| Join the Green Party and you'll receive our local quarterly newsletter, as well as invitations to Green Events. You'll be invited to attend meetings, join our discussion list, vote on issues, and contribute to our campaigns and policies for North Devon. |
The Bradworthy Wind Turbines
Councillor
Christie's Weblog
From your Torridge District Councillor Peter Christie
Previous entries
|
30th September '07
Did you read the news item that a scientist has invented non-stick, biodegradable chewing gum? The commercial products currently available contain the same sort of rubberised polymers as found in car tyres and because of this discarded gum sticks to our street surfaces. The new stuff has a ‘hydrophilic’ coating which apparently means it always has a film of moisture around it which makes it easy to remove as well as ensuring it rots away. When you consider that chewing gum products are one of the fastest growing areas of confectionery business at about 2% per year and currently local councils spend some £150 million on removing gum from public places then one can only hope the new style gum takes off when it is launched next year. Certainly anyone walking down Mill Street cannot help but see the flattened grey patches of gum everywhere; mind you given the looseness of the paviors I do sometimes wonder if the discarded lumps of gum actually help keep the road surface in place!
It is intriguing how certain apparently distinct items come together unexpectedly. As an example I can quote the following. Councillor David Fulford at a recent town council meeting proposed that the decorative lights along Bideford Quay be turned off at 11.30 at night in order to save electricity. This was a very laudable aim but unfortunately I had to point out that the CCTV cameras along the Quay depended for their effectiveness on the light from these decorative fittings – and earlier in the meeting the town’s Police Inspector had pointed out that Bideford was now the ‘premier night spot’ in North Devon and at weekends had some 2500-3000 people still ‘out and about’ between the hours of 2 and 3 a.m. Clearly having such large numbers of revellers walking around in the dark would be a recipe for trouble – and thus we have to keep the lights on. Odd connections!
Apropos of this the Inspector went on to say that if a ‘reveller’ over does things and has to be arrested two police personnel have to disappear to Barnstaple to take the offender to the custody cells there thus weakening the police presence in the town just when it is most needed. To try and address this he is currently seeking permission to station a temporary holding van on the Quay. If it does come I can just envisage how noisy it will be on its eventual journey across the new Bridge and down the Link Road – not quite a ‘party bus’ perhaps but close to it.
A particularly good piece of news from the Inspector was that the new PCSOs and a heavier police presence at East-the-Water has seen a 50% drop in calls to the police from that area of town – a trend that hopefully will continue with the presence of a new police office within the Pollyfield Centre. The youth shelter there seems to be working and the Inspector is now actively following up ideas for the PCSOs to arrange football matches for the young people of the area. How nice to hear some good news.Website designed by Jon Hooper
Published and promoted by Jon Hooper, 3 Elizabeth Court, Well Street, Torrington EX38 8EP on behalf of the North Devon Green Party, 1 Taw View Terrace, Bishops Tawton, EX32 0AW
PLEASE NOTE: Not all of the material presented on this site is necessarily Green Party Policy or endorsed by The Green Party.