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMHvdgeT-kdMppz93NNc4V36eLIN97oI-b45ZDn_vzhPsyQ1m7Ho8_qG1YW8xS_0cCrkTy3mNwJ9iDYcIT1TK9wwzgHx_mNAAQSiHQ27G1515VOXRtOxZN-lKjdlEUDSILoKU9QwFZ4Df/s640/Waterville+Ash+Tree.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waterville Ash Tree.<br />
How we'll all miss it when it's gone.<br />
<b style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;"><u><br /></u></b>
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<u><b>UPDATE Tuesday 1st May 2018</b></u><br />
<u><br /></u>
The end. The last of the ash tree was carefully and skilfully removed by the city council contractors today. Just look at the girth of that trunk. A young oak tree has been planted next to it which will watch over the people of Waterville for centuries to come.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdgfK1977gXleiOGdCqY4kHXlYd800oJqd0BP1NfFl9eyjcJmUTJwfUBivNp2IrCdiPybKvkCK5C2FtRrl6lb6uQRpNi59iNxxaVFcOE_UNBdtcLUAjcRHa4frlqmEmJFXP1-VWZL1Qgs-/s1600/ash+felling+2+010518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Felling of the Waterville ash" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdgfK1977gXleiOGdCqY4kHXlYd800oJqd0BP1NfFl9eyjcJmUTJwfUBivNp2IrCdiPybKvkCK5C2FtRrl6lb6uQRpNi59iNxxaVFcOE_UNBdtcLUAjcRHa4frlqmEmJFXP1-VWZL1Qgs-/s640/ash+felling+2+010518.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsT_twuKzXQXCvIs_VIW0-cAx2VV5KFocf7QEC2y730AKRHPbXsx7MmGWTjZ2yoplqHmTstpfw6urlDZ-7m2z4hPj0PJEHxY5RMH-wBquKZDdejnj2h0iLzuGMSgsy4gbZAjZbqKFGxzr/s1600/ash+felling+010518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Felling of the Waterville ash" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsT_twuKzXQXCvIs_VIW0-cAx2VV5KFocf7QEC2y730AKRHPbXsx7MmGWTjZ2yoplqHmTstpfw6urlDZ-7m2z4hPj0PJEHxY5RMH-wBquKZDdejnj2h0iLzuGMSgsy4gbZAjZbqKFGxzr/s640/ash+felling+010518.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div>
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<u><br /></u>
<u><b>UPDATE Friday 1st December 2017</b></u><br />
<br />
I appeared live on BBC Radio Cambs at the foot of the tree (at 7am!) to talk about why trees like the Waterville Ash are so important for Peterborough.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="300" scrolling="no" src="//embeds.audioboom.com/posts/6529462-peterborough-green-party-bbc-radio-cambs-iconic-trees-01-december-2017/embed/v4?eid=AQAAAKgUIVq2oWMA" style="background-color: transparent; display: block; max-width: 700px; padding: 0;" title="audioBoom player" width="100%"></iframe>
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<b><u><br /></u></b>
<u><b><br /></b></u><br />
<u><b>UPDATE Wednesday 11th October 2017</b></u><br />
<u><br /></u>
Some wonderful news and some sad news.<br />
<br />
Let's deal with the sad news first. The branches have now been removed from the tree and it now looks like this. The gloomy sky says it all.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR5rLgUv7cBq-GoWJVFIDjD0FL5ozPyNOEoZHKDeMIgOsu7zHbzCl6lPz6RnTc3ZMJ4D58Zx2E4hIP9otNsTF2UfXmYIPrjXx-x_ddHkQPyVcyZfCLqd863hhWOcKO39xGMaVtKr0ihgUq/s1600/trunk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ash tree with branches removed" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR5rLgUv7cBq-GoWJVFIDjD0FL5ozPyNOEoZHKDeMIgOsu7zHbzCl6lPz6RnTc3ZMJ4D58Zx2E4hIP9otNsTF2UfXmYIPrjXx-x_ddHkQPyVcyZfCLqd863hhWOcKO39xGMaVtKr0ihgUq/s640/trunk.jpg" title="" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's very hard to look at this without feeling emotional.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And now for the wonderful news.<br />
<br />
Peterborough Green Party Chairman Roger Proudfoot's photograph has won the Peterborough Environment City Trust's (PECT) <a href="http://www.pect.org.uk/news-and-media/winners-announced-for-peterboroughs-iconic-trees-photo-competition">'iconic trees' photography competition</a>. Roger's wonderful photograph of the tree in all its magnificence will be framed and placed somewhere for the public to enjoy for years to come.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7pjhJAFDcIknc7G_sOUHfI6oi8eDU9Pw9t39gK9nLqviD7V8zWQyiychcIzd2ne2IoC-hwF3fXivR1rmNCBR9Da_-21vi0OX4EtU6oKd0DzJLfqw6NxLNU-Cj_C5S1K_KeuFg4PCsZg4/s1600/Roger%2527s+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Award-winning photo of the ash tree by Roger Proudfoot" border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="350" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7pjhJAFDcIknc7G_sOUHfI6oi8eDU9Pw9t39gK9nLqviD7V8zWQyiychcIzd2ne2IoC-hwF3fXivR1rmNCBR9Da_-21vi0OX4EtU6oKd0DzJLfqw6NxLNU-Cj_C5S1K_KeuFg4PCsZg4/s640/Roger%2527s+pic.jpg" title="" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Award-winning photo by Roger Proudfoot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><u><br /></u></b>
<u><b>UPDATE Monday 9th October 2017</b></u><br />
<br />
The tree will be felled today. The city council and the parish council acknowledge how much this iconic tree means to local people. After 4:30pm today (NO EARLIER) residents are welcome to visit the site to collect a piece of felled wood as a memento of this historic tree. Only the crown (the branches) will be removed. The trunk will be left as a monolith while the parish council decides what to do with is after consultation with local residents.<br />
<br />
I nipped down there earlier and collected a piece of a branch that was taken down today.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIrBZ_7N5AJ0Ju7VqIG0Ilaz35p-197jmoB6viXovl7mqOU7jSmkPC8y2EeYVah97eN8DQzcyeAsyb5TnarCSMV3_NKw_HSmm_G-69Us0nnoZdV-h_kHb7XAvJ7dlnlmmpre68Om8uyDcZ/s1600/slice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Slice of ash tree branch" border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="799" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIrBZ_7N5AJ0Ju7VqIG0Ilaz35p-197jmoB6viXovl7mqOU7jSmkPC8y2EeYVah97eN8DQzcyeAsyb5TnarCSMV3_NKw_HSmm_G-69Us0nnoZdV-h_kHb7XAvJ7dlnlmmpre68Om8uyDcZ/s640/slice.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I counted roughly 110 rings.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtZjmYO6ULq6INr6lRfD1v6E23P6TPfUMjgbh54AMIhyphenhyphen3uSypx5z2nGY7M5Vlj-yKgPOefamzn2vVapoPw-chANc6OVzb38Mf3uwt3rHuPV_Z_UZIEbNKLlnkhz-hHAywFx-Kq5jtFIDc/s1600/tree+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ash tree being felled" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtZjmYO6ULq6INr6lRfD1v6E23P6TPfUMjgbh54AMIhyphenhyphen3uSypx5z2nGY7M5Vlj-yKgPOefamzn2vVapoPw-chANc6OVzb38Mf3uwt3rHuPV_Z_UZIEbNKLlnkhz-hHAywFx-Kq5jtFIDc/s640/tree+1.jpg" title="" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If the branch is 110 years old the whole tree must be at least 300 years old.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNsj9jNgHZEmQDXz04YHApuml1DY6ll90YQqfCTrnR0MV0ygOu5Yg1BRD789Tmu9PtZTDK7zzxyN_uyV9rFahNmUlhHGxNIvSFMmFgYjmvtcIqnc3v1-dcq9WxtrI9mFes0zMSYcKjaUS/s1600/tree+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ash tree logs" border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="703" height="618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNsj9jNgHZEmQDXz04YHApuml1DY6ll90YQqfCTrnR0MV0ygOu5Yg1BRD789Tmu9PtZTDK7zzxyN_uyV9rFahNmUlhHGxNIvSFMmFgYjmvtcIqnc3v1-dcq9WxtrI9mFes0zMSYcKjaUS/s640/tree+3.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Residents are welcome to visit the site after 4:30pm daily and take a piece of wood away as a souvenir. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
It's something of an icon in Orton Waterville. So we were all really sad to be told that our beautiful, cherished ash tree, that is somewhere in the region of 300-650 years old, is due to be felled. Not only is the tree old, it has become diseased, and its close proximity to traffic on the corner of Oundle Road and Cherry Orton Road means it cannot be left to stand where it poses a risk to human life.<br />
<br />
Everyone who lives in or passes through Orton Waterville will be familiar with this tree. Residents born here have known it all their lives, as did generations before them. It's possible the tree was here when Henry VIII was a lad.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm5BmbLH718iJ4ysdA-uKpEvFhL34AapuX0Wwl9jYkLlWHSDwE-1ysCGSgjmzwDPDytbRMglAHzacVnV2TYf8VaJb9cGyRMACDe15jjfOKPloYnadrV3ljL74Cs_lrw798WVpIkag-v-Ds/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Fungas" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm5BmbLH718iJ4ysdA-uKpEvFhL34AapuX0Wwl9jYkLlWHSDwE-1ysCGSgjmzwDPDytbRMglAHzacVnV2TYf8VaJb9cGyRMACDe15jjfOKPloYnadrV3ljL74Cs_lrw798WVpIkag-v-Ds/s640/5.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fungus that has destroyed the ash is plain for all to see.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Having listened very carefully to the opinion of Peterborough City Council's Tree Officer we understand that the tree is now in its last days and that nothing can be done to reverse its decline. Rotten branches could fall at any time, while the fungus at the tree's roots has caused enormous damage to its structure.<br />
<br />
On Wednesday 23rd August 2017, a group of Peterborough Green Party members, parish councillors and local residents gathered to say farewell to this mighty ash tree.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/WhiteHawkAtomic/videos/10155491179105390/" data-show-text="false" data-width="500">
<blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/WhiteHawkAtomic/videos/10155491179105390/" class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/WhiteHawkAtomic/videos/10155491179105390/"></a><br />
Farewell Waterville Ash<br />
Posted by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7931996672384583120#" role="button">Julie Howell</a> on Wednesday, 23 August 2017</blockquote>
</div>
<br />
<br />
Like many of you, while we accept that the tree will be taken down, we are concerned that the wood is used in a way that benefits the local community and we also hope that a suitable, mature tree is planted in its place.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXrJfFIxsTRlBR3_fQGy5Z53YKXtM6dyxTlucaY9WfZnyecrtFg0k4vyzyDDSQb8Am8rDem1D0UqEs6vRNqD0j0Utd4kl4sgXlETnZb6PMG_0czovjJZCi5PjJoLEJO2Rj9OSQrl_VOKRr/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="540" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXrJfFIxsTRlBR3_fQGy5Z53YKXtM6dyxTlucaY9WfZnyecrtFg0k4vyzyDDSQb8Am8rDem1D0UqEs6vRNqD0j0Utd4kl4sgXlETnZb6PMG_0czovjJZCi5PjJoLEJO2Rj9OSQrl_VOKRr/s640/2.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
<br />
If you would like to add your voice to ours, let the city council know what you would like to happen to the wood (note that ash isn't suitable for outdoor furniture) by contacting the council at <b><a href="mailto:treespeterborough@amey.co.uk">treespeterborough@amey.co.uk</a> or call 01733 425 425.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Video transcript: </b>Julie Howell: We're at the site of a beautiful
tree in Orton Waterville in Peterborough with members
of Peterborough Green Party and also other parish councillors and friends who
love this tree. The reason we’re here is to support the Woodland Trust which
has a fundraising initiative called Invite a Tree to Tea and it was very obvious to
us which tree to choose because this beautiful ash tree in Orton Waterville is
much loved and sadly it’s come to the end of its life. So we gather here today
to celebrate it. We accept that it has to go but it’s a good opportunity to
talk about the tree. If I just give you a glimpse of the tree you'll see it’s an absolute beauty. As you can see there are birds up in
the tree. As you can also see it’s near a very busy main road which is one of
the reasons why it’s deemed a problem now that it’s in trouble. It’s one of
those things, isn’t it… it wouldn’t be the cultural icon that it is if it was
in the middle of nowhere but because it’s by a road it poses dangers now that
it’s in trouble. Local people were meant to be alerted to the problem by this tiny
little sign that no one could read so now this new sign has been put up to warn
everyone that the tree’s removal is imminent. I’m going to have a chat with a
few people about what’s happening with the tree and what it means to them. Peterborough has ambitions to be an ‘environmental
city’ and the Peterborough Environmental City Trust (PECT) has planted a ‘Forest
of Peterborough’ and is just about to plant its 100,000<sup>th</sup> tree in
Peterborough and is asking for photos of iconic trees. What a shame this is one
that is about to go. Local residents I’ve spoken to are concerned that it’s
replaced with something just as iconic and beautiful. So now it’s come to the
end of its life I’d like to talk to a couple of local residents about how they
feel about the tree. The first person I’ll speak to is Neil Mitchell and Neil
is a local historian in Peterborough. Neil, what do you know about this tree?<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Neil Mitchell: It’s been here ever since I was a small boy
coming to visit my relations in the village. It is an iconic tree. I’m sorry to
hear that it’s going to come down due to diseases. It saddens me. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Julie Howell: Barry Warne is a local to the area as well.
What are your thoughts about the loss of this great tree?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Barry Warne: It’s very sad. I often get a bus into town from
the stop just up there and I would stand there admiring it. It’s beautiful the way
it covers the road and seeing the snow and frost on it. It just looks
marvellous. I’ve got an old friend who cycles to The Windmill (pub) every day
up the hill and he’s noticed when they’ve made changes to it and lopped
branches off it and such like and it’s a conversation piece in The Windmill. A
lot of people do care about it around here.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Julie Howell: Notice how busy the road is. I think thousands and
thousands of people must see this tree every day and I would imagine that when
it’s lost people are going to notice. People may think oh it’s just a tree,
just replace it, but when this is gone – as you can see it stretches right over
the road – people are going to miss it. I’m going to turn now to Roger
Proudfoot of Peterborough Green Party and also a parish councillor here. I know
Roger has been speaking to the tree officer at the city council about why the
tree has to go. What do you know, Roger?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Roger Proudfoot: Basically, it’s quite a sick tree. It’s got
this fungi at the bottom of the tree that’s eating into the main buttress roots
which is weakening the overall structure of the tree. Potentially in the next
winds or gales there is a concern that the tree could come down. Obviously we’re
on a busy junction, you can hear the vehicles going past. Obviously there are
pedestrians going to and fro about their business. It’s a very sad occasion
because we estimate the tree is about 20 feet in girth. We’ll
try and measure it in a moment to get a better idea, which could put it
anywhere between 300-500 years old. And when you think about the history that
this tree has overseen it could even go back to Tudor times and Henry VIII. It’s
quite amazing really. That’s why we’re here today, to acknowledge the
contribution the tree has made to the wellbeing of all the residents who have
lived here long before we all came around and we should note its passing. It’s
very unfortunate. We’ve spoken to the tree specialist at the city council and
he’s never seen as sick a tree as this with this particular fungus in all his
experience. He’s as passionate about trees as we are and he’s very sad to see
it go too. But the risk to the public outweighs the tree being left. If it was
in a field or woodland it would probably last maybe 50-100 years longer. But it is a sick tree, you can see some of
the branches that have died. There could be other factors as well. It is a tree
that’s coming to the end of its natural life. Sadly, even the mighty ash tree
and oak trees do come to the end of their lives at a certain point. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Julie Howell: I got an email from a resident today saying
that they hope the council will do something useful with the wood because this
is a lot of wood that’s coming down. Maybe build something here that’s of use
to local people here and also that they’ll plant something appropriate and not
saplings.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Roger Proudfoot: There isn’t a plan at the moment so it’s something for
discussion and if anybody’s got any views about that they should let the parish
council and the city council know. There are contact details on the tree
removal sign. Perhaps a more mature oak or another ash tree. I know that ash
trees can be affected by ‘die back’ and young ash trees are particularly
vulnerable so with this fungus thing here it may not be appropriate to plant another
ash here. An older oak tree rather than a sapling might be something more appropriate.
