Derique said “Since taking the job back in 2009 I’d always intended for my spell to be a stop-gap, in order to put Labour in Swindon back on the right track. And I believe that’s exactly what I’ve done in my spell as leader.  The public won’t necessarily know the stresses and time pressures of being a local party leader, and to be honest, taking on the job has taken a toll on my family life.  Despite this, I’ve always made sure I’ve done my job as leader of the opposition to the best of my ability. This can be shown by my attendance record, which is 100 per cent.  Once I’ve handed over the keys of the Labour group office to a new leader, I intend to take a break,  and then get back to representing the wonderful people of Central ward.  One of the things I’ve found is my wife has been like a political widow.  She hasn’t had a husband, that’s how I’d describe it.  My children and grandchildren paid a heavy price with me not being able to spend time with them…the pressure on family life is unbelievable.”

Derique is a former British Leyland engineer. In 26 years as a T&G trade union plant convener he represented thousands of workers, and has been a Councillor since 1979 – representing both Moredon and Central wards.  He took over the role of Group Leader in August 2009.   Many thanks for these years of service to the Labour Party and to Swindon Derique, RIGHT!

Caption: one of many groups which remembers Derique fondly is the Swindon Ocotal Link (SOL) which last year presented him with parchment to commemorate the role he has played for 20 years in the twinning link with Ocotal. During that time he has helped “strengthen the ties of solidarity, cooperation, love and friendship” between the two communities. The picture shows Derique and Bruce Clarke, Chair of SOL.

• Support jobs with money raised from repeating the bank bonus tax – not hold back recovery with the VAT rise and cuts that will put almost one million workers out of their jobs.
• Protect police numbers – not cut them while wasting £100 million on new elected police commissioners.
• Protect your frontline local services – not make unfair cuts which will hit the least well off the most.
• Get the deficit down through strong growth and sensible cuts – not by slashing too far, too fast, and putting your local economy at risk.
• Stand up for young people – not kick away the ladder by tripling tuition fees; scrapping EMAs; cancelling Building Schools for the Future; and slashing school sport

DOWNLOAD THE SWINDON LABOUR MANIFESTO 2011

Voting Stations are open from 7am till 10pm.

Guidance on voting procedure is available from Swindon Borough Council.

Labour Candidates and their contact numbers are:

1. Abbey Meads – Mark Viner (07811 142 413).
2. Central – Derique Montaud (07711 556 261).
3. Covingham & Nythe – Peter Watts (01793 529163).
4. Dorcan – Ged Meheran (07989 918 352).
5. Eastcott – Chris Watts (07776 238 327).
6. Freshbrook & Grange Park –  Neil Heavens (07817 262 258).
7. Gorsehill & Pinehurst – John Ballman (01793 694 584).
8. Haydon Wick – Tim Page (07717 669944).
9. Highworth – Anthea Beaumont (01793 762 517).
10. Moredon – Jenny Millin (07879 023 903).
11. Old Town - Cindy Matthews (01793 644 388).
12. Parks – Fay Howard (07952 350 656).
13. Penhill – Paul Baker (01793 334 598).
14. Shaw & Nine Elms – Michael Heal (07810 872 849).
15. St Margaret – Nigel Chalk (01793 346165).
16. St Philips – Joe Tray (07813 170 202).
17. Toothill – Steve Wakefield (07775 911 922).
18. Walcot – Ellen Osa (07577 923 694) .
19. Wroughton – Geraint Day (07753 957 565).
20. Western – Des Moffatt (07709 066 707).

Polling Stations locations are available from THIS LINK:

To use this link you’ll need to know your Polling District. Check on your card – the Districts in each Ward are as follows:

1. Abbey Meads - AM1-AM4.
2. Central – CE1-CE4.
3. Covingham & Nythe – CN1-CN4.
4. Dorcan – DN1-DN4.
5. Eastcott – ET1-ET5.
6. Freshbrook & Grange Park –  FG1-FG4.
7. Gorsehill & Pinehurst – GH1-GH3.
8. Haydon Wick – HG1-HG5.
9. Highworth – HW1-HW5.
10. Moredon – MD1-MD6.
11. Old Town - TL1-TL5.
12. Parks – PK1-PK4.
13. Penhill – PH1-PH4.
14. Shaw & Nine Elms – SE1-SE4.
15. St Margaret – SM1-SM3.
16. St Philips – SP1-SP6
17. Toothill – TW1-TW3.
18. Walcot – WA1-WA3.
19. Wroughton – WC1-WC5.
20. Western – WE1-WE4.

