The Farnborough Society recently initiated the Rushmoor Pedestrian Forum, the first public meeting of which took place on 6th December. Under the chairmanship of my friend Clive Andrews, we brought together, as guest speakers, a transport officer from Hampshire County Council, a blind lady (with her guide dog) and a police officer. By the end of the evening, we had a range of views that will provide a solid basis on which we hope to build meaningful relationships with both Hampshire County Council and Rushmoor BC for the benefit of all pavement users.
The issue that dominated was cycling on the pavements and it became abundantly clear that the mish-mash of cycle lanes and shared pavements in Rushmoor pleases nobody because of the lack of consistancy. Sometimes pedestrians are on the outside, sometimes cyclists, sometimes lanes are marked, sometimes not, the signage isn't good and there seems to be a great deal of confusion generally. I've proposed asking Rushmoor BC for a Task and Finish Group to examine the subject and hope to gain approval for that shortly, under the auspices of the Leisure and Youth Panel, on which I serve. Through my involvement with the Pedestrian Forum, I have made contacts with the Cycle Forum, the police and the handicapped, all of which will be invaluable if we are to achieve anything meaningful.
Saturday 31 December 2011
Wednesday 7 December 2011
The Farnborough Society
It's been a very busy time with TFS, with us breaking new ground in a couple of ways that I think are important. First, there was the series of seminars on planning and development that I organised in association with Yateley Society and Fleet and Church Crookham Society. They attracted people from civic societies throughout the region and, judging by the feedback we got, they found them useful.
We kicked off with 'The Fundamentals of Planning', the day after royal assent was given to the Localism Bill, so there was a lot to consider regarding how things are likely to change. On a somewhat lighter note, the second seminar dealt with heritage protection and listed buildings, which was especially interesting for me because one of the speakers was Graham Rood from Farnborough Air Sciences Trust, of which I'm an assocation member, who told us about the fascinating collection of listed buildings at the former Royal Aircraft Establishment site: wind tunnels, a centrafuge and our famous 'black sheds', among them. Finally, we addressed the issue of challenging planning applications, probably the area most likely to affect us all.
Frankly, I got rather fed up with the organisation, not least because it shouldn't have been down to me at all--the Chairman of our Planning Group wasn't available for the meetings of the steering group, so I got lumbered. But it was the inordinate amount of fuss that really got to me. What could have been a relatively simple venture became increasingly complicated as our partners sought to turn it into a parody of a business conference, which I found rather ridiculous, to say nothing of the enormous number of emails it necessitated, over a period of weeks, fussing over details. Although we plan to host perhaps one seminar a year from now on, to keep abreast of planning issues, I've gratefully handed over to the appropriate person, who will hopefully be far more patient than I.
Our other new venture is the Rushmoor Pedestrian Forum, the first public meeting of which was held last night. The turnout was disappointing, though quite a few people contacted us to say they were interested, but couldn't make it. We had an officer from Hampshire County Council to give us an update on the Farnborough and Aldershot Town Access Plans, a police officer to deal with the legalities of common complaints such as parking or cycling on pavements, and a blind lady who brilliantly gave us some insight into her experience negotiating the pavements with her guide dog. It was all useful stuff and we got a lot of good feedback. I've got a lot of work now, sorting and prioritising the data collected. Hopefully, we've taken the first steps in building good working relationships with both the county and borough councils, and achieving some improvements for walkers and other footpath users in Rushmoor.
We kicked off with 'The Fundamentals of Planning', the day after royal assent was given to the Localism Bill, so there was a lot to consider regarding how things are likely to change. On a somewhat lighter note, the second seminar dealt with heritage protection and listed buildings, which was especially interesting for me because one of the speakers was Graham Rood from Farnborough Air Sciences Trust, of which I'm an assocation member, who told us about the fascinating collection of listed buildings at the former Royal Aircraft Establishment site: wind tunnels, a centrafuge and our famous 'black sheds', among them. Finally, we addressed the issue of challenging planning applications, probably the area most likely to affect us all.
