Pendle Conservatives’ Pakistan Day Dinner

On Sunday, 23 March, I attended Pendle Conservatives’ Pakistan Day Dinner at Brierfield Community Centre.  The event was truly excellent, with some of the best speeches I’ve heard in my time in politics.  Guest Speakers included Lord Sheikh, Mohammed Amin, Muhammad Hamin Ali (Pakistani Consulate Trade Envoy), Cllr Faraz Bhatti (Manchester City Council), Sajjad Karim MEP, Cllr Allah Dad (Hyndburn Borough Council), Cllr Linda Crossley (Pendle Borough Council, and Chairman of Pendle Conservative Association) and our own Prospective Conservative Member of Parliament Andrew Stephenson.  The evening was an opportunity for the Conservative team to meet people and listen to concerns they have in an informal atmosphere, and proved extremely enjoyable from my own perspective.

Happy Easter

Pendle Conservatives and I would like to take this opportunity to wish the residents of Southfield and their families a very Happy Easter. 

Southfield Walkaround

Over the Easter weekend I am taking another opportunity to walk around Southfield looking around and making note of issues such as littering and potholes in roads.  These will be reported to the relevant authorities for clearing or repair during the next few days.  It is becoming apparent to me that we still have littering problems in Southfield, and the problem is still one of my immediate priorities for resolution.  Another problem we still have in Southfield is that of potholed streets, and I am working to resolve this issue as far as I possibly can with Lancashire County Council’s Highways team.  I firmly believe these problems do nothing for our community and merely make the environment we live in much less pleasant than it ought to be.  Rest assured, litter spots and potholes are being noted and reported, my objective is to improve Southfield for every one of our citizens, and secure long lasting improvement for the environment we live in.

Nelson Town Council

I wholeheartedly welcome the establishment of our new Town Council in Nelson, this will give local residents a much stronger voice in how our town is run, and will increase local representation in Nelson.  Southfield will be represented by five town councillors, which will give us a considerable voice as a community.  I do not believe the Town Council to be just another layer of beaurocracy, and another group of politicians in it for themselves.   I believe it will strengthen the voice of our community and act for the betterment of both Southfield and Nelson as a whole, and will offer genuine benefits to our citizens.

Positive Changes For Southfield’s Bus Users

As a campaigner for better local transport provision, I have been greatly heartened by recent developments within the Transdev Group, owners of Burnley & Pendle Travel and Northern Blue.  The introduction of the new Starship fleet at Burnley & Pendle has enabled the cascade of some of the older Burnley & Pendle vehicles into Northern Blue, whilst the “new” buses of the Marsden Park Circular service are similar to those they’ve replaced, they have been maintained from new by both Keighley and District and Burnley & Pendle engineers, so they will be better in reliability terms than the ex-Stagecoach vehicles formerly in use.  Another very welcome development from Transdev is the acceptance of Pendle 7s, Burnley & Pendle 7s and Burnley & Pendle Goldcards on Northern Blue services, thus making it easier for people commuting to and from college and work to make seamless connecting journeys without having to pay additional fares just for using the “Circular.”