But let’s hear what the people would like to see. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fiona Radic: If you wanted to you could cut straight across
that tree and get a table top or twenty out of it. Also, with some timbers if
you’ve got an infection it actually adds to the appeal of the wood for people
who make ornamental things out of wood. It’s a great pity it’s an ash because
ashes are getting ash die back so ashes are really important. If you can keep
an ash alive that’s a good thing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Julie Howell: What’s the measurement? 5.2 metres in girth! So how old is that, Roger? Can we do a calculation from that?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Roger Proudfoot: The average for a tree apparently, the growth rate
throughout its life, bearing in mind a tree grows fairly fast when it’s young
and then slows down when it’s older, is about 2.5cms per year so this tree is
at least 208 years old (depending on the growing conditions). There has been
some work done to try and estimate the age of trees and for an ash, if it’s a
good site with shelter, which this is, a five metre tree would be up to about
300 years old. If we could class this as a woodland boundary it could be as
much as 650 years old. Certainly over 300 years and possibly more. There’s
obviously a lot of value in the wood. It’s obviously very expensive to take
down. And it is going to be very hard to cut. It’s going to have to be cut in
chunks, particularly when you get down to the main trunk. What we’re hoping is
that some of the wood can be used to put to good purpose. Ash isn’t a very good
outdoor wood but it’s one of the best woods for crafting and maybe some of the
local crafters may be able to make something with the wood. That’s something we’re
currently discussing with the city council as to whether or not some of the
wood can be put to good use to pay tribute to the tree.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Julie Howell: To finish off with some moments of reflection I thought
it would be quite nice if we thanked the tree and spent a few moments thinking
about what the tree has meant to Orton Waterville. I’m going to ask
Peterborough resident Ruth Fiddy to read out a poem in a moment that’s called
The Old Ash Tree by a lady called Susanna Moodie, who was born in the UK then emigrated
to Canada. It’s interesting to note that Susanna Moodie was born in 1805 and
the tree was already here then! That’s how old this tree is. She died in 1883
but the tree has kept on going, which is quite something to contemplate. <a href="http://www.public-domain-poetry.com/susanna-moodie/old-ash-tree-26448">The Old Ash Tree by Susanna Moodie</a>. </div>
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Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-32295552435416181832017-08-20T15:05:00.000+01:002017-10-08T18:18:18.863+01:00Dog Poo: What's the Right Thing to Do?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-44GdeXSXU_gxQ4WSTCJrvscoEYryj-DwJ1dYRci9DjRGNH15NztqlCQu7WSa_TtRevHvTU5BKn3vdhyphenhyphenrAnxZx04lYUPoOzxz4QsfuFb9YBsZFVgRQ_hmhb_dZhAaBNXKOuyfYorvms_/s1600/dog+poo+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Dog poo bag hanging from a tree" border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-44GdeXSXU_gxQ4WSTCJrvscoEYryj-DwJ1dYRci9DjRGNH15NztqlCQu7WSa_TtRevHvTU5BKn3vdhyphenhyphenrAnxZx04lYUPoOzxz4QsfuFb9YBsZFVgRQ_hmhb_dZhAaBNXKOuyfYorvms_/s640/dog+poo+2.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delightful</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It's a fairly common sight in Orton, but I'd never caught someone in the act before. I'm writing this in August, with Christmas some four months away, so why are local residents hanging things from trees?<br />
<br />
I'm afraid I'm talking about dog poo. More specifically, the bags of dog poo that dangle from trees around Orton.<br />
<br />
Why do dog owners do this? Why bother to pick up after your dog and pop the mess into a bag only to then throw the bag into a tree?<br />
<br />
As I'd had the misfortune of observing someone do it, I thought I'd ask them (to protect their identity, and because they promised me they wouldn't do it again, I'll keep the identity of the dog owner and the location to myself this time).<br />
<br />
The answer didn't really surprise me: lack of dog bins and too much distance between dog bins.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><b>Why are there so few dog bins in Orton?</b></i></span><br />
<br />
This largely depends on where in Orton you are.<br />
<br />
Residents have complained to me about the lack of dog bins across Orton for some time now (Orton Southgate in particular). Except Orton Northgate that is, where there are five dog bins in close proximity to one another. These red dog bins are infrequently emptied, having put there by the Northgate developer's managing agent. An overflowing dog bin is no pleasure to live by.<br />
<br />
The reason we don't have more dog bins in other parts of Orton (and elsewhere in Peterborough) is the cost of emptying them. But should this really make a difference? What happened to 'take your litter home with you'? I wouldn't dream of throwing a bag of dog poo anywhere but in a bin, and I'm quite rebellious.<br />
<br />
The city council says that all bins in Orton now double as dog waste bins so if you see any kind of bin you can put your bagged dog waste into it.<br />
<br />
<i><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"If I hang it on the tree the council will collect it"</span></b></i><br />
<br />
Err... not necessarily. Many of the bags are plucked from branches by volunteers like me who don't wish to live in a public dog toilet.<br />
<br />
While you may believe that hanging your dog poo bags on trees sends a message to the city council it really doesn't. What it does is make our environment look nasty.<br />
<br />
Across our city, Peterborough City Council is introducing PSPOs (public space protection orders) that forbid any kind of littering. If you are caught in breach of a PSPO you will be fined. It won't be a council worker who approaches you, but a member of the <a href="http://www.kingdom.co.uk/articles/issues-and-dangers-surrounding-dog-fouling.aspx"><b>Kingdom</b></a> team, a third party company the city council has contracted to watch us for any wrongdoing and which benefits financially when we do something 'wrong'. Personally, I think it will be a very sad day for Orton if a PSPO were to be introduced here to kerb something as basic as dog poo management.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Find a stick & flick it</i></span></b><br />
<br />
So what are you supposed to do if your dog does a poo and there is no dog poo bin nearby?<br />
<br />
1. Ideally, bag the poo and carry it with you to the nearest bin or take it home with you. This is the best thing to do. Dog poo is dangerous and not just to humans. It can cause harm to delicate ecosystems too. Taking it home and disposing of if with your household waste or placing it into a council public litter bin is the best thing to do. Please note that ANY public bin will do. It doesn't have to be a designated dog bin. If disposing of it at home, it should go in your black 'general waste' bin to be taken to landfill.<br />
<br />
2. If you are unable to carry it to the nearest bin or to your home then, please, <b>DO NOT BAG IT.</b> When you throw bagged dog mess into a tree or hedgerow you introduce plastic to the natural environment that takes many years to biodegrade. It also looks horrible when, come autumn, the leaves fall from the trees. Instead of bagging it, find a stick and flick the poo it into the bushes. While this is not the ideal solution, it is infinitely better to do this than to throw a plastic bag into a tree.<br />
<br />
3. If you have forgotten to bring dog poo bags on your walk, use the 'stick and flick' method to flick the dog poo away from places where people walk.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKadOZR2rv2wJa111cTBr1TRWU83T4okiDC_X8rp7JNbV_CqCPcqoXAdiB1nNcWC4HPjfN1q8tQKUBRBQ_8bS7FoUS_TGthP9z2BSy7QolCI72UocLwYZjTWvrdh0sNy1HNswJ4atYPc2V/s1600/flick+it.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Julie flicking dog poo into undergrowth with a stick" border="0" data-original-height="824" data-original-width="448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKadOZR2rv2wJa111cTBr1TRWU83T4okiDC_X8rp7JNbV_CqCPcqoXAdiB1nNcWC4HPjfN1q8tQKUBRBQ_8bS7FoUS_TGthP9z2BSy7QolCI72UocLwYZjTWvrdh0sNy1HNswJ4atYPc2V/s640/flick+it.jpg" title="" width="346" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No dog poo bags?<br />Flick it into the undergrowth with a stick.<br />Suitable for keen golfers (put, don't pitch).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<b><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What about 'biodegradable bags'?</span></i></b><br />
<br />
Biodegradable bags still look awful hanging from a tree or on the ground and they still take several months to biodegrade. The introduction of dog poo to the natural environment, whether in a biodegradable bag or not, is harmful. Dog poo contains many toxins that hurt the environment, and harmful bacteria found in dog poo can pass from other animals to people and can also pollute our waterways.<br />
<br />
Do use biodegradable bags, but bin them so they will be disposed of in landfill sites where they will biodegrade, not in our trees or hedgerows.<br />
<br />
If you can't find a public bin, it is better to leave the dog poo where it is than to bag it and throw it in a tree. Better still, bag it and take it home with you for disposal in your black bin. Failing that, find a stick and flick it away from the path. Please stop adding to the amount of plastics in our environment. Out of sight may be out of mind as far as you are concerned but the harm that plastics do to our wildlife and natural environment is far greater than you might imagine.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xPpyndIfgY_2_L09y1xoUzlZUIPp75GjYKleZHYjdqqMX8M6rSQcGCjPIKq088RvDvY5gBMJeDCMhZk0I6uB9yXLULjvZZbBbSSzU-QfK9cUMxt5L9tvyZZ_3v9puUpWzU-aXJ7Qlg0g/s1600/dog+poo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Dog poo bag on the ground" border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="676" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xPpyndIfgY_2_L09y1xoUzlZUIPp75GjYKleZHYjdqqMX8M6rSQcGCjPIKq088RvDvY5gBMJeDCMhZk0I6uB9yXLULjvZZbBbSSzU-QfK9cUMxt5L9tvyZZ_3v9puUpWzU-aXJ7Qlg0g/s640/dog+poo+1.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bags often fall out of the trees onto the forest floor where they <br />
suffocate the earth and take years to biodegrade</td></tr>
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<br />Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-7595654823865309612017-02-10T00:01:00.000+00:002017-02-10T15:53:58.896+00:00Reflections On A Potato<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBs4sOGuHnCuxlVruTp5-ezHXPCLJqJLr98wocsxrqlmisWYNlEoUhicrfSZAIICby14ihyphenhyphenyxb6mxxzla7_eV5E9Gq-aRBmV9PPTwCygHybp_HGCBBrdBZ9-zl-on6KR6wt4JEtoC83aJ/s1600/potato.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A potato in a fridge" border="0" height="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBs4sOGuHnCuxlVruTp5-ezHXPCLJqJLr98wocsxrqlmisWYNlEoUhicrfSZAIICby14ihyphenhyphenyxb6mxxzla7_eV5E9Gq-aRBmV9PPTwCygHybp_HGCBBrdBZ9-zl-on6KR6wt4JEtoC83aJ/s640/potato.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One potato.</td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>A few years ago my world very rapidly fell apart. </i></span></b><br />
<br />
I had a good job that my boss assured me would always be safe, and a house with the steep mortgage which my dad told me was the best kind of house to buy.<br />
<br />
Two years later, my dad was dead and I'd lost my job.<br />
<br />
I had no mortgage insurance. It's very hard to get mortgage insurance if you have MS. The premiums are high and the chances you'll even get a payout when you actually need it are low. So said my financial adviser when he arranged my mortgage.<br />
<br />
What followed were four years during which I tried every day to get a job or otherwise support myself with freelance work while desperately trying to keep up my mortgage payments. I couldn't afford to heat the house so I didn't and I couldn't afford to buy food very often either. On one occasion, I was in a meeting with a business associate who could hear my stomach rumbling. She asked me when I'd last eaten and I answered 'not today'. She very kindly went to the local convenience store and bought me some fruit and potatoes.<br />
<br />
I took the picture you see above when I was down to the last potato.<br />
<br />
Looking at it now it seems wretched. But at the time that potato was a meal and I was so grateful to have it.<br />
<br />
After four years my circumstances changed. I lost the house (in the end I couldn't keep up the payments so was forced to sell it) but I came back to Peterborough to a roof over my head, no more crippling debt and food in the fridge.<br />
<br />
I was very, very lucky.<br />
<br />
Lucky because I was able to get out of that situation eventually, but also lucky to have experienced it.<br />
<br />
I've never been particularly materialistic or wasteful, but I'd never had to think about whether I was materialist or wasteful either, until I lost my job. I now regard everything, housing, heating, food, money differently to how I did before. For a long time I was afraid of it. And when I was safe again I was afraid of it even more, the fear of loss being as scary as loss itself.<br />
<br />
With the passage of time I've developed a respect for things again but I'm now far less wasteful that I was before. I now cook entire meals with food I'd have thrown out for scraps in the past. I regard people in debt or without an income with far greater compassion, because I know what it is to be stuck in the poverty trap. Fortunately, I had a house I could sell and I was able to sell it. Many people in my situation do not and face no realistic possibility of climbing out of poverty without a great deal of practical help and support. Being so poor that you can't feed yourself properly and so poor that you can't put the heating on in winter and so poor that you can't afford the roof over your head is exhausting. Every day, I had to find the strength to look for work when I had no strength. Some days, I would dread going to sleep as I dreaded waking up into the same misery.<br />
<br />
Human experience is rich in lessons, but when it comes down to it some of us get lucky breaks and some of us do not and the luck is not evenly or fairly distributed. When I came back to Peterborough I decided that I'd like to take some time working in the community rather than earn a living because I haven't forgotten that feeling of hopelessness and nor do I want to. That feeling is the thread of humanity that connects me to other people who are struggling and reminds me that the bad things that can happen in our lives are sometimes through no fault of our own.<br />
<br />
If you're lucky like me I urge you to spare a thought, some time, and a little bit of money for people who are down on theirs. I'm quite sure that there are many more people living in poverty and hardship than are accounted for by the Government. If someone you know has lost their job, even if you think they are probably alright, invite them for a hearty meal. If they say no they say no - sometimes it's hard to face other people when inside you are falling apart. But do offer. If you don't know a friend in need then <b><a href="https://peterborough.foodbank.org.uk/">Peterborough Food Bank</a></b> will be grateful to receive your donation. My friend's bag of food fed me for nearly a month but the kindness continues to sustain me.<br />
<br />
Food banks in Peterborough:<br />
<br />
<b><a href="https://peterborough.foodbank.org.uk/">Peterborough Food Bank</a></b><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.salvationarmyptbo.org/?i=12531&mid=1000&id=294657">Peterborough Salvation Army</a></b><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.peterboroughsoupkitchen.org.uk/">Peterborough Soup Kitchen</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
(p.s. I know there is some difference of opinion about keeping potatoes in the fridge. According to one of my friends, potatoes should be kept 'in a sack cloth in a basket under a cupboard'. I have no words.)<br />
<br />
<br />Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-48583456152707358972017-01-25T00:06:00.001+00:002017-02-05T22:06:33.536+00:00Let's Go Outside: Safer Sex in Peterborough<div id="fb-root">
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>It All Began Innocently Enough...</i></b></span><br />
<br />
I take part in a couple of organised <b>litter picks</b> every month. One of these is always in the same location in <b><a href="http://howell4ortonwaterville.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/beautiful-bushfield-blighted-by-bottles.html">Orton Waterville</a></b>. It's always in the same location because no matter how much litter we clear the exact same amount always needs to be cleared again a month later.<br />
<br />
The other litter pick is organised by Peterborough Green Party. We choose a different location each month. Sometimes we respond to residents' requests to pick a particular area, sometimes we clear an area spotted by one of our own team.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj6yxGp5RhoIGmRv_nklKtnohxzx_6bjZLS650xHy4qtK0YE7L2G2EYjloKdLwFlo90rhRQcnOLnqY8tKzR0_R842s2YObzVFwAckCRgw8flVtMwiWxOIGex8cZMDho8rbzZ0qHMLk6Iao/s1600/29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Milton Ferry Bridge in winter" border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj6yxGp5RhoIGmRv_nklKtnohxzx_6bjZLS650xHy4qtK0YE7L2G2EYjloKdLwFlo90rhRQcnOLnqY8tKzR0_R842s2YObzVFwAckCRgw8flVtMwiWxOIGex8cZMDho8rbzZ0qHMLk6Iao/s640/29.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture of Milton Ferry Bridge taken during the litter pick. <br />
If you think our litter picks are all about muck you're only half right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Ferry Hill</i></b></span><br />
<br />
This month, on a bright but bitterly cold Sunday morning we gathered at Ferry Hill. Technically, Ferry Hill is in Castor, but you'll know it as 'the road at the back of Ferry Meadows' by the stunning Milton Ferry Bridge under which flows the River Nene. On a freezing cold January morning, this area looks particularly beautiful. The lakes in Ferry Meadows were frozen and the Nene was also dotted with chunks of floating ice. I can't think of anywhere more lovely than this. Hold onto that thought.<br />
<br />
Ferry Hill is situated between Ferry Meadows and the A47 and because of this it attracts a particular type of litter. Who, you might be wondering, would drop litter at a treasured beauty spot. Well, you'd be surprised (and possibly offended. I write this post to raise awareness and I fully expect you to feel as disgusted as I do).<br />
<br />
I took another photograph, this time pointing my lens to the ground below me.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcVJQw6UDld0ux6_pwHavM65f2GMqCzAXru_wjS_mBw7x-aAxDmEiymIRO4lHx7ufr10RNuIAOdkOHgJYUT9sRF_wd18a4_ec2OP0StKm08CDwLIVqA05vnj7UoxCH5dNHstT3L9XFdYO/s1600/46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A used condom on Ferry Hill" border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcVJQw6UDld0ux6_pwHavM65f2GMqCzAXru_wjS_mBw7x-aAxDmEiymIRO4lHx7ufr10RNuIAOdkOHgJYUT9sRF_wd18a4_ec2OP0StKm08CDwLIVqA05vnj7UoxCH5dNHstT3L9XFdYO/s640/46.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Your eyes do not deceive you. That is indeed a used condom. <br />
I found four along one stretch of road.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Beer bottles and used condoms and their wrappers. I'm not here to preach about what people do in their spare time, but I am going to preach about the mess they leave behind. <b>Using condoms is definitely GOOD.</b> Dropping them on the floor after use, definitely NOT GOOD. Disgusting and unsightly, without a doubt. A health hazard, definitely. This was on the verge next to the road, in plain sight. Would you want to slip on the ice and fall face first onto that lot? No, neither would I. Would you want your toddler to pick that up? Or your dog? Discarded used condoms are a danger on so many levels. Please, if they are yours, dispose of them responsibly.<br />
<br />
Disposing of them responsibly doesn't mean chucking them in a bush. Doing so may keep them away from humans but they will do untold harm to our precious local wildlife.<br />
<br />
If you find a discarded condom, don't pick it up. Report it to the council immediately. The same goes for discarded needles. The number to call is <b>01733 747474 </b>or use the<b> My Peterborough</b> app.<b> </b>This type of litter is very dangerous. It does need to be removed, but not by you. Never touch anything like that with your bare hands.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/WhiteHawkAtomic/videos/10154790242610390/" data-show-text="false" data-width="300">
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Posted by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7931996672384583120#" role="button">Julie Howell</a> on Sunday, 22 January 2017</blockquote>
</div>
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<b style="color: #6aa84f;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Team Effort</span></i></b><br />
<br />
I can't say enough wonderful things about our team. Members of <b>Peterborough Green Party</b> and local residents spent two hours of their Sunday morning making an area of outstanding natural beauty beautiful again. You never hear us complain when we're on our litter picks, no matter how disgusting it gets. We dress appropriately and we just get on with it, come rain or shine. We appreciate all the people who stop to thank us, and we appreciate even more the residents who join us.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsl5n19VYeijrX8tSRBWfeBpqR7vVn_k9bMHtccwTBR2YoMN9Km0EWqmbFaIW4L2tO67_8FwylpSNjyTG6bs36oYSmDq72bF84Hfa9HcEfPXzCvquPO3leuinJoNOCTMQTbhEckoNUPqey/s1600/51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Peterborough Green Party litter picker" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsl5n19VYeijrX8tSRBWfeBpqR7vVn_k9bMHtccwTBR2YoMN9Km0EWqmbFaIW4L2tO67_8FwylpSNjyTG6bs36oYSmDq72bF84Hfa9HcEfPXzCvquPO3leuinJoNOCTMQTbhEckoNUPqey/s640/51.jpg" title="" width="398" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>A Pile Of (Your) Crap</i></b></span><br />
<br />
As well as the aftermath of the previous night's activities we found a lot of fly tipped waste on Ferry Hill. This included dumped cans of engine oil, a television, and a vacuum cleaner attachment. If you've ever paid someone you don't know to take things to the tip for you this stuff may well be yours. Because this is the reality of fly tipping. Rogue traders who don't care about our community will simply drive to an area like Ferry Hill, dump a load of rubbish into the woods, and drive off. Please don't pay people to do this. It's hurting wildlife and it looks awful.<br />
<br />
We collected 30-40 bags of rubbish on this litter pick, which is more than average. Ferry Hill is on a hill (the clue is in the name), so we couldn't pile all the rubbish in one place as it was too heavy to carry. These pictures give you an idea of what we cleared from one road.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMFGjXwIYr6I6shSB-zcb_lVlaxkY8wxmB1dJMxFT4PWGx4-l5jV5uxoQC8vB6qps7op28tezUHYvW_5b1PZo9OkyEf34JbPKLMfm-N8s3piNmW1sKxgswfoGeCC5vASfVasfmd4buNQ-p/s1600/49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Fly tip including a TV" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMFGjXwIYr6I6shSB-zcb_lVlaxkY8wxmB1dJMxFT4PWGx4-l5jV5uxoQC8vB6qps7op28tezUHYvW_5b1PZo9OkyEf34JbPKLMfm-N8s3piNmW1sKxgswfoGeCC5vASfVasfmd4buNQ-p/s640/49.jpg" title="" width="492" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seriously?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYagRjZCWONmaVy6DkJL_u_2iEJTdeKKVOQAqSCYa5r18YBraOM-O8Kl2PAxXN-jvzHdk74QLlKFhYFakix1EUXKFW8j2llNH_XLaPBfa5PfcAYK3wn715ajIF4WfFBnnpSeeENmpf2rjp/s1600/45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Julie Howell by many bags of rubbish" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYagRjZCWONmaVy6DkJL_u_2iEJTdeKKVOQAqSCYa5r18YBraOM-O8Kl2PAxXN-jvzHdk74QLlKFhYFakix1EUXKFW8j2llNH_XLaPBfa5PfcAYK3wn715ajIF4WfFBnnpSeeENmpf2rjp/s640/45.jpg" title="" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To be frank, it stank.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZI4V7jF_Y8bs49PQfG0WPwmsyIKiC0Tr_JNDmZx99ypbhqngm3Zp3G4-C21eV_Qgzfn10l7yOQOn9boT-9Snl-gakvsXe7_-5i7K9cE5wSHJI9oAFsJPhts6lPsdzdWZQ7LGMXRtCVmn/s1600/48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Rubbish in the woods" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZI4V7jF_Y8bs49PQfG0WPwmsyIKiC0Tr_JNDmZx99ypbhqngm3Zp3G4-C21eV_Qgzfn10l7yOQOn9boT-9Snl-gakvsXe7_-5i7K9cE5wSHJI9oAFsJPhts6lPsdzdWZQ7LGMXRtCVmn/s640/48.jpg" title="" width="451" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mixed fly tip. A bit of this, a bit of that.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4Q2rldGpmjrs6WUlqZCD06wquw7mvoeFDqNaBPDTAweGHhxSJd6y99jji6WMmWULAqQT3rtZUSZyrg9lu2OUeqWUCnLNlaSuztvDAm5juZ6d8MaevtBodQMSVkvvV58Pid2GpId6-waU/s1600/47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Discarded shoe" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4Q2rldGpmjrs6WUlqZCD06wquw7mvoeFDqNaBPDTAweGHhxSJd6y99jji6WMmWULAqQT3rtZUSZyrg9lu2OUeqWUCnLNlaSuztvDAm5juZ6d8MaevtBodQMSVkvvV58Pid2GpId6-waU/s640/47.jpg" title="" width="508" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One careless owner.<br />