Frankly, I got rather fed up with the organisation, not least because it shouldn't have been down to me at all--the Chairman of our Planning Group wasn't available for the meetings of the steering group, so I got lumbered. But it was the inordinate amount of fuss that really got to me. What could have been a relatively simple venture became increasingly complicated as our partners sought to turn it into a parody of a business conference, which I found rather ridiculous, to say nothing of the enormous number of emails it necessitated, over a period of weeks, fussing over details. Although we plan to host perhaps one seminar a year from now on, to keep abreast of planning issues, I've gratefully handed over to the appropriate person, who will hopefully be far more patient than I.
Our other new venture is the Rushmoor Pedestrian Forum, the first public meeting of which was held last night. The turnout was disappointing, though quite a few people contacted us to say they were interested, but couldn't make it. We had an officer from Hampshire County Council to give us an update on the Farnborough and Aldershot Town Access Plans, a police officer to deal with the legalities of common complaints such as parking or cycling on pavements, and a blind lady who brilliantly gave us some insight into her experience negotiating the pavements with her guide dog. It was all useful stuff and we got a lot of good feedback. I've got a lot of work now, sorting and prioritising the data collected. Hopefully, we've taken the first steps in building good working relationships with both the county and borough councils, and achieving some improvements for walkers and other footpath users in Rushmoor.
Sunday 13 November 2011
Parity Christmas Market
Every spare moment has seen me baking recently, and my freezer is full of cakes, large and small, for Saturday's Christmas Market for Parity for Disability. Having declined to participate in the fire walk, being a devout coward, I felt duty bound to prove myself useful as a trustee, and not just turn up for Board meetings. So, Saturday will find me in Princesmead, in Farnborough, trying to persuade the public that my offerings are edible and hoping desperately that mine won't get left over when sales end at 4.00pm. Quite apart from the humiliation, that would be particularly galling since I'm on a diet, so having the smell of baking permeating the house has been sheer torture.
Now I come to think about it, even selling cakes might be a challenge. Perhaps I'll volunteer for one of the other stalls, to keep me away from temptation. The tombola should be safe, shouldn't it?
Now I come to think about it, even selling cakes might be a challenge. Perhaps I'll volunteer for one of the other stalls, to keep me away from temptation. The tombola should be safe, shouldn't it?
Friday 4 November 2011
Another School Governorship
I have now become a community governor of a local secondary school, as well as LEA governor at an infants' school. Since I've gone to the trouble of attending courses and learning as much as I can about the role of governor, I figured I might as well put it to good use. Fortunately, the times of the meetings mean that I can manage both relatively easily, and I'm glad to be of practical use in the community in this way. With luck, I may find opportunities for a bit of 'cross-pollination', sharing ideas from one school with the other. Even if that's not possible, it's very interesting to see how the two schools operate, and to play a small part in the lives of the children.
The Farnborough Society
One of my great passions is The Farnborough Society, of which I am Hon Secretary and a founder member. Established in 2008, TFS continues to grow and diversify, hosting a wide range of events throughout the year--walks, talks, tours and social activities, actively engaging with the Planning Department of Rushmoor Borough Council with monthly meetings, and, more recently, creating a Youth Initiative and a Pedestrian Forum.
Our Executive Committee recognises that Farnborough, the birthplace of British aviation, simply doesn't live up to its incredibly rich heritage. A lamentable lack of vision has resulted in a generic town centre unworthy of the name Farnborough. But the potential is enormous. With a couple of friends, I co-authored a response on behalf of TFS to Rushmoor's Core Strategy consultation in which we set out our vision for a new cultural heart to the town, with a piazza-style town square and an arts complex consisting of a small theatre, exhibition space, meeting/ rehearsal rooms and indoor/outdoor cafe culture. The obvious location for such a centre is alongside Meudon Avenue, on the site of the police station (scheduled to close), the community centre (no longer fit for purpose) and the library, which is good, but in a dreadfully ugly, concrete building, and could be housed elsewhere. We would envisage the design for such a project to draw on the many former RAE listed buildings nearby, much as the excellent Redrow development has done.
I am dismayed that there is nothing to attract Farnborough's more affluent workers into the town centre, nor the tens of thousands of visitors who come for the Air Show, and believe our arts complex would do exactly that, and ultimately benefit many of our local businesses. We could have themed markets, musical events and parades here, and I am convinced that it all would engender a new sense of civic pride too. This is my dream and I shall be promoting the idea at every opportunity.
