Thursday, November 15th, 2012
Local Conservative councillor Andrew James was a guest on TCR FM’s morning show on Monday, 12 November, and talked about his role as local councillor, Tamworth Borough Council’s scrutiny committees and Nadine Dorries’ appearance in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
Cllr James joined his fellow Borough Councillor and regular TCR fm DJ Lee Bates in the studio and got to select a few tracks that were played for the listeners and joined Lee in his regular Dallas update.
Andrew said, “My first experience of a live radio studio was enjoyable, it was good to get to talk about being a Borough Councillor and share my varied musical tastes with the listeners of Tamworth.”
Lee Bates said, “Andrew was a star today, he was relaxed throughout the show, gladly joined in my Dallas saga and spoke passionately about being a Borough Councillor in Tamworth.”
The Mercian ward councillor discussed the Borough Council’s Healthier & Safer scrutiny committee, of which he is the current Chairman, and some of the issues that are being scrutinised including the health of children and young people in Tamworth.
Lee Bates also asked Cllr James what he thought about Mid Bedfordshire MP Nadine Dorries’ decision to appearance in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here and Cllr James said that she should be in Parliament not in Australia but Nadine’s celebrity phone number was in his speed dial, so he could vote for her to stay out there.
Today’s show can be heard again here and Lee Bates is on TCR FM every Monday from 10am until noon playing songs and tackling local issues.
Thursday, November 15th, 2012
Two local MPs have continued their campaign against a wind turbine proposal near the service station at junction 10 of the M42.
Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) and Dan Byles (North Warwickshire) have both written to the Planning Inspectorate outlining their concerns for the appeal application of the Wind Turbine at Tamworth Service Station. The application for development sits right on the border between Tamworth Borough Council and North Warwickshire District Council.
The first turbine application was lodged with North Warwickshire council but when this was opposed, an application for a ‘test mast’ was lodged on the Tamworth side of the border, which was also opposed. Now the original application in North Warwickshire is being appealed by the developer.
Dan Byles said, “Both Chris and I have written to the Planning Inspectorate outlining our concerns about this appeal. Unfortunately the appellant has not taken into consideration all of the reasons for its refusal from the council. The developer neglected the requirements of the North Warwickshire Local Plan 2006. In addition to this, I also highlighted the National Policy Planning Framework and how such proposals should only be considered in special circumstances. I urge residents in both constituencies to write to the Planning Inspectorate.”
Christopher Pincher added, “Whether the turbine is situation on the Tamworth or North Warwickshire side of the service station is irrelevant as both communities will be adversely affected if it is developed. Currently the turbine is proposed on the North Warwickshire side but this will affect residents in Stonydelph and Wilnecote as well as communities and businesses in Dordon. I have mentioned the specific issue that wind farms affect many planning areas to the Planning Inspector and have asked him if this is taken into consideration.”
Both Dan and Chris have worked together with other MPs and councillors in opposing inefficient and unsustainable on-shore wind farms.
To contact the Planning Inspectorate please call Mr Robert Wordsworth, The Planning Inspectorate, Room 3/13, Temple Quay House, 2, The Square, Bristol BS1 6PN.
Thursday, November 15th, 2012
Cllr Allan Lunn
Cllr Allan Lunn, Tamworth Borough Councillor and ex soldier who fought in the second Gulf war of 2003, heaped praise on everybody who took part in Tamworth’s Remembrance Service on Sunday.
Cllr Lunn said, “As a Gulf war veteran and Borough Councillor for Castle ward in Tamworth, I found myself feeling so proud of the people of Tamworth on Sunday, 11th November. The turn out and respect shown was fantastic.
“There were people of all ages present and yet the silence was not broken by anyone, at any time. St Editha’s Church was completely full and a fantastic tribute to those that have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we may have our Freedom.
“I also hope that many of you witnessed the display of respect shown at 7pm, when the sky over the whole of Tamworth was lit up with Lanterns, this was a truly amazing sight and one that has not been seen before. Well done Tamworth!”