We found its partner in another bush further up the hill.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
People drop this stuff on Ferry Hill and it's ruining it. If you're reading this and feeling pangs of guilt please resolve to take your litter home with you. We don't mind clearing litter that blows into the woods from the bins or litter that has been dropped accidentally. But this is deliberate and it is dropped and dumped at a rate that overwhelming council street cleaner services. Please take personal responsibility for your own litter and take it home.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Solution?</i></b></span><br />
<br />
I've said it before, I'll say it again and I'll keep on saying it: <b><a href="http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/our-region/cambridgeshire/flytipping-amnesty-is-the-answer-1-7710609">fly tip amnesties</a></b>. Choose a day, advertise it well, and put a skip in the community so residents can drop off their larger items without fear of fines of fees. Until we have workable fly tip amnesties in place this problem is likely to grow rather than get better. If you think I'm wrong, tell me, and join me on our next litter pick and judge for yourself.<br />
<br />
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT<br />
Good morning. We are in an area of Peterborough today called Ferry Hill, which is just on the border between Peterborough and Castor. It’s on the Milton Ferry Bridge side of Ferry Meadows. It’s very cold. I don’t know how that’s affecting the camera. We’re doing litter pick. This is quite an active area in the night time, so I’m told. There’s a lot of rubbish as a consequence and the council doesn’t pick up a lot of it. But we’re also, as you can probably hear, by a very main road (my glasses are steaming up). Let me show you. Let me turn it around. There’s the road there, the A47. And you can see I’m standing in woodland and the sort of rubbish we’ve got in here has just been dumped. It’s been fly tipped. And there’s a lot of rubbish that’s been thrown from cars. I’m on my second rubbish bag now. Rubbish bags fill up very quickly here. It’s a beautiful area but unfortunately where you get people parking up you get rubbish. We’ll do a good clear up today but it’ll need clearing again very soon. It’s quite a difficult place to litter pick because there’s a lot of thorny branches. I’ve already cut my hand. I cut my hand pretty soon after I started but that’s okay. We just have to be very careful because they’re biohazardous waste here. It would be great if people took their rubbish home with them. Whatever you’re doing in this beautiful area let’s all just try and keep it beautiful. Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-38027080220648654732016-12-06T22:46:00.001+00:002017-02-05T22:16:59.088+00:00Mini Motorbikes & the Accidents Waiting to Happen<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHP6JlqOdO0vTXc2ZvBinPyMbJXV7UcCqrmtIrqnz8lonhziz8gLMj1o1AKzEVjyowI0c-37_qd25uZvotnGGQBrwQ8Whzg7mjxR23ff5NPMw_Y22TlstGoiquXE_cYO7EUZqvtZzJufFz/s1600/headlight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Motorcycle light" border="0" height="547" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHP6JlqOdO0vTXc2ZvBinPyMbJXV7UcCqrmtIrqnz8lonhziz8gLMj1o1AKzEVjyowI0c-37_qd25uZvotnGGQBrwQ8Whzg7mjxR23ff5NPMw_Y22TlstGoiquXE_cYO7EUZqvtZzJufFz/s640/headlight.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If your mini motorbike doesn't have a light you're invisible</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Everyone saw an accident coming.</i></b></span><br />
<br />
Everyone, except the lad on the bike and the poor driver whose car unavoidably hit him.<br />
<br />
Just before 9pm on Thursday night (1st December 2016), a lady driving a Chevrolet Spark along London Road in Fletton Hempstead, Peterborough collided with a man in his 20s who was riding a mini motorbike. The biker wasn't wearing a helmet, there were no lights on his bike and, according to some unverified witness accounts that I read on social media, he jumped a red traffic light. The lady driving the car had no opportunity to take evasive action and the motorcycle and its rider ended their journey under that car. Our treasured MAGPAS air ambulance took the young man to hospital and it is reported that he has sustained 'life-changing injuries' including a broken pelvis. The driver of the car is, mercifully, unharmed.<br />
<br />
The motorcyclist (and his friends and family) have learned a very hard lesson in the worst way possible. These bikes are not road legal for a reason. Even if they were, riding without a helmet is foolhardy. Riding without lights could kill someone. If you ride in the dark on public roads without lights on your bike you're invisible. No matter how carefully you think you're riding, if you cannot be seen then you're putting everyone in range of you at risk of great harm.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="300" scrolling="no" src="//embeds.audioboom.com/posts/5360726-peterborough-green-party-bbc-radio-cambs-mini-motorbikes-5-december-2016/embed/v4?eid=AQAAADK7RlhWzFEA" style="background-color: transparent; display: block; max-width: 700px;" title="audioBoom player" width="100%"></iframe>
<br />
Yesterday, I gave an interview to the BBC Radio Cambs Breakfast Show expressing my concern about these mini motorbikes. Although the request for an interview was triggered by this incident, I have long voiced concerns about anti-social behaviour involving these bikes in many areas of Peterborough, including Dogsthorpe, Werrington and Orton.<br />
<br />
Many residents of Orton have spoken to me about their anxieties regarding these bikes and the aggressive and anti-social attitude of the young people who ride them on the pavement, often narrowly missing pedestrians and certainly terrorising them.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><b>Where Are The Police?</b></i></span><br />
<br />
Residents also complain very bitterly that the police rarely respond to their reports about the mini motorbikes, despite it supposedly being a priority for police in Orton. Calls to 101 are frequently dismissed and if they attend at all, the police tend to arrive long after the rider has left the area.<br />
<br />
Evidence of the problem is difficult to capture as the bikes travel so fast, with no licence plates to identify them, and the riders usually cover their faces with scarves to hide their identity.<br />
<br />
Unsurprisingly, this has led some residents to describe parts of Orton as 'lawless', with many believing that neither the police nor the council cares about them.<br />
<br />
<i style="color: #38761d;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What Should Be Done?</span></b></i><br />
<br />
<b>Education</b><br />
<br />
If you're riding a bike you and your bike should always be safe, road legal and visible. Venturing out without lights on your bike at any time of day is risky and at night it is extremely dangerous. 'Life changing injuries' generally means 'will never walk again'. This is a terrible life sentence for a person in their 20s. Put lights on your bike, even if you don't agree that you need them. They will one day save your life and probably someone else's life too.<br />
<br />
<b>Policing</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
While some riders mean no harm, a considerable number of mini motorbike riders in Orton deliberately ride anti-socially, terrorising families, older people and pets. Putting people's lives at risk. Where those riders are concerned the police must intervene.<br />
<br />
On 5 June 2016, Community Inspector Kate Firman of Safer Peterborough Partnership wrote in the <b><a href="http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/our-region/peterborough/bike-nuisances-have-been-warned-1-7415186">Peterborough Telegraph</a></b> about seizing bikes and issuing warnings to anti-social riders, and yet the problem seems to be worse than ever. I don't know whether the 101 operators are failing to handle the calls correctly (we know this happens sometimes when 'drifting' is reported) or whether the police are simply overwhelmed. However, it's very clear that residents feel a more visible police presence in the community and a faster response when crimes involving mini motorbikes occur would make a difference.<br />
<br />
<b>Somewhere to go</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Peterborough is a property paradox. We have a desperate housing shortage (depending on whose 'facts' you choose to believe). At the same time, our newer housing estates are cramped. Planning that probably made very good sense on paper has led to narrow streets and areas of very dense housing. People in some areas feel that they are living on top of each other. And as new estates are built, where is the infrastructure needed to create communities? Is it any wonder that young people are using residential streets for recreation? If you are interested in mini motorbikes, where can you go in Orton to ride them safely and legally?<br />
<br />
If you listen to the BBC Radio Cambs interview on the link above, you'll also hear from Wayne Arbon of the <b><a href="http://www.gauntlet.talktalk.net/index.htm">Gauntlet Auto Project</a></b>. This business operating in Ramsey provides a place for mini motorbike enthusiasts to ride safely and teaches them how to maintain their bikes to keep them in good working order. Wouldn't it be great if we had such a facility in Peterborough?<br />
<br />
What do you think is the answer the problems caused by young people riding mini motorbikes illegally and unsafely in Orton?<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">UPDATE</span>: Read about my visit to the <a href="http://howell4ortonwaterville.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/why-peterborough-green-party-wants-to.html">Gauntlet Auto Project</a> in Ramsey where they are giving young people the opportunity to learn how to ride mini motorbikes safely and responsibly </b><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Audio transcript</b>: Dotty: Now the use of mini motorbikes in Peterborough has
reached epidemic proportions, that’s according to a member of the city’s Green
Party. Julie Howell says people riding them without lights and helmets are a
hazard to residents as well as themselves. Last night in the city, a rider on a
mini motorbike was reported to have sustained life-changing injuries after a
collision with a car on London Road. Julie Howell joins me now. Good morning. I
mean epidemic proportions Julie, what do you really mean by that?<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Julie: Good morning, Dotty. Well the first thing that I’d
like to say is how terribly sorry I am for everyone involved in that accident
on Thursday, particularly the driver of the car. It sounds absolutely horrific.
Now, we call this epidemic proportions because we have been complaining about
this for over two years now. It’s a problem in Werrington, in Dogsthorpe, in Orton,
various places across Peterborough. We’ve told the police time and time again
we’ve got a real problem with people driving these off-road bikes, these
illegal bikes. They’re not wearing helmets, well, that’s their risk, isn’t it?
But they’ve got no lights on their bikes and this is a huge risk to everybody.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dotty: And you said that you feel particularly sorry
following this accident on Thursday night for the person who was driving the
car that was involved. I mean it was the rider of the motorbike that has
suffered such serious injuries.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Julie: And it sounds like it was a miracle the person behind
the wheel of the car wasn’t injured or indeed any pedestrians passing by
because I believe this was round about 9pm, a very busy time. I know that
location well. It’s quite a built-up residential area and if you’re riding a
bike with no lights on then you are responsible for any accident that happens, absolutely
right. I’m sorry someone’s hurt themselves but this was bound to happen if you
ride in the dark with no lights on. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dotty: So what really is the problem, especially if these
kids are, you know, just knocking about, if they’re just having a bit of fun, I
mean, is it really a big deal?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Julie: They’re not just knocking about though. I’ve spoken
to many residents about this over the weekend and certainly what we find in
Orton is that there’s a lot of very anti-social behaviour there with these
bikes. The kids who are riding the bikes, I say kids but it’s also young people
in their 20s, are riding them with their faces masked by scarves so they know
they’re doing wrong and they don’t want to be identified and they’re driving
along pavements, they’re putting children at risk. It’s something we’ve raised
with the police many, many times and it’s just a matter of time before a
pedestrian is really badly injured or killed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dotty: Yeah, I mean in the last six months we’ve spoken to
you Julie about concerns over fly tipping, over drifting and now mini
motorbikes. You say you’ve complained about all of these things to the relevant
authorities for months at a time. Do you feel that Peterborough is being
effectively policed?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Julie: Some parts of it you have to wonder, don’t you? I don’t
think this is entirely a policing issue. Clearly, we need to tell our young
people to put lights on their bikes. That’s really important. And I know that
some residents feel, as I do, that we need some place for people to be.
Peterborough’s becoming so built up with new housing, it doesn’t have great
transport infrastructure, and people will always as they have since motorbikes
were invented, wanted to muck about on them. So they need somewhere safe to be
able to do that. But for years residents have been complaining to police about
this sort of thing and they’re feeling terrorised now by these young people and
I doubt hearing about this accident on Thursday is going to make any of the
residents feel any better about it. Where are the police? Where’s the presence?
Where are the police telling these riders if you don’t have lights on your bike
it’s not just your own life you’re putting at risk it’s the life of anybody who
is unfortunate enough to get in your way.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dotty: What do
you think should be done about this?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Julie: Education about how important lights are. I can’t
believe that we’re saying this. Isn’t it obvious? If you choose not to wear a
helmet it’s on you. If you choose not to have lights on your bike that could
affect all of us. And somewhere for people to be so that they can do this and
they’re not doing it out on our streets. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dotty: Okay Julie, thank you very much. Julie Howell there
from Peterborough Green Party, concerned about the number of mini motorbikes
being ridden illegally around Peterborough.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-79410179646285082492016-10-28T14:50:00.000+01:002017-02-05T22:20:34.824+00:00Beautiful Bushfield Blighted By Bottles<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgavjCHRRjkdReXOyHXlKCwFlgDvhEsUnAC-SYYKpbRBxsC2V-TIsyfJyS6Frp4k_qstLCjLrDAhpZlnHkHUAfjiYf1rPkE5O0sohk-Bw38DLOcpA5ddqv0BzyIrF8-fk9CJqSaVJogoFtU/s1600/litter+bushfield.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgavjCHRRjkdReXOyHXlKCwFlgDvhEsUnAC-SYYKpbRBxsC2V-TIsyfJyS6Frp4k_qstLCjLrDAhpZlnHkHUAfjiYf1rPkE5O0sohk-Bw38DLOcpA5ddqv0BzyIrF8-fk9CJqSaVJogoFtU/s640/litter+bushfield.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wish I could tell you this was a day's work.<br />
I picked this lot up in just 20 minutes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I try very hard not to let it get to me.<br />
<br />
We live in a very beautiful area. So can anyone tell me WHY the littering around Bushfield playing fields is so bad?<br />
<br />
Yesterday, I joined a local litter picking group run by resident Barrie Tulloch to clear the area from the top of Cherry Orton Road in Waterville and along the paths past Bushfield playing fields. The amount of rubbish we collected was quite disgraceful.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Stop Dropping Bottles!</i></b></span><br />
<br />
There are two main categories of litter in this area.<br />
<br />
The first is dropped by people who use the fields for sport and the paths to get to and from the school. So it's sweet wrappers and crisp packets.<br />
<br />
But the main offender is plastic drinks bottles. Many of them are still half full of liquid. They are routinely dropped at the sides of the playing fields, presumably because the people who leave them there believe the 'bottle fairies' will spirit them away (I know I'm sounding like your mother now, but perhaps that's what it takes!)<br />
<br />
Newsflash: If you leave bottles on the grass they don't disappear by magic. Either the council or volunteers come and get them. If we don't, they will eventually cause great harm to the area, including the wildlife. Check out my exchange with local wildlife charity <b><a href="http://www.froglife.org/">Froglife</a></b> on this very problem...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxGx_LS4c-a9-j64jkarWr9II98_czFdFpIWZ5zfqJ_WnSiP-_wKkPJBnm_pJHPfx2Zogxk_6FRaEhD60OoSdlDN7dkXXLVKmau0A4QjzFSIAYNw3tPPX3ThHWhaDqU2iEjq8heKhRRstK/s1600/froglife+tweet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Froglife says discarded bottles are death traps for newts" border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxGx_LS4c-a9-j64jkarWr9II98_czFdFpIWZ5zfqJ_WnSiP-_wKkPJBnm_pJHPfx2Zogxk_6FRaEhD60OoSdlDN7dkXXLVKmau0A4QjzFSIAYNw3tPPX3ThHWhaDqU2iEjq8heKhRRstK/s640/froglife+tweet.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newts may be difficult to spot but they are here and our littering is putting them in danger.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<br />
Awful. But moaning does nothing. Only action on the part of residents will make a difference. The message is really simple: please take your litter home with you. If you're fit enough for sport, you're fit enough to carry your drinks bottle to the nearest bin (even if that's at your house).<br />
<br />
Here's another idea. Why not fill your own bottle with your favourite drink and take it back home with you to use again?! I make it sound so simple. That's because it is simple.<br />
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<br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Join Our Litter Picking Group!</i></b></span><br />
<br />
If you'd like to join us on this litter pick you will be very, very welcome. We supply all the equipment, just bring yourself in suitable clothing (waterproof, ideally!). It can be a nice way to meet other people who care about our area and there is satisfaction in doing something that helps our community and our environment and local wildlife.<br />
<br />
Drop a line to me or to resident Barrie Tulloch (barrie.tullock@btinternet.com) and we'll let you know when we'll next be picking.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1O0xVsoWXBjst8ObG38ncu6v54Dllgm54UqBqDjd29dnhhKHKT0suN745qNYkFxC7iT3GQuny7sYvzZEEGAe9HB-igWmXVMD4I8zh_2ETTi8j8xcwn1ldvz0rV0QQLEkIL5-WVkjibQ9/s1600/Barrie+selfie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Julie at Bushfield having cleared it of rubbish" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1O0xVsoWXBjst8ObG38ncu6v54Dllgm54UqBqDjd29dnhhKHKT0suN745qNYkFxC7iT3GQuny7sYvzZEEGAe9HB-igWmXVMD4I8zh_2ETTi8j8xcwn1ldvz0rV0QQLEkIL5-WVkjibQ9/s640/Barrie+selfie.jpg" title="" width="539" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lovely litter-free field, cleared by volunteers, not by magic!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-62593537963769416852016-10-25T10:46:00.000+01:002017-02-05T22:20:46.759+00:00Traffic Fears at Lynch Wood and Wistow Way<div id="fb-root">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAkTTfgt-hTmGmRjXQk3_2SL4y42OXRsw4Z2AucVPSql8YZHvJoqknVbEeJoGQOteWFudhGqmDbWoDfcJdzB2_yG4wNBit6rgzx-z2zWyoFKTG9av2E4jvoAP-JZXWbaLydTzG6NXp0SVi/s1600/Lynch+Wood+Roundabout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Xs mark the spots where crossing the road at Lynch Wood is dangerous." border="0" height="545" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAkTTfgt-hTmGmRjXQk3_2SL4y42OXRsw4Z2AucVPSql8YZHvJoqknVbEeJoGQOteWFudhGqmDbWoDfcJdzB2_yG4wNBit6rgzx-z2zWyoFKTG9av2E4jvoAP-JZXWbaLydTzG6NXp0SVi/s640/Lynch+Wood+Roundabout.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Xs mark the spots where crossing the road at Lynch Wood is dangerous.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
This morning I accompanied a local Orton Southgate resident to the roundabout where Lynch Wood meets Wistow Way, Oundle Road and Orton Parkway to see for myself why local people are growing increasingly concerned about the volume and speed of traffic in the area.<br />
<br />
Lynch Wood is a thriving business park. The businesses there employ many people from our local area and further afield and long may this continue. However, the recent arrival of a new business has resulted in a huge surge in traffic to the area, particularly at morning and evening peak times.<br />
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<div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/641410389/videos/10154508609280390/" data-show-text="false" data-width="500">
<blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/641410389/videos/10154508609280390/" class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/641410389/videos/10154508609280390/"></a><br />
Posted by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7931996672384583120#" role="button">Julie Howell</a> on Tuesday, 25 October 2016</blockquote>
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Traffic from the Lynch Wood roundabout along Wistow Way is often heavy and fast moving. Although there is a <b><a href="http://howell4ortonwaterville.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/bring-back-our-blue-bridge.html">bridge for pedestrians</a></b> to use if they want to get from Orton Brimbles to Orton Wistow, residents trying to access Wistow Primary School on foot from Orton Southgate and Orton Northgate are more like to use a crossing that has no facility to make it safe for pedestrians. People I've spoken to fear it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed.<br />
<br />
Eventually, I was able to cross the road when a car slowed and waved me across. However, this is only safe when traffic coming the other way is also willing to stop. One can easily imagine why a pedestrian in a hurry might take their chances and dart through the traffic, but it really isn't safe to do so.<br />
<br />
Another Orton Southgate resident says, "As one who walks to Wistow Primary School most days, it's very tricky crossing the road at Lynch Wood as cars are normally non-stop. Nine times out of ten it's a case of waiting for a car to slow and flash its headlights. We always cross at the spot with the traffic island so at least we can wait safely in the middle of the road. Making it an official pedestrian crossing would be a huge help."<br />
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<div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/641410389/videos/10154508627900390/" data-show-text="false" data-width="500">
<blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/641410389/videos/10154508627900390/" class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/641410389/videos/10154508627900390/"></a><br />
Posted by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7931996672384583120#" role="button">Julie Howell</a> on Tuesday, 25 October 2016</blockquote>
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It's half term at the moment, so traffic is much lighter that normal and I will take another look next week to see how bad it is when parents as well as employees are trying to use these roads. I'm told it's quite normal now for traffic to be backed up along Orton Parkway all the way to the roundabout at Newcombe Way, making it very difficult to exit Orton Southgate residences by car.<br />
<br />
It's very clear that the roads in this area can be dangerous for pedestrians and very congested for motorists too.<br />
<br />
Are you affected by the traffic at Lynch Wood in the mornings? Do you feel safe negotiating these roads in the morning and afternoon at peak times? How do you think safety or congestion could be improved?<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Transcript of video one: Good morning. So I’m
at Lynch Wood this morning which is the main business park in Orton Waterville.
