Category Archives: Public Protection

Policing, Uncategorised, women, Woodbridge

Safer Streets for Women: Woodbridge holds vigil

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Three people - very distanced - in front of ancient brick building. Two are masked. The third - Caroline Page - is speaking
Caroline Page speaking in front of the Woodbridge shire hall at the vigil, arranged by Jane Basham.  Woodbridge Mayor Sue Bale, to her right, also spoke

Woodbridge held one of very few police-sanctioned vigils in Suffolk  on 13 March, the wake of the Sarah Everard murder.

About twenty  people – masked and socially distanced – gathered together as dusk fell  outside the Shire Hall in the centre of Woodbridge to light candles, remember Sarah Everard and recognise the risks women face every day, just for being women. A 118 second silence was held by Jane Basham  – that is, one second for every woman known to be killed by a man in Britain last year.

Speaking as Woodbridge County Councillor, and LDGI Group Spokesperson for Women, I said:

We’re gathered here to remember Sarah Everard.

We’re gathered to recognise all the women of Britain for whom public spaces are not a place of safety. Women who not only hesitate to cross a park at dusk, leave a pub, go to a club – but who recognise that risks can occur if walk down the road in broad daylight. It’s not a question of age, or dress or location. I was nearly punched in the face by four big strangers on the East Suffolk line a year or two back, threatened with violence because they didn’t like my hat. I was small, and alone, and a woman.

Easy target.

It’s my birthday today – I’m 63. And in my adult life – and it’s been the lucky life of a middle-class white woman living comfortably in Britain – I can think of at least ten incidents, ten serious incidents, which involved actual physical harm or the threat of serious harm from strange men. In one, maybe two cases, I think I was actually in mortal danger.

I didn’t go out of my way to court a single one of them.

The most shocking thing is? I don’t know a single other woman who hasn’t experienced something similar. At least once, most more than once. It’s Everywoman.

Every woman, but not every man.

I don’t mean to demonise men. Almost all men are good people – but how can we women tell which ones are not?

This problem is not universal. I have travelled in countries where I could genuinely expect to cross a park alone at night without fear of harassment or attack. And have done so.

In Britain, 1300 years ago, in Northumbria, they boasted that a woman could walk with her new-born babe from coast to coast without suffering any harm.

Enough is enough. It is time to make a stand. If it was possible so long ago it is possible now. Time for every good man to join with every woman to ensure our public spaces are free from harassment, from threat, from fear.

 

Council reports, Education, Public Protection, School Transport, Surgery, Uncategorized, Woodbridge, young people

March: what has been happening in Suffolk

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Suffolk’s School Transport Consultation   This finished at the end of February. I hope that Woodbridge Town council put in a response, as I aAsuggested in my report last month, bearing in mind the impact these proposals will have on everybody in the town.

I obviously responded with my own concerns, and held an awareness-raising stall in the Woodbridge Thoroughfare the Saturday before the consultation finished. This resulted in 25-30 new submissions. Additionally, Suffolk County’s LibDem Green & Independent Group put in a group response, which I attach (below).

Concerns raised over accountability and transparency of Suffolk Public Sector Leaders Board   The Suffolk Public Sector Leaders Board (SPSLB) is made up of council leaders and chief executives from across Suffolk, as well as the PCC, chief fire officer and representatives from Suffolk’s Clinical Commissioning Groups. Some of these are elected and some, as you can see, are not. The SPSLB controls a large pot of money, made up of £7.447m from the Suffolk business rates pool and £3.23m of central government funding received as part of the Transformation Challenge Award.  Continue reading March: what has been happening in Suffolk →

Council reports, County Council Surgery, Fire services, Libraries, Policing, Public Protection, School Transport, Schools, Suffolk Coastal District Council, Surgery, Woodbridge, Your councillor

What happened in Suffolk in September – my report

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Library Reading Scheme presentations  On 17 September I presented awards to all those children who successfully completed the Woodbridge Library Reading Challenge 2017. This year 212 children completed, to gain certificates and medals. I also funded  a poster competition and a magic show from my locality budget.

