Health concern should revert to a pressure group

Adrian Sewell is Labour Spokesperson for Aggborough & Spennells.

Like most people, I have been very disappointed with the recent public spats between Health Concern and the Conservatives.I think the time has arrived for Health Concern to evaluate its tactics and review its objectives as an organisation.

When Health Concern was first established, under the campaign name of Save Kidderminster Hospital, it received almost 100%support from the people of Wyre Forest and enjoyed the backing of all political parties. As a Labour Party member I was happy to donate money on a regular basis to the organisation in order to commission the Kings Fund report.

I believe Health Concerns decision to enter the political arena in opposition to the established Political groups is a major reason its support has fallen so dramatically.

In last weeks letters page Dr Taylor refers to the “Kidderminster effect”, and how it is feared in the Department of Health, when they trying to introduce change.He then reports in his view point artical, that 1800 operations had been performed at Kidderminster Hospital last year and he went on to praise the lengths of stay.

The changes to Health provision in Worcestershire have now been established for some time and the scare stories many of us mooted have not materialised.As a community we are now feeling the benefits of the changes and investment to the delivery of Health services within the Wyre Forest and Worcestershire area.So maybe it is now time The Department of Health did not fear the “Kidderminister Effect” as Dr Taylor suggests.

I firmly believe that Health Concern should now look to become the uniting force it once was and should re establish itself as a pressure group , scrutinising and objectively questioning the provision of Health within the Wyre Forrest area instead of engaging in a political point scoring game which turns so many people off.

Tories deluded over local Election results

Peter Nielsen is Labour Spokesperson for Greenhill.

Working hard for Greenhill

Although I personally delivered some 3500 leaflets to the 6000 good people of Greenhill Ward, and received 154 votes for my trouble in the Council election on May 1st, I understand why that was and have no complaint.

Tory Councillor Stephen Clee, on the other hand, has chosen to delude himself by declaring that “the good people of Wyre Forest spoke and said that we are doing a grand job” and urged himself to “keep up the good work!” (Shuttle, May 29). I have to rob him of his fantasy by pointing out that it was national, not local politics that gave Cllr Clee’s party his majority on Wyre Forest District Council.

During the election campaign, I was left in no doubt what the electors thought of the Labour Party’s 10p tax rate crisis. Having taken my medicine, I asked people what they thought of the proposed new civic centre and fortnightly bin collections, issues that would (and should) have been at the core of the campaign had national politics not overwhelmed it. I found nobody who supported either policy. Yet these were flagship policies of the Tory/Liberal minority administration that Cllr Clee claims endorsement for.

It is symptomatic of the very limited functions left to district councils, to put it kindly, that local issues fail to assert themselves in local elections. That is why the proposal to build the civic centre at a cost of £14m is a nonsense that could turn into a financial disaster for Wyre Forest ratepayers. Should Worcestershire go the same way as some other councils (of all political persuasions) and opt for single tier local government, the civic centre would become a white elephant and probably be put up for sale.

Not to leave Cllr Clegg completely empty-handed, he is right that Health Concern did not stop the Tories. Turning a protest group into a political party has never worked. The grievances that spawned Health Concern are gradually being corrected though not through any action of the District Council because it has no jurisdiction over NHS organisation. Health Concern councillors could, on the other hand, make themselves useful by supporting the remaining two Labour councillors left to carry out the wishes of the good people of Wyre Forest to scrap the civic centre and reintroduce weekly bin collections.

Peter Nielsen,
is Labour Spokesperson for Greenhill Ward.

Peter Nielsen is Labour Spokesperson for Greenhill

Peter Nielsen is Labour Spokesperson for Greenhill.

Working hard for Greenhill

Peter Nielsen is a warden in a very sheltered accomodation unit. He has had a long career in IT and in teaching, and has served the community on councils and school governing bodies. He is a graduate of the Bradford School of Peace Studies and holds a further and adult education teaching qualification.

Peter says: ” I am indebted to the local Labour Party for giving me this opportunity to go to work on behalf of the community in Greenhill.

Adrian Sewell is Labour Spokesperson for Aggborough & Spennells

Adrian Sewell is Labour Spokesperson for Aggborough & Spennells.

Adrian is Married with two Children and has been a member of the Labour Party since 1977. Adrian has campaigned on many issues during that time. He is vastliy experenced in local and community matters, serving as a Shadow board member with the award winning Wyre Forrest Communtity Housing Company. He has served as a School Governor for five Schools since 1978 and has represented Aggborough and Spennells as a District Councillor.

Matthew Nicholls is Labour Spokesperson for Offmore & Comberton

Matthew Nicholls is Labour Spokesperson for Offmore & Comberton.

Working hard for Offmore & Comberton

Married with three children, Matt attended local schools and universities and has lived in Kidderminster all his life. Matt wants the best for the residents of Offmore and Comberton.

Dan Watson is Labour Spokesperson for Broadwaters

Dan Watson is Labour Spokesperson for Broadwaters.

Working hard for Broadwaters

Dan grew up in Kidderminster and attended Comberton Middle and King Charles I schools before going to Lancaster University. He now runs the West Midlands office of Michael Cashman MEP.

 Having previously served on Wyre Forest District Council, Dan believes he has learned a lot about what it takes to be a responsive and effective councillor.

Hoo Road traffic calming: Curb the racers, not the road.

Peter Nielsen is Labour Candidate for Greenhill.

Working hard for Greenhill

Traffic calming proposals for Hoo Road have set off yet another set of arguments already heard all over the country where they appear. They are noisy when trucks hit them at speed. They ruin car suspension systems and shock absorbers. Motor bikes are not affected. Ambulances and fire engines are delayed when that could cost lives, not to mention the discomfort of patients on their way back to A&E, especially if they get a good shaking before the long journey to Worcester!

If you then suggest having speed cameras instead, further howls of protest are heard, chief of which is the accusation that speed cameras are really a means of raising revenue, another tax on motorists.

The real problem is cultural. Speed limits are seen in a negative light rather than as a vital safety measure. We have been so used to the car having absolute priority on the roads that anything that challenges that is seen to be ‘anti-car’. Drivers keeping strictly to speed limits are often subjected to harassment by tailgating. A minority of drivers are just plain crazy, seeming to overdose on adrenalin at the turn of the ignition key and then treating the roads as their personal race track. It is the failure of this minority to observe speed limits that sets in motion a process that often ends with the installation of traffic calming measures.

That raises questions of fairness. Why should a perfectly good road be mangled and distorted with humps, bollards and one-way ‘gates’ to curb the excesses of a crazy minority to the irritation of the responsible majority? If some motorists are not prepared to obey the speed limit, why should everybody suffer the inconvenience of physical constraints? Why should a resident living close to a road hump have to put up with the noise and pollution of cars, buses and lorries stopping, starting and clattering into them?

The fairest way must be the speed camera or radar trap. Speed limits must be seen in a positive light before someone is killed rather than after. The answer for Hoo Road is to prosecute those breaking the speed limit. Then we can all enjoy a smooth, trouble-free drive along a normal road, and the residents can have faith in the ability of the law to be enforced and live in safety.

Peter Nielsen,
28 Jan 2008.