We are in a summer of discontent, writes leader of opposition at South Kesteven District Council Councillor Graham Jeal
We are in a summer of discontent, writes Councillor Graham Jeal, leader of the opposition of South Kesteven District Council.
The six week school summer holidays probably feel short for our excellent teachers. It feels much longer for parents. I am learning lots of teenage speak from my children.
In conversation with my daughter this week I was described as “acting like a millennial dad” – I have no idea what this means but I am sure it wasn’t a compliment.
Some things in life are a little easier to interpret than children. The Labour government’s first act was to approve the Mallard Pass Solar Farm. We spoke against covering large areas of productive Lincolnshire farmland in solar panels.
The Rainbow Alliance of Independents, Labour, Greens and Liberal Democrats have been strong supporters of this project that will totally change the character of parts of our district.
The Labour government seemed to ignore public consultation on large scale solar farms showing the same disdain for community representation as the South Kesteven leadership on the roll out of the purple bins.
The Rainbow Alliance voted against our suggestion to discuss this at full council. Predictably, there has been chaos across the district in bin collections for much of the last year.
The amount of councillor work generated by bins uncollected, communal bins overflowing, concern about vermin and confusion as to what goes in the right bin – is beyond anything I have ever seen. A summer of smelly bin discontent has seen calls for cabinet resignations being debated among councillors.
The Labour government didn’t engage with local groups on Mallard Pass and it has suggested it will engage even less on its housebuilding plans. Britain needs more housing and our planning system needs reform as it is pushing up house prices.
Nevertheless, I worry that our beautiful countryside with its unique wildlife habitats, hedgerows, woodlands and lack of marginal constituencies is under attack.
Councillor Green’s suggestion (Con, Isaac Newton Ward) for kerbside battery collections - common sense recycling that'll help stop bin lorry fires and save you carting your AA’s to supermarkets, seems to be moving forward which is excellent news.
With at least one council house standing empty for over 500 days and concern that litter on the A1 may be fossilized before it is collected – we are pleased that this measure has come to pass in under 18 months.
This summer we have seen attacks on freedom of speech across our country and I read another socialist council is introducing spot fines for using “outdated language” in public (not SKDC in this case). Should the local council police the sell by date on what you say? We will continue to suggest how to improve our area and speak up against attacks on our environment.
I shall have to work harder to understand my children’s freedom of speech. Everyday is a school day when you have children - even if it is just for the parents at this time of year.