Suffolk’s Cabinet decision on controversial school transport policy changes called-in by LDGI Group A decision made by Cabinet on 12 September, to go to public consultation on proposed changes to SCC’s school transport policy, was ‘called-in’ to scrutiny by opposition councillors from the Liberal Democrat, Green and Independent Group (of whom I was one).

The call-in cited several problems with the report that informed Cabinet’s decision, and argued that to go to public consultation without a comprehensive impact assessment would be premature. The councillors questioned the expected savings and stressed the need to fully research how changes might impact on educational attainment, increased car use, and school viability.

The call-in was examined by the Scrutiny Committee on 28 September, who determined determined that the subject should be referred  back to Cabinet again. Watch this space!

Consultation on Woodbridge Thoroughfare  September 25- 1October saw the Thoroughfare Working Group’s public consultation in Woodbridge Library on changing the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) in the Thoroughfare. A stall was staffed in Woodbridge Library for a full 7 days (I personally worked 44 hours staffing it).

The consultation is to ensure it more accurately reflects current usage and to make the provisions more enforceable. Three options were provided. Approximately 600 questionnaires have been received, and the information will now analysed and used to establish the basis of a new TRO.

Impact of Woods Lane development on A1438  The astonishing and unacceptable closure of Woods Lane for a prolonged period ( 3 weeks shortly and then three months in early 2017) to install utilities for the 180 house Bloor Homes development will divert heavy traffic between the A12 and Wilford to the B1438 (Ipswich Road) in the south and the Old Yarmouth Road through Melton to the north. I am one of many lobbying to ameliorate this situation, not least because of the number of schools and sheltered housing along the route. When I recently was able to secure permission for 20mph zoning in Woodbridge, a significant rationale was the impact of heavy traffic on our medieval town , the number of pedestrians and cyclists inconvenienced or endangered, ­­­­and to discourage rat-running on the B1438 instead of A12/Woods Lane usage.

This diversion now underlines why the scheme is necessary. I am very concerned on the impact this will have on Woodbridge’s traders, students, and residents

Search for a new SCC Chief Executive continues  A full day of interviews and assessments took place on Monday 11 September in the search for a new Chief Executive for Suffolk County Council to succeed Deborah Cadman. The interview panel included five councillors from across the three main Groups. (3 Conservative, 1 Labour, 1 LDGI)

Although the field of candidates was strong it was decided that there was no clear candidate that met the expectations for the role. Therefore no appointment was made, and the recruitment process will begin again in the coming months. In the mean time Sue Cook will contine as interim Chief Executive, supported by other members of the corporate management team.

PCC ‘not pursuing’ plans to take control of Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service   Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Tim Passmore, has announced that he will not be pursuing plans to take control of Suffolk Fire and Rescue Services.

Earlier this year the PCC commissioned PA Consulting to undertake an options appraisal to consider the future governance of the Fire and Rescue Service and a potential shift of governance from the County Council to the PCC. This review concluded that there is insufficient evidence to suggest that a governance change would be clearly in the interests of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness; or public safety.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service launches ‘escape plan’ campaign The Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service has launched a new safety campaign and website highlighting the importance of fire escape plans. The campaign addresses the fact that every year there are 40,000 accidental house fires in the UK. Having an escape plan will allow Suffolk residents to escape the fire quickly and safely. Please

Visitors to the campaign website will be able to:

  • Take a quiz to test how prepared they are to escape a fire
  • Create their own escape plan for everyone in their household

The ‘escape plan’ fire campaign will run until 31 October 2017. More information can be found at fire.suffolk.gov.uk.

October Surgery Cancellation  I will be cancelling my monthly surgery this month (21 October) because of family commitments on the other side of the world. The remaining surgeries for 2017 are:

  • 18 November 2017
  • 16 December 2017