Mary's Blog

Modern democracy at work – two continental public officials enjoying a quiet game of scrabble as public debate rages

I read with interest the article “Let’s get people engaged in the political system by modernising the way we operate”, Hull Daily Mail October 11th. It related the proposal to broadcast committee meetings live and on-demand over the Internet. The idea is to address worries of a generation who are massively disengaged from the political system.

The Internet is certainly a very powerful broadcast medium – and Twitter an agent of democracy in some parts of the oppressed world. As a fairly new member to Twitter, I have begun to collect an interesting personal account of what’s going on with the rest of the world at first hand. It’s an exciting experience communicating with vast numbers of “Twitterers”. So the idea of working in real-time like this, it has to be said, is very tempting. We could follow public debate while shopping at Sainsbury’s.

And telephone companies can now pump video to Smartphones, tablets and PCs with surprising quality – at a price.

And that is the problem with this proposal; it comes at a cost to taxpayers both directly and indirectly at a time when many purses are empty. Smartphones, tablets, PCs and high-speed Internet connections are still out of reach for many household budgets, so the digital divide will enter the world of council business as it will benefit the digital community and exclude those not fortunate enough to have the means to equip themselves. Even today, close to 20% of the population has no Internet connection – that’s significant considering we have a coalition government.

And I am not so convinced local government is the place to conduct business in this way. Agreed it would be fun to see councillors sitting feverishly thumbing away on their tablets and Smartphones instead of straightforward noisy debate. And even more amusing to see others grandstanding to the populus to further their own personal causes and careers.

This technology proposal does not even come close to addressing ‘massive public disengagement’ with public business; that’s because it is largely caused by hypocrisy, scandals and personal ambition rather than serving the people. The only impact this proposal will have on the people is to raise their taxes.

For me, the only tablet I will need for following Council business will be for my head!

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The flooding problem in the Tranby Lane area on Sunday 25^th November 2012 appears to have been caused by a blocked culvert and an excess of land drainage, possibly made worse by the new school driveway and cemetery extension.

The flooding would have been greater had it not been for two Tranby lane residents who are members of Humberside Police.  They gave advice and support to residents and redirected traffic before services arrived to alleviate the flooding.  The ditches on both sides of the road are in riparian ownership.

A Flooding Action Plan has been produced by resident Mr. Slingsby which was copied to all Councillors for information. After discussion, it was agreed that the Clerk arrange a site meeting with the appropriate E.R.Y.C. Officers, representation from the Parish Council, a representative on behalf of the local residents and Cllr. Mrs. Elizabeth Robinson from Kirk Ella & West Ella Parish Council.

A screen to the culvert would prevent further problems.

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BRILLIANT!! That’s all I can say regarding the kicking of car parking charges into the long grass.

I am so pleased that the East Riding of Yorkshire Council has made the right decision at last. Even though the authority said that the decision is due to the state of the economy – an economic inheritance from the last Labour Government lest we forget!

Let’s hope this decision sticks once the Nation’s economy recovers!

The threat of parking charges has been hanging like the sword of Damocles over Anlaby village for far too long. Shopkeepers have bravely carried on their business hoping for miracles – particularly as the large retail park on Springfield Way beckons and offers free parking.

As a former East Riding of Yorkshire councillor, I campaigned along with fellow councillors and shopkeepers for a long period. Thousands of people from the Haltemprice villages were involved in petitions. I am pleased and relieved their efforts bore fruit.

Thanks to the Chairman of the committee involved, who spared the time to visit the parking locations that could have had charges implemented.

Now, one other matter I am concerned about is the fate of the police horses after the mounted police unit is to be axed to save money. I do hope their future is secure. They deserve compensation for their brave application to crowd control – let’s hope they don’t end up on someone’s plate, as has been revealed with some imported “beef” burgers.

Cynical?

I’ll admit to that once the Chief Constable confirms that these horses will be put to a restful and well deserved retirement.

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Hull Paragon train station really has become a paragon of solitude serving to disconnect – rather than connect – its customers with the rest of Great Britain and the world! Here we are stuck out on a limb, forgotten as far as train services are concerned.

The train service to and from Hull is a farce; I arrived at Brough station on one occasion to be informed over the Tannoy system “Hull train service to London today has been cancelled”. What use is a service if it cannot be relied upon? Many passengers spend weeks organizing meetings in the capital! Instead of spending £18m on a swish new station perhaps it would have been better to fix the network.

Since the likelihood of that happening is close to zero, an air link to the International Manchester Airport would be beneficial for those seeking to travel far and wide – especially for myself. I have a daughter living in Shannon, Eire and there is no way I can reach her without paying a fortune to fly to Schipol, Holland from Humberside Airport. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have a shuttle service from Humberside Airport to Manchester Airport?

So come on Department of Transport! Let’s have a trans-Pennine air-link to Manchester so that we can bypass the jokers that run the train service in Hull and connect us with the rest of humanity.

Please!

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