Trees

Autumn. Probably my favourite time of year, weather getting crisper, kids back at school, getting out furry boots and snuggly jumpers, looking forward to the various celebrations of light in our City and trees turning to glorious shades of red and orange.

Many of the terraced streets in Westcotes and throughout the city are tree lined. They make an area feel brighter, more attractive and generally more pleasant to live in.  They also have some fantastic environmental benefits such as providing shade and reducing flooding (see the CABE report).

In 2007 the Leicester Labour Party pledged to plant 10,000 new trees in the City, a lot of people thought this was unrealistic and we would never do it. This commitment has been part of my Cabinet responsibilities for the last 16 months and I am proud to say that we will have exceeded that target, and delivered the promise, by the end of this year.

I've had the opportunity to take part in some of the tree planting sessions with communities from across the City.  Planting historic Elm's in Evington, gorgeous pink blossoming cherry trees at a Youth club in Mowacre, hedging at the Gorse Hill City Farm and countless fruit tree plantings at schools across the City.

Trees are important to me, my family trade is in coppicing (a traditional method of managing woodland and producing wood for business) and I have many happy early memories of watching my Grandad chopping trees and working with the wood afterwards to make benches, besoms (traditional brooms) and swill baskets.

 

Having said all that - the trees in Westcotes drive me mad!

We have lime trees that produce horrible sticky excretions that have to be pollarded about every 2 years leaving them looking like they've been hit by lightening. The photo is one from my street which I took a few years ago in horror the first time I saw the tree specialists leaving the tree looking like this!

We also have Fruit trees planted in bizarre places like Fosse Road South where the fruit cannot be picked but splatters all over the pavements in a thoroughly horrible way and makes walking under them a game of risk, to see if you'll be hit (I've felt them whistling past my ear twice so far this year).

Then we have the leaves.  Remember those gorgeous Autumn hues, the joy of wading through piles of crunchy leaves?

Then it rains and the leaves go from gorgeous to grim before you know it.

I can guarantee (unless it miraculously doesn't rain) that for the next month the majority of calls/comments I receive from people living in Westcotes will be about slippery patches of leaves.  Our cleaning crews switch from their normal routines into fighting the deluge of slimy piles of leaf debris that pile up again as soon as the wind blows. They get tracked into houses and shops and can make some parts of pavements resemble an ice rink.

I have found myself (nearly) wishing we could get rid of  them by Winter! Maybe I'm just following an age old tradition in this country of having a moan about how we seem to struggle to get everyday things right (come back in January for a snow post!) , luckily we also have a reputation for having a good sense of humour and this timetable I spotted at Birmingham New Street Station recently certainly made me smile!

Is Dialogue the best way forward?

During Cabinet questions at Full Council recently I was asked by Cllr Gary Hunt (Lib Dem Cllr for Knighton) if I thought "dialogue was a better way forward for our City than confrontation?".  Turned out to be a question about an element of our Licensing policy regarding Taxi Drivers (you can see my answer in full on the webcast  at question 30 if you're suffering from insomnia) but the question got me thinking about dialogue vs confrontation and talking vs acting.

Our Council meeting lasted for about 4 hours this time, not too bad I suppose, but it didn't feel like the best way for me to serve the people who elected me. We had ten minutes of questions from the public, two hours of questions and answers from other Councillors (this is one of the ways the opposition Councillors are able to hold the administration to account), a nod through of some really important reports from Children's Services (nodded through because everyone agreed with them) and then an hour debating constitutional minutiae such as if questions should come in 48 or 72 hours before Council meetings!

That isn't to say I don't recognise the importance of open questions and debate, just that it can be frustrating (and very dull).

I like getting things done, I like the practical stuff, getting graffiti cleaned, bollards put in, play equipment repaired, these take some talking but mostly you find out they're needed, work out how they're getting paid for and then get them done.

The big things though need a lot more discussion.  They need discussion to try and make sure we get them right. Take the Residents Parking zone that came into force in part of Westcotes recently.  People have been talking about residents parking in my area for about the last five years, some are powerfully in favour, some are adamantly against. We have now got an experimental scheme that allows us to keep listening to local people to make sure it works as well as possible (and if it doesn't work to take it out again).

Unfortunately there are also some groups whose only desire seems to be confrontation and no amount of dialogue can change that. The English Defence League (EDL) are intending to march through our City (despite the Council applying for and getting agreement from the Home Secretary to ban marches in the City that weekend to protect public safety) on October the 9th to try and convince people of their vile anti-Islamic views. I hate the idea of these football hooliganesque people being bussed in to cause trouble and try to spread hatred in Leicester and am very glad that the City Council and Police are working together with faith groups, community organisations and Hope not Hate to ensure these thugs are marginalised and that we have the opportunity to celebrate our diversity.

