Nick Hollinghurst

Dacorum Borough Council has a duty to promote well-being within its boundaries. But it seems to have forgotten this. The local economy would be boosted - and a large amount of personal distress would be alleviated - if it was made easier for people to claim the benefits to which they are entitled. But no, despite my asking last year, in January, in March, for more resources for the Revenue and Benefit Section they are still not forthcoming. There is still a 4 to 6 week backlog in processing claims. Families could get evicted for the lack of rent within that sort of time-scale. The council officers do their best to prevent that - but they have to work within a rotten and inadequate system.

What makes it worse, however, is not just the 4 - 6 week backlog to the processing of a claim, but the policy of putting a claim to the back of the queue again for any change in circumstances or for any mistake in filling out a form, however obvious or trivial. Claimants are under stress, most are not familiar with the forms - it’s not surprising they might occasionally tick the wrong box.  The claimant climbs the ladder for 4- 6 weeks till the officer gets round to processing the claim then - oops! - a mistake is found. So it’s slithering down the snake back to square one again for that to be corrected and another 4 - 6 weeks wait. Not only is this an inefficient way of working - to an anxious claimant it is sheer cruelty.

Claims once started should be processed by officers to completion, correcting any errors and assessing changes to circumstances along the way. The Benefits Section should be properly resourced to reduce the excessive wait. The duty of well-being should be taken seriously.

          Nick with Keith and Hilary on the Bat Walk August 27th, 2010.
Well, we did the walking - along the canal between Bulbourne and Marsworth and beside Tring Reservoirs - and the bats contented themselves with flying around (as they do). We learned a lot from Keith Parnell and Hilary Phillips of the North Bucks Bat Group (see Link List) about the nearly two dozen species of bat you can find in the UK. Did you know that bats are not at all blind? Apparently their eyesight is excellent and some of them are quite capable of hunting in daylight. With the aid of “bat detectors” - electronic gadgets that receive the bats’ inaudible (to us) high frequency squeaks, lower the frequency and re-emit them so we can hear - we were able to tell when a bat was close by. After a bit of practice with the detectors we were able to tell from the frequencies and the audible patterns of sound what type of bat was out and about. One member of the bat group came with a small, special low-intensity red searchlight which, when his bat detector gave the right signal, he swept low across the water surface so we could see the Daubenton’s bats which take insects off the water surface with their hind legs and flip them forward to catch them in their mouths. (Too fast for us to see, of course).

Admittedly not many bats were out and about that night (Friday) but the clear sky, the early stars and the gibbous moon hanging low in the sky, reflecting off the reservoirs, made for a beautiful and enjoyable evening. Why not contact the North Bucks Bat Group at Haydon Mill, Rabans Lane, Aylesbury HP19 8RU? The evening was arranged by the Friends of Tring Reservoirs (FoTR) - see the Link List.

With a swing from Conservatives to Liberal Democrats of 26%, local candidate Rosemarie Hollinghurst won decisively with nearly 600 votes and a majority of 288. With a larger than usual turnout of nearly 50%,  Conservative support collapsed as 65% of voters chose Liberal Democrat.

Commenting on her success, Rosemarie Hollinghurst later said,
“The people of Aldbury & Wigginton have amply demonstrated their confidence in the Liberal Democrat brand of community politics. We ran a positive and inclusive campaign highlighting borough-wide as well as purely village issues. We stated clearly and simply our strategy as the Opposition on Dacorum Borough Council and, unlike the Tories, made no undeliverable promises.

Liberal Democrats are back in government for the first time in 50 years and we are once again seen as an important political force. This result must be truly worrying for both the Conservative and Labour Parties. It is a ringing endorsement of the coalition at national level, combined with a recognition that in local politics we still need effective and competent opposition in our shire areas, for so long run badly by under-performing and complacent Tories.”

