Comments Please

I've just found out that you can't post a coment to you own blog (or at least I can't) so here's a reply to a comment left by an annomyous person regarding my latest posting. Please feel free to add your own views.

Hi, thanks for contributing always good to debate - be better still if you were prepared to put your name to your comments.

On the  Cavendish family - the nuclear family (married double income two kids) is as much a minority as the elderly, disabled or people from an ethnic background. I just think the Council could explain itself better if it talked about services to all these groups rather than pandering to one stereotype.

More widely I have disagreed with Bolsover Councillors on the key issues of member’s allowances, closure of public toilets, public engagement, cuts in cleansing services, financial planning and on the purchase of the Clowne college site. You are perfectly entitled to disagree with me, but many people have also shown their support on these issues. Surely it is important to have a debate?

As the title suggests this blog is about Bolsover not Whitwell. I cover Whitwell in my newsletter and at my surgery. However as you ask I think I remain the only elected representative to travel (at my own expense) to Leeds to meet the HCA as soon as they became the new owners of the site proposed for the Alkane plant, make them aware of the extent of the opposition to their plans and invite them to Thursday's public meeting - I'll be there so if you are as well may-be we can have a longer chat. I’ve also arranged meetings with both Welbeck and Creswell Crags and met with the manager of the Leader project to explore the possibility of grant aid for Whitwell. In addition I have a long list of individual surgery issues that I have resolved for constituents.

As for being an MP, our candidates are selected  by Green Party Members. I had the honour of being selected for Chesterfield at the last election.  Probably one thing we can agree on is that from the Green Party perspective Bolsover as a target ward comes a long, long, long way down the list. We’ve fought hard to get Caroline Lucas elected in Brighton and she is doing an excellent job, but Dennis has one of the safest Labour seats in the country so I whilst it is heartening to hear you think that I am on the campaign trail the reality is more mundane I am simply challenging decisions which seem to me, and to many other people, to be wrong.

Finally I get the feeling that you don’t think I am tackling local issues. If that is the case then please come along to my next surgery outside the Co-op this Saturday at 2pm and tell me what these issues are.       

Best wishes,

Duncan