South Newsham and South Blyth residents in anguish regarding indicative rail-crossing proposals?

 

With the release of indicative plans to develop a new road layout at South Newsham designed to keep traffic flows moving up and down Laverock Hall Road when the AB&T Northumberland Line is reopened has created a myriad of questions on social media.

Many focus on the stoppage two years ago of the Cowpen Road bypass by Tory led Northumberland County Council who reportedly sent the project back to Highways England and haven’t publicly raised the matter since. Commentators from the South of the Town demand to know if this released indicative plan for a rail line crossing is the County Council’s cheapskate version of an access and egress road to take a greater share than it already does of the traffic flows into and out of Blyth.

As well as being the home area of Ian Levy MP, South Newsham, South Beach and South Blyth doesn’t suffer the amount of pollution from highways and industry as do its neighbours in Cowpen and Kitty Brewster so the question of placing additional traffic on this road and levelling up pollution across the Town is valid indeed.

We also noticed pressure building from residents of Seaton Valley, particularly Seaton Sluice who believe the plan may place additional traffic to North Tyneside via their village settings as it may be easier to enter North Tyneside through the ‘Sluice’ than travelling through Seaton Delaval to reach neighbourly destinations in their adjoining borough.

Northumberland Tories need to come up with some answers for residents as they can’t hide behind network rail after the flurries of radio, TV and press media stories they have run out regarding their involvement in this project!

Courts may allow you to hold Gender Critical Views but when Council business is linked with bullying and racism it's still unlawful!

 Councillor Glen Sanderson isn’t innocent when it comes to managing the chasm-like splits at Northumberland County Council and within Northumberland Conservatives.

As a well known farmer, his first attempt at cat-herding Northumberland Conservatives following the sacking of his ultra right wing Leader Peter Jackson, was a significant failure and showed how little the rules of animal management had sunk in and been banked as grey matter when qualifying in agriculture as a younger man.

His second attempt at the leadership role, as the man who’s been asked to throw the aging tartan car rug over the public misdemeanours of the flock under his care is already shredding under the strain as opposition members to the Tories take the stance of ‘Pragmatism over Ideology’, as knowing that the wasting of the cash reserves left by the last Labour administration has been spent on compensating those who may show any defiance to their ultimate power, in likeness to the pre Magna Carta Prince John, Northumberland Tories simply live to Lord!. 

This new pragmatic stance from both the Dickinson/Simpson Labour team and that of the ‘Hill Dependents’ party, is sure to bring out the worst in Councillor Sanderson’s flock of dodgy characters who will seeth and foam each and every time Labour and the Independent opposition bring up the failings of Advance Northumberland and the bullying and racism that was a strategic feature of the last four years of Conservative rule, a strategy which is so well entrenched in the hearts and minds of the Tories that it doesn’t seem to be affected by the change in the makeup of his top team or administration. 

Recent tribunal rulings may allow people to hold gender critical views but being racist, sexist or ageist as an employer and the Council is still the County's largest employer, then that's unlawful indeed. But laws and guidance does not exist which cover ‘placeist-views’ eventually leading to much of the anti people viewpoints from the flock, or at this point is it the mob, which will percolate through over time to ensure only those who matter to them the most benefit from what little is left.

Meeow!

What will your school do with the 47p awarded to cover the cost of your child’s educational catch up?

 

Whether you like to be reminded or not, the last real investment into education was done by Brown and Blair who poured cash into both the NHS and Education.

 

The mere £700m that the Tories have promised schools, fades into insignificance when compared with the £14Bn put into schools by Brown in 2007 and the £9.6Bn by Blair in 2003 plus raising the educational support base rate that has been completely eroded by inflation over the last decade of Conservative cuts, without the payments made to children from more deprived backgrounds of the Educational Support Allowance to attempt to keep then in education longer to benefit their futures.

 

You may say at this juncture that Labour were fast and loose with the UK economy but Parliamentary reports show that Labour borrowed £430Bn in 13 years (that’s £33Bn per year) and this supported children across the UK, whilst the Tories have been borrowing an average of £90.75Bn per year to support their version of austerity and (that’s without any borrowing to cover the costs of Covid 19). The austerity period has disincentivised young people and run down education over the last 11 years and tired teachers who have to do more for less.

 

In Northumberland education has been a minefield since 2017 with the Tories attacking education and damaging local lifestyles in the West of the County with marches by the Stars Group completely ignored, and are now planning to force two tier education on the Seaton Valley area something local people didn’t want and Labour have resisted, ceding to local demand to retain middle schools in that parish area.

 

Its disappointing that the Tory County Council has politically decided to rearrange Council Boundaries to suit the Tory vote in future years instead of beginning a review of education and how they can help schools finance educational catch up properly.

 

 

Expect Less for More From Glen Sanderson’s Tories warns his Own Government!

 

Opposition Councillors on Northumberland County Council have taken to their keyboards this week following the release of a report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, reiterating the message Labour and true Independents tried to sell to Northumberland’s public during the recent local government election campaigns, that of ‘having a Tory Council costs you the public more’.

 

The Commons Public Accounts Committee has warned that the public could end up paying "more for less" as council taxes rise but services are cut to cope with the financial fall-out of the Covid crisis.

 

A report from the MPs says local authorities face holes in their budgets because of the Government's "over optimism" about the impact of the pandemic.

 

Council tax payers across Northumberland could see an average increase of 4.3% in their bills as the County Council try to shore up its balance sheet.

Local Councillors from Towns and Parishes have already told the Tories not to expect their precepts to be forced up to cover the costs of the pandemic which is purely a County Council matter and they need to face their public on their own.

 

The Commons report urges the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to do more to understand "financial pressures" on councils, whilst the Public Accounts Committee chair Meg Hillier said the department “needs to be a better champion for local government within Whitehall”.

 

The report also says the next Spending Review needs to include “full consideration of the longer-term effects of the pandemic".

 

The Tory led Local Government Association responded by pressing ministers to meet "all cost pressures and income losses incurred by councils as a result of the pandemic." Did HCA Secretary of State Robert Jenrick turn his deaf ear? Glen Sanderson hasn't and he's a Peer of the Local Government Association!