Wembury and Brixton: where's the link?

It's always struck me as being a bit odd that two completely separate villages with different issues, priorities and community features have been lumped together as one council ward. I remember at the time it happpened that there was some opposition, and when I've been out and about in Brixton this week, a few people have picked up on it, and they don't seem very happy.

The story, basically, is this: until 1999, Brixton had one councillor and Wembury had two. The Boundary Commission reviewed the situation in 1997 (there is a link at the bottom, you need page 22) and decided that to even out the population distribution, the two wards would be combined and have only two councillors. At the same time they cut the number of councillors from 44 to 40- meaning that not only did we lose out, but the voters in the district lost their representatives on the whim of an unelected body. Despite clear objections from both sides, and an expressed desire by Brixton Parish Council to be in with Yealmpton- which would be far more logical- a bad decision was made.

Fast forward to 2007, and it is obvious that this needs to be looked at again. I think that Brixton needs- deserves- it's own representative, either alone or with Yealmpton, particularly with a whole new town being built on it's doorstep.

The two communities- apart from being several miles apart- have little in common and no real shared sense of community, unlike Brixton and Yealmpton (which you can walk between. Ever tried walking from Brixton to Wembury?). Brixton is a older village whereas Wembury is a more modern creation- OK, Down Thomas isn't but Wembury village and Heybrook Bay are. Brixton hasn't gone through the same redevelopments that Wembury has in recent years. Brixton has industry and an agricultural hinterland. And so on.

This unfairness needs to be sorted out- both sides are losing out. I will campaign for Brixton to get it's own councillor once again.

http://www.boundarycommittee.org.uk/files/dms/devon-south-hams_6439-6043__E__.pdf

Bins: are they a load of rubbish?

Lots of people have been talking about the bins, and whether having them collected once a fortnight will lead to problems in the summer. Mine was definitely a bit fruity when it was warm last week! I know that a lot of people- including me- don't buy the government's line that fortnightly collections are OK, and suspect that it's a money saving thing.

I was struck by a letter in the Daily Telegraph last Saturday from the leader of Chelmsford Council, Cllr Roy Whitehead. The link is below. He argues that weekly collections are not only nicer and more hygienic, but that they encourage people to recycle more.

We're all keen on recycling for all kinds of reasons