On Friday there will be a peace vigil at the Clock Tower at half four where people will also be asked to start wearing Green Ribbons to symbolise our City's solidarity in the face of extremism and our pride in our diversity and cohesion.

I'm looking forward to taking my kids to the 'One Leicester Together' celebration event in Humberstone Gate on the Sunday too. My kids attend schools where there are over 20 languages spoken, where they celebrate each others traditions and festivals and are empowered to understand and enjoy them. I am incredibly proud of the breadth of understanding and delight they have for a full range of religious and cultural beliefs  and know they are being given the opportunity to grow up as active and inclusive citizens of Leicester.  This is what we will be celebrating on Sunday. This is why I am confident that the EDL will not divide our City, will not spread their hatred and will not leave a lasting impression.

Of course dialogue is important, whether it be getting to know your next door neighbour, learning about and celebrating new cultures, ensuring everyone has a voice and doesn't feel left out or left behind or listening to what people want and/or need when developing new policies. 

This is the dialogue to take our City forward and our actions in celebrating this together on Sunday and in the future will stop confrontational aggression having any place in Leicester.

Over Protective?

People who know me and/or read this blog will know I care about where I live and represent, so when I got a call on Tuesday Morning ,from the fab press team at the City Council, to say that Radio Leicester had a show on that had gone from a piece about a business closing due to retirement to open season on Narborough Road, I was quite concerned. 

I agreed to go on the drive-time show to talk about some of the comments and said I'd listen back on the iplayer first. I really wish I hadn't! I only got an hour in before I was so foot stompingly angry that I had to stop listening.

Tony Wadsworth said on his show he was "ashamed" of this area and that it was "a disgrace" and his show gave airtime to some awful racism and scaremongering phone calls. They also talked about a dirty, dangerous, unfriendly place with nothing other than cars and take-aways.

Now I'm not blind, I know my area isn't perfect (very few are) but when people who clearly don't live in the area start making awful unsubstantiated statements it feels a bit like someone having a go at a friend or family member.  I'm not the only one to feel like this, someone rang in during the show (a Katherine from Sykefield Avenue) to point out how wrong people and some of the misconceptions were and I'm confident that if more people in my ward heard it they'd feel the same way.

My take on the area around Narborough Road - An exciting, vibrant, friendly and diverse area, shops selling everything you could need; clothes, books, music, stationary, white goods, jewellery, beds, bathrooms, hardware, carpets, food - well the food deserves a sentence of it's own! We have food from all over the world, spices, breads, fruits, vegetables, pastries, cakes, meats, cheeses - it's incredible. We have bars, restaurants and take-aways catering for everything from the traditional pub (the Black Horse), intimate charm (Yesim Patisserie), open terraces (the fab new Natterjacks) , gourmet cooking (Entropy) to relaxed breakfasts (Jones') and so many opportunities to sample fantastic South Asian cooking I can't name them all (Mithas and Saardar's are good starting points though).

We also have a friendly and interested local Police beat team, a cleaning crew that cover the ward 7 days a week,  a City Warden working with residents and businesses to make the area better, amazing outward looking engaged faith organisations and most crucially some of the friendliest and most welcoming people you could hope to meet.

I really appreciated Martin Ballard giving me the opportunity to set the record straight on some of the comments made and I (with Andy, the Police and many other people locally) will keep working to make the area even better.  If you live locally come along to the next Ward Meeting (Tuedsay 21st at the East West Community Centre) and put forward your ideas about how we can do this..

I may be over-protective about Westcotes but it doens't mean I'm wrong. For anyone who isn't convinced come and see for yourself, don't just drive through on the way somewhere, stop, take a walk about, talk to people, enjoy the unbeatable range of Independent shops and taste the fabulous food.

A strange time of year for resolutions?

I, like many parents of school aged children, think September seems more of a 'New Year' than January, so I've done some of my reflecting now rather than when we're racing round the country trying to see as many relatives as possible over the Christmas break!

My reflections have been triggered by a tragedy.  My second cousin Deyanne died very suddenly a couple of weeks ago.  I haven't seen her for years and, as she was five years older than me, we were not close when growing up. That five years suddenly seems very small. She died aged 35 and leaves behind a 13 year old daughter and 4 year old son.  The tributes that poured into the local paper from people in our home town of Ulverston were incredible, to see the number of lives she had touched and the number of young people who she had championed - working with and for them, was humbling.

When I returned from the funeral one of the things waiting on my desk was my form to fill out if I wish to be considered for re-selection by the Labour Party to fight next years local elections. I fill in forms regularly, some for the party, lots for the Council and other partners, I even quite like filling in those questionnaires that offer a years free shopping, this one though, I really struggled with.

