A Letter to Kevin Barron (UPDATED #2)

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Update 2: Get off the fence!

“Dear Kevin

I appreciate that as an MP you have to represent all of your constituents, however, as the whole of Rother Valley is being disadvantaged by RMBC’s local plan, I invite you to get down from the fence and engage with RMBC to ensure their local plan distributes the
future housing growth in the borough more fairly.

The plans speak for themselves.

You are Rother Valley’s MP Kevin, so start acting like it. Hold RMBC
to account and help us ensure a fair outcome for all.”

Update 1: Ah there’s nothing like a letter in a Houses of Parliament envelope.

Straight from Westminster this reply to our correspondent confirms once again that Kevin’s backside and the fence are inextricably linked.

Wake up Kevin, the Local Plan is taking the whole of Rother Valley for a ride, get back on side with your constituents! We know you’ve been to lots of meetings but nothing in the plan has changed as a result!

BarronReply1

Original Post: A Letter to Kevin Barron:

This letter from a regular reader will be winging its way to Kevin by now, I’m obviously not the only one who wishes he would protest a bit more at the way Dinnington is being treated.

How about the closure of the Council Offices and the cuts to our Library as well, Kevin?

We haven’t asked much over the last few years but we could do with some help here!

“Dear Kevin

I was very pleased to see you today at the SYPTE bus in Dinnington car park, (I was loading my red car next to it.) You asked me if I was ok and because you were already in a conversation I said yes. I really wanted to say no, I am very displeased because our MP will not support community objection to RMBC’s plans to build on greenbelt land, rather than pursuing other avenues first. You are in a position to stop RMBC’s underhand, secretive, and dishonest ways of dealing with electors. My view is that you are following party line rather than what is good for our village and community. I hope these actions of yours will be made public at the next election. I for one will be looking for someone who supports this area.”

Freedom of Information and Secret Meetings

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When the Rotherham Local Plan for building on greenbelt hit the headlines a year or so ago I wanted to find out more. I wanted to find out where these plots of land drawn on a map came from. Who drew them and what work was done to prove they are sustainable.
I found it was not easy to get this kind of information, Council officers were guarded when it came to the sit down meetings they have with developers. I logged a Freedom of Information request as I felt it was in the public’s interest to know how the process had been carried out.
I was shocked when my FOI was knocked back, I had asked for details of any meetings or correspondence and they were claiming none existed. I queried again and again and a subsequent reply said some details had “come to light” but release was not possible for reasons of commercial sensitivity and confidentiality.
I don’t think a Council embarking on a public consulation should be having secret meetings and communications. I think if a public body is doing something they don’t want us to find out about then they ought to consider whether or not they should be doing it. I KNOW they should not put the commercial wellbeing of developers ahead of the public good.
I have taken the matter to the director concerned, the Chief Exec and the Council leader, they now refuse to discuss it further. They have also refused to show the info to elected councillors which begs the question, who are these people answerable to?
When a Council serving a quarter of a million people feels it necessary to keep secrets from its own elected members I think we are in a dangerous place indeed.

The A57 Improvement Scheme Todwick Crossroads (Updated)

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Update 4: Half Open!

The new route is now operating in single carriageway only!

Video here!

Update 3: Todwick Road is Open!!

The new roundabout on the A57 at Todwick is now open for business and can whisk you directly from Todwick to Dinno! I had almost forgotten the road existed, but coming from the M1 you can now turn left onto the new traffic island, and go straight on to good old Dinno!

Update 2: Delay on re-opening Todwick Road

Speaking to Ringway today , the company carrying out the work it has become necessary to keep Todwick Road closed until 18 May. This does mean that traffic will continue to be a problem through North Anston, but was unavoidable as delays arose redirecting some of the vital services like BT cabling. I am quite impressed so far with the management of traffic, when you consider the magnitude of the work.

A57FromCouncil

Update 1: Scheme progresses

The A57 improvements are plodding along, to be honest I’m surprised how smooth things have been so far, although the closure of Todwick Road is causing a large increase of traffic through North Anston. This temporary closure should be lifted at the end of April.

The scheme is scheduled to be completed in early 2014, more info is available on RMBC’s web site here.

Original Post: The A57 Improvement Scheme Todwick Crossroads

The A57 has always played a part in the make up of Dinnington since I were a lad, snaking through our modest settlement and cutting South and North Anston down the middle (sort of). I remember a friend’s mother telling me it went from Liverpool to Lincoln when I was little and that made it seem like the road to the rest of the world.