Thursday, November 15th, 2012
Conservative councillors Michael Oates & Tina Clements celebrate the opening of the the exit
Christopher Pincher, MP for Tamworth, says he is delighted at by the completion of the new car park exit at Sainsbury’s.
Plans for the new car park exit were approved in the summer and work began in early October. The congestion issues are of real concern to local residents as well as people who journey from further afield to use Ventura Retail Park, which has seen massive expansion over the past decade. The complex now boasts a range of new stores including John Lewis, Next at Home, and B&Q.
Mr Pincher said, “It is really good news to see the second exit complete and on time. This has the potential to massively relieve the traffic flow in and out of the car park. The gridlock around Ventura were hugely frustrating for drivers and I hope that the improved infrastructure will encourage more visitors and support new jobs at Ventura for the people of Tamworth. I am glad the project is ready for the big Christmas shop.”
Staffordshire County Council, Tamworth Borough Council and Sainsbury’s have been work closely to ensure this solution to the traffic problems is delivered swiftly with minimum disruption to current traffic flows.
Thursday, November 15th, 2012
Chris Pincher MP with 6th Tamworth Scouts and the £100 cheque
Tamworth MP, Christopher Pincher, met with 6th Tamworth Scout Group (Amington) this week to hand over a donation of £100.
Mr Pincher recently completed an opinion survey and was awarded a cheque for a charity of his choice. He met the Scouts and their leaders during a visit to Sainsbury’s, Ventura Park, where the team were packing customers’ bags to raise money for the 2012 Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.
Mr Pincher said, “The Scout Association is a great organisation and institution with hundreds of young people attending meetings each week. Scouting offers exciting and adventurous activities, giving young people opportunities they wound not get day to day and enabling them to build their confidence and skills.”
Thursday, November 15th, 2012
The Conservative Party is hosting a discussion on immigration to the UK next week and residents of Tamworth are invited to join the debate.
The CPF, Conservative Policy Forum, holds regular debates on various subjects, which then can feed into the Party’s policies for future elections, and this month the Party is discussing immigration.
Local CPF Officer, Cllr Allan Lunn said, “Immigration is a major issue on the doorsteps of Tamworth and across the UK and the Conservative Party want to hear the views of all residents.”
The free to attend debate is set for Monday 19th November at the RAF Club, Lichfield Street, Tamworth at 19:30 and details of the event are available here.
Tuesday, November 13th, 2012
Tamworth MP, Christopher Pincher, spoke up for his constituents concerns on fuel costs in Parliament last night during the Opposition debate on fuel duty.
Mr Pincher said, “It is a pleasure to follow Pamela Nash. I gently point out to her that there are twice as many Government Back Benchers here tonight than Labour Back Benchers and that is for an Opposition day debate, but we will let that one lie.
“It is great pleasure to participate in this debate, and I congratulate the Opposition on tabling this motion, because it gives us all an opportunity to stand back and admire the brazen brass neck, the unbridled cynicism and the naked opportunism that characterises it. It seems that the shadow Chancellor is almost congenitally unable to stand and watch a bandwagon pass by without having the urge to jump aboard it
“However, it seems that he has been overtaken with uncharacteristic modesty this evening, because he is not here; he has fallen silent. For the past few days, he has been beating his chest, beating the drum and complaining about fuel duty increases, but now, this evening, he has donned the mantle of the mute.
“A week after Guy Fawkes night, he has lit the blue touch-paper and withdrawn to a safe distance, leaving his ciphers and his sidekicks to propose and support his motion—and well he might, because we have heard a chorus of amnesia from Labour Members.
“We have heard them speak forgetting all they have done in the past, forgetting what they are saying while they are saying it and forgetting everything they have said when they have sat down. But we will not forget: we will not forget the meagre 75p increase in pensions; we will not forget the 12 hikes in fuel duty; and we will not forget the increase in fuel poverty between 2004 and 2009. I want to touch on that issue, because during Labour’s tenure.”
Bill Esterson, Labour MP for Sefton Central, replied, “According to the House of Commons Library, the proportion of a litre of fuel paid in tax rose from 59% to 75% between 1990 and 1997, whereas between 1997 and 2010 it fell back to 65%. Does the hon. Gentleman accept those figures?”