We’ve got a real probably with traffic as you can probably see behind me. So,
the roundabout behind me here is the one that feeds into Lynch Wood and it also
has other roads off it such as Wistow Way, Oundle Road and Orton Parkway. It’s
actually relatively quiet this morning because it’s half term, but still it
doesn’t look quiet. Now as you can see it’s very, very difficult for
pedestrians to get across here. Children need to get across to get to school
and if you just about look behind me you can see that that’s the pathway across
there and how am I ever supposed to get across this road. It’s very dangerous.
So this morning I’ve come here with a resident and she’s going to show me the
problems here and I don’t think this is the worst of it. I think if we go round
the corner in a second we’ll find it's even more of a problem so I'll catch up with you there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Transcript of video two: Good morning. So I’m
now at Oundle Road where it feeds into Lynch Wood and it’s about 8:45am. This
is actually half term at the moment so it’s not as busy as it might otherwise
be but as you can see behind me there is a lot of traffic. It’s moving in, well
the queue is not that slow is it? It’s very, very hard to cross here. I’ve
actually been waiting to cross here for a while. So you can see there’s the
crossing just behind me but I’m not able to use it unless a car slows down and
lets me across. And then the problem that you have – I’ve got a big truck
coming past now, very big truck – the problem that you have if someone says to
you okay you can cross now you’re dependent on the people in the other cars
realising that otherwise you might be stepping out in front of traffic. So it’s
very, very dangerous here and me and someone who’s opposite me on the other
side of the road right now have been trying to cross here for minutes and no
one’s stopped to let us cross and there’s been no gap in the traffic. Imagine
if you’re a young child with not too much road sense or you’re pushing a
pushchair or you’re disabled. It is possible to walk a bit further down. You
can see in the distance a footbridge there but people don’t always use
footbridges do they, and one can't help but think we need some kind of measure here to make it safer for pedestrians.</span>
<span style="font-size: 20.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-53433001512489642402016-10-10T13:43:00.002+01:002017-02-05T22:22:08.130+00:00An Ice Skate, a Thousand Cigarette Ends and a Bear in a Tree<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomgcroVgr8Ueqo04lCDTpldw9NAmY0aL-6ZoKi0rcoADgKkF2TC74D70aH8HyNWqkN1so0uP8hi7PLxHxqfjQH2SoLEkajkgPDPbYtkcwwfQnMr7RmNk9rT0Vc_NrdkzdxPxme2hci7JV/s1600/Julie+Howell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Julie outside the Marriott in Lynchwood ready for the litter pick" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomgcroVgr8Ueqo04lCDTpldw9NAmY0aL-6ZoKi0rcoADgKkF2TC74D70aH8HyNWqkN1so0uP8hi7PLxHxqfjQH2SoLEkajkgPDPbYtkcwwfQnMr7RmNk9rT0Vc_NrdkzdxPxme2hci7JV/s640/Julie+Howell.jpg" title="" width="480" /></a></div>
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<br />
I had a fantastic time last Thursday on a huge community litter pick of the Lynchwood Business Park. This fabulous event was organised by the team at the Marriott Hotel Peterborough, which is located on the corner of the Lynchwood estate, very close to our border with Alwalton.<br />
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What started out as a conversation about what the staff of the Marriott might do to become more involved in the local community became an amazing day of fun and exercise in beautiful weather. The whole team embraced the event wholeheartedly. There was even a competition and prizes available to the team who picked the most litter, the team who found the oldest piece of rubbish and the team who found the most unusual discarded item.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGAuXh0TghKRm8QACAaPzA-jpgCpQmM82Qxqy_CoF8LCCkEQ9Ye_xsRe5hRLHFcLOEtbwfOLsF9P5hTJkgjj3YUq1SdHExyiYQosKISWZdECg7UtfRfzfZfSZucx-FrlQKBFHnsSz5G2N/s1600/m3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Three members of the Marriott team picking litter" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGAuXh0TghKRm8QACAaPzA-jpgCpQmM82Qxqy_CoF8LCCkEQ9Ye_xsRe5hRLHFcLOEtbwfOLsF9P5hTJkgjj3YUq1SdHExyiYQosKISWZdECg7UtfRfzfZfSZucx-FrlQKBFHnsSz5G2N/s640/m3.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the Marriott team with their litter hoard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6hDkOnCbvG7qFMId5V4z5FJd3G0PkIneVDTHuAbAA5Kd3TuDgFHFw6soAM54wB7kIt1RiqKYMmHcoyEaei7UqT7vcHGzT_GkzgrskeHZxVmZYNra5NVBTIHsb6S5Hcl13xn9ctiZTFTz8/s1600/m1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Two of the Marriott team" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6hDkOnCbvG7qFMId5V4z5FJd3G0PkIneVDTHuAbAA5Kd3TuDgFHFw6soAM54wB7kIt1RiqKYMmHcoyEaei7UqT7vcHGzT_GkzgrskeHZxVmZYNra5NVBTIHsb6S5Hcl13xn9ctiZTFTz8/s640/m1.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cycleway that runs along Lynchwood is a notorious litter spot. <br />
These ladies did a great job of clearing a lot of the rubbish away.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ_sUzwkPIpzba3hQigqYpqJK432gAzHJLbfETS_6xTm7D27BqM8KlP6SYCzKV-Ow7GqTT0Tv-YDDfLHogyj60vgUVlaQK0iM_-j3bfmGJoDGjUHX53nKKezm-hGEQvSNxX_NLoep-ExES/s1600/m2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Two of the Marriott team" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ_sUzwkPIpzba3hQigqYpqJK432gAzHJLbfETS_6xTm7D27BqM8KlP6SYCzKV-Ow7GqTT0Tv-YDDfLHogyj60vgUVlaQK0iM_-j3bfmGJoDGjUHX53nKKezm-hGEQvSNxX_NLoep-ExES/s640/m2.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Different areas yield different types of litter. <br />
These chaps collected a lot of cans from the bushes that line Lynchwood.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>A Bear in a Tree</i></span></b><br />
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We were really fortunate with the weather and delighted that some local residents joined us on the litter pick, including 13 four-year-olds and their teachers from one of the local nursery schools.<br />
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The children loved helping us to find items to put into our rubbish sacks. They found a discarded leather jacket, a bicycle tyre and one young lady told me that she found a bear in a tree (I'm not so sure about that one - the bear must have run off by the time I got there)!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifW8u5R2g4MvFUsGo9d6xE509Chr2YoPYnW2xy7U3f0HhAmuSnaXC5daeyIFAgqC4ABueIaSKM96XI_FWDsM6upYX22cpcm_kr38k6RB8NplxMgxQlXVP1bj8Oltmjtn02xyxaxqNMviA1/s1600/bear+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A bear in a tree" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifW8u5R2g4MvFUsGo9d6xE509Chr2YoPYnW2xy7U3f0HhAmuSnaXC5daeyIFAgqC4ABueIaSKM96XI_FWDsM6upYX22cpcm_kr38k6RB8NplxMgxQlXVP1bj8Oltmjtn02xyxaxqNMviA1/s640/bear+tree.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">While it's fairly unlikely that you'll find a bear in a tree when picking litter <br />
in Peterborough it is wise to keep your eyes peeled and your wits about you.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Why Litter Picking Matters</span></i></b><br />
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It's really important to help children - as well as adults - to understand why and how litter harms our environment. For one thing, a community strewn with litter looks awful and makes the people who live in that community feel awful. I probably hear more complaints about rubbish on our streets and in our green spaces than I do about anything else.<br />
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I cannot overstate the great harm that litter also does to our natural environment. If you find the litter that you see depressing, just imagine what harm the plastic rubbish that has become trapped under hedges is doing to the ground beneath it. The longer it lies there the more damage it does, suffocating the ground, harming plants and wildlife, reducing biodiversity.<br />
<br />
This is why, when we do our litter picks, we encourage everyone to dig their stick as far as they can into and under bushes to reach the bottles, cans and plastic wrappers that are hidden there.<br />
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So what was the most unusual item that the team from the Marriott removed from the bushes in Lynchwood? You'll never guess.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgungtDF71Vsc2iYJI1I4hjwBRxw3HzQYyXvIl_EewVXcbowmqRWjDIikZy0nWYl5CzXrOnnuZ7xBAK-Y3mr1aDLFVEtIh16_KHpzFY9IPqo6FKBMbnLFPZjZDOCfTKORTZy9xFOAc8Toky/s1600/skate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A rusty ice skate" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgungtDF71Vsc2iYJI1I4hjwBRxw3HzQYyXvIl_EewVXcbowmqRWjDIikZy0nWYl5CzXrOnnuZ7xBAK-Y3mr1aDLFVEtIh16_KHpzFY9IPqo6FKBMbnLFPZjZDOCfTKORTZy9xFOAc8Toky/s640/skate.jpg" title="" width="553" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team 5 found a rusty ice skate in a bush.<br />
Its partner is still unaccounted for.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
One can only wonder how a single ice skate came to be in the middle of a business park. And what happened to its partner? We may never know.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Butt of the Problem</i></span></b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8dU7AHAFuaBWMR9EhsmNWME0IN60kTpm98Ov1bj7Lexv8TpS_H3mqDPUk3_4IQVJTaydnQBAOuOkYKQMm9PYPxBERRoiXae1WA84AReLUCHKIrJWoqpMM8PIrndyXKVqU6bJcRw1AE5-b/s1600/butts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8dU7AHAFuaBWMR9EhsmNWME0IN60kTpm98Ov1bj7Lexv8TpS_H3mqDPUk3_4IQVJTaydnQBAOuOkYKQMm9PYPxBERRoiXae1WA84AReLUCHKIrJWoqpMM8PIrndyXKVqU6bJcRw1AE5-b/s640/butts.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hundreds, if not thousands, of cigarette ends just like these <br />
were found on our litter pick of Lynchwood Business Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There are several bus stops on Lynchwood and bus stops attract one type of litter in particular: cigarette ends. Contrary to popular belief, cigarette butts are not biodegradable. In fact, they are made from cellulose acetate, which is a form of plastic. Yes, that's right, PLASTIC. If you drop one on the floor it stays there until someone picks it up. If no one picks it up it will eventually be blown under the nearest hedge and it will stay there, suffocating the earth beneath.<br />
<br />
The Marriott team valiantly removed a huge number of cigarette ends from the street and for that alone we, and the environment, are very grateful.<br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">27 Bags of Rubbish</span></b></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEda6vPSsbsPBxNcsjlvsl3cQ2j4JyApHmD-Ntl-uJso85_JGfQ4VFYsIa9QTa7SA5gRSIvX6SU2T5J6vFNbVy2Cdp5DZ5FzK-XEVgmS3cz9MBinxuY79X5bdmwdLm2tFbfPhxE1rv2dAU/s1600/Marriott+group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Marriott litter pick team" border="0" height="499" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEda6vPSsbsPBxNcsjlvsl3cQ2j4JyApHmD-Ntl-uJso85_JGfQ4VFYsIa9QTa7SA5gRSIvX6SU2T5J6vFNbVy2Cdp5DZ5FzK-XEVgmS3cz9MBinxuY79X5bdmwdLm2tFbfPhxE1rv2dAU/s640/Marriott+group.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the Marriott litter picking team</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizklxXEl__7Ck50hFJFQPSBWKCXJMyvn5uQnOGVIx0nKr8qnASJ49FRXKvRtrPiF5VdZ3eAtxzvqTwJbmn0PjgIazn9ZNl54r8jHqL_PZoSLqY5ajw3w6beMD2aFuWc_X3u6XbObG9T2BA/s1600/m4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Marriott litter pick team" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizklxXEl__7Ck50hFJFQPSBWKCXJMyvn5uQnOGVIx0nKr8qnASJ49FRXKvRtrPiF5VdZ3eAtxzvqTwJbmn0PjgIazn9ZNl54r8jHqL_PZoSLqY5ajw3w6beMD2aFuWc_X3u6XbObG9T2BA/s640/m4.jpg" title="" width="602" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marriott staff hard at work to support our community</td></tr>
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By the end of two hour-long shifts of litter-picking, the Marriott team had managed to collect an incredible 27 bags of litter (plus a number of items such as street signs and parts of a computer that didn't fit into the bags). </div>
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It's worth pausing to think about that. 27 bags of litter from a non-residential area and most of it was food packaging. </div>
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Peterborough City Council does a fine job of keep our streets clean and safe, but the amount of litter that is thrown into bushes is overwhelming and it isn't put there by nature, it's put there by human beings.</div>
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If you work in or visit Lynchwood Business Park, I have one very simple request. Please, <b>take your litter home with you</b>. We had a lot of fun on this litter pick, and it was really satisfying to clear so much rubbish from such a small area, but we really shouldn't have to. If you have finished with the wrapper from your sandwich or your can of cola is empty but there is no bin to hand your only option isn't to throw it in a bush and assume fairies will take care of the rest.</div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">Take your litter home with you!</span></i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzS2R3y5XaaYboHy0RKuL4WGEaQcNaQsZ6eK3kCDYESsx9rvtL5uEjgRCMJGViknE7y27N6Lg96GTh6Bonm-tFDzKRJ8leNxOoN7f7eVqv3ROZyk4w1tvhyphenhyphenM9hP7s2aMbkTsCtIKbhZOv/s1600/dustbins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Please use your dustbins for your litter" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzS2R3y5XaaYboHy0RKuL4WGEaQcNaQsZ6eK3kCDYESsx9rvtL5uEjgRCMJGViknE7y27N6Lg96GTh6Bonm-tFDzKRJ8leNxOoN7f7eVqv3ROZyk4w1tvhyphenhyphenM9hP7s2aMbkTsCtIKbhZOv/s640/dustbins.jpg" title="" width="483" /></a></div>
<br />Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-15245919242419994172016-08-23T15:57:00.000+01:002017-02-05T22:24:34.247+00:00The Menace of Speeding on our Streets<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="300" scrolling="no" src="//embeds.audioboom.com/boos/4985133-peterborough-green-party-bbc-radio-cambs-drifting-24-august-2016/embed/v4?eid=AQAAAAOew1ctEUwA" style="background-color: transparent; display: block; max-width: 700px;" title="audioBoom player" width="100%"></iframe>
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<b>UPDATE: 28 August 2016</b><br />
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On Wednesday of this week, the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Breakfast Show covered the issue of drifting in Orton Southgate and invited myself, a City Councillor, a Cambs Police Sergeant and a Peterborough City Council Director to respond to residents' concerns. A number of residents were also invited to express their point of view, as were two young men who enjoy the pastime of drifting elsewhere in the county.<br />
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The piece came about after BBC Radio Cambs presenter Dotty McLeod read about the problem right here on this blog.<br />
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<a href="http://howell4ortonwaterville.blogspot.co.uk/p/bbc-radio-cambs-piece-on-drifting-240816.html"><b><span style="font-size: large;">I have posted a full transcript of the broadcast here.</span></b></a><br />
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In summary, Cambridgeshire Police has apologised to residents of Orton Goldhay and confirmed that the police share the responsibility of addressing the drifting in Orton Southgate, while Peterborough City Council referred via a statement to measures that will shortly be put in place with the cooperation of the land owner to ensure that residents' sleepless nights are a thing of the past.<br />
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I would like to thank BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Dotty McLeod and her team for picking up this issue so enthusiastically on residents' behalf. I would also like to thank both Sgt Nikki Hall of Cambs Police and Adrian Chapman of Peterborough City Council for their robust response to residents' concerns.<br />
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Last night was the first quiet Saturday night residents of Orton Goldhay have been able to enjoy in a very long time. Thanks to the support of BBC Radio Cambs and the response of Cambs Police and Peterborough City Council we hope that peace will soon be restored on a permanent basis, and that the people who enjoy doing and watching the drifting will have a place to do it away from people's homes where they can enjoy their pastime safely and without bringing stress to people who live here.<br />
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Julie Howell, Peterborough Green Party, 28th August 2016<br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Menace of Speeding on our Streets</span></i></b><br />
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I'm writing this with wet eyes, having just watched Sophie Morgan's powerful 2013 documentary 'License to Kill'. If you think you know that speeding is dangerous, why it happens and what should be done about it, I ask you to please watch Sophie's documentary anyway. Sophie adds a much needed fresh voice to the conversation about speeding. It's the voice of a young woman driver who drove without care when she was inexperienced. 18-year-old Sophie lacked the skills and understanding to handle her car at a high speed. As a consequence, Sophie's car crashed, and after weeks in a coma she awoke to be told she had lost her ability to walk for life.<br />
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Sophie's powerful story isn't a simple moral tale about the consequences of driving too fast for thrills. From her perspective, she is able to explain why she did what she did the night of her accident, and what she believes needs to be done to prevent more young people from causing accidents that result in serious injury or loss of life.<br />
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Sophie's documentary, highlights the dangers posed by newly qualified drivers. But what about drivers with 10, 20 or even 30 years of driving experience who pose grave danger to people, pets and property by driving too fast and too carelessly along our residential streets? These are the drivers who feel safe in their powerful cars and safe in the knowledge that their experience will protect them from having an accident.</div>
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I receive more emails and phone calls from residents about speeding than I do about any other issue. </div>
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The emails and phone calls fall into two categories.</div>
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The first is the careless driving and speeding that happens along Wistow Way, Goldhay Way, Brimbles Way, Dunblane Drive, Loch Lomond Way, at the junction between Cherry Orton Road and Oundle Road, and just about any residential street you care to mention. It isn't just young people in souped-up cars, showing off. It's every kind of driver, driving too fast, making the roads dangerous for everyone. (I wrote an article earlier in the year about the <a href="http://howell4ortonwaterville.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/the-tales-of-two-cats.html">death of a cat</a> in the cul-de-sac where I live.)</div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Twenty's Plenty</span></i></b></div>
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Peterborough Green Party supports a national campaign called 'Twenty's Plenty', which calls for speed restrictions of 20mph in some residential streets. </div>
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We recently wrote an article for the Peterborough Telegraph to explain why 20mph can save lives. I've pasted the text of the article below in case you missed it.</div>
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<i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>We need to change our attitude towards
speeding. Why 20 is plenty.</b></span></i><b style="font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<i>Have you
witnessed ‘near misses’ on the residential streets where you live? Have you
heard that yet another beloved family cat has been crushed to death under the
wheels of a car? Are you worried that your child isn’t safe on the streets near
their school because of speeding motorists?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Let’s be
honest. Have you ever driven faster than 30mph in a residential street? Do you
believe that because you’re an experienced driver you are able to take the same
remedial action to prevent an accident, whether you’re driving at 40mph, 30mph
or 20mph?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>If you do, you’re
wrong about that.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>You may
believe that you are a careful driver, but if a pedestrian steps out in front
of you when you’re doing 40mph it is five times more likely that your car will
kill them than if you’re doing 30mph.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>The 30mph
speed limit for residential roads was introduced in 1934. A lot has changed
since then, including the type, size and capabilities of the cars on our
streets. Car technology has improved greatly, making driving much safer for the
person behind the wheel. Human technology hasn’t advanced at quite the same
pace, meaning pedestrians have become more vulnerable as drivers have become
safer.</i></div>
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<i>30mph is safer
than 40mph but it is not as safe at 20mph. When it comes to driving on
residential streets we believe that 20mph is plenty.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Driving at
30mph rather than 20mph increases stopping distances by 134%. This isn’t due to
your skills as a driver. The fact is, a car braking from 30mph will still be
travelling at 22mph when a car travelling at 20mph will have stopped. In some
situations, that’s the difference between life and death.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>If your car
hits a pedestrian hit at 20mph they have a 95% chance of survival. This reduces
to 80% at 30mph. At 40mph the chance of a fatality is 90%. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Reducing your
speed to 20mph has many immediate benefits. Traffic noise and pollution will
decrease. Walking and cycling will increase as safety perception improves. In
