So it's nearly the end of the year, nearly 8 months since I was elected. It has flown by, but what have I done?
My first success for a member of the public was to organise a shade to be fitted to a streetlight that was flooding the upstairs of a property with light. The County Council was very speedy once it was reported via the website, and everyone has a right to be protected from light pollution, so, if it's an issue for you, reporting it should work.
My second was to highlight the problem for bus users in Torpenhow during the roadworks on the A595. This one took a bit longer but is fixed now. Then there are the complicated issues that will take much longer - dark skies, river pollution, parking in the Lake District, and trail hunting to name but a few.
I've attended each of my parish councils at least once, most of them many more times. There are 13 of them so that's evenings taken care of! It's part of getting to know the area and the issues that we missed when we were out campaigning. The council has been assiduously organising training (mostly over the internet) so that we understand all the services the council runs. Of course, it will be all the Borough council services as well as the County ones so there are a lot of them. And a lot to remember, hopefully, it will become clearer as time goes on.
Not so many Council meetings, just four so far. At the third one, I proposed a motion asking the Chief Executive designate to write to the Chairs of each of the three Community Partnerships to ask them to undertake a review of the current Areas of Search* to align them with new boundaries, taking into account of the views of the public, and consider reducing or removing entirely some Areas of Search. It fell when all Labour, Conservative and Lib-dem councillors voted against it. A friend who was in the audience at the time said "It was fascinating for me being at the meeting and watching the serried ranks of Labour councillors duly voting for something many of them felt uncomfortable with..."
The last two weeks have been taken up with protests and press work around the shocking decision to grant permission for Woodhouse Colliery. The decision has been criticised by experts in all fields, but notably not by any other West Cumbrian politicians. It was a disappointment but not a surprise and we know that both Friends of the Earth and South Lakeland Action on Climate Change are looking for grounds to initiate a Judicial Review.
In case I don't get time to write (or you don't get time to read) next week, I'll wish you all Season's Greetings and hope for 2023.
Cllr. Jill Perry
* Areas of Search for a place to construct a Geological Disposal Facility for highly radioactive nuclear waste.