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OFFER YOUR HELP IN NORTH SWINDON OR SOUTH SWINDON

Since the 2010 General and Local elections, the political landscape of Swindon has changed.   In both Swindon North and Swindon South Conservatives have been elected MPs.  Labour gained two borough seats from the Tories,  but the Conservative party is still dominant.   Since the 2010 elections your Labour Councillors have facilitate local campaigns organised by local people against the Tory & Liberal Democrat cuts and have listened to Swindon residents.

What we have found is that the vast majority of Swindon residents are uneasy about their job security and their children’s futures.  They are anxious about housing, they are concerned about the future of their town and its reputation and they are concerned that fairness is not at the heart of their government and their local Council.

Jobs, Housing, regeneration and fairness are all Labour values and the Swindon Labour Party pledges to address these concerns.  With jobs, we will be trying to attract the jobs of the future, using Council-tax payers’ money more efficiently in-house, rather than wasting Council-tax payers’ money on external consultants and independent bodies outside of the town and we pledge to bring a university to the town.

With housing, we aim to make homes in the town more affordable by pushing for further housing developments in conjunction with a Council-house building program.  With regeneration, we will establish a clear, understandable plan and will not make the same mistakes of the past and build the white elephants of the future.  And with fairness, we will be ensuring that Council-tax payers’ money is spent on frontline services by driving out waste and inefficiency.

The Swindon Labour Party’s 2011 manifesto is the critical agenda Swindon needs right now, delay would mean lost jobs, lost housing, lost regeneration and lost communities.  This is something your Labour Councillors aren’t prepared to accept.

Labour’s four core priorities priorities for Swindon are:

• Jobs
• Housing
• Regeneration
• Fairness

First and foremost, we opposed the Conservatives budget because of the high risk strategy the Conservative Group have adopted in budgeting for the protection of the vulnerable.

We have seen this with the privatisation of the Council’s home care service, sacrificing the quality of care for Swindon’s 90 most vulnerable people in order to save £900,000. However right across the Social Services budget, the amount of savings that have needed to be made are so challenging that I would argue this budget is tearing apart at the seams and could lead to devastating consequences.

We are also seeing the high risk strategy the Conservatives have adopted through their decision to make 20% cuts to SureStart- a service designed to help some of the most vulnerable families across Swindon. However with £3.2 million being cut from the Children’s Services budget, Swindon Borough Council is at risk of losing touch with our town’s young, who are really hurting with Swindon’s high child poverty and youth unemployment levels.

The second reason why the Labour Group opposed the Conservative administration’s budget is because, despite all the cuts, they continue to waste millions of pounds of Council-taxpayers money each year on vanity projects and non-essential spending.

Take the Forward Swindon Regeneration Company. This receives £750,000 of Swindon Council-tax payers’ money each year.  Should Swindon Council-tax payers’ be spending this level of money each year on a bureaucratic and unaccountable quango?  This is a simple question, yet one that the Conservative administration refused to answer when the Labour Group posed it.

Another area of Council spending this Conservative administration refuses to talk about is its publication of the Swindon Borough Council newspaper.  Two weeks ago Eric Pickles asked why local authorities, like Swindon Borough Council, weren’t reducing or even ending their Council-taxpayer funded newspaper.  Again, this is a simple question that this Conservative administration fails to address.

It would be wrong for me to say that if Labour were in administration we would not make cuts.  However the Labour Group would never produce a budget where cuts to the young, the elderly and the vulnerable are being made over cuts to hospitality, Council-taxpayer funded newspapers and bureaucratic local quangos.

Cllr Derique Montaut, Swindon Labour Group Leader, Central Ward.