The stretch from Todwick to the M1 has always had a bad rep, what with its twisty turns and tricky crossroads which has seen more than its share of tragedy. They’ve been thinking about doing something since I was knee high and it is finally happening, behold the magnificence of the new A57…

A57

Coming from the M1 up the hill the road continues as dual carriageway, bypassing the bends and cutting across Todwick Grange. It emerges to a brand new roundabout which will lie a hundred yards or so closer to Dinnington than the current crossroads. A fifth leg from the roundabout leads to the Pub. Goosecarr lane become left in and left out only with an access road to the bypassed properties.

No need to strain your eyes, a PDF copy is right here:

A57

It looks like an improvement, but it may just move the congestion elsewhere, Anston crossroads, perhaps? Improvements to Anston crossroads are mooted in the RMBC local plan and I think it has dual carriageway and roundabout written all over it. I’m not so sure about this one, as it would cut Anston in half far more fundamentally then at present. The best course would probably be to build a bypass around the back of South Anston, leaving the current course of the A57 to be developed as a proper civic centre for Anston, can’t see this happening though, too much money.

Here’s my attempt anyway, there, I’ve made Anston whole again! The fully dual carriageway A57 flowing round the back of South Anston in a red line, sorted! Now we can have a nice row of shops, restaurants, new swimming baths, comprehensive school, rail station when we re-open the line….

If only it were that easy!

AnstonCrossroads

Anston Parish Council Meeting Feb 25 2013

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It’s Monday night and off we trot to Anston Parish Hall to meet the usual Councillors, agitators and members of the general public for a fantabulous Anston Parish Council!

Mr Beck looking marvellously turned out (maybe he thought he might get on film again?) and opening the proceedings with an appeal for calm and orderly conduct. Politely given and well received by all but the most bloodthirsty.

Two Police officers promptly walked in and stood at the back near to the previous chief protagonist Mr Lewis, thou to be fair I think that was coincidental, they were just trying to get out of the way.

No filming, recording or broadcasting during the meeting please says Mr Beck politely and oh off we trot! Protestations galore from many present, mostly referencing the government’s belief that bloggers and citizen journalists are within their rights to film and tweet at Council meetings.

I have to say I tweeted throughout and it was pretty obvious what I was doing, in full view of the Police and no one pulled me up on it.

A little bit flustered by this Mr Beck kept his composure (mostly) as we hit the next obstacle, is this a new meeting or a continuance, should the public be allowed to speak? Mr Saint John insisted it was, others disagreed, names were shouted as Mr Beck threw the rabid dogs a distraction…

Mr Lewis’ letter from last week was read out in full by Mr Beck, if only he’d done that last time, thou in all fairness it was pointed out that the letter concerned SJ and now he was here to answer for himself the time was right. Fair enough.

Mr SJ gave his version of events, many members of the public and councillors shouting at him claiming he speaketh with forked tongue. Mr Lewis called him a liar and demanded an apology, SJ told him where to get off.

Cllr Brindley and Mr SJ also accused the hecklers of bullying and stopping the Council machinery from grinding onwards. I also have to say some counter attacks came from the back against the hecklers, certain people had obviously brought a fan club.

Cllr Thornton made the general point that the Council need to pull their socks up big time and received the only applause of the evening for doing so.

The letter was dispatched to RMBC standards committee forthwith and Stuart closed with a request for a letter to Mr Lewis and a call for the Council to put together its own procedure for complaints.

Mr Beck expressed doubts, saying that’s what the standards comm. is for (he should know, he’s on it of course)

Cllrs SJ and Thornton clashed over a letter allegedly sent to the standards committee containing lies, then a surreal moment descended as the song “Englands Green and Pleasant Land” floated in from the room next door. This was short lived as…

..Cllr Thornton struck again, announcing he was calling a Parish meeting with the support of another Cllr. There was some debate over whether he could do this, but the meeting was duly scheduled for April 29. With tea and biscuits.

An email from Save Our Greenbelt Dinnington prompted calls for a private meeting with the group, but Cllr Thornton asked it be public. SJ appealed for calm and eventually it was decided to arrange said meet so the group could give a presentation. Cllrs were again accused of selective memory but the meeting moved on.

Next up the possibility that money might be tight next year, and was this the best time to be getting a loan to buy some land (wonder where that could be? *cough* Anston Stones)

Questions were then asked of all councillors whether they had been contacted by the Brethren prior to a previous meeting where the religious sect’s planning application was to be discussed. Mr SJ was also criticised for attending the planning board as a member of the public then supporting the application whilst announcing he was a Councillor. Mr SJ poo pooed this saying he was his own man.

