Councillor Graham Stokes Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

OCTOBER 2005

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare;
it is because we do not dare that they are difficult."

So said Seneca nearly 2000 years ago and in this regard, not much seems to have changed.

HOT AIR BALLOONIST
A man in a hot air balloon realised he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The woman below replied, "You’re in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You’re between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 50 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be in Information Technology," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the woman. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I’ve no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help at all - if anything you’ve delayed my trip."

The woman below responded: "You must be in management."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the woman, "you don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you’ve no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow it’s my fault!"

FGD UNITS AT FERRYBRIDGE
In September I attended a public presentation by Scottish & Southern, held at Knottingley Sports Centre, which gave information on the future proposals for Flue Gas Desulphurisation Units to be fitted at Ferrybridge Power Station.

FGD is used to reduce the amount of sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions from the power station, they already have consent for FGD to be fitted to two of the four coal fired units, but now they are proposing to fit FGD to all four units. Power Stations at Eggborough and Cottam already have this technology fitted and local people were being consulted on what they think about the proposals to determine if anything could be done to make it better for them. This is particularly important during the construction stage when work would be limited to between the hours of 7am to 7pm.

Some good ideas were suggested by the public such as screening the site with a grassed area at the front of the premises that would make it less visible and reduce any environmental noise. During operations I was assured that noise will not be a problem, and will not rise above existing levels at the site boundary, and that the FGD noise level at residential properties will be below the existing night time background levels. The preferred route for transport of materials would be by barge or rail, although during construction some heavy loads would need to be brought in. It is intended that a traffic management plan would be produced prior to construction and that heavy loads would be restricted to specific roads and hours.

There is a proposal to have a local liaison committee that would be consulted during construction and operation of the FGD equipment. This would be comprised of representatives from Scottish & Southern Energy, the contractors, Wakefield Council, Selby Council, North Yorkshire County Council, The Environment Agency, English Nature and local groups. There will also be a Scottish & Southern Energy Environmental Officer who will act as a contact to keep local residents informed and be on-hand to deal with any complaints. I think this liaison committee is essential as there is much to consider. Issues like transport, impact on the local community, the environmental impact and ecology (which should be improved as a result of the proposal), it would monitor promises made and be somewhere where any problems that may arise can be addressed.

Overall I believe that this is good news for Ferrybridge, Knottingley and the wider community as it entails a long term commitment to the site and the future of jobs as well as ensuring that Ferrybridge Power Station will meet all European Legislation, and give us a cleaner environment. I will report further on this as the proposal develops. It is proposed that implementation will be by 2008.

CHALLENGE CUP FINAL - CARDIFF
At the end of August I made my annual trip to the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final and this year we were camping on a site in Cardiff within walking distance of the Millennium Stadium. I was with a group of 13 people and whilst there I took the opportunity to participate in a game of rugby; not in the stadium of course but on the municipal playing fields. I must have been about 15 years old the last time I played rugby, and I thought I could just run on the field and play. It is at times like these that the realisation of age creeps in, because within two minutes I was out of breath and in need of a rest.

HEALTH & SAFETY AT WORK COURSES
Wakefield College is offering the following courses free of charge: -

NCFE Cert in Occupational Health & Safety (Level 2)
NCFE Cert in Safe Handling of Medicines (Level 2)
NCFE Cert in Infection Control (Level 2)

The following courses are also available: -

NEBOSH General Certificate (Price on application)
IOSH Managing Safely (£380)
Nationally Accredited Safety Passport (2 days - £95, 1 day renewal - £47.50)
CIEH Principles of Manual Handling (£40)
CIEH Principles of COSHH (£40)
CIEH Foundation Cert in HASAW (£75)

For further details contact Paul Clegg, Health & Safety Co-coordinator, telephone 01924 789713 or e-mail p.clegg@wakcoll.ac.uk

ADVERTISING BOARDS
Following the action in the City Centre of Wakefield in July and August focussing on Advertising boards, street cafes, littering, car parks and anti-social behaviour a roll-out to the rest of the District is to be carried out. This operational order will cover the Five Towns Area. The removal of advertising ‘A’ boards will be the priority for this operation. The operation will be to carry out enforcement action in the Town Centres and surrounding areas starting in Pontefract from 5th September 2005. The type of work they will be undertaking includes the main priority which will be the enforcement of street advertising as in the use of A boards fly posting etc. Whilst in Knottingley they will be working as a full shift with the potential of having up to seven patrollers on the ground at the same time. It was found that when this took place in Wakefield the enforcement of littering and dog fouling was well addressed.

The Five Towns will be tackled in the following order, please note that dates are provisional and may change. See timetable below:

Pontefract: 5th September – 16th September
Castleford & Glasshoughton: 17th – 30th September
Featherstone: 1st October – 14th October
Knottingley: 15th – 28th October
Normanton: 29th October – 12th November

CHIEF INSPECTOR MARK WHYMAN
Following the retirement of Tim Moorby as Wakefield Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Mark Whyman has been appointed to replace him. I along with my Cabinet Colleagues attended an informal meeting with him at Wood Street Police Station, Wakefield, to discuss how we all see the future of policing within the Wakefield District. He seems ok to me and someone we can certainly work with. He is a fit person having recently completed the London marathon and he also cycles to work in Wakefield from Halifax. We discussed neighbourhood policing and the future development of the neighbourhood action stations.

The approach to neighbourhood policing by West Yorkshire Police has recently been inspected and they came out of the inspection very well; their approach is about getting back in touch with communities. There are currently four neighbourhood action stations operating across the Wakefield district, three geographic (one of those within the 5 Towns area) and one across town centres. There are 12 people in each team and as they develop they are looking at leaving a presence within each area as the station moves on to another location so that there is continuity of policing. We discussed the possibility of the council sharing contact points and joint surgeries; all in all it was a very useful meeting and can only assist policing within our area.

WAKEFIELD DISTRICT HOUSING
I have attended the Wakefield District Housing ‘meet the contractor day’ held in September, where tenants involved in phase 1 of the modernisations were invited to look at an exhibition of doors windows and kitchens that would be available for them to choose from.

I met representatives of Keepmoat, the contractor responsible for upgrading and modernising housing within our area, who have opened an office near Xscape at Glasshoughton. I was impressed with their presentation and their ability to carry out the enormous task ahead. Keepmoat have a lot of experience in this type of work and have a very high satisfaction rate amongst customers. That is not to say that there will not be problems to resolve, so I was also pleased to meet Sarah Wallis the tenant liaison officer for Keepmoat, who I am sure I will be in contact with in the future to sort out any problems that might arise. Exhibitions such as this one will be organised prior to every phase for tenants to attend. WDH have prioritised the work that needs to be carried out within the next five years, we now have some idea of which areas will be improved within each of those five years.

THE DIGEST - PRINCE OF WALES HOSPICE APPEAL
I was pleased to see Michael Norfolk has initiated an appeal on behalf of The Prince of Wales Hospice. I have every admiration for the excellent work that is carried out there and the amount of voluntary hours that are put in across the district to sustain it. My Father in Law had the very dubious honour or misfortune to be the first person to die within the hospice not long after it opened. He had suffered a brain tumour and was transferred there from Cookridge. The care and attention he received whilst there was second to none, and it allowed him to have his final hours in comfort and dignity. I do not know what we would do without such places, I hope the appeal is well supported.

A TRUE STORY

Daughter-in-law phones home during a night out: -

"Darren, Darren, I have lost my mobile phone".

Darren: "Have you tried looking at your ear?"

Cathie: "Oh yeah… how did you know that?"

She must have had a good night!

Graham Stokes
Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

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