Papalscope Winter Wheat

GLEANINGS SOWN ELSEWHERE.
RURAL HOUSING.
It was interesting to hear David Butterworth on the Farming Today Programme 8TH.October 2009 speaking of the need for Rural Housing. Everyone is entitled to have decent accommodation. Two pieces of Government Legislation did immeasurable damage to the availability of housing to rent. There was the ‘Sale of Council Housing’ and The ‘Enfranchisement of Leasehold Property’ Acts.
The Village whereby I live used to have not only Council Houses, but too MOD owned housing. Much of this was sold off , most often at a concessionary price, with little money initially changing hands, as the where with all to purchase the Property, as likely as not was loaned to the purchaser by the Vendor Council. Such housing hereby is re-selling for close on £200,000.Thus once affordable housing is no longer affordable, either to rent or to buy, and fragmented Estates are difficult to redevelop.
When it comes to NIMBYISM there is an ‘I’m all right Jack’ syndrome prevalent, mention was made of ‘the wrong sort of people moving in’ not sure whom such persons might be, unless of course the suggestion is that affordable housing is likely to go to persons not indigenous to the area. That is a fact, ‘our’ village and ‘its’ remaining Council Housing, in South West Wiltshire will be as liable to have new tenants from Salisbury Swindon or Trowbridge as anywhere more local. This is because the houses are not the property of our Parish, but belong to the Unitary Authority. One may wonder who the people are who should be entitled to local affordable housing. Should it be available to the children of relative newcomers such as myself of thirty years standing, or to the children of the current tenants of Social Housing, who were themselves often enough more recently shipped in from elsewhere? We all have to move on in life, there is no way I could afford to buy any sort of a house in the Village from whence I came, and if my children have not sought accommodation locally, it is because their own and their husband’s careers have dictated that they live two to three hundred miles away.
It is no good providing any sort of affordable housing for young persons, unless there are jobs to provide them with a living. All too often it can be the newcomers to an area who have no wish to re-accommodate, let alone newly accommodate workplaces in their Retirement/Dormitory area. One hears of the need to support the Village Shops, Two neighbouring Villages have started their own Community Shop. Long live all village shops, albeit a forlorn cry, for the reality here, is that the majority of us shop in the near by towns at Tesco or Waitrose etc, or even shop on line, which oft occasions delivery within 24 hours.
One of the most important things for the ‘Dispossessed’ if they will excuse the term, is that they volunteer their Services to their Local Parish or Town Council. Our Village has had two vacancies for months on end.
Two local villages had no one at all standing at the last Parish Council Election. Things are much the same elsewhere there is a Village outside Henley that has four Councillor vacancies.
‘Get on your bike’ is I believe the technical term.
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CONSERVATIVE PARTY CONFERENCE.
Inspiring though it was to see the prospective Conservative Cabinet troop on stage at the behest of Mr.William Hague, prior to Mr. David Cameron’s speech yesterday afternoon; was that ensuing speech another of a sort that would mobilise the English Language and send it into battle, or but a re-expression of where so long the Party’s heart lay buried?
Was that premature annunciation of the Dramatis Personae, including the new role to be played by General Dannatt well advised, or did it smack of misjudgement somewhere along the management line? Nothing should be taken for granted when there is such a bumpy road ahead.
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HOW FARES THE WILTSHIRE UNITARY AUTHORITY
　
Southwick Division of the Wiltshire Unitary Authority, (its ‘up North’ of the County , Trowbridge Way should any wonder), duly held its By-election on September 3rd. The Turnout was 30.66% and the seat was won by an Independent with 385 votes, The Liberal Democrat came second with 315 votes, and the Conservative third with 273 Votes. UKIP too fielded a candidate who gained 61 Votes. It is splendid that all those candidates are willing to stand up and be counted for what each believes in, but the successful candidate was the Independent, not the Liberal Democrat, not the Conservative, nor the UKIP Candidate.
What is the message of that ?
SOUTHWICK VOTED FOR THE MAN NOT THE PARTY.
What a shame that Party Politics has intruded into Local Government, Give me an Independent any time. One knows nothing of any of the Southwick Candidates, but all too often Political Parties offer but ‘Johnnies come latelies’, many of whom would never be elected on their own recognisances.
There was a letter in the Valley News ( The Voice of Wilton etal.) this month written in the name of a UKIP supporter concerning the Wilton Seat contested last June. The Gentleman who wrote it was disappointed that an earlier correspondent had failed to understand why anyone would vote for UKIP in the recent ( June) local elections. The letter goes on to explain a number of good reasons why anyone might.
I was the writer of such a letter . Regrettably I did not make myself clear. It wasn’t that I didn’t see why anyone should vote for a UKIP Candidate, for the point I had hoped to make was that I didn’t see why UKIP would want to stand in a local election, when its causal platform is surely either the European or the Westminster Parliament. Does UKIP have an Agenda for Local Governance? I have noted that since such correspondence the management of UKIP, has changed.
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ELECTORAL REFORM.
REDIRECTED LETTER FROM
the Chair of POWER2010.
Dear (one and all)
When Gordon Brown moved into 10 Downing Street, he promised us he'd make democratic reform a priority of his premiership.
He didn't.
It just goes to show that if we leave change in the hands of the politicians - we'll get nowhere. Brown may not have acted - but together we will.
POWER2010 is picking up exactly where Make it an Issue and the Power Inquiry left off - and once again we need your help.
We're looking for ideas about how we fix our democracy. Tell us your idea for change.
The ideas with the most support will become the POWER2010 Pledge. Together, we will then work to get every candidate standing at the next election to commit to supporting those ideas.
That's how we'll bring change to Britain.
Because of your experience with Make it an Issue and the Power Inquiry, you already know this ground. You know what's wrong with our politics, and no doubt you want change.
So do you want cleaner funding? Fairer voting? More accountability?
It's up to you. Click the link below and tell us your ideas.
http://power2010.org.uk/yourideas
This is our last chance for change. I am confident we can meet this challenge together.
Thank you and best wishes,
Helena Kennedy
POWER2010 Chair
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CONDUCT UNBECOMING TO OFFICERS OR A GENTLEMEN.
Possibly those who purport to live virtuously, are necessarily less successful , than any who have a devil may care attitude? Was such a thought the inspiration for Catherine Tate’s ‘’Am I bovvered? ’’ Possibly those who aren’t bothered, regard as naïve, others whom conscience has made cowards of.
This business of Parliamentary expenses was nothing short of disgraceful. Much of the expenditure claimed, being within ‘The Rules’ is legitimately refundable, but one may ask, is all such expenditure within the spirit of the law? Where the self respect of the claimant, where his or her sense of honour. One doesn’t have to be a Member of Parliament to work away from home, is it now customary in the workforce to claim the price of a cup of tea if one misses out on the passage of the Office Tea Trolley, off which ones biscuit was never free? Why are we expected to pay £7000 to re-roof a man’s house, or if reports are correct pay £44,000 to the Tory Party, in lieu of a member’s ‘Office Expenses’. Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?
What of all this excused Council Tax? Seemingly if one is a member of Parliament, that comes free at ones secondary place of alleged residence. As an MP is excused such expense, hopefully the deficiency in local Governance funding is made up by central Government rather than the MP.s neighbours.
Is there a shortage of applicants wishing to become Members of Parliament, that there is now a call to pay them more salary, on top of extravagant allowances? One may wonder what sort of a Salary some Honourable Members might attract in the job market. I suspect in most cases, relatively little, always assuming he or she can find employment.
Why have so many Members of Parliament? Few were ever worth their salt. One is given to understand that Parliament’s Authority is now outsourced to Europe. In 1831 an adjoined village then Borough Hindon returned two members to Parliament, as did Old Sarum, Downton, Heytesbury and Ludgershall, all those seats were abolished in 1832; whilst Wilton and Westbury were reduced to one member a piece. There is nothing new about Parliamentary pruning, now is time enough to have another go.
It is too, time to make alternative arrangements for the other place. There in, the Hereditary principle is an anachronism. Maybe there was a time when everyone loved a Lord , or at least his affluence, but the title ‘Lord’ now has vestigial connotations inappropriate to our twenty first century Society. God bless them every one, but fortunately the World has moved on.