Most Councillors declined to answer the question of whether or not they were contacted, Mr Beck said yes he was, but for routine enquiries only. This was poo pooed, but Mr Beck moved to progress. Cllr Dalton confirmed she met the Brethren but she wasn’t at the vote.

Stuart called for more time for the public to speak at meetings, Mr SJ threw more poo poo on this suggestion saying it would need a lot of debate and a change to standing orders. Stuart disagreed, called for a vote and lost spectacularly.

Councillors agreed to object to the closure of the Council centre in Dinno and the reduction on library hours, plans were also put in motion for greater public consultation for future budgets. Local roads were slagged off, pot holes the size of craters don’t go down well with anybody quite frankly.

The suggestion that the Council adopt the RMBC code of conduct when dealing with planning was carried. Some members thought this would have improved the handling of the Brethren application.

A vote was taken to set aside up to 1500 quid for an Anston Day of some kind, and an amendment was put forward to pilfer the fund for a Chairman’s chain of office to help pay for it. This was defeated handily by the chain loving majority.

Mr Beck then took questions from the public, handling things well and politely.

The Core Strategy will be discussed at next meeting. The greenbelt may be doomed, but the chain of office lives to fight another day.

A meeting will be held about bus cuts in the Dinno Interchange at 10-3 on Friday, so don’t miss that. Not more bad news hopefully.

Then came Mr Lewis again! An apology was demanded again from Mr SJ and another Cllr and as things started getting shouty Mr Beck was asked to comment on his own comments made in the local paper.

Not missing a trick Mr Lewis came around for another bombing run on the poor chairman only to find the meeting closing before his eyes and the barrage balloons going up. Another saga ended we filed out into the rain to contemplate next meeting and hopefully a proper discussion of the Core Strategy.

A far more civilised affair then last time, thou I don’t think this was anything to so with the presence of the Police. Heckling actually got better when they left, it was at it’s loudest right from the start as I recall.

An improvement from Mr Beck definitely, but there remains something rotten at the heart of this Council. I hope meetings will continue to be well attended and pressure brought to bear to bring real improvements to the way they do business.

This is only of course my recollection, if I got anything wrong please tell me, if I got anything right please feel free to tell me I’m a good lad. All the best and good night.

Anston Parish Council Survival Kit

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Thinking of going to Anston Parish Council to argue your point? Worried about being arrested, dragged out and spending some time at her majesty’s pleasure?

Then be sure to take our patented Anston Parish Council survival kit, this fine mask which will offer you perfect camouflage when the time comes to pose your sticky question. Simply cut around the dotted line with scissors (if you’re from Thurcroft just bite, or if you live in the Old Village or on The Green just get your butler to do it)

Dom

Simply affix to your face using a piece of string attached to points A and B and you will find that when the moment of conflict comes Comrade Chairman will have no option but to report HIMSELF to the police, you will be perfectly safe, just remember to remove the mask BEFORE they kick the door down.

Job done, say no more.

Splinters in his Bum!

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Kevin Barron must be bored of sitting on the fence now surely? Our MP still refuses to openly criticise Rotherham Council’s Local Plan even though it so thoroughly stitches up Rother Valley generally and Dinnington in particular.
Kevin your voters need your support, join Dinnington Council and get off the fence please!

The Core Strategy and Dinnington

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If you’ve been following greenbelt Issues you’ll have come across this phrase. The Core Strategy is the broad outline for the Local Plan to dictate how the borough will develop over the next 15 years.
It should be evidence led and work with the local community via a strong consultation process.
It is followed by the next stage of Sites and Policies which deals in detail with exactly where houses etc will be built.
In the case of Dinnington and Anston however the Core Strategy has been very specific by directing so much development onto the greenbelt in the east.
This effectively pre judges the next stage which is where this discussion should be taking place.
It has also ignored the thousands of local residents who objected, instead the Council cites its carefully orchestrated workshops with selected minority groups as evidence of local approval.
There is still a week left to object to the final touches but this window is disappearing fast.

For our area the strategy proposes:

1300 new houses, twice the previous rate of growth.

Extensive use of greenbelt for house building.

An open agreement with Sheffield Council which allows them to require even more houses if they deem it necessary.

No money for infrastructure.

45% of new houses will not go to locals.

It has been unanimously opposed by Dinnington Town Council.

The Rotherham Council Local Plan for Dinnington and Anston

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A man said to me last night “This will be the biggest thing to hit Dinnington since the pit closed” and I think he’s right.