Mr Pincher responded, “All I will confirm is that fuel duty would have increased many more times had Labour’s Budget been implemented and that 2.8 million more people fell into fuel poverty between 2004 and 2010 as a result of the policies that the Labour Government pursued. The fact of the matter is that energy prices went up on the watch of the Leader of the Opposition, when he was Secretary of State—that is all he did; he stood there and watched as millions more people fell into fuel poverty.
“I am pleased to say that in my constituency, fuel poverty has fallen by 5% in the past year or so, and we estimate that by 2020 it will have fallen by about 25%. Thanks to the Government introducing and increasing the cold weather payments, and thanks to the discount of about £120 a year that will help 600,000 vulnerable pensioners, these people will be better off. The Government are helping them, but it is not enough.
“If we try to stick sticking plaster over a problem such as fuel poverty, we will not resolve it. That is like treating pneumonia with Angiers junior aspirin. What we really need to do is get to the actual causes of fuel poverty. In the 10 years between 2000 and 2010, under the previous Labour Government, £25 billion was spent on trying to alleviate fuel poverty yet the increases in fuel prices swamped those measures. Now, three-quarters of those who live in the most energy, inefficient homes are in fuel poverty compared with one in 20 of those living in the most energy-efficient.
“If we are serious about dealing with the problem of fuel poverty and dealing with one of the greatest challenges in the cost of living, we need to get a grip on the demand side of the equation. That means ensuring that homes are properly insulated. Not only that, but they should have proper and modern boilers and smart meters so that people can for the first time take control over their energy demands and reduce them. That is what the green deal is all about.
“We need also to deal with the supply side of the energy equation. A generation ago, there were 15 energy suppliers, but that number has now reduced to just six. A generation ago, energy bills were relatively straightforward but now people are confused by an array of tariffs. A generation ago, 75% of people rarely if ever switched their energy suppliers. That is still the case. If we are serious about dealing with one of the biggest challenges and biggest drains on people’s means, we need to deal with energy costs.
“I hope that the Government’s proposals in the draft Energy Bill, to which I look forward, will ensure that people are put on the best and cheapest tariffs and that we invest in new nuclear and shale gas, which Labour left behind for 10 years, so that we secure our energy supply and are not exposed to international gas and hydrocarbon volatility, which has caused so much distress to bill payers over the past 10 years.
“The Government must also be careful in that Bill, because although we need to ensure that we have a sufficient, resilient and diverse supply of energy, we must ensure that the mechanism to deliver that capacity does not place undue burdens on the industry that will deliver it.
“The industry reckons that the capacity mechanism could increase its costs, which it could pass on, by anywhere between £3 billion and £13 billion, meaning that anywhere north of £14 a year could be added to energy bills. We need to ensure that the Energy Bill does not have the perverse effect of adding to energy bills as it tries to reduce them. I hope that the Minister will pass on that message to his colleagues in the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
“For the moment, let us thank the Labour party for tabling the motion and enjoy the theatre of the absurd. It is an absurd prospect: the Labour party introduced the fuel duty escalator, increased fuel duty and wanted to hike it again if it won the last election, but it is now proposing to freeze fuel duty by closing the tax loopholes that its own labyrinthine Treasury policies allowed.
“I am sure that the Chancellor is aware of the cost to the country of fuel duty, but I think that the country is also aware of the cost to it of the previous Labour Government, a grisly experiment that it will not want to repeat.”
Sunday, November 11th, 2012
Lichfield City centre traders are launching a Shopping Crawl to give local shoppers a chance to win over £1,000 cash and vouchers for local stores and local Conservative councillor and Cabinet Member for Tourism at Lichfield District Council, Louise Flowith, has praised the scheme.
This Christmas shoppers and visitors to Lichfield City centre will be in with an exclusive chance to win £800 cash and £250 vouchers as part of a new Shopping Crawl, launched by local independent shops and the Lichfield Town Team.
Councillor Flowith, who represents Little Aston on Lichfield District Council, said, “The shopping crawl is a fun idea to encourage people around Lichfield City stores and we’re really proud to be able to support and help promote it. At the recent traders’ event where local shopkeepers came up with ideas to invest the £50,000 High Street Innovation Funding, a shopping crawl came out as one of the top ideas.