Mortality makes you question things more thoroughly than you otherwise may do. Is this what i want to be doing? Do I spend enough time with my gorgeous children? Could I make more of a difference doing something else? 

I love most of what I do as a Councillor, there are no two days alike, to have the opportunity to make where I live a better place is wonderful, and being able to work with someone and resolve a problem is a rare privilege.

There are also terrible frustrations. The petty internal squabbling, the bureaucracy, the slow progress of change, the individuals who want all your time but are never satisfied with the results (that can take you away from the people who really need help), the difficulty in getting 'good news' to people - these are all things to contend with. 

The other big challenge though is perception. Someone recently tweeted 'all politicians are arseholes'. Now generalisations are always a problem for me but this one got me thinking.  Do I want to carry on doing a role where most people seem to think you're in it for the money, the power or the glory?

The conclusion I came to is similar to my first posting here, I don't have to meet other peoples perceptions, I can even try to change them! For all the difficulties, I think not trying to make a difference would be far more frustrating. 

So my resolutions after all this soul searching?

1) Try and thicken my skin (and thin my waist).
2) Enjoy the Successes.
3) Learn from failure and then move on.
4) Make time each day for my kids without interruption from the phone or computer.

Why a Bike?

A somewhat topical post today as we have Skyride coming up and the Leicester Mercury reporting the use of Councillors support packages - including my replacement bike!

It may seem odd to some that I'm the Councillor cycling 'champion' in the City - I'm not what you'd describe as your typical cyclist, I'm overweight, not as fit as I could be, generally built for comfort over speed and until I became a Councillor I hadn't cycled since my early teens - so how did it happen?

The first thing to point out is that I don't drive, can't drive, and really not that keen on learning to drive. Normally this poses no problem to me, I live close enough to walk or catch a bus to anything I'd want to do in the City, and outside of that I enjoy travelling on Trains or, if we're going as a family then, Andy drives.  The difficulty came when I started attending meetings that finished late and I was either walking through Bede Park in the dark (not recommended unaccompanied) or waiting at the end of Belgrave Gate for a bus (it was whilst the bus stops were changing) which I felt uncomfortable about doing.  For a youngish woman getting somewhere on her own late in the evening a bike seemed a safer way forward.

I got my bike from the Bike Shop under the Town Hall and set about trying to work out how to not only ride it safely (quite daunting) but also equip it to take my kit and kids too! This was not straight-forward, and everyone had an opinion, the most important of which for me was Andy's who said early on he wasn't comfortable with the idea of the kids in a trailer behind my bike and we were battling for space in our small terraced property (we've since rented a garage on the next street) so we ruled that option out.

I was struggling to know what to try and quite concerned about spending money on something that wouldn't work. I was relieved when I read about a 'try it out' cycling event in Nottingham. We went and tried out every type of bike and child attachment possible, it was great, the kids enjoyed themselves and were able to tell us what worked for them and we were able to decide what felt safe and comfortable.

I fell in love with a fab bike made in Cambridge that has been given out in some London Borough to try and reduce school traffic.  Great bikes that could take the kids and the shopping and were really comfortable to steer - problem was the price tag - nearly £2000 - not in my range!

I eventually settled on wee-ride for Ella and a standard child seat for Ryan (for the 6 months until he got too big to manage).  Being able to have Ella between me and the handle bars was brilliant and made cycling a really enjoyable and bonding experience.  Sat there we were able to talk easily, she could see what I could, the bike felt really stable and I felt more able to protect her.

All of this got me talking to Officers and Councillors about cycling in the City and led to me setting up a piece of Scrutiny work to look at what we could be doing to make it easier to get around the City by bike. From there I started attending meetings with some of the great local cycling organisations Cyclemagic and Bikes4All, and also with national cycling organisations like Cycling England and the CTC and was really excited to be involved in the discussions about bringing SkyRide to Leicester.

Everything was going swimmingly until my bike was stolen last year as I attended a Groundworks Board meeting on behalf of the Council at Western Park, two weeks before the SkyRide. I was devastated! I got a new one in time (with a trailgate option for Ella - limited success) and had an amazing time at Skyride but I have to admit to missing my old bike!

Getting a bike has enabled me to see so much more of the City, understand how simple changes as well as major schemes can encourage cycling, reduce my carbon footprint and meet some incredible people.

To anyone who is thinking about getting back on a bike, or learning to ride, I'd say go for it! I can get home on my bike from town quicker than Andy can in the car, have a bit of exercise, see more of what's going on in my area and all for FREE!

Come along to Skyride and have a go!

Sometimes it's the little things!

I don't think I'll forget last week in a hurry! Combination of the ipad malarkey, our new recycling trial (which I'm very excited about and will go into detail about next week if I get chance) and the delights of wheelie bins on streets have all had me talking to Radio Leicester and the Leicester Mercury far more than normal.