Since the pit closed Dinnington has done much to pull itself up by its bootstraps, new houses, new shops, new industry where the pit once stood, a new library and primary school. The main street bears the scars of the recessions, but that’s no surprise, it’s the same everywhere.

New people has meant that the basic services we all depend on has had to stretch itself to cope and we hear many tales from people who struggle to get a doctors or dentists appointment. The roads get busier every year as our village slowly goes through its growing pains on the way to becoming a town.

Rotherham Council want to rush this process along by building 1300 houses over the next 15 years. To achieve this they have turned to the housing developers whose eyes have fell not on the brownfield sites in need to regeneration, but on Dinnington and Anston’s picturesque countryside. The greenbelt.

They propose to put at least 700 of these new houses onto virgin countryside, but in a rather sinister move will be re-zoning enough land for up to 3000. Their target is Dinnington East, the countryside off Lakeland Drive and bordered by Woodsetts Road and Swinston Hill Road. This is prime agricultural land and is used daily by local residents who have formed a network of dozens of footpaths over the last 30-40 years.

None of this bothers the developers or the Council however, despite opposition from local borough councillors and the town council they have ignored thousands of local objections and pressed ahead with their plan.

Accompanying the plan are some proposed improvements to the infrastructure of the town, however no money is promised to deliver them, not a bean. In fact only this month the Council cut our library opening hours and threatened to close the Council building where many local residents go for help and services. Our bus service also remain strictly “rural”

Come on Rotherham Council, if we are going to have the houses and the people give us the means to support them!

And leave us with the beautiful countryside that we love!

Anston Parish Council Meeting Feb 18 2013

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My first attendance of Anston Parish Council was to be all about Rotherham Council’s local plan and the programme of housebuilding which could see our greenbelt swallowed up by hundreds, possibly thousands of houses over the next 15 years. I didn’t expect much satisfaction when we raised the question of whether Anston would follow Dinnington’s lead and object formally to the latest round of consultation. The chairman Mr Beck said it could be discussed at the next meeting, conveniently forgetting that it would be too late by then.

The few rational voices on the Council were drowned out as Mr Beck’s cronies fell over themselves to bury an issue which is proving to be a major embarrassment for the local Labour party.

What happened next really took me by surprise, however.

An elderly chap called Mr Lewis has asked a question earlier concerning a complaint he had with another Councillor who was not present today. Not placated by Mr Beck’s evasive and unhelpful answers Mr Lewis refused to sit down and doggedly insisted that his emailed complaint was read out in full.

Mr Beck didn’t like this challenge to his authority, and tried repeatedly to censure Mr Lewis by warning him that if he wasn’t quiet he would be asked to leave. Mr Lewis is made of sterner stuff and kept on insisting that he was entitled to a full answer and asked time and again for his complaint to be read out to the Council. Finally to try and assert his dubious authority Mr Beck ordered Mr Lewis from the room, Mr Lewis refused to go and so Mr Beck left the room saying he was going to fetch the Police. He returned some time later with the meeting adjourned and we all settled down to see what would happen.

It was actually quite pleasant as the room broke up into smaller groups which allowed those of us representing various issues to talk one on one with the Councillors and much constructive discussion took place. Without knowing it Mr Beck had transformed the meeting into a useful brainstorming session.

Time passed and then some more time passed, the Police were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they were fighting crime, or perhaps they already knew what we were beginning to realise, that Mr Beck is a twit.

Finally with half the room remaining and people rubbing their eyes and yawning Mr Beck once again took his seat to declare the meeting closed. All of a sudden who should appear but two Police officers, up jumped Mr Beck, and started explaining to the officers why he wanted the vile disabled pensioner physically removed from the hall.

It should be said that whilst Mr Lewis was very determined and rather loud he never exhibited rude or offensive behaviour, he was never threatening or even overly disruptive, he simply would not be brow beaten by the local little Hitler.

I started to film the scene at this point as I genuinely thought I was going to witness an elderly fellow dragged away by the Police for standing up to the local bully.

It was left to others to point out to Mr Beck that as he had declared the meeting closed there wasn’t really a meeting for Mr Lewis to be ejected from. Faced with this logic the Police made a dignified exit and handled the situation superbly. My video footage won’t be ending up on YouTube. There are people on it who are innocent of Mr Beck’s brutal democracy and they may not appreciate it.

Comedy quote of the night must go to Mr Beck, however as the Police went to leave, “But officers, officers, this gentlemen is getting in the way of democracy!”

Oh, Mr Beck… How embarrassing… You really are a twit.