Caption: Derique with Caroline Flint, Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government

David Cameron promised us he would lead the greenest government ever however Environment Minister Caroline Spelman is rushing through the policy to sell off all public trees for a quick profit, and at the same time Eric Pickles is  stripping away the protection offered by planning permission.

Cameron has said the forest sell-off “empowers local communities” to take over the forests for themselves as part of a “Big Society”, but DEFRA(the ministry responsible) expects only about 1 percent of the sales to go to local co-operatives or green groups.   Most of them will go to the Tories friends who will then put up the fences to keep you and me out!!.  The “Big Society” is being used to camouflage the dismantling of public (state) ownership of the environment.  Many of these forests became public as far back as the Magna Carta in 1215 and should stay that way.

Cameron has been accused of breaking every environmental promise he made prior to the election.   He told us in 2007 when talking about forests that he would “take a more effective and strategic approach to safeguarding a priceless – and irreplaceable – natural asset.”  He said the countries that “are cutting forests down” are “barmy.”

Well this sale is part of the Coalition’s  ideological ‘barmy’ thinking which will see the sale of forests into private hands.  A clear message needs to be given to the Coalition that Britains forests don’t belong to them, they belong to us.

Going through the House of Lords as we write this is the Public Bodies Bill.  This Bill contains measures which enable the sell-off.  Yet at the same time they are about to start another consultation – as if their minds werent set already!

So whats at risk  - well big national forests like the New Forest and the Forest of Dean certainly are.  3,700 ha in Wiltshire are owned or leased by the Forestry Commission (1).  Parts of the Marlborough Forest or Westonbirt could be sold.  Even the Forestry Commission’s lease of Severnake Forest could have to be given up.  Closer to Swindon,  Nightingale Wood (near to Dorcan) might have to go and the work that the Forestry Commission does with the Great Western Community Forest (already suffering Council job losses) could stop.

A YouGov poll today showed that 84% of the British public oppose this plan to sell of public forests .  Please help us by signing the petition on www.38degrees.org.uk/save-our-forests to stop the Government from selling off our prize national assets.

Ged Meheran, Candidate Dorcan Ward, Bob Wright, Councillor Central Ward.

Notes:

1. National Inventory of Woodland and Trees (from which the map comes)
2. Readers in Swindon  might also like to look at the excellent leaflets produced by the Great Western Forest on Moredon Tree Collection, Nightinggale Wood,  Woodlands SW of Swindon, Woodlands NE of Swindon and Woodlands Close to Swindon.
3. his Guardian Article gives good background.
4. If you want to hear more about the local campaign in the Forest of Dean visit www.handsoffourforest.org.

• Rushy Platt
• Westcott Place, Read St, Marlborough St, Andover St, Shires, Turner St, Wootton Bassett Rd
• William Street, Albion Street, Cambria Road
• Dean Street to Birch Street Triangle including Park lane
• Farringdon Rd to Tennyson Street including Milton Road
• Railway Village and London Street
• David Murray John Building
• Haydon Street, Ayleysbury St area
• Broadgreen South – Manchester Road to Fleming Way
• Broadgreen North – Manchester Road to Station Road
• County Road, Colbourne Street, Amber Close
• West Shrivenham Road, Pavilion Close, Marsh Farm
• East Shrivenham Road, Wills Avenue, Copse Avenue
• Briars Close, Farriers Close

On Saturday 26^th of June we carried out our first new look surgery. This took the form of letting residents know in advance we would be in Rushy Platt on the Saturday. We set up our Red Gazebo alongside ‘Juno Way’ with signs letting the residents know we were in the area. The Gazebo contains a table and chairs for any ad hoc meeting/discussion. We then called on the local residents.

We had good feedback with a number of repeated complaints/issues.

• Litter in Children’s Play area
• Tipping and Builders waste
• Dog ‘poop’ on paths
• Overgrown Allotment Hedges at the back of properties overhanging into residents properties.
• Public path blocked by barb-wire

We have had a good response on two of the issues. The litter and the tipping have been cleared. We are waiting for a response on the hedge problem.

