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 Date 22nd November 2007

Whilst away on my travels with the Tango carnival float I noticed two Zebra crossings black and white poles in Somerset were internally illuminated making them stand out not only during the night time but also daylight. There can be no doubt that these crossings are much safer than those without the lit poles. There are at present none of these in Devon and I am therefore calling for them to be trailed and have suggested that Temple Street should be considered as one of the trial sites as there has been one accident where a pedestrian was hit whilst on the crossing and many near misses. 

Date 19th November 2007

Anyone who has been down to the Alma bridge recently will have noticed that the steps leading down to the beach on the eastern side have been renovated and varnished to match in with the rest of the restoration work that was carried out earlier this year. The barrier that prevented people from accessing the beach from the bridge has also been removed. I am delighted that this work has been carried out and agreed to contribute half of the cost towards this from my County Councillors Locality/Community budget. If you are going down on the beach then don't forget to take extreme care as the cliffs are very active at this time of year and a rock fall could take place at any time.

Date 13th November 2007

This whole petrol/diesel pricing issue has gone absolutely stupid. The pump prices seem to go up every day with the dearest I've seen at the Texaco filling station near Exeter who are charging a staggering £1.10 a litre of diesel. Something just has to crack otherwise we could very well be in for a cold and bleak winter.

Date 12th November 2007

Bridgwater and North Petherton carnivals proved successful for our Tango Juvenile Carnival Club float Abracadabra. At Bridgwater we equalled our best result in the Juvenile Class coming in 5th whilst at North Petherton we acheived our highest ever placing of 6th. We now look forward to this weekend when we take part in both Wells (Friday) and Glastonbury's (Saturday) processions. What always amazes me is the number of spectators who line the route in Bridgwater alone there were more that 140,000 and so our float after next Saturday will have been seen by almost half a million people in four days.

 Date 9th & 10th November 2007

Well its arrived, what has you may well say......The Guy Fawkes Carnival Circuit and tonight the biggest and brightest carnival takes to the streets of the capital town of carnival Bridgwater. With almost 150 entries it is a spectacle not to be missed as the majority of those taking part are 100' long carts with thousands of light bulbs burning. If you do however miss Bridgwater then there's always North Petherton tomorrow night which is also a spectacular event. Sidmouth's Sid Vale Carnival Club will be in the line up as to will be our very own Tango Juvenile Carnival Club with its entry 'Abracadabra' and so if you are going then make sure that you all cheer us on.

Date 8th November 2007

Well it looks as though Sidmouth Infants School is going to be the first school in Sidmouth to have a Roly Pig composter. I shall be providing this marvellous creature through my County Councillors Locality/Community budget. I am also going to provide £450 towards new life saving equipment for our local St John Ambulance who provide an excellent service here in the Sid Valley.

Date 7th November 2007

Gordon Brown should change his name to Robin Hood, no make that Dracula as he will soon be sucking even more money in taxes away from millions of low income two parent families when his new tax changes come into being next April. The figure that has been banded around is more than £100. Believe it or not it was one of Gordon Brown's Labour MP's Frank Field who has exposed this scandal saying that it is 'shocking'. You aren't kidding Frank and how about the ever escalating price of petrol and diesel it has now reached a record high of £1.07 a litre which is scandalous and is going to hit the rural area's of Devon the hardest. Just remember this the higher it goes up the more Brown's Government is raking in. Why doesn't he do us all a favour and call the election and lets get him and his band of thieves out. 

 Date 6th November 2007

Ah well it appears that I have been proved right about the Civil Parking Enforcement issue in that to raise enough revenue to run the service that there will be a requirement to introduce more on street pay and display. Whilst Exeter, Newton Abott, Teignmouth, Dawlish and Exmouth to name just a few places in Devon have a fair amount of On Street Pay and Display. Sidmouth, Budleigh, Honiton and Seaton can look forward to the introduction of Pay and Display. In Sidmouth I expect it won't be too long before the all day FREE parking along the Esplanade disappears. There is one good thing about the proposals that being at least there will be someone enforcing the On Street Parking as at present it is low down on the police priorities. The County with the Districts take on the powers in May 2008 (as long as there aren't too many banana skins on the way.)

 Date 3rd November 2007

Isn't it amazing how the speed cushions in Manstone Lane have hit the top ten of the worst traffic calming schemes in the UK with motorists complaining about hitting their exhausts and front bumpers. The only way this happens is if you drive across them at speed. The same applies to the ford in Millford Road, I have seen cars belt through and then hitting their front moulded bumper and in several cases losing it as it floats on down the Sid on its way to the sea. The answer is stick to the 20mph limit and if everyone did that there wouldn't be any necessity for the speed cushions.

Date 2nd November 2007

There has been much concern expressed about the difficulty bus drivers are having negotiating one of the corners of the Triangle/Three Cornered Plot due to the inconsiderate parking by Blue Badge holders on a stretch of road that has double yellow lines. I expect that when they park they are unaware of the problems they are causing the bus drivers who then have to carry out a series of reverse and forward manoeuvring to get past them. This un-needed exercise can add an additional 5 minutes to the journey time and so if your bus is late you know exactly what has happened. Hopefully though this will be sorted soon as I have requested a stretch of this road be a no loading/unloading area and the necessary advertising will be carried out soon. This will be paid for from my Locality/Community fund budget.  

Date 1st November 2007

Well Halloween's over for another year it appears to be getting more and more 
popular and I suppose we have to thank the American's for that.
I was interested in reading an article in the London Evening Standard regarding a Recycling trial involving 2,500 households that has taken place in Kingston which has resulted in an amazing decrease in the amount of rubbish sent to landfill. In the eight months prior to the fortnightly collection being introduced 624 tonnes of waste ended up in landfill, however in the eight months since the start of the trial the amount was just 354 tonnes. It speaks for itself and I expect the same results will be achieved here in East Devon when the trial area begins.

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