The Youth Initiative aims to produce a range of age-appropriate walking tours around the town, with points of interest to look for and with opportunities for further research. We hope to persuade schools and youth organisations to encourage children to use these to discover more about their home town and hopefully to increase their pride in Farnborough.
The Pedestrian Forum will give all walkway users a platform from which to make their views heard. We aim to bring together people who walk for leisure, to take children to and from school, to shop and to go to work, as well as disabled people, wheelchair and mobility scooter users, people with strollers and toddlers, and the elderly. As well as the actual fora, we will conduct street surveys and report our findings to Rushmoor BC and Hampshire CC. I'm a great advocate of this kind of partnership working and have high hopes that we can make a valuable contribution for the implementation of the Farnborough Town Access Plan.
Our Executive Committee recognises that Farnborough, the birthplace of British aviation, simply doesn't live up to its incredibly rich heritage. A lamentable lack of vision has resulted in a generic town centre unworthy of the name Farnborough. But the potential is enormous. With a couple of friends, I co-authored a response on behalf of TFS to Rushmoor's Core Strategy consultation in which we set out our vision for a new cultural heart to the town, with a piazza-style town square and an arts complex consisting of a small theatre, exhibition space, meeting/ rehearsal rooms and indoor/outdoor cafe culture. The obvious location for such a centre is alongside Meudon Avenue, on the site of the police station (scheduled to close), the community centre (no longer fit for purpose) and the library, which is good, but in a dreadfully ugly, concrete building, and could be housed elsewhere. We would envisage the design for such a project to draw on the many former RAE listed buildings nearby, much as the excellent Redrow development has done.
I am dismayed that there is nothing to attract Farnborough's more affluent workers into the town centre, nor the tens of thousands of visitors who come for the Air Show, and believe our arts complex would do exactly that, and ultimately benefit many of our local businesses. We could have themed markets, musical events and parades here, and I am convinced that it all would engender a new sense of civic pride too. This is my dream and I shall be promoting the idea at every opportunity.
The Youth Initiative aims to produce a range of age-appropriate walking tours around the town, with points of interest to look for and with opportunities for further research. We hope to persuade schools and youth organisations to encourage children to use these to discover more about their home town and hopefully to increase their pride in Farnborough.
The Pedestrian Forum will give all walkway users a platform from which to make their views heard. We aim to bring together people who walk for leisure, to take children to and from school, to shop and to go to work, as well as disabled people, wheelchair and mobility scooter users, people with strollers and toddlers, and the elderly. As well as the actual fora, we will conduct street surveys and report our findings to Rushmoor BC and Hampshire CC. I'm a great advocate of this kind of partnership working and have high hopes that we can make a valuable contribution for the implementation of the Farnborough Town Access Plan.
Sunday 10 July 2011
Being a School Governor
I have been a governor at an infants' school in my ward for a year now and take every opportunity to improve my knowledge and usefulness by attending seminars and conferences. This week I attended a conference in Basingstoke entitled Leadership and Governance: Making an Impact. Our speaker, Liz Cross, was brilliant--funny, informative and entertaining--and led some very lively discussions among a truly diverse audience.
The role of governor is critical to the success of a school and richly rewarding, but many of us shared similar frustrations surrounding the volume and repetition of documentation created, the shortcomings of Ofsted inspections and the challenge of freeing teachers to teach and inspire. In the current climate, finance is also something foremost in our minds. And the issue of becoming academies must be considered too. Quite apart from the inspirational speakers that Hampshire County Council provides for such events, there is enormous value in networking with other governors and, in my case, shamelessly stealing their ideas. One way or another, this conference provided solutions to many of the problems governors typically confront.
Some of the issues that I found particularly valuable related to redressing the balance so that we don't lose sight of the children among all our legal responsibilities, strategies to optimise assets, both human and financial, ensuring succession as parent-governors move on, and generally involving parents as fully as possible. One idea I found especially compelling was to encourage teachers to take risk, which seems to fly in the face of prevailing health and safety concerns, but possible if risk is properly managed.
In spite of the perception of education being in a straight-jacket, there is a degree of flexibility and I came away from the conference with renewed enthusiasm and passion for my role as a school governor.