“Traders will be meeting again soon to decide where to invest the funding, so if successful, I hope that this shopping crawl may be the first of many that tempt shoppers into our beautiful city!”
The Independent Shopping Crawl is part of a nationwide initiative, launched by Independent Retailer Month, which aims to boost footfall on high streets up and down the country. Locally the campaign is supported by more than 20 local retailers, as well as the new Lichfield Town Team, Lichfield District Council, The Best of Lichfield, the Lichfield Gazette and Design Pit, who helped to put the passport together.
Over 17,000 passports will be delivered to homes across Lichfield in November and if one is not delivered, it can be picked up from any of the shops on the crawl, as well as from the Tourist Information Centre in the Lichfield Garrick.
Once all of the stamps have been collected, fill in the details on the back of the passport and hand it in to any of the participating retailers before closing time on 24 December 2012 to be in with a chance to win.
The prize will be drawn in January 2013, and will be a mixture of vouchers for city stores and money, that altogether will be up to the value of £1,050. The lucky winner will be notified by the contact details they include on their submitted passport. For full competition terms and conditions visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/shoppingcrawl.
Sunday, November 11th, 2012
Cllr Michael Oates & Tamworth’s Mayor Cllr Tina Clements celebrate the opening of the the exit
The new second exit on the Jolly Sailor Retail Park in Tamworth is now open thanks to Tamworth’s Conservative Party councillors.
After months of negotiations between Conservative controlled Staffordshire County Council and Tamworth Borough Council and Sainsbury’s, the owners of the retail park, to resolve traffic congestion issues at the Jolly Sailor retail the work has been completed in time for the onset of festive shoppers.
Deputy Leader of Tamworth Borough Council, Cllr Robert Pritchard, said, “It is great news that the second exit is now open. We know that traffic at Ventura is a cause of frustration for residents and visitors, and this should help reduce the impact on roads around Ventura.
“Ventura Park is incredibly important to Tamworth as it provides jobs and has continued to attract major retailers to our town; this new exit should hopefully help reduce congestion at busy times. I would like to thank Sainsbury’s for their hard work on this project and making it happen.”
Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport Mike Maryon said: “We realise how important the continued success of Ventura Park is for the people of Tamworth as it is a leading leisure destination and centre for job creation.
“This demonstrates how improving our infrastructure benefits business, our economy and life for people who live, work and visit Staffordshire. I’d like to thank people for their patience while the work was carried out.”
Local county councillor Michael Oates said: “It is great to see the new car park exit open; it really should make a big difference to traffic flow in this part of Ventura Park.
“It’s been a significant project for our highways team and one we wanted to get right and completed ahead of the Christmas build-up. We’ve worked with the store and the borough council throughout to ensure completion has been on schedule.”
The highways team ensured detailed plans had been drawn up with the Sainsbury’s consultants so that any issues could be overcome in the design stages. Tamworth Borough Council’s planning committee approved the new car park exit onto the A453 Bonehill Road in the summer, meaning traffic leaving the store does not have to head back along Elmhurst Drive.
Sunday, November 11th, 2012
Tamworth’s MP, Christopher Pincher, has launched a Staffordshire Export Support Event called “New Markets : New Horizons”.
Mr Pincher said, “This event is being run with the UK Trade and Investment team and Staffordshire County Council and is open to any company that wants to trade overseas but needs help and advice how to get started, or is currently trading overseas but want to do more, please encourage them to come along to this dedicated and free export event.
“This is an ideal opportunity to see how local businesses can benefit from exporting its goods and services to growing markets such as China, India, Russia and Brazil, as well as established markets in Western Europe.”
The event takes place on Friday 23rd November 2012 at Drayton Manor Hotel, Tamworth and to places at the event can be booked at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/exporting.
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Local Conservative councillor Andrew James was a guest on TCR FM’s morning show on Monday, 12 November, and talked about his role as local councillor, Tamworth Borough Council’s scrutiny committees and Nadine Dorries’ appearance in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