Interestingly one resident was going to produce a leaflet on some of the issues and deliver it to the local residents. She was hoping this would help to reduce the issues. This inspired us to produce a feedback letter on the Saturday visit and we will be producing this in the coming weeks. We will provide feedback on the issues we have resolved and those we are still working on.

A NEWSLETTER FROM CENTRAL WARD COUNCILLORS IS AVAILABLE HERE.

Cllr Bob Wright, Central Ward

Training Advice has been given to Landlords/Ladies to deal with underage drinking.

If it is a first offence Landlords/Ladies will be given a warning to improve the way they run their premises. A follow up will take place in the near future and if the same Landlords/Ladies fail again they will be given fixed fines. Licenses can be revoked if Landlords/Ladies continue to run problem related premises.

The Police are also seeking to eliminate cheap drink offers that encourage lots of drinking in a short time. By stopping problems at source they want to reduce the number of individuals who could cause offences on the way home.

Alcohol related behaviour is a big issue for the police and responsible sales is just one of the methods they are using to reduce problems. They are aware of other sources of problems such as home drinking on cheap drinks bought at supermarkets. These cheap drinks ‘fuel up’ individuals before they go to town. Police can also issue banning orders to stop irresponsible behaviour and repeat offences.

The Town’s Alcohol Strategy includes an Alcohol Advisor helping at the Police Station. Police also work with other agencies such as Street Pastors and Swindon’s Alcohol and Drugs Service (SWADS). All these powers and activities are used prevent alcohol offences across town even if the action itself is concentrated in the town centre.

Cllr Bob Wright

Photo: Underage drinking – iStockPhoto

Police in company with Swindon Borough Council (SBC) Environmental Health Officers, Swindon Commercial Services (SCS), HM Courts Warrant officers, SBC Cluster Assistants, Trading Standards and local Labour councillors took part.  Below are the results of the action:

• SCS cleared 5 locations that had been identified as fly tipping areas.
• Environmental Officers knocked and served notices at 5 addresses and found evidence at 8 other locations of fly tipping that will be investigated, served 4 follow up notices that will require formal; interviews of offenders.
• Police issued 3 Fixed Penalty Notices to vehicles causing obstructions in ally ways.
• Police arrested one male for the supply of class ‘A’ drugs.
• HM Courts warrant officer attended 11 addresses resulting in 6 positive warrants.
• Cluster assistants attended numerous addresses in the area to conduct a survey of people’s fear of crime in the area.

Cllr Bob Wright

Photo: Community Police Support Officer – iStockPhotos

( Police Community Support Officers were introduced in the England and Wales by the Police Reform Act 2002. PCSOs, as they are known assist neighbourhood police teams with environmental disorder and low level anti-social behaviour, including such duties as high visibility street patrolling, tackling anti-social behaviour, dealing with minor offences, gathering intelligence and supporting front-line policing)

The ‘Swindon Warm Zone’ Project is a Council initiative to help alleviate fuel poverty through improving levels of insulation/heating and to get the best value out of fuel costs. All private sector homes will initially be contacted by letter and then will be visited by an authorised representative who will help householders complete an assessment form. This will include asking questions about the levels of insulation in the home.

Representatives should have proof of identity and authority to represent the project. Residents are asked to request proof.

Preferential grants have been made available just for those residents in the Warm Zone wards.  This means that if residents in Central ward are:

• Over 65 or
• have a child under 4 or
• live in a property in Council Tax Band A or B

Then cavity wall and loft insulation will be free (subject to funding, technical survey and eligibility criteria)

One of the key things about the project is community engagement. Various ways of getting information to the community will be used including passing information through pupils at Robert Le King School and displays at Community Centres.  The project will also be promoted by giving away Jute bags and trolley tokens.

The project is being co-ordinated by Helen Sanderson (Affordable Warmth Co-ordinator) of the Residential Services Team

Tel: 0800 046 9699  Email: hsanderson@swindon.gov.uk

Residential Services Team, 5th Floor, Wat Tyler House, Beckhampton Street, Swindon, SN1 2JH.

Caption:  Attic thermal insulation – iStockPhotos