Hull, child pedestrian casualties dropped by 74% when widespread 20mph limits
were introduced.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Peterborough
Green Party ran a petition recently in West Ward where residents have suffered
from speeding problems along Mayors Walk and Aldermans Drive. The petition –
which received considerable support from residents - was rejected by
Peterborough City Council on the grounds that there is currently insufficient
evidence that 20mph limits are effective. We dispute this and are campaigning
for PCC to reconsider its position in the face of the overwhelming societal
benefits that 20mph can bring with safer, healthier residential streets for
people, pets, property and wildlife too.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>We want
drivers to think again about the risks of driving at more than 20mph in
residential areas. This is not a draconian measure to bring the city to a
grinding halt. It is a public safety message that could help Peterborough’s
residents to re-claim our residential streets as safer places to be. </i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">'Car Cruises' & Noise</span></i></b></div>
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Speeding and dangerous driving is causing other harm to our environment and huge distress to residents in some areas of our ward, in particular, to people living in houses in Orton Goldhay close to Orton Parkway. On the other side of Orton Parkway, lies the Orton Southgate industrial estate. On late evenings throughout the summer, roads on the industrial estate are being used for unauthorised 'car cruises' of the type Sophie highlights in her documentary. </div>
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People right across Peterborough are aware with the dangers of these unauthorised and un-stewarded events. On 8 August 2015, several spectators were badly injured when an inexperienced driver attempted a manoeuvre that resulted in him ploughing his car into a group of bystanders. I've seen footage of the accident. It is horrific. The driver - who is from Stamford - is currently serving a prison sentence for what he did that night. The injuries and the trauma will be with the people he hurt for life. <a href="http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/transport/newsflash-seven-injured-after-collision-at-cruise-event-in-peterborough-1-6893986">Read more about this incident</a>.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Anxiety and distress</i></span></b></div>
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You don't have to hit people with your car to cause immense anxiety and distress to them. Residents who live in earshot of Stapledon Road, Orton Southgate (who live across the Orton Parkway in Orton Goldhay) tell me that their lives are being made a misery by the noise from screeching tyres that can start as early as 8pm and finish as late as 3am almost every night through the summer months, as the motorists who attend the unauthorised car cruise meets attempt to 'drift' their cars around roundabouts. </div>
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Stress and lack of sleep can have serious, long-term effects on people's health. I'm told that residents are unable to open their windows on hot summer nights because of the noise, children cannot get to sleep, people who have to leave for work early the next day are exhausted and everyone affected is stressed and anxious from the moment the screeching of tyres begins.</div>
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While some people are of the opinion that the people taking part in the car cruises are only a danger to themselves, this just isn't case. And it's not fair. The noise is causing real human suffering.</div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Call 101</span></i></b></div>
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If you are affected by the noise created by the car cruise, please call the police on 101. When you do, please remember to get an incident number from the call operator. The more times the matter is reported, the more likely the police are to prioritise your concern. Peterborough Green Party has written to the <a href="http://www.cambridgeshire-pcc.gov.uk/">Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire</a> asking for action to be taken.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
While we completely understand that it is far safer for drivers and the public that these events happen on industrial estates rather than on public roads (though, of course, roads on industrial estates are also public roads, just less busy on weekend evenings apart from lorries making deliveries), the noise nuisance is very harmful and it would be better for everyone if these events happened well away from residential areas.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Residents should also call 101, the police non-emergency number, to report other incidences of dangerous driving. </div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I know how much speeding cars worry you because you tell me all the time. I would be very interested to hear what you think about 20mph limits, traffic calming measures and speed cameras. What do you think is the solution to speeding on our streets? </div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-79509275478901072362016-07-21T14:11:00.000+01:002017-02-05T22:27:43.717+00:00Hello, Hello, Good Morning!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVtyOs1L5e3ou5_idGr_SwxUbUfFkyroViYBVO2h60HQNe5Ueink0Ss30stuDMNE2e-9OUE9jrNL5oKcsRwm-qINDtvI1_MQSbfweEqN_WldhVv1AsltlgFNRCy9_vELjIMahn7uUm8EEy/s1600/Ham+Lane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ham Lane" border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVtyOs1L5e3ou5_idGr_SwxUbUfFkyroViYBVO2h60HQNe5Ueink0Ss30stuDMNE2e-9OUE9jrNL5oKcsRwm-qINDtvI1_MQSbfweEqN_WldhVv1AsltlgFNRCy9_vELjIMahn7uUm8EEy/s640/Ham+Lane.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The path along Ham Lane, where I had this lovely experience</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I had a lovely experience on my way to a meeting at Ferry Meadows this week.<br />
<br />
As I walked down Ham Lane, every single person who passed me smiled and said 'Good morning'.<br />
<br />
What's so special about that?<br />
<br />
It's special because acknowledging one another really matters.<br />
<br />
<b><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We are social creatures</span></i></b><br />
<br />
A very long time ago, when we were all 'hunter gatherers' and had to forage for our food it was really difficult for us to survive by ourselves. We needed to search for food together, to build shelters and make clothes together, and to rely on each other for protection.<br />
<br />
We live differently now, however, feeling that we are part of a community and feeling that others value us as individuals is still very important for our survival. Why? Because being acknowledged is vitally important for our mental and emotional wellbeing. In turn, our mental and emotional wellbeing is very important for our physical wellbeing.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcvY8dQWxC5MZcwSYMqzefQvRvQhG7vZFbFZrbwEBonTl3V91enEWy6SCoC-NfnFCuI-XyJdmxeW0xRYnsdXqqvyBwZca9CBJQF6KR3ctNShN7TbbSTyPCPxul5-BjHJTKDMAvgZ6adPT/s1600/hunter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Hunter gatherers" border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcvY8dQWxC5MZcwSYMqzefQvRvQhG7vZFbFZrbwEBonTl3V91enEWy6SCoC-NfnFCuI-XyJdmxeW0xRYnsdXqqvyBwZca9CBJQF6KR3ctNShN7TbbSTyPCPxul5-BjHJTKDMAvgZ6adPT/s640/hunter.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We used to live like this.<br />
If we still did we might acknowledge one another a bit more.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>'By yourself' and 'lonely' are different things</i></b></span><br />
<br />
More of us than ever before now live by ourselves, through either choice or necessity. I lived by myself for ten years and absolutely loved it. But key to doing well on my own was knowing that I was 'by myself' but not 'alone'. I knew my neighbours and I had friends so I felt supported and acknowledged in the world. Emotionally and mentally I felt well.<br />
<br />
But many people struggle with the loneliness that can come with living alone, or don't live alone in the literal sense but feel lonely in the emotional sense. A simple 'hello' from an acquaintance or a total stranger can be the only human contact a person living by themselves has that day, or even that week.<br />
<br />
A few years ago, when I was writing my book, I spent many days alone (I tend to work through the night and sleep through the day when I'm writing). I needed the social isolation but I also needed human contact. Sometimes, I'd think of an excuse to go to the corner shop just so I could have an interaction with another person.<br />
<br />
We're all really busy, and it is of course true that some people don't want to be bothered with others when they are going about their daily business, and this is their right. But I would ask you to take up a challenge that I often set for myself. It's really simple.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJOhGYXuzEYlRI9hObE6gVPq7UF9TDeO7yrmBuK0iLCzRNQD_RkkZw5el9YzTQThRLn7N5gWaafy5h8dK8y_oRcJXRDL2HllkCOmPZw0Rhpvy75gbilGIsVwHTthcN4oTCDoaG9_VrZZT6/s1600/baby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Smiling baby" border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJOhGYXuzEYlRI9hObE6gVPq7UF9TDeO7yrmBuK0iLCzRNQD_RkkZw5el9YzTQThRLn7N5gWaafy5h8dK8y_oRcJXRDL2HllkCOmPZw0Rhpvy75gbilGIsVwHTthcN4oTCDoaG9_VrZZT6/s640/baby.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adults forget that smiling at one another is important.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Smile, make eye contact, say 'hello'</span></i></b><br />
<br />
When you're out and about, and someone is about to pass you in the street, smile, make eye contact, say 'hello'. We're social creatures and most people will return your greeting automatically. Others will be so surprised they won't react until you've passed by. Others will be shy or may experience social anxiety. They may not return or even acknowledge your greeting, but on the inside your simple acknowledgement will have made a difference. And of course there are other people who will just ignore you because they're grumpy, and that's alright too.<br />
<br />
There's a bit of science to it.<br />
<br />
When we greet someone (in a nice way) we trigger in that person and in ourselves a release of the chemical 'oxytocin'. This is a hormone that helps us to feel good about another person. In fact, the moment your start smiling, you're making yourself feel better. So if you're not a good mood on a particular day, the best thing to do to make yourself feel better is smile and say 'hello' to someone!<br />
<br />
If you're the one receiving the greeting from someone else, smile, make eye contact and say 'hello' back to give yourself a boost of feel-good chemicals. This is a completely natural way to feel good and you may notice that you begin to feel better about yourself and more confident in yourself the more you do it.<br />
<br />
Think about it: why do you love your favourite comedian? Because he or she makes you smile and smiling makes you feel good.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">An act of giving</span></i></b><br />
<br />
If your greeting is ignored, don't be disheartened. This isn't about rejection or failure. Your act of giving acknowledgement to another person is good for you. This is not just about your need to be acknowledged. Rather, it's an act of giving acknowledgement to another person that is hugely empowering and life-affirming for both parties.<br />
<br />
On Christmas Eve, for example, I set myself the challenge of seeing how many people I can say 'Merry Christmas' to that I pass in the streets where I live (if they reply that's bonus points!).<br />
<br />
We've become not very good at the simple act of acknowledgement but we can so easily put that right. You can tell how happy those people on Ham Lane made me feel because I'm still thinking about it (and writing about it!) two days later. I bet they have no idea of the positive power of their simple 'good morning'.<br />
<br />
If you would like to help to make our community happier, stronger and safer, it all starts with 'hello'.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-9776051335300611722016-07-15T16:11:00.000+01:002017-02-05T22:28:52.068+00:00Driven BattyIf you had asked me a month ago what I know about bats I'd have said "very little"!<br />
<br />
That was before I took a week-long break on a farm in Cumbria.<br />
<br />
You may be thinking that a week on an isolated farm is the ideal place to get a bit of peace and quiet, and it is, but at certain times of day the converted barn that I was staying in was anything but silent as its resident swallows and bats made their presence felt.<br />
<br />
I first noticed the bats on the first evening of my stay. I heard some scratching in the roof space above my bedroom so went outside to investigate. Sundown is quite late at this time of year in Cumbria, so it was 11pm - and still light - when I ventured out into the garden to find out what all the noise was about.<br />
<br />
When I stood just below the eaves of the house, a squeaking noise could clearly be heard coming from the direction of the barn roof. Shortly afterwards a bat flew out from a space between the roof tiles at great speed! It was soon followed by another. And then another. And then another. When the count reached 18 I stopped counting but the bats did not stop coming. I reckon there must have been at least a thousand in there, sleeping all day, and flying out at dusk to feed on insects on the wing.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="1138" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/174826575" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="540"></iframe> <br />
<br />
<br />
There are a few things everyone needs to know about bats.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>All bats are protected</i></span></b><br />
<br />
Bats do a lot of good in our environment. Over 500 species of plant rely on bats to pollinate their flowers. Bats are insectivores (they eat insects) and will eat thousands of insects every night, including blood-sucking mosquitoes. Bats also play a vital role in distributing seeds of trees and other plants.<br />
<br />
Some bats are 'indicator species'. This means that changes in their population can mean that there are also changes happening in the biodiversity of their environment.<br />
<br />
So bats are very special little creatures. In fact, they are a protected species in the UK.<br />
<br />
According to the <a href="http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/bats_and_the_law.html"><b>Bat Conservation Trust</b></a>, you are committing a criminal offence if you:<br />
<br />
1. Deliberately capture, injure or kill a bat<br />
<br />
2. Intentionally or recklessly disturb a bat in its roost or deliberately disturb a group of bats<br />
<br />
3. Damage or destroy a bat roosting place (even if bats are not occupying the roost at the time)<br />
<br />
4. Possess or advertise/sell/exchange a bat (dead or alive) or any part of a bat<br />
<br />
5. Intentionally or recklessly obstruct access to a bat roost.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
So bats are important and they are protected by the law. But what should you do if you find a bat in trouble?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Bats in distress</span></i></b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A couple of days into my stay I was in the garden in the early evening when I noticed the now unmistakable sound of squeaking bats. This time, however, it was clear that the noise wasn't coming from the roost in the roof. I followed the sound, and it led me to a covered drain on the ground. Looking up, it became clear what must have happened. A drain pipe leads from the guttering below the roof, very close to where the bats were roosting. Some of the bats must have flown down the drainpipe by mistake and become trapped in the drain with no way of getting out.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I knew immediately that the bats needed help. I knew also that a number had probably already died down there. Upon lifting the drain cover my suspicions were confirmed: six poorly bats and a number of others that had already succumbed to being stuck in the drain for however long. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Before doing anything else, I immediately called the <b><a href="http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/help.html">National Bat Helpline</a></b> for advice. It being the evening by now, I got no reply from the local number that was suggested so I immediately called the local out-of-hours vet, who was incredibly helpful.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Should you ever find a bat on the ground and in trouble but are unable to reach either a bat rescue centre or a vet right away, this is what the vet told me to do:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
1. Bats don't do well on the ground or away from the location you found them in, so don't leave them on the ground and don't take them far away from where you found them.</div>
<div>
2. <b>Never touch a bat with your bare hands</b> as they can carry dangerous diseases.</div>
<div>
3. If you need to move the bat, pick it up the way you would a spider, i.e. put a box over it and slide a piece of card underneath.</div>
<div>
4. Put the bat into a box (I used a washing up bowl) with a piece of material, such as a tea towel or small towel, and a small container, such as a plastic milk container top, filled with water. Do not put a lid on the box.</div>
<div>
5. This is important. Bats naturally want to climb. When they've climbed high enough they will be able to launch themselves and fly away. So put the box somewhere high up by a wall so they can climb out and keep on climbing. The perfect place for the bats I had found was in the garage which was close by and where other bats were roosting.</div>
<div>
6. <b>Now leave the bats alone!</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The vet told me that I should call again if any of the bats were still there the following day. However, I'm delighted to report that they all recovered, climbed out of the box and up the wall and eventually flew off!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXaRpUNtd-TFfZE97zvlPQT2GMu7r88c4uMN2HX1kCq3ChLOPjSkQBprd9lkIQkui27-O8v-hsUsz8yTX35qu7xim6rxqZSFZLWru7pjW0zCl-HM0V6EDfIxDKCXoeIVX5tr2K6BoBscr1/s1600/bat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="One of the bats that was rescued" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXaRpUNtd-TFfZE97zvlPQT2GMu7r88c4uMN2HX1kCq3ChLOPjSkQBprd9lkIQkui27-O8v-hsUsz8yTX35qu7xim6rxqZSFZLWru7pjW0zCl-HM0V6EDfIxDKCXoeIVX5tr2K6BoBscr1/s640/bat1.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the bats that was rescued</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This wasn't the only bat encounter of my stay. A bat appeared in the hearth. Another was found roosting in the curtains in the living room. And yet another was found on the outside wall of the barn, close to the ground and facing downwards. All three were subjected to the same procedure that the vet had suggested and all three survived and flew away. I left a note for the owner of the barn to let her know what had happened. Hopefully, no more bats will fall into the drain or get into the barn through the chimney!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If you find a bat in distress</span></i></b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I encountered these bats in Cumbria, but there are plenty in Peterborough too!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>In almost all cases bats should be left alone</b>. However if you come across bats that you think may be in distress please get in touch with either a vet or the Bat Conservation Trust on 0845 1300 228 and follow the advice that you are given. </div>
<div>
<br />
Bats are precious, protected and we need them as much as they need us! But it so important to give them the right sort of help, so always, always contact the Bat Conservation Trust or a local vet if you come across a bat you think may be in need of help.</div>
Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-85365994410449712812016-07-14T13:48:00.000+01:002017-02-05T22:29:25.120+00:00The Tales of Two CatsI have two stories about cats to share, one heart-breaking, the other heart-warming.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Why 20 is Plenty</i></b></span><br />
<br />
On 4th December 2015 at 10am there was a knock on the door of my house which is in a cul-de-sac in Orton Northgate. I opened the door to a young woman who was clearly in some distress. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but there is a dead cat in the road and I can stand to just leave it there", she said. I craned my neck to look down the street in the direction she was pointing, and could just about make out a black shape in the road, with cars swerving to avoid it.<br />
<br />
While my partner and a another gentleman from a house further down the road gently removed the cat from the street and washed the tarmac, we knocked on doors to see if we could find the cat's owner, but without success.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrX67nCaGThaLKiMSdbQG_rZI8vDszVYcqOKRf4nVtcPZn4-KhJQO4JfFym1EQ_JO-8I_uMKYcgQXCA8vx8yjwbTcMu0NhaFw7HtyH_4Cp4DXeDG5JysGrcRz0MJkKS9_vWKHGLOeWPT5q/s1600/skye+close.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Road in Orton Northgate" border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrX67nCaGThaLKiMSdbQG_rZI8vDszVYcqOKRf4nVtcPZn4-KhJQO4JfFym1EQ_JO-8I_uMKYcgQXCA8vx8yjwbTcMu0NhaFw7HtyH_4Cp4DXeDG5JysGrcRz0MJkKS9_vWKHGLOeWPT5q/s640/skye+close.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the street where the incident happened.<br />
It's a residential cul-de-sac, much the same as many around our area.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I own two cats. I know how I'd feel if one of them simply went missing without explanation. So rather than call the council right away, my partner and I drove with the cat to our vet in the hope it might have a microchip with details of the owner. The vet was very caring and saw us right away without an appointment. Unfortunately, the cat was not microchipped.<br />
<br />
