Rochdale MP Paul Rowen and the Leader of Rochdale Council Alan Taylor are inviting members of the public and town centre traders to a public meeting to discuss the future of Rochdale Town Centre. The meeting, which has been organised by both Mr Rowen and Councillor Taylor, will be held this Thursday (16th July) in Committee Room 3 at Rochdale Town Hall.
On Sunday, Roger and Vivien Weeden held a cream tea in their beautiful garden at Three Oaks, in order to fundraise for the Liberal Democrat General Election campaign.
The South East's largest onshore wind farm at Little Cheyne Court on Romney Marsh has been opened by the Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Milliband.
On Tuesday 14th July a super-insulated model house will be built outside Parliament by Kevin McCloud of "Grand Designs" and the Great British Refurb Campaign team to show what can be done and why MPs and the government need to back the campaign. A massive refurbishment program will make a major contribution to reducing carbon emissions from our homes and create thousands of "green collar" jobs in our communities.
Do we need a new Defence Minister? Bob Ainsworth's comments that helicopters do not remove risk is accurate enough but the underlying implication that the shortage of helicopters may not be important to the war is worrying. Helicopters get troops into position quickly with less risk from roadside bombs; they can also get troops out of tricky situations quickly. They deliver troops behind enemy lines, and in Afghanistan we are now fighting Taliban soldiers who are not fading away when attacked. They enable surprise to be achieved, flanks turned, and they get our seriously wounded back where they can be treated effectively. Suppression fire from 'attack' helicopters deliver a ferocious frightening assault. If we don't have the money to support our troops because our top brass, and top politicians think Trident adds to 'national prestige' then we need reform of more than the political system! Scrap Trident and make sure our troops have what they need!
Schools in Bedford Borough have not received any financial reports from the new Council, causing difficulties for schools trying to manage their budgets without key monitoring information. Local schools should receive monthly reports from the Council, but have yet to receive any since the financial year began in April. Liberal Democrats raised the matter at a meeting of the Council's Children's Services Policy Review and Development Committee on Thursday night, and received assurances that the first set of reports will be with schools by the the end of the summer term next week.