26th August. Aldbury and Wigginton Ward of Dacorum Borough Council. By-Election caused by disqualification of previous Conservative councillor due to non-attendance.
RESULT
Liberal Democrat (Rosemarie Hollinghurst) 593   64.7% (+28.0%)
Conservative                                            305   33.2% (-23.7%)
Labour                                                     18      2.0% (  -4.4%)
Total votes                                               916 
Turn out                                                          46.71%

Regular blogfollowers might remember my June 8th posting showing how one of Hertfordshire’s beautiful 30 mph signs was obscured by the branches of an over-exuberant sycamore tree. Despite Herts Highways being informed it was still not clear this afternoon. So, since we are now in a coalition at Westminster (though emphatically not at either Dacorum Civic Centre or County Hall), I decided to respond to wee Davey Cameron’s call to take part in his Big Society - and I cut the branches down myself.

The 30 mph sign is now revealed (and found to be in need of a wash) and I hope motorists will start to take heed.

“Your Voice at Dacorum”   Rosemarie Hollinghurst, the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Aldbury & Wigginton, has been delighted by her warm and friendly reception while campaigning.

She said, ” It is most encouraging to receive so many good wishes and expressions of thanks for the hard work Liberal Democrats put in all year round. We try to keep everyone up to date with our regular Focus newsletters and I’m really pleased so many of you find them useful.”

With the Conservatives deeply unpopular in all parts of the ward, Rosemarie is feeling confident. She added, “From slashing funding for rural bus support, through dodgy planning decisions in Aldbury, to the imposition of Sunday car parking charges in Tring; the majority party at Dacorum needs to be held to account. And the way the vacancy arose just underlines the fact that the people of Aldbury & Wigginton have been taken for granted by their Conservative councillors for far too long!”

I very much admire the energy, tenacity and knowledge of the bus routes of two campaigning ladies from Tring - Mrs Liz Bendall and Mrs Eileen Knight. Their persistence finally paid off and a meeting took place today, chaired by the Tring Town Mayor, Cllr Mrs Roxanne Ransley.                                                         Cllr Roxanne Ransley, Tring Town Mayor                         Arriva unexpectedly invited the MP, David Gauke, and on realising this I promptly rang the Mayor and invited myself as a bit of balance. And anyway, as the local elected member of the Transport Authority (to wit, Herts County Council) I felt my presence was entirely appropriate - and said as much to Arriva.

In fact I learned quite a lot about the problems of running a bus company and almost started feeling sorry for the local Operations Manager, Nick Knox, but that would never do. However, I now have an appropriate contact at Arriva and will seek to develop a constructive relationship with the company. For example, I was told that traffic management changes between Watford and Berkhamsted, introduced without any thought of the impact on bus routes, have had a serious knock-on effect on the 500 service in Tring. This is something I can take up at county. But the immediate object of the exercise is of course to persuade Arriva to restore the recently cut ‘Cow Lane Loop’.

We were grateful that David Gauke to took the time to come along and support us at the meeting, though I would have thought that, as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, he and Vince Cable would have their work cut out trying to stop George Osborne’s over-enthusaistic public sector cuts plunging us into a double-dip recession!

Rosemarie Hollinghurst, the Liberal Democrat candidate in the unexpected by-election in Aldbury & Wigginton (caused when the Tory councillor was disqualified for not attending meetings), snapped outside Aldbury Village Shop this week.

Rosemarie says, “I have been supporting the shop in Aldbury now for nearly 30 years and I’ve always had good service there. I use it as my corner shop, as my Post Office, to pay bills and taxes, as my Bank and, not least, to buy my monthly copy of Aldbury Outlook. If it’s within easy reach, why not use it yourself? It’s also a good place to meet friends and neighbours.”

    With nearly two thousand voters to visit in three weeks, Rosemarie is stepping out briskly to meet as many people as possible during this short - and unexpected - campaign.

             With the Aldbury & Wigginton By Election (the one caused by the disqualification of the Tory councillor) taking up lots of time the poor garden has been sadly neglected. However it seems to keep doing its thing even without its usual regular dose of TLC. First tomatoes seem good - and the potatoes, despite the drought, are better than we expected.