Earlier this year, a new law was put in place that requires all dogs be microchipped. However, the law does not currently extend to cats (although I believe it should and I have <a href="https://www.change.org/p/david-cameron-mp-make-it-a-legal-requirement-to-microchip-cats"><b>signed a petition</b></a> to Parliament in the hope of addressing this). You may think that you cat doesn't need microchipping as it never goes anywhere. However, it's those cats that never go anywhere that are least streetwise and most likely to be involved in an accident if they do stray into the road.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRKntlHKQeSPmq5syttdtrDJ8PGjoYxX2ti2F_M58lr_6dHBuJRSs9jGUiFVWi2a-m_R9naycoeq9GZD2eGbsHA9d6tnhNLqr9ajoY7PIVP4W-AhX6sS8o4wReyUEgR9WcADwHWKjugo1/s1600/Derek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="My cat Derek" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRKntlHKQeSPmq5syttdtrDJ8PGjoYxX2ti2F_M58lr_6dHBuJRSs9jGUiFVWi2a-m_R9naycoeq9GZD2eGbsHA9d6tnhNLqr9ajoY7PIVP4W-AhX6sS8o4wReyUEgR9WcADwHWKjugo1/s640/Derek.jpg" title="" width="396" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is my cat Derek. <br />
He is microchipped.<br />
He's also quite grumpy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I really wanted to find the owner before calling the council. Unfortunately, this hadn't been possible so I had no option but to call the council to ask them to collect the cat from me. The council workers arrived within the hour and treated the matter very sensitively. I told them that I was sorry they had to deal with things like this and they said that, unfortunately, it's a common occurrence in Peterborough.<br />
<br />
The following day, I put notes through the doors of several of the houses in my street asking anyone who had lost a black cat to get in touch with me. Thankfully, this solicited a quick response from the owner and I was able to tell him what had happened on the previous day. It wasn't a conversation I'd care to repeat but I felt very relieved to have been able to tell him what had happened to his cat, as dreadful as the news was for his family. If it had been one of my cats, I know I'd have been very grateful to know what had happened.<br />
<br />
The cat had been run over (and died instantly) in a hit-and-run incident. It was clear from looking at the aftermath that it had been hit by a large vehicle, such as a delivery van, and dragged some distance. Whoever hit the cat must have known what they had done, as it was obvious from tyre tracks that they had driven past the scene to leave the cul-de-sac shortly after the incident happened. In the UK, if your car hits a dog you are <a href="https://www.gov.uk/report-dead-animal">compelled by law</a> to stop and report it. However, cats are not included under this legislation. A <a href="https://www.change.org/p/uk-government-make-it-illegal-to-run-over-a-cat-and-not-stop-to-report-it">petition</a> is calling for the law to be changed to include cats.<br />
<br />
One would hope that whoever was driving the van would have realised that stopping was the right thing to do. Sadly, it appears not.<br />
<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkkz1qap-ohPa3vbDZenwIhDtKTRaK_YsDf6ghvjey6ZkBvX0La2snuocQKsvjZUG0Hgc3szMGWYcc_tIMyKEA539rYcOo7h6ic18nfd-EMzgr8ZFJ9hAcSUOHgwurGGO6re1vW8e7YQnJ/s1600/fast+van.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A van driving too fast" border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkkz1qap-ohPa3vbDZenwIhDtKTRaK_YsDf6ghvjey6ZkBvX0La2snuocQKsvjZUG0Hgc3szMGWYcc_tIMyKEA539rYcOo7h6ic18nfd-EMzgr8ZFJ9hAcSUOHgwurGGO6re1vW8e7YQnJ/s640/fast+van.png" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you're running over pets you are driving TOO FAST.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Delivery drivers work to very tight schedules, and as this was just before Christmas the driver must have been under great pressure. Even so, driving without care and attention in our residential streets is not acceptable. What if this had been a child? There is a children's playground at the end of the cul-de-sac so it is even more important that delivery drivers take greater care than this when visiting our neighbourhood.<br />
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So what can we do to prevent this from happening again? Clearly, drivers need to drive with greater care and attention on our residential streets. If you're driving fast enough to run over a fit and healthy cat in a cul-de-sac your either driving too fast, not paying sufficient attention or both.<br />
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Peterborough Green Party supports a campaign called '<a href="http://www.20splenty.org/"><b>20's Plenty</b></a>' that aims to encourage drivers to slow down in residential areas, particularly around schools and other areas where children congregate. There is no expectation that drivers will all slow down to 20mph, but the hope is that seeing the signs will remind drivers that residential areas are not motorways and that it's all to easy to knock down a child or animal when you're going too fast in a built-up area.<br />
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What do you think about this? Would '20s Plenty' make a difference to the road safety in your street?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaE3aMS0HNFG7bYoz-Yn09icNXQreAO3kLj64YTvffT7YsiBD1Q4PxJR3uMAImYPQIBDTWGoOl6D8nN5x1jZUHDyVmNXM_feXu7AiCTDZv60pV29wrgiVSaThSFjsHUXcvJrg5QTSQArtA/s1600/20+plenty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="20's plenty where people live" border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaE3aMS0HNFG7bYoz-Yn09icNXQreAO3kLj64YTvffT7YsiBD1Q4PxJR3uMAImYPQIBDTWGoOl6D8nN5x1jZUHDyVmNXM_feXu7AiCTDZv60pV29wrgiVSaThSFjsHUXcvJrg5QTSQArtA/s640/20+plenty.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><b>The Orton Wanderer!</b></i></span><br />
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Let's finish this post with a heart-warming story, that serves a as a reminder of how wonderful our community in Orton truly is.<br />
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Orton Southgate has an active residents' association and a Facebook group where residents share information and post messages of concern. It was about 10pm one evening in April when I spotted a call for help. A lady living in Orton Southgate had discovered a cat behind a shed in her garden that appeared to be lost. The usual advice if you see a cat that you believe may be missing from home is to leave the cat where it is but give it access to water. Put posters up in nearby streets and put messages out on social media in the hope the owners will recognise the description of the cat and come to collect it. Cats roam, and in many cases will find their own way home.<br />
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This particular cat had been seen near the shed for a number of weeks, however, and it was quite clear from its behaviour that it was truly lost. The lady who had taken the cat in was unable to keep it overnight due to having other animals so was asking whether anyone could look after the cat prior to it being taken to the vet the following day to scan for a microchip. I dug out a cat basket from our garage and made my way over to the lady's house and collected the cat.<br />
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The cat was a real sweetie, a female not much more than a kitten really. She was no trouble and enjoyed a restful night with me. I posted information about the cat onto some local Facebook pages in the hope that someone might be looking for her. One of these was the fantastic <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/ortonsellers/"><b>Orton Sellers and Stuff</b></a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-_dubyA88FvhXr6TzRBC8YVHystHo91GkhdjXjw2G-cmXH50u61mkTN2AN1b3YsnLJ6ibNCOObntSCZOJMz1HPYXR2zrOMcRYcwMsJCPaTOGaFUF1t4-k6zIMT-6s5WXT2dW2lRQvS_u/s1600/Orton+Sellers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Orton Sellers and Stuff Facebook Group" border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-_dubyA88FvhXr6TzRBC8YVHystHo91GkhdjXjw2G-cmXH50u61mkTN2AN1b3YsnLJ6ibNCOObntSCZOJMz1HPYXR2zrOMcRYcwMsJCPaTOGaFUF1t4-k6zIMT-6s5WXT2dW2lRQvS_u/s640/Orton+Sellers.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orton Sellers and Stuff Facebook Group</td></tr>
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The following morning, we took the cat to the vet. Unfortunately, no microchip was found. We were wondering what to do next when a message from another resident appeared on my phone. A family had lost a cat that fitted the description that I had posted. A picture of their cat was attached to the message. It was immediately clear that this was the same cat!<br />
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A short time later, a gentleman arrived at my home and before even seeing the cat or a picture of it he described it very accurately to me. He also showed me photographs of his missing cat on his phone. There was no doubt at all that this was his cat!<br />
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And this is the amazing part of the story... the cat, which was only 8 months old, had been missing for THREE MONTHS from an address in Orton Malborne THREE MILES AWAY! Where on earth had she been all that time? And how had she managed to travel so far from home, over at least two very busy roads? It turns out the family had put 'missing' posters up in their area, but who was to know the cat would have travelled from Malborne, through Goldhay, through Southgate to finally end up in Northgate!<br />
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The family took the cat to the vet and apart from a few tics (that fortunately had not transferred onto me or anyone else!) she was found to be in good health. But what a story she could tell!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mg_4z27DUQ-CRNe4DE6diVGDRs99azcRBV4jhCwQquF_Q6-AaWT3HN0gtA0O_RaEbNB0_rhVDbDjkgg1slTxTw19fMtw3gZBN-JJDr78gPbiG-5uegjVV3DB-vQ3My3KqPkfquW4J9_2/s1600/found+cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Black and white cat" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mg_4z27DUQ-CRNe4DE6diVGDRs99azcRBV4jhCwQquF_Q6-AaWT3HN0gtA0O_RaEbNB0_rhVDbDjkgg1slTxTw19fMtw3gZBN-JJDr78gPbiG-5uegjVV3DB-vQ3My3KqPkfquW4J9_2/s640/found+cat.jpg" title="" width="572" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now reunited with her family</td></tr>
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What a lovely example of a community pulling together to reunite a family with their beloved pet.<br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Microchip Your Cats!</span></i></b><br />
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Please microchip your cats and make sure the information held on the microchip company's database is up-to-date. Microchipping can't protect them from accidents or from going missing. But when a cat is found, a microchip means it can be reunited with its family sooner rather than later.<br />
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Any vet can microchip your cat, and a number of animal charities, such as <a href="http://www.woodgreen.org.uk/">Wood Green</a>, can also help. Microchipping is as important for your cat's welfare as food and shelter, so if your cat doesn't have a microchip yet, please get it chipped today!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzupkCTYbA8tTCG8xU8ALHgKs67J2vmNbf5S3Rv5RajB7Xh28YRDIKzNj9vcs7shAT_tHu-Yi6gWP_V63unx1QEfcWpL4fcMai4jympNE5IRGijZ8iPDTzsBGogu8p_1iCpbb5SRv87qi/s1600/vet+scan+cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A vet scans a cat for a microchip" border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzzupkCTYbA8tTCG8xU8ALHgKs67J2vmNbf5S3Rv5RajB7Xh28YRDIKzNj9vcs7shAT_tHu-Yi6gWP_V63unx1QEfcWpL4fcMai4jympNE5IRGijZ8iPDTzsBGogu8p_1iCpbb5SRv87qi/s640/vet+scan+cat.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A vet scans a cat for a microchip</td></tr>
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Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-88017676825940481792016-07-10T12:34:00.000+01:002017-02-05T22:30:45.860+00:00Not Alright By Me<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9r_V4L-LCOaIDkgURh_C6zBpw0z0gNfb1ws_z2tCArS10h4Dii8joexbXG8Iqg3vl2X8CvBpXRx0zu4BriGqIGtjGswiQEiN6gnYWFI0xjtbkLAWfFVXZ1c-d84w6mihPpbRnK3pI92lG/s1600/thorpe+hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice in Peterborough" border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9r_V4L-LCOaIDkgURh_C6zBpw0z0gNfb1ws_z2tCArS10h4Dii8joexbXG8Iqg3vl2X8CvBpXRx0zu4BriGqIGtjGswiQEiN6gnYWFI0xjtbkLAWfFVXZ1c-d84w6mihPpbRnK3pI92lG/s640/thorpe+hall.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice, Peterborough</td></tr>
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Wonderful things happen in our community every day, and over the coming weeks and months I intend to tell you about as many of them as possible. Orton is a lovely place to live and in our wider city environment of Peterborough there are many fantastic facilities and services that help to make our area a truly terrific place to live and to work in.<br />
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But it's not all good, no city ever is. Anti-social behaviour, in its myriad forms, happens all over the country and Peterborough is by no means immune to it.<br />
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However, something happened outside our precious Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice this week that, for me, is beyond the pale: fly-tipping.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs5bp21S4tz2rxSQDYEkyqfUMMSiKcHrn9QkPufJGp0bScpDCCuuaj2Y3f2Zq7BCh9f3FQklUuCPYeFpRIaIY76tjLihucuN6lpNG0qNqD3oC5mUIwWAeYEAuVQwRFNfSzZwhVFUp0UCdj/s1600/PT+thorpe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Article in the Peterborough Telegraph" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs5bp21S4tz2rxSQDYEkyqfUMMSiKcHrn9QkPufJGp0bScpDCCuuaj2Y3f2Zq7BCh9f3FQklUuCPYeFpRIaIY76tjLihucuN6lpNG0qNqD3oC5mUIwWAeYEAuVQwRFNfSzZwhVFUp0UCdj/s640/PT+thorpe.jpg" title="" width="580" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Article in the Peterborough Telegraph</td></tr>
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I was first alerted to what had happened by an <a href="http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/crime/fly-tippers-target-thorpe-hall-hospice-s-nature-area-1-7469706">article in the Peterborough Telegraph</a>. It explained that a 'van-load of rubble, broken wood and insulation' had been illegally dumped in an area of natural beauty that had just been painstakingly re-created by volunteers for residents and visitors to enjoy.<br />
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The anger and upset I feel is difficult to put into words, but I will try.<br />
<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>People in need hospice care are not rubbish and where they are cared for is not a rubbish tip.</i></span></b><br />
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At some time in all of our lives we, or someone close to us, will need the care and support of our local hospice, either for end-of-life palliative care or for support living with the consequences of a long-term illness. At these moments we are at our most vulnerable, our most bewildered and in most need of the dignified and unconditional support that hospice staff and volunteers provide. Treating the grounds of the hospice as an open refuse site is the opposite of dignified and it burns my heart to think how the staff and residents of Thorpe Hall must have felt when this very selfish thing happened right on their doorstep.<br />
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If you've never needed the services of a hospice, perhaps I can explain a bit about what they do by sharing some of my family story.<br />
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On Christmas eve 2009, my dad was diagnosed with late stage terminal cancer of the throat. Treatment was not an option, so he was quickly transferred to the hospice in his area (not Peterborough) where he peacefully passed away on 12th February 2010. Had he not had access to a hospice, where the care he was given gave him great dignity and peace and where we as a family always felt very welcome and supported, he would have died in a noisy hospital with none of the support or care that he experienced at the hospice, quite simply because hospitals are not equipped to support people with terminal illness in the same way.<br />
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I found my dad's death very difficult to deal with (I still do, and expect I always will). I can be a tough cookie and the relationship I had with my dad when I was a teenager was certainly fiery at times, but he was still my dad and I loved him and wanted him to know that. I was really, really scared that my dad would pass away without knowing how much I loved him and needed him, and it was the kind and caring hospice staff who I turned to for advice and support on how to stem the flow of my tears long enough to be able to have a final, proper conversation with my dad before he died. In a regular hospital that would not have happened.<br />
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The best way I can describe the experience of being with a loved one who is in the late stages of a terminal diagnosis is this: it is like you're both in the departure lounge of an airport. Your loved one is about to go on a one-way journey and you know you won't see one another again. But the plane has been delayed. You know it will come eventually, but you don't know when. In the meantime, you are both sat in the departure lounge feeling terrified but with no idea what to say to one another.<br />
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In this most dreadful of situations, hospice staff are there to help and I don't know how they do it or what we would do without them.<br />
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As many of you know, I have <a href="http://www.mssociety.org.uk/">multiple sclerosis (MS)</a>. I was first diagnosed with MS when I was just 19 and am now 45. I am acutely aware of the incredible care Sue Ryder provides to people with MS through our hospice and others like it. A friend worked in a hospice where I used to live and she said to me 'You matter until the last day of your life'. This is so important to remember. Being in a hospice doesn't mean your final days have no meaning, quite the opposite, They are an opportunity to squeeze as much from life as there is to be squeezed (in the circumstances). I don't know what course my MS will take. My dad's mum also had MS and she passed away at the age of 55 owing to complications. A close friend of mine, who also had MS, passed away aged 43 as her weakened immune system couldn't cope with an otherwise 'simple' chest infection. What I do know is whatever the future holds, if the hospice isn't there to support me and my family the outlook will be far more bleak.<br />
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The hospice costs <b>£2.8million</b> per year to run. The last thing it needs is unexpected clear up costs.<br />
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I wondered what I could do to help. Peterborough City Council has advised the hospice that the specialist clear up will cost £200. What was needed was money, and so I have sent the hospice a cheque for £200 which I hope will go some way to at least clearing up most of the mess. Moreover, I would like to take the opportunity to let people know why our hospice matters. It is one of the jewels in Peterborough's crown and its staff and volunteers should be treated with our greatest respect.<br />
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The hospice now needs more help to install CCTV in the hope of deterring further fly-tipping at its site and catching those that do. If you can spare anything at all (I could ill-afford the money I sent, but I can ill-afford a future without our hospice so I really don't care about the money) please send Thorpe Hall Hospice a donation. <b><a href="http://www.sueryder.org/care-centres/hospices/thorpe-hall-hospice">You can do so very easily via its website.</a></b><br />
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This was difficult to write and it may be difficult to read. If you or a loved one are currently coping with a terminal diagnosis I send you lots of love.<br />
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In loving memory of my dad, George Williamson 1942-2010.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeQ8hdlz5_He6o8VQqXbz2gXPFWmY0YKcXGEpEjPbBRiISM6WJL0znic9vxNiYl8eUVdlcxzCZOAIk84tXGBjGcShHtcpYTFBQu4k9tmBSgT2S5l-PTgd428tBmf4t9WRtAHaNwG8cKue/s1600/dad2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Julie with her dad George in a hospice" border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeQ8hdlz5_He6o8VQqXbz2gXPFWmY0YKcXGEpEjPbBRiISM6WJL0znic9vxNiYl8eUVdlcxzCZOAIk84tXGBjGcShHtcpYTFBQu4k9tmBSgT2S5l-PTgd428tBmf4t9WRtAHaNwG8cKue/s640/dad2.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-82383497562949786362016-06-23T18:12:00.001+01:002017-02-05T22:32:14.472+00:00How Close is Your Polling Station?It's the European Referendum today. You know <a href="http://howell4ortonwaterville.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/blog-post.html">my feelings on the matter</a>, so I'm not getting into that again other than to say, however you feel, PLEASE VOTE.<br />
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I'm writing this at 6pm, having already been out to vote. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjMZYdCg4Xt7O8AyKtIqkhlUcvhq9LQfZwpk02qm0NXe1dIEgYeuh3AlHaa2OkTRlyx-DgvXm7XAPADGOj9wTn-TpNQTWKRtsPo7dt8PWSPdVu2XjkVvuomYbJu7xq2fVgL_wyoYkrLx2/s1600/julie+euref+vote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Julie outside the polling station in Matley, Orton Brimbles" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjMZYdCg4Xt7O8AyKtIqkhlUcvhq9LQfZwpk02qm0NXe1dIEgYeuh3AlHaa2OkTRlyx-DgvXm7XAPADGOj9wTn-TpNQTWKRtsPo7dt8PWSPdVu2XjkVvuomYbJu7xq2fVgL_wyoYkrLx2/s640/julie+euref+vote.jpg" title="" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside the polling station in Matley, Orton Brimbles</td></tr>
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Here's a picture of me taken outside my polling station in Orton Brimbles.<br />
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"Orton Brimbles?! I thought you lived in Orton Northgate, in that house with all the 'Vote Green' posters in the window, Julie!"<br />
