Councillor Mike Flower

Your three local councillors are back on the streets delivering the summer version of our Intouch leaflet. If you see us around do say hello. We’ve been upto quite a bit so there is plenty to read about on the four page leaflet. Can you help deliver some? Even if just twenty please do drop me an email. It saves our legs. Delivering to 5,500 homes between three of us is pretty tiring!!

If you can’t wait to have it delivered you can download it here. Please do return the survey to us on waste and rubbish collection. The more responses we get the better informed we are and the more we can fight your corner. Feel free to post it back or drop us an email.

The Express & Star covered my recent attempts to clamp down on speed in Aldridge - after numerous complaints from residents.

The Conservative Party has launched a website encouraging people to tell the Party what they want. http://standupspeakup.conservatives.com/

Some of it is really good. Why don’t you take a look? Its your chance to tell David Cameron what you think and what you want.

I had a busy week last week!

- Monday was Walsall Wood Allotments Charity.
- Tuesday was Development Control.
- Friday was a walk around the Town Centre in Walsall as part of being on the regeneration committee. The damage caused by the Shannon’s Mill fire is enormous. I guarantee that if what I have heard goes to plan within ten years Walsall Town Centre will be totally transformed from St Matthews all through right the way upto and including the hospital. The Council are practically facilitating the rebuilding of a new town centre!

The three Walsall Wood councillors - myself, Keith and Anthony also met yesterday with the Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Interim Regeneration Assistant Director to call for regeneration in Walsall Wood. I’ll post more on this later next week. I have a few projects on the go that will begin to filter into the public domain over the next couple of months. Fingers crossed!

I read in the Walsall Advertiser an ongoing debate in the letters page about railways in Walsall. One writer from Aldridge wrote, “Many local councillors seem to be actually anti-rail and light rail, even though it would benefit the vast majority of Walsall residents and the environment?” Upto now I don’t think i’ve aired a view on railways - purely because i’ve never been asked or thought about it. So here are some initial thoughts to help me develop an idea.

My ward sits nicely inbetween the district centres of Aldridge and Brownhills with the congested Lichfield road running as the spine. Anything that reduces that congestion and makes it easier for my constituents to get around has to be considered. There is no chance whatsoever of getting the railway in Walsall Wood reinstated. The tracks are long gone, although it is possible to walk from the Maybrook down to the Vigo along the old line for those interested in history like myself!

Its therefore easy for me to support the logic of a railway line through Brownhills and another one through Aldridge. With good Park & Rides at both it could only benefit the people of my ward without the hassle of having it in someones back garden. Extra options for travel!

The only downside is the arguement that public transport replaces roads & car. Railways should not be used as an excuse for not improving our roads. It is still important to improve Shire Oak junction and Streets Corner. For many people public transport does not go to places people need to get to and therefore we’ll always need cars.

Public transport also needs to be safe. I was once attacked on the Cross City line by some guys with a knife. If it hadn’t been for a bit of luck I may never have had the chance to become your councillor because i’d have been in the next life. Therefore when offered a choice between a car or a train - if alone I tend to opt for a car. Thats not because I don’t care about the environment, its because I don’t want to be attacked again! Factors like this need to be considered and dealt with.

What do you think? Would you welcome a railway station at Brownhills and/or Aldridge?

I read (and heard) the story about Walsall Council reviewing its refuse collection as i’m sure most of you have done. Its here: http://www.expressandstar.co.uk/2007/08/01/bin-pick-up-change-views/

I can assure you here and now that I am yet to be convinced on the whole fortnightly rubbish collection issue. Lets look at why this is an issue:

The Government want us to put less rubbish in landfill. Fine ok I can accept that. To achieve that they want us to produce less rubbish. Ok I can see the logic but we have to accept that we will never eliminate rubbish! Therefore we can only reduce it. Recycling reduces the amount of waste that is sent to the landfill. Ok thats good so I support recycling and would like to see plastics and cardboard introduced aswell. That leaves us with the rest. Now if your bin is anything like mine the remaining rubbish is either food related or packaging. What else do people really need to throw away on a regular basis?

Food rots - so it clearly needs to be collected regularly. Therefore the fortnightly logic falls away. Why can’t food waste be taken away and as it is decomposes the methane gas is used to generate energy? Thats recycling! Plus if food decomposes then it won’t be an issue in landfill anyway as nature takes its course.

So we’re left with packaging. Well unless I buy less items (or take it out of the packaging in the shops!) what else can I do with the packaging?! I’d try and recycle cardboard and whatnot - but this is where the logic falls down.

What the government fail to understand is that if they want to really deal with rubbish and landfill waste - they need to look at what is causing the rubbish and reduce it. Cut down on the packaging, the industrial packaging, and encourage people to reuse things. Its not only household waste that causes problems but also industrial and businesses!

Unless people start queuing at my sugeries demanding fortnightly collections (or someone proves my logic is totally wrong) - you won’t find me backing fortnightly collections.

In the meantime the government should get to grips with the cause and not try to treat the symptom in isolation.

What do you think?

I’ve not posted for a couple of weeks - not been on top form - and been ill on and off. More posts next week when I get back upto speed.