These were both big news items and led to important and interesting discussions but they're not the reason I won't forget this week.  My reason is this:

Now if you're thinking, 'not another bin post', then don't worry it's not.  This is, for me, a special bin for what it represents. It represents involvement, community and starting to see a vision through. To explain I need to go back a few months.

I chaired a Westcotes Ward Community meeting in April at the East West Community Centre, I can't have chaired it very well as we finished at 9.40pm rather than the prescribed 9pm but we had a really lively and in-depth discussion about some of the key issues in our area; litter, graffiti, parks and parking.

For those who don't know or haven't had the chance to get along,Ward Meetings are (roughly) every quarter in every ward in the City.  They are held in the ward, chaired by a local Councillor, and are open to everyone living or working locally.  The Police and a variety of other local services are available to present information and answer questions on things affecting the local area. A ward action plan is drawn up by working with residents at these meetings and a budget provided to tackle local problems and/or support local groups. 

We are occasionally accused of Ward meetings being an opportunity for 'the usual suspects' to come along and complain and I know that, when that happens (as it has done occasionally for us), people are put off and don't want to get involved. This is exactly what we do not want to happen with Ward Meetings, so I was really chuffed that we had a number of new people in attendance who were willing to speak up.

At the meeting we agreed to pay out of our ward budget to; put Bollards and cycle racks on Narborough Road (this has been delayed to co-incide with the pavements being re-done in January), put bins along the Great Central Way and buy Community Notice Boards. All important and popular solutions to locally raised problems.

We then agreed to one additional bid. During the discussions around litter one resident attending for the first time had spoken about problems with people waiting at the Bus Stop outside her house and putting their rubbish in her hedge/garden. So following a suggestion from the floor we agreed to pay for a bin next to the bus stop. Following a few technical/administration hitches the bin was put in this week. That bin is pictured above and the resident has already emailed to say how pleased she is.

Being able to come along, have an open discussion about issues that really matter to local residents and being able to fund straight forward practical solutions to them, that's the vision to engage, involve and empower our communities, the bin is a symbol for me of it really starting to happen!

So for other people the big stories of the week may be most important but for me the little things (and what they signify) are what make me want to carry on doing this role.

A lot more than books

In Westcotes we have a fantastic local library.  It offers a good range of books, magazines, education classes, homework support and many more things you would hope to find in a great local community facility.  For me though our local library is much more than that.

To explain I need to go back seven years (bear with me it should be worth it).  I had my lovely little boy at roughly the same point as most of the people I knew in Leicester were graduating and moving away (he was and continues to be the most wonderful 'suprise' of my life).  This was a fairly daunting time for me and I lost a lot my confidence trying out local mum and tot groups and being overwhelmed by, what I perceived to be, really cliquey groups of people who knew each other intimately, I felt isolated and relied heavily on Andy and my Family.

This all started to change when I got a BookStart pack from my health visitor and went to join Ryan up at Westcotes Library.  The staff were lovely and encouraged me to come along and try out the toddler time sessions on a Wednesday morning. Very nervously I did. There was a variety of local Mum's and Grandmothers in attendance (and the occasional Dad) and I was able to pick books out when feeling shy. It didn't feel at all cliquey and both the Library staff and the amazing Judith (who ran the toddler sessions) made sure that new people got to know others and offered plenty of activities to keep the tots busy.

I started to get to know a number of women with kids of similar ages and looked forward to the sessions each week, especially when I found out I was pregnant with Ella at the same time as four of the other women and we all went on to have our second children  - all girls - within 3 months of each other.

Much as I enjoyed getting to know them every week, the big difference really happened when Judith suggested setting up a book group. Many of us jumped at the chance of some baby free time and we became a pilot for the Library service.  Our book group quickly moved out of the Library and into each others homes to accommodate our needs to put small children to bed and then meet and developed into a chance to, not only talk about a new book but, also to have a drink and a general catch up

Our book group has now been going for five years. We meet every month for the group but also regularly go out to eat/drink, or take our kids out together.  We have supported each other through pregnancies, miscarriages, illnesses, new grandchildren, losing parents, marital problems, children being bullied/brilliant/brats, in short - life.

The library setting up our book group (and many others after across the City) hasn't just helped me and my friends, it has a broader impact.  Our peer support has reduced our reliance on health services, we were able to ask each other what was 'normal' and reassure each other that our kids were doing fine. 

So when people talk about Libraries needing to develop what they offer and the importance of them being at the heart of communities, I can't help but smile.  Our Library in Westcotes not only offers an amazing range of books and services it helps give our diverse, changeable community a heart, and introduced me to the most caring, inspiring and fantastic group of women who I am very proud to call my