The role of governor is critical to the success of a school and richly rewarding, but many of us shared similar frustrations surrounding the volume and repetition of documentation created, the shortcomings of Ofsted inspections and the challenge of freeing teachers to teach and inspire. In the current climate, finance is also something foremost in our minds. And the issue of becoming academies must be considered too. Quite apart from the inspirational speakers that Hampshire County Council provides for such events, there is enormous value in networking with other governors and, in my case, shamelessly stealing their ideas. One way or another, this conference provided solutions to many of the problems governors typically confront.
Some of the issues that I found particularly valuable related to redressing the balance so that we don't lose sight of the children among all our legal responsibilities, strategies to optimise assets, both human and financial, ensuring succession as parent-governors move on, and generally involving parents as fully as possible. One idea I found especially compelling was to encourage teachers to take risk, which seems to fly in the face of prevailing health and safety concerns, but possible if risk is properly managed.
In spite of the perception of education being in a straight-jacket, there is a degree of flexibility and I came away from the conference with renewed enthusiasm and passion for my role as a school governor.
Friday 1 July 2011
Parity for Disability
I am a trustee of Parity for Disability, a wonderful charity who provide services to young adults with multiple disabilities and their families. Parity runs day centres at both their headquarters in Whetstone Road, Farnborough, and at St Martin's Church Hall in Camberley, where one-to-one support allows students to achieve their full potential. I love visiting because the peals of laughter attest to the enormous fun everyone's having; I always come away feeling better.
These are exciting times for parity because we are hoping to raise sufficient funds for a purpose-built day centre on land provided by Rushmoor Borough Council beside Farnborough Football Club. This is vital for improving much-needed services. Neither of our day centres is satisfactory, though the staff do a fantastic job in spite of their shortcomings. The Camberley centre, for instance, is in a shared hall, which means that equipment has to be stored away every afternoon and brought out again each morning, a great waste of time and energy. In addition, the new centre will include a water therapy suite, so that students will no longer have to travel to Guildford for this incredibly therapeutic treatment.
Parity needs £150,000 per year just to sustain current services, so raising the money to build the new centre is a huge challenge. Fund-raising activities take place throughout the year, and we look to the community to support us in these. Perhaps you've read about the sponsored bike-ride from Camberley to Lulworth Cove in the local press and would like to take part in that. If so, do get in touch with Parity. Alternatively, perhaps your company would like to adopt Parity as your charity for a year and think up fund-raising activities of your own. Have fun and contribute to the community at the same time.
If you would like more information, to visit, to receive Parity's newsletters, and especially if you have ideas about achieving our new day centre, please contact Alison Cooper: alison@parityfordisability.org.uk
Tel/Fax: 01252 375581
These are exciting times for parity because we are hoping to raise sufficient funds for a purpose-built day centre on land provided by Rushmoor Borough Council beside Farnborough Football Club. This is vital for improving much-needed services. Neither of our day centres is satisfactory, though the staff do a fantastic job in spite of their shortcomings. The Camberley centre, for instance, is in a shared hall, which means that equipment has to be stored away every afternoon and brought out again each morning, a great waste of time and energy. In addition, the new centre will include a water therapy suite, so that students will no longer have to travel to Guildford for this incredibly therapeutic treatment.
Parity needs £150,000 per year just to sustain current services, so raising the money to build the new centre is a huge challenge. Fund-raising activities take place throughout the year, and we look to the community to support us in these. Perhaps you've read about the sponsored bike-ride from Camberley to Lulworth Cove in the local press and would like to take part in that. If so, do get in touch with Parity. Alternatively, perhaps your company would like to adopt Parity as your charity for a year and think up fund-raising activities of your own. Have fun and contribute to the community at the same time.
If you would like more information, to visit, to receive Parity's newsletters, and especially if you have ideas about achieving our new day centre, please contact Alison Cooper: alison@parityfordisability.org.uk
Tel/Fax: 01252 375581
My Blog and Me
I was elected as a Conservative councillor for St John's Ward, Rushmoor Borough Council, in 2010. As a councillor, I sit on the Borough Services and Leisure and Youth Policy and Review Panels. Any views I express in this blog will be my own and may not reflect the views of the Conservative Group. But my primary aim is not to discuss my political views so much as the various community activities with which I'm involved.
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