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Well, yes, I do live in Orton Northgate. Unfortunately, there is no polling station here. There isn't one in Orton Southgate either.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkN3roSYMGeQmXcRLffXxJMEjuYLnsrt1IjRzuTgqG5h3uzAC1qsRPExWslHVzLUHtOUF58VMB281fQZAvctztfztfkbsYJqKoqhHuR5vPz9SwoF-3Ndb77rKNmwmh3iOSeVBgnbKi6vc4/s1600/matley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Polling station in Matley, Orton Brimbles, 1.5 miles from my home" border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkN3roSYMGeQmXcRLffXxJMEjuYLnsrt1IjRzuTgqG5h3uzAC1qsRPExWslHVzLUHtOUF58VMB281fQZAvctztfztfkbsYJqKoqhHuR5vPz9SwoF-3Ndb77rKNmwmh3iOSeVBgnbKi6vc4/s640/matley.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Polling station in Matley, Orton Brimbles, 1.5 miles from my home</td></tr>
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Our polling station is in Matley in Orton Brimbles, 1.5 miles away. No big deal? Well, it can be if, like me, you don't drive.<br />
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It happens that I don't mind a walk, and voting is very important to me, so I will make the effort. But it concerns me that turnout at the last local election was only 35% in this ward and I wonder to what extent the distance to the polling station made a difference.<br />
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Yes, it is true that more and more people choose to vote by post these days. Personally, I like the ritual and the process to turning up at the polling station to vote in person. I like to see democracy in action. I like to say 'hello' to people in my community. One of the great things about polling day used to be that feeling of being united under democracy as we all trooped to the polling station. There's an atmosphere of anticipation, and I like it. I still want to do that. I just wish the polling station wasn't quite so far away from my home and I worry that the distance deters some people from voting at all.<br />
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The irony, of course, is that there is a polling station very close to Northgate in Alwalton, but Electoral Commission rules state that you can only vote at the polling station to which you have been assigned (and Alwalton is beyond the ward boundary - in fact, it's outside Peterborough). This makes total sense from an administrative point of view. I'm less convinced that it makes sense for all residents, however.<br />
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What do you think? Given the growth of Ortons Northgate and Southgate, isn't it time we had a polling station of our own?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4-CDYgBM-fb54N6L9dTd-GrEAXxfjY5Df9P-JKK_TXMgjQ8tKd5u9UQJ8ItY9cZx3r19RFO4LLZ0MU_5OidSaLtOlEnN6G77UW1IrVGApLwREcED-CJPWBKjYcPhB-eLjM47ctmaRdQO/s1600/matley+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4-CDYgBM-fb54N6L9dTd-GrEAXxfjY5Df9P-JKK_TXMgjQ8tKd5u9UQJ8ItY9cZx3r19RFO4LLZ0MU_5OidSaLtOlEnN6G77UW1IrVGApLwREcED-CJPWBKjYcPhB-eLjM47ctmaRdQO/s640/matley+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">A crude map of my walk to my nearest polling station, 1.5 miles away. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Yes, it does involve walking in a little circle at the half-way point.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">I shall let you work out why.</span></td></tr>
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<br />Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-71909594733607867972016-05-16T00:22:00.000+01:002017-02-05T22:36:50.852+00:00Access to New Homes in Orton NorthgateThis may come as news to you as there has been very little information about it in the local press or from the City Council until now. Did YOU know of the plans - that have already been approved by your City Council - to build up to 130 new houses on land formerly owned by the East of England Showground at Orton Northgate?<br />
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The Peterborough Telegraph ran a story about it last weekend which you can read here: <a href="http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/politics/new-homes-by-showground-1-7369667">http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/politics/new-homes-by-showground-1-7369667</a><br />
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As you will read, Alwalton residents have raised concerns about access to the new housing scheme.<br />
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According to the article, Alwalton Parish Council and some residents of Alwalton feel that access to the new housing should be via the entrance to Orton Northgate that already exists, along a road called Joseph Odam Way. Joseph Odam Way runs off the Lynchwood roundabout towards the entrance to the Showground, with access to the houses on the Northgate estate off to the left and the right from a further roundabout just outside the Showground gates).<br />
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Peterborough City Council, however, agrees with the developers, that access should be via Oundle Road and that a new signalised junction should be put in place on Oundle Road to facilitate this.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXi1HxFi5dZjOW1DHTi6gaU1NZzQSr6FWrvLyWCh7VMud_eSPswguaNcFpVkFt1Spoe1dkELgTPcaRoOdoRkmBnsCxGtSusBfHPNZYiMbPN3J4Zj79J0y76ibONmRpEgslL1X4VwNk0PnW/s1600/area.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Map showing the location of the new housing adjacent to Alwaton and Orton Northgate" border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXi1HxFi5dZjOW1DHTi6gaU1NZzQSr6FWrvLyWCh7VMud_eSPswguaNcFpVkFt1Spoe1dkELgTPcaRoOdoRkmBnsCxGtSusBfHPNZYiMbPN3J4Zj79J0y76ibONmRpEgslL1X4VwNk0PnW/s640/area.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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The area shown in purple is the <b>approximate</b> site of the new housing. The yellow dots indicate Joseph Odam Way.<br />
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Alwalton Parish Council's and Alwalton residents' objections and suggestions seem to make perfect sense to me (I live in Orton Northgate and share Alwalton PC's concerns about safety and congestion).<br />
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I would be interested to know how Orton Northgate residents feel about the access proposals.<br />
Do you agree with Alwalton Parish Council or Peterborough City Council?<br />
If you drive along this section of Oundle Road at peak times how do you think the plans will affect your journeys?<br />
Do you worry that this section of Oundle Road will be less safe when the Council-approved access to the new housing is put in place?<br />
What about during the construction period? Are you concern about safety on that section of Oundle Road with so many heavy plant vehicles entering the development site via an already very busy road?<br />
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I would appreciate your views.<br />
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*Please note that Alwalton Parish Council does not cover the area that is being developed. Alwalton Parish Council covers the area adjacent to it, hence their concerns about traffic flow and road safety. The new development will be within Orton Waterville Parish.<br />
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<br />Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-42231090946667801042016-05-06T14:10:00.000+01:002017-02-05T22:37:31.246+00:00Thank you - Peterborough City Council Election Results 2016Dear residents of Orton Waterville ward,<br />
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I'm writing this the day after the 5th May 2016 Peterborough City Council Elections.<br />
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I got home at 4am and have only had a couple of hours of sleep, so please forgive any errors in my text - I'm both physically and emotionally exhausted.<br />
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Yesterday, was the first time in my life that I have stood as a candidate in a local election. What's more, I took the decision to stand on Sunday 20th March 2016. This meant I had only 46 days between my decision to stand and election day to canvas your votes (compared to the other candidates who had years of experience and much more opportunity).<br />
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In the last local election in this ward, the Green candidate came in fourth place (out of four) with 319 votes, and in the year before that the Green candidate came in fourth place (out of five) with 206 votes (both of these results were EXCELLENT for the Green Party, and I thank our previous candidates for building this support for the Green Party in Orton Waterville wholeheartedly).<br />
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With little time and very little resource, and having been set the expectation that I should come last, I decided to work as hard as I could to continue to increase the Green share of the vote in Orton Waterville.<br />
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With all of this in mind, last night's result has blown me away.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqDbu14i_Pb3n8r-dQgRKil5gdO4NhYv7doK8z9JOaWlcfhph9r_GyNCwqf3JJS8VJAyDysEk57vidut_Qs4AN6dOxJQ5y2jb7UPm0DMy1kbhorMVdm-RPv0jljgl0OXlnoiSgzVdZyKvN/s1600/OW+results.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Poll results table" border="0" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqDbu14i_Pb3n8r-dQgRKil5gdO4NhYv7doK8z9JOaWlcfhph9r_GyNCwqf3JJS8VJAyDysEk57vidut_Qs4AN6dOxJQ5y2jb7UPm0DMy1kbhorMVdm-RPv0jljgl0OXlnoiSgzVdZyKvN/s640/OW+results.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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As you can see in the table above, 565 residents chose to vote for me, your Green Party candidate. The effect has been a 5th place ranking (narrowly missing 4th place by just 42 votes), with the Green Party polling more votes than candidates from two other mainstream parties.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: large;"><i>This is a tremendous result for the Green Party.</i></span></b></div>
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I know from speaking to many of you that this has been the first time that you have ever voted Green. I can barely express how honoured I feel to have the support of so many people in Orton Waterville ward. I wish I could thank each person who voted for me individually. As you can see by looking at the figures, every single Green vote made an impact.<br />
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I would also like to take the opportunity to extend my thanks and respect for the gracious conduct of the other candidates in this race, both throughout the campaign and on election night, where I was very much the novice. We are all united in our hopes to encourage better turnout at local elections and to engage the public in local democracy. My Conservative colleagues worked very hard for their success and were gracious in victory.<br />
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This is a result to be celebrated. The mountain the Green Party in Waterville faced was enormous. To come in 5th place out of nine candidates is a huge achievement for my local party. Moreover, we are absolutely delighted to know that Green issues have such a high level of support in Orton Waterville. Any politician will tell you how difficult it is to convert voters from a standing start. I feel incredibly humbled by the level of support that I and the Green Party have received.<br />
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Last month, I was re-elected as Parish Councillor in this ward, so even though I didn't succeed in gaining a City Council seat in this election, I am still very much present in Orton Waterville ward and you will still see me in our community and still find me working hard for all of our residents.<br />
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Finally, I would like to thank my Peterborough Green Party colleagues for being so generous in their support of this new Green Party member, many of whom gave willingly of their time and resources to to help me to reach you with my leafleting campaign. Our Party Co-ordinator Roger Proudfoot, my electoral agent Fiona Radic and Green Party members Alex Airey, Jon Phillipson Brown, Fay Belham and Ruth Fiddy, all of whom went the extra mile (literally), helping me to deliver my election leaflet to nearly 4,000 houses in our ward, and to everyone at Peterborough Green Party and our supporters for being an unwavering source of encouragement and support (and hugs, when I stepped off stage after the declaration last night and promptly burst into tears). Last but not least, my loyal and loving partner David, who designed and delivered the electoral leaflet that had such a huge impact on local people.<br />
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This is not the end. It is the beginning of the sure and steady process of 'Greening' Orton Waterville by taking better care of ourselves, one another and our beautiful environment and I feel confident that our natural wildlife habitats will continue to benefit enormously from your new and renewed interest in Green issues.<br />
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To everyone who took the time and trouble to support me in your myriad ways, THANK YOU.<br />
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I'll leave the last word to my Peterborough Green Party colleagues...<br />
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<br />Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-72748756375688419172016-04-11T12:20:00.004+01:002017-02-05T22:39:33.150+00:00For the Love of Peterborough: 5 Priorities for Orton Waterville Ward<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixeW2nO22CNhNlqBsTc3UJf70MHzlBrSb6HssNibR5TKHAHDHYvkllOwbmT4eMAngc5AmJbzkuoGy3mNAb6IGc5RpVDvQge33F8AC25-O0cNQTUKcW7CJ1Cem7WgKXk5FCZLnd1iM-efKP/s1600/A4+window+posters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Vote Green Party Julie Howell posters" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixeW2nO22CNhNlqBsTc3UJf70MHzlBrSb6HssNibR5TKHAHDHYvkllOwbmT4eMAngc5AmJbzkuoGy3mNAb6IGc5RpVDvQge33F8AC25-O0cNQTUKcW7CJ1Cem7WgKXk5FCZLnd1iM-efKP/s640/A4+window+posters.jpg" title="" width="580" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remember to vote on 5th May 2016</td></tr>
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Peterborough has yet to have a Green Party Councillor.<br />
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That hasn't stopped us Greens from coming to your streets and asking you about the things that matter to you in your part of our city.<br />
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I've had the privilege of hearing from many of you (and I hope I'll hear from many more). I've listened and you've told me that these should be my priorities if I'm elected to serve you as a member of Peterborough City Council.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><i><b>1. Street Safety</b></i></span><br />
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There's way too much pavement parking on the streets of Orton Waterville ward and it's making our residential roads dangerous. The pavements are meant for pedestrians, not cars. Cars parked on the pavement are a hazard in particular to blind people (with RNIB in our ward we have a high number of blind and partially sighted neighbours), older people and children. No one should have to step into the road to avoid a poorly parked car.<br />
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You're also concerned about the speed of traffic, particularly on Dunblane Drive in <b>Orton Southgate,</b> Loch Lomond Way in <b>Orton Northgate, </b>Brimbles Way in<b> Orton Brimbles, </b>Wistow Way in<b> Orton Wistow</b> and Goldhay Way in <b>Orton Goldhay</b> and you would like to see traffic calming measures in these locations. You've also noticed that cars and, in particular, delivery vans, drive too fast down our residential cul-de-sacs. While in other parts of the ward, such as <b>Orton Waterville</b>, heavy goods vehicles have mounted the verge and made a mess of the grass there.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><b><i>2. Grass Cutting & Litter</i></b></span><br />
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The recent reduction in the number of times the grass is cut by the City Council has had a negative effect on people living right across the ward, including <b>Orton Goldhay</b>, <b>Orton Brimbles</b> and <b>Orton Wistow</b>. Those of you with dogs have been frustrated by the height the grass has grown to at times, making it difficult for your dogs to walk on and harder for them to do their doggy business in comfort! While efforts to create habitats where wildlife can prosper are to be commended, you don't want all grass verges to look unkempt and wild all the time.<br />
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On the subject of dogs, many of you feel there are insufficient dog bins in the Ortons, those we do have aren't used correctly and there are still too many instances of fouling (even a few thoughtless dog owners bagging the poo then throwing the bag into nearby bushes!). We want to sort this mess out (literally) by making the Council policy on dog poo very clear and providing the resources needed to manage the natural function of dogs that has been allowed to become a menace.<br />
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General litter is a problem that seems to affect people in all urban areas. The situation in our ward isn't helped by the brisk Peterborough wind or the lack of litter bins. Thankfully, the Council recently replaced the post-mounted bins (that could easily be raided by foxes and crows!) with larger, multi-use floor-standing bins. Everyone seems to agree that these are a vast improvement but you'd like more of them.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><i><b>3. Crime, ASB & Noise</b></i></span><br />
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While crime is pretty low in parts of our ward, whenever a crime is committed (burglary and anti-social behaviour (ASB) in particular) you tell me that you feel more anxious about your personal safety. Anxiety and stress have a detrimental effect on general health, leading to sleeplessness and low mood, which can also affect your relationships at home and your performance at work.<br />
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At the Green Party, we're keen to support initiatives such as Neighbourhood Watch and Residents' Associations that promote the feeling of community. While not everyone wants to know their neighbours the way they know their family and friends, that feeling of being part of a community and knowing you can turn to someone close by when you want to is really important.<br />
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For example, people living in <b>Orton Brimbles</b>, <b>Orton Southgate</b> and <b>Orton Goldhay</b> have expressed their frustration about the amount of noise created by the illegal and unregulated 'car meets' that have taken place in the area during the summer months. Those of you who have to be up early for work the next day, have young children or who would simply like to get to sleep at a reasonable hour have said how stressed out you feel when the screeching of tyres can be heard well into the small hours some Saturday nights.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><b><i>4. Somewhere to be</i></b></span><br />
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It isn't only our younger people who need somewhere to hang out. Residents of <b>Orton Northgate</b> and <b>Orton Southgate</b> don't even have a place on their own estates to vote! While the number of houses in these Ortons continues to rise, shared public facilities, such as a multi-purpose community hall, are nowhere to be seen. When you vote on 5th May, <b>Orton Northgate</b> and <b>Orton Southgate</b> residents need to go to Matley in <b>Orton Brimbles</b> to do it. You can get there on foot via the footbridge, but it's a bit of a walk if you live at the far end of either Northgate or Southgate and the last thing we want to encourage is going by car (although you may have little option).<br />
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A community centre isn't just for voting. It's a place where we can hold community events of all kinds and share information that's of benefit to each other.<br />
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We are really well served in the Ortons by the 'Orton Sellers & Stuff' and 'OSRA' (Orton Southgate Residents' Association) Facebook pages (the volunteers who run these pages are my personal heroes, and I'm sure many local people feel the same way). But as a community, we need a place to meet. Orton Wistow and Orton Brimbles both have Community Centres. Older parts of Orton, such as Orton Waterville, have a Memorial Hall (memorial halls were established across the country after the First World War). This is a fantastic facility if you live in that area, but we need more like this so everyone across Orton has a place to be within our community.<br />
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<i><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><b>5. Visibility</b></span></i><br />
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Many of you have told me that you don't see your local councillors enough (and don't see your MP at all!). You are also concerned by the lack of police visibility on our streets and would like more PCSOs and Special Constables in our area. I agree with you. We need more peace-of-mind patrolling and availability, while at the same time the resources to provide these are shrinking. It is becoming more and more obvious that we all have a role to play in bringing our communities together, watching out for each other, caring for those around us.<br />
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As a Parish Councillor, I already make it my business to be visible and accessible around the Ortons, not just at election time, but all the time. If elected to the City Council I will make myself available to you at times that suit you. In particular, during that crucial 10am-2pm weekday timeframe, when parents of young children are more likely to have time to come and see me.<br />
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You will also be able to contact me on social media and email and can expect a very fast response from me. Most Councillors have to fit their duties to you around a full-time day job. If elected, I will treat my role as Councillor as my full-time job to maximise my availability to you. My availability to you is of key importance to me and if elected I invite you to hold me to that.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><b><i>"But we told our Councillors about these problems already and they haven't done anything about it!"</i></b></span><br />
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All Councillors work hard to address the issues you raise. However, your current Council all represent the same political party. On <b>5th May</b>, you have an opportunity to change this when all three Council seats in your ward become open and candidates from different parties have the opportunity to stand for election.<br />
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As your Green Party candidate I can provide an alternative voice for you and add much needed pressure and fresh thinking to the current closed shop of councillors from the same party. You will have <b>three votes</b> - this means you can still vote for a candidate from your preferred party and also vote for the candidate from the Green Party (which is me, <b>Julie Howell</b>) if you want to. A diverse council gets more done.Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-60344286432068324732016-04-05T23:55:00.001+01:002017-02-05T22:40:40.387+00:00Five reasons why I'm standing for election in Orton Waterville WardOn Thursday 5th May 2016, I will stand for election in Orton Waterville ward in the Peterborough City Council Elections. When you go to your polling station to vote, you will see my name <b>JULIE HOWELL</b> on the ballot paper along with the names of other candidates. I am standing on behalf of the Green Party.<br />
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The Orton Waterville ward includes Orton Southgate, Orton Northgate (I live here), Orton Brimbles, Orton Wistow, Orton Waterville and parts of Orton Goldhay. As a resident of this ward, I enjoy the many benefits of having good neighbours and of being a good neighbour, of being part of a thriving community and helping to build this community.<br />
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Standing for election to the City Council is a massive step up from simply being a good neighbour. To be an effective City Councillor is to put the needs of the people who live in our community first and requires many 'people skills', including listening, understanding, speaking up and not giving up at the first hurdle!<br />
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Orton Waterville has never had a Green Party councillor. You may be wondering why I have decided to stand for election to the City Council and, in particular, why I have decided to stand on behalf of the Green Party.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DQVuUNbQT4SmDxYEhqafwrvEOp4d6AZGLI2_JDhVpPkQqrkkOJjlnInCZxfYDwbwD2gd8OzXUYIzAnXhS41f95odGJp7PWIRt4E8ej39QWk-kW9ad8iO7oMRjn0Dk7wGkZD2Yb4KPqu6/s1600/election+map+os.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Map of Orton Waterville ward" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DQVuUNbQT4SmDxYEhqafwrvEOp4d6AZGLI2_JDhVpPkQqrkkOJjlnInCZxfYDwbwD2gd8OzXUYIzAnXhS41f95odGJp7PWIRt4E8ej39QWk-kW9ad8iO7oMRjn0Dk7wGkZD2Yb4KPqu6/s640/election+map+os.jpg" title="" width="396" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The area shaded orange represents Orton Waterville ward</td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">1. For Peterborough</span></b><br />
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Orton Waterville is a lovely place to live. Outstanding natural beauty and a vibrant, diverse community that deserves the support of a committed City Council, with councillors who really listen and really engage (all year round, not just when there's an election coming up!).<br />
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We're very fortunate in Peterborough. We are less than an hour by train from London, yet we are not London. We don't have to pay London prices to live here and more of what we do earn we can re-invest in our local community by spending with local shops and businesses. While some of us do commute to London for our jobs, increasing numbers work right here in our city, with many now working from home. And why not? With our mix of the very best in public venues, business parks, and super-fast broadband set in or close to acre upon acre of unspoilt countryside this is a wonderful place to live.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Most days I walk around our neighbourhood and think to myself, "This is a beautiful place."</i></span><br />
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I want Orton Waterville to continue to be a beautiful, safe, community-oriented ward even as the region continues to develop and grow. We must protect our rich, natural environment, ensure what we take from nature we also put back, and continue to build strong communities so that no part of our area becomes just another 'dormitory town' for people who can't afford to live in London. I know my neighbours. I know where to turn if I need help in my community. I want everyone who lives in Orton Waterville to feel the same way.<br />
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I have a lot to say about why Orton Waterville needs - and deserves - to have its first Green City Councillor. Look out for future posts and do please share your thoughts with me and other readers.<br />
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(You'll find a fascinating <a href="http://www.ortonwatervilleparishcouncil.org.uk/history/">history of Orton Waterville</a> on the Orton Waterville Parish Council website.)<br />
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">2. For older and disabled people</span></b><br />
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I'm attracted to the Green Party for many reasons. The greatest of these is the Party's position on the rights of older and disabled people. As I've already shared with you, I've had MS for more than a quarter of a century, and most of my adult life has been dedicated to serving the needs of disabled people. I am unwavering in my belief that disabled people, Deaf people, people with conditions that affect their mental health, people with learning disabilities, people with living with cognitive impairments, older people, people who are temporarily disabled due to illness or accident and people living with long term conditions have the fundamental right to participate in society as fully as everyone else.<br />
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Disability can be expensive. It can be lonely. It can be confusing. It can be isolating. But with the right social policies disability doesn't have to be any of these things.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Disabled and older people can be - and want to be - valuable, active and motivated members of our community.</i></span><br />
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I will be the first to say how access to the internet has changed disabled people's lives for the better. Suddenly, we are on a level field where we can participate in community conversations and can make our views heard. But life still happens in the 'real' world and that's why it's vital that disabled people are able to move about in our community safely and easily, to have 'real life' friends as well as friends online and to participate in the real life activities that everyone else enjoys.<br />
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The Green Party has a lot to say on the subject of <a href="https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/dy.html">disabled people's rights</a>. If elected to the City Council, you can be sure that I will put the needs of Orton Waterville's older and disabled people at the heart of everything I do.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">3. For democracy</span></b><br />
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I believe that people are best served when the people serving them represent a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences, interests and political views. At present, all three Orton Waterville City Councillors represent the same political party. While I respect the choice that the people of Orton Waterville have made when voting in past elections I hope that you will agree with me that:<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>A City Council made up of Councillors from different political parties is likely to work harder and achieve more than a City Council where all Councillors represent the same political party.</i></span><br />
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Past elections have show that growing numbers of people in Orton Waterville are choosing to vote for the Green Party candidate, which is why I'm really pleased to put my name on the ballot paper as a representative of the Green Party. As I'm sure you agree, people who want to vote Green should be able to do so.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">4. In memory</span></b><br />
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I have also decided to stand in this election for a deeply personal reason. In October of 2015, a dear friend and noble campaigner for democracy and citizen engagement suddenly passed away at the age of 47. His name was Dan Jellinek. I'd known Dan for around 15 years, having met during my time as a disability rights campaigner for RNIB. He is the author of 'People Power: a user's guide to democracy'.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>When considering whether to stand for this election I asked myself, "What would Dan say?"</i></span><br />
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Without a doubt he would have given me his full support and encouragement. So it is also in loving memory of my dear friend Dan that I stand for election to Peterborough City Council.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">5. Because I wish to 'be the change'...</span></b><br />
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A wise person (possibly Gandhi!) encouraged us to 'be the change you wish to see in the world'. But what do these words mean to the people of Orton Waterville?<br />
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Well, for this resident, they mean <b><span style="color: #38761d;">being a good neighbour</span></b>.<br />
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In our super-fast lives we can spend so much of our time focusing our attention and energy on 'things' (mobile phones and tablets in particular!) that we forget the very basic but very important 'skill' of being a good neighbour.<br />
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If you have lived for a long time in one of the more established parts of Orton Waterville, then you may already know your neighbours very well. You may know, without a shadow of doubt, that you can turn to your neighbours in a time of need and be committed to being there for any neighbour who may need your help. However, not everyone knows their neighbours or feels that they live in a community. For some, family life leaves little time to get to know the people in their street. For others, uncertainty and simple shyness can be real barriers to making new friends. Some people commute to work and don't spend as much time in their homes in Orton Waterville as they would like to, but still want to feel that they 'belong' in our community.<br />
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I recently watched a BBC documentary about loneliness and was struck by the revelation that it isn't only older people who can experience the feeling of being alone. It is possible to be surrounded by people but feel no real connection to them, and this is a situation I would like to see change.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>I am desperately keen that everyone in Orton Waterville feels that they belong to a 'neighbourhood' IF they want to.</i></span></div>
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There are many big things we can do to encourage the spirit of neighbourliness in Orton Waterville, from forming Neighbourhood Watch Schemes and Residents' Associations, to making an effort to introduce ourselves to neighbours we haven't spoken to before. But there are also tiny acts of neighbourliness that we can take part in every day, that don't cost money or time. For example, sometimes I set myself the challenge of saying hello to as many people as I can while taking my dog for a walk. While that sounds like a really small thing (and for me it is) when you say 'hello' to someone you may be the only other person they've spoken to that day. Just a simple smile and hello can really boost another person's mood (and if they don't return it, that's okay too!).<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>So there you have it...</i></span></div>
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Five of the reasons why I'm standing as a Green Party candidate for Orton Waterville in the Peterborough City Council elections on Thursday 5th May 2016. I am committed to serving every resident of Orton Waterville to the very best of my ability, listening to what you tell me is important and representing your needs. Do please get in touch with me and let me know what matters to you. I'm all ears.</div>
Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931996672384583120.post-43706755653845310992016-04-04T23:31:00.000+01:002017-02-05T22:41:06.439+00:00Hello from the Green Party candidate for Orton Waterville ward, PeterboroughThank you for coming to find out more about me.<br />
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My name is Julie Howell. I'm 45 years old and I live in the beautiful and vibrant city of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, UK with my partner David, our two cats Derek & Gracie and our dog, Reggie.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj79CZjN4VqPb2Q3EPW9LJlUGLQHHrVoW3HeO5DqDxeLOnH6MaOE5dViSQn8xdCcYIhJTs89l4vxP5xu4ZkZS-mfbyAKNU86RRp6eB4x2EIbpIGXHyVmo4Ze9qlnScrD__l_GE6wn-Ry14_/s1600/reg1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="My dog Reggie in Ferry Meadows" border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj79CZjN4VqPb2Q3EPW9LJlUGLQHHrVoW3HeO5DqDxeLOnH6MaOE5dViSQn8xdCcYIhJTs89l4vxP5xu4ZkZS-mfbyAKNU86RRp6eB4x2EIbpIGXHyVmo4Ze9qlnScrD__l_GE6wn-Ry14_/s640/reg1.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reggie, Ferry Meadows, Peterborough</td></tr>
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I first moved to Peterborough in 2003, and lived in Woodston for a number of years. I now live in one of Peterborough's newer areas: Orton Northgate. If you are familiar with the region then you will know about the fantastic Peterborough Arena which is situated on the legendary Peterborough Showground. Orton Northgate is immediately adjacent to the Showground in the ward of Orton Waterville.<br />
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I have a lot of love for Peterborough, our wonderful people and our beautiful surroundings. I have been a Parish Councillor for Orton Waterville since May 2015. On 5th May 2016, I will stand again for Orton Waterville Parish Council, as an independent Parish Councillor. On this day, I will also stand in the Peterborough City Council elections as the official Green Party candidate for Orton Waterville ward.<br />
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I have had a varied career to date. My degree is in Library & Information Studies (University of Brighton, 1989-1992). Although my passion for access to reading and information never dwindled, in 1997 I moved out of libraries and into the world of the Web, when I became responsible for the website at the <a href="http://www.rnib.org.uk/">Royal National Institute of Blind People</a> (RNIB). In 1999, I became RNIB's campaigns manager for digital issues. It was my responsibility to make businesses and the Government aware of the need to design their online systems to ensure that disabled people can use them. An online system can be on a computer or another web-enabled device, such as a mobile phone, touchscreen, cash machine or television. I love RNIB. During my time there I worked on the first British Standard specification for website design and I travelled the UK (and visited other countries such as China, USA, United Arab Emirates, Canada and the Netherlands) to spread the important message of accessible technology for all.<br />
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I moved on from RNIB in 2006 to work in the web design industry and from 2010 I have run my own business, coaching people in confidence skills (my first book on the subject was published in 2014).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPH-vTvtKhfceZRh43e_4thq8pkh0TfIqhXiHRFQp3sjarAd6wekZiIuTGNNpbbMr3o1qcpxxWJ3gd-7JDuAdiE_CadnfTEKhuOi-YxCYUz9wZZdRWldzJwm2s0vjK1SMM2ja1zSlqxMWi/s1600/JJ+march+2001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="2001 disability rights march" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPH-vTvtKhfceZRh43e_4thq8pkh0TfIqhXiHRFQp3sjarAd6wekZiIuTGNNpbbMr3o1qcpxxWJ3gd-7JDuAdiE_CadnfTEKhuOi-YxCYUz9wZZdRWldzJwm2s0vjK1SMM2ja1zSlqxMWi/s640/JJ+march+2001.jpg" title="" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On a march in London in 2001 to demand better access to treatment for people with MS on the NHS</td></tr>
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I have been an active disability rights campaigner for many years. In 1991, when I was aged 20 and still at University, I was diagnosed with the neurological condition multiple sclerosis (MS). I have been living with MS for more than a quarter of a century now! Although it is a nuisance at times, MS has gifted me with the opportunity to see life through the eyes of people living with chronic conditions and disability and I remain very concerned that we should all enjoy the the best quality of life possible, regardless of disability or circumstance. In 1995, I founded one of the world's first online communities for people living with MS. It's called Jooly's Joint, and has around 60,000 members from all around the world. I wholeheartedly support the <a href="https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/dy.html">Green Party Philosophy on Disability</a>.<br />
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Although I do get homesick when away from Peterborough for any length of time (it's true!) I pop down to Brighton a couple of times a year. Not only is Brighton home to Caroline Lucas, the first British Green MP (Brighton Pavilion), it holds a very special place in my heart as I was once a student of Brighton University. In 2012, I was incredibly fortunate to be chosen from 15,000 former students as the winner of the University's inaugural <a href="http://about.brighton.ac.uk/cem/news/2012/9feb-juliehowell.php">Alumnus of the Year</a> award. When receiving the award, I was asked to give a short 'inspirational' speech to 2000 graduating students at the prestigious Brighton Dome.<br />
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The eagle-eyed among you may have spotted one of my greatest musical heroes, singer-songwriter Nick Cave in the video! Nick received an honorary degree at the same ceremony, which meant I had to suffer the excruciating embarrassment of giving a speech in front of my idol! The photo of us in our graduation robes is one I'll always treasure.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaB-KNd6HNOQhqmNtWw0STaXxxcgy02g7uIpayZsLlLhDgUFIQTL0eHmrBn95la4xdpAI-pleRC7wriD8ye3l8maoCUD7bi9G-AY-oc3DAGrh5tWkCs3qOWXX0GqwyLiWIFj-AqzwjTXe0/s1600/jg14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Julie Howell and Nick Cave at University of Brighton" border="0" height="531" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaB-KNd6HNOQhqmNtWw0STaXxxcgy02g7uIpayZsLlLhDgUFIQTL0eHmrBn95la4xdpAI-pleRC7wriD8ye3l8maoCUD7bi9G-AY-oc3DAGrh5tWkCs3qOWXX0GqwyLiWIFj-AqzwjTXe0/s640/jg14.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An unforgettable moment at University of Brighton with Nick Cave</td></tr>
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You can already guess that I also love animals. My two cats and dog are all rescues, adopted from the wonderful <a href="http://www.woodgreen.org.uk/">Wood Green, The Animals Charity</a> in nearby Godmanchester. Animals do a great deal to enhance our quality of life and pets can be a wonderful source of joy and companionship. Later this year, I'm doing a <a href="http://www.justgiving.com/FireWalking4Gracie">Firewalk</a> to raise money and awareness for Wood Green. I'm also currently <a href="http://www.graciefromwoodgreen.co.uk/">writing a blog about my Wood Green cat Gracie</a>, who is now doing really well after a very difficult start in life.<br />
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In my spare time I like to walk Reggie in our beautiful countryside, work on my family tree, and catch up with friends over a glass of wine. I also make a nice chocolate cake (I'm not a very good cook, but I try, and nearly everyone loves chocolate!).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMgZCGncsXJ0-2nMFDuF76k1tJN89QiNVkNGiStNBdiaifWPXnILSakCl2YxTnd1SD_8Mz4RIi55lYC4a1T6ZZEeS9JVT7c1iP6ua_fkD8d7WO43UYi2AbM0Sl4mL_L1X0qu_D2SNq8UWd/s1600/choc+cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Homemade chocolate cake" border="0" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMgZCGncsXJ0-2nMFDuF76k1tJN89QiNVkNGiStNBdiaifWPXnILSakCl2YxTnd1SD_8Mz4RIi55lYC4a1T6ZZEeS9JVT7c1iP6ua_fkD8d7WO43UYi2AbM0Sl4mL_L1X0qu_D2SNq8UWd/s640/choc+cake.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my more successful attempts at a chocolate cake</td></tr>
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I joined the Green Party because I support <a href="https://www.greenparty.org.uk/we-stand-for/">what the Green Party stands for</a> and over the next few posts I'll tell you exactly what inspires me about being Green and why I believe Orton Waterville needs a Green Party Councillor.<br />
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I want the very best for all Orton Waterville residents from every walk of life. We are a very diverse ward, and that's one of the many reasons why Orton Waterville is such a great place to live.<br />
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That's enough about me for now! I welcome your comments and questions and look forward to meeting more of you in the weeks leading up to polling day on Thursday 5th May 2016.Councillor Julie Howellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988998789577810742noreply@blogger.com2