For me personally, it’s time to take a rest and take the opportunity to pursue my other interests.

This year has been a difficult one for Conservatives here in Southfield, and the poll result reflected dissatisfaction with the government in national terms.  It was an honour and a privilege to have been able to represent Southfield as a Town Councillor for the past three years and I would like to thank everyone who supported me during my time in office.  I would like to take this opportunity to wish those who now represent our area well as they embark on their term in office.

Perpetual Labour representation has not done anything for Southfield, we have the same problems we had years ago.  Labour would not have frozen your council tax like the Conservatives have, instead they would carry on grabbing more and more of your money and transferring it to other areas of the town to benefit their own interests there.

Southfield and Southfielders need a fresh start, free of Labour’s outdated ideology.  Today is the day to vote for a new direction for Southfield, and I believe I offer that change our area so badly needs.

Their claim that the Conservatives only offer “token candidates who have no idea what the job entails” is completely without foundation, and is frankly hysterical nonsense.   Quite where their quote that a Conservative Town Councillor allegedly said “I don’t care about Nelson” came from and having chaired the meeting in question, I can honestly say that I really don’t know.   The reality is that Labour ought to be explaining why Nelson has never actually moved forward in social or economic terms whilst they’ve had control of the area committee.  The Labour leadership also need to explain to the people of this town why they have nothing to offer anyone other than more of the same and why their approach has merely led to the further decline of the town over the years.

What Nelson so desperately needs is a complete change from the tired old  failed socialist dogma of the past and new councillors who are prepared to take a different approach to dealing with the serious problems we face as a community.  Voting Labour and merely continuing with the same old leftist agenda that has failed our town and community is not the way forward for Nelson.  One has to draw parallels with Horsfield and Boulsworth wards over in Colne, where good Conservative councillors speak up for their local residents and ensure that pressing local issues are properly resolved.

Throughout this years’ campaign, the Conservative message has been consistent, constructive, imaginative, positive and has offered real optimism that by dispensing with the old and ushering in new councillors of a different persuasion and with a real sense of belief that our town can be changed for the better with more than a bit of positive thought.

I have been a Southfield Town Councillor for the last three years and have chaired the Finance and General Purposes Committee.  During the three years I’ve been a Town Councillor, I have only missed three meetings and those were unavoidable owing to holiday commitments.  My time as Chairman of Finance has been one where small grant applications have been heard and either granted or refused.  I have supported applications which I felt were in the interest of the town as a whole and opposed those which I felt did not.  I am generally regarded as one of the most reliable and punctual members of the Town Council and am known for taking an evaluative and common sense approach to council business and the management of council tax payers’ money.

My own view is that the outdoor market should remain where it is in what is after all called Market Street.  I have a feeling that the council officers really want to move the market because they ultimately don’t want it outside the town hall, and this business of allegedly “protecting the flagstones” is really a smokescreen to get what they want.

I just hope that when the area committee meets to make a decision, Nelson’s borough councillors would be brave and bold in rejecting the advice of the secretariat and vote to keep the outdoor market where it is now, right in the heart of the town and where it should be.  One thing  I know for sure is that should the need arise,  I would be quite prepared to vote against the establishment view and take a common sense approach to doing things.

The message which has come through loud and clear from the survey is that Southfield residents are vociferously unhappy about the amount of litter we see on our streets, in our green areas and the back streets in particular.  Residents are quite rightly angry about sub-standard street lighting and potholed roads and the amount of neglected empty rental properties in certain areas of the ward.

I’m taking action to report the potholes, broken pavements and am making efforts to have the grot spots cleaned up.  The survey in itself has allowed me to understand what annoys fellow residents the most.  Dog fouling has been another serious issue raised in almost every reply to the survey, and I will be seeking the advice of the leader of the Borough Council to establish if a proper strategy for dealing with both this and the perpetual littering problem can be found.

The borough council’s cleansing manager has also advised that the county council have finally agreed to clean up the old nursery site on Barkerhouse Road.  My own view is that the buildings on the site ought to have been removed when the authority ceased to use it, and hopefully action will be taken to this end, or at the very least to remove the copious quantities of litter and other detrius which has quite wrongly gone native on the land there.

Please remember, if you see a grot spot, please let me know and I can ask for it to be dealt with.

One activity I have recently been doing, has been delivering Town Council newsletters, and I have become acutely aware that we have a litter epidemic in Southfield.  I have been reporting this issue to the cleansing department at Pendle Borough Council, and am hoping to have some action on the real problem spots soon.

Wherever I go in Southfield, I never seem to get away from litter, whether it’s on the front streets or back streets or thrown all over open green spaces.   In all honesty, I find this very frustrating indeed, as whenever I’ve requested areas be cleaned and tidied and the work has been done, those areas are almost instantly back to the way they were within a matter of days afterwards.

Maybe I’m just a throwback to a bygone age where dropping litter in the street or on parkland was considered to be antisocial behaviour, but one thing I do know is that fellow residents are becoming as annoyed by this perpetual problem as I am.

For my part, I’d like to see much more enforcement action against those who pollute the environment in this way, and the doubling of the paltry £75 fine, which I believe is something which would be much more of a punishment and deterrent.  I’m certainly aware of the lack of litter bins in parts of Southfield, and have pointed this out to the gentlemen who run the borough cleansing department.

What really does intrigue me is why it seems to be acceptable in this age of environmental awareness for people to simply drop their empty crisp packets, drink cans and other detrius where they stand.  Please don’t drop litter, as it not only makes the place look untidy, but it is a potential risk to public health.

I was interested and impressed by how quickly talks began between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat party leaderships in order to attempt to deal with the power vacuum resulting from the fact that no one party held an outright majority in the Commons.  Some may accuse both parties of selling out in order to gain political power, but as both Mr. Cameron and Mr. Clegg have both stated, they had to act in the national interest and ensure economic and political stability at a time when our country’s economy is in a mess.  That arrangement has involved putting aside party interests in the best interests of securing the country’s economic and social future. 

For me, the new government has made some excellent decisions from its inception, the announcement that the National Identity Card scheme would be scrapped with immediate effect was very welcome indeed.  I know that many members of both my own party and the Liberal Democrats were vehemently opposed to this arbitrary and wilful affront to personal freedom, I would go as far as to say that this scheme was something from George Orwell’s novel 1984, and did not belong in 21st century Britain.  Another announcement made the government made on its first day in office was the cancellation of the third runway at Heathrow Airport,  I have always agreed with the Mayor of London that LHR is now in the wrong location, and that a site for new, replacement airport should be sought elsewhere.  Not only that, I know the government will be actively looking at High Speed Rail as an option for mass transportation in our country, as a means of reducing the number of internal flights and making surface transport much more attractive.  From a personal standpoint, I am very enthusiastic about the continued future development of rail travel, as when the network works properly, it is a thoroughly civilised way of getting from one place to another.

I wish our new government well in their mission to reform and improve Britain for each and every citizen, I hope they can sort out the mess that was left behind by the previous administration, and senior ministers have today spoken of the serious task they have in sorting out the economic crisis they have inherited.  I believe we now have the opportunity to change for our country and society to be changed for good, and am looking forward to seeing the new government delivering that change.

During the campaign, I received a very warm welcome from many Southfield residents who were looking for change this year.  I enjoyed a very positive reception at Marsden Grange Residential Home, and it was an absolute honour to be invited to meet the residents and talk to them about what I want to do to move our community forward.

Once again, a big thanks to everyone who supported me this year, and I will continue to campaign for better street lighting, pavements, roads and a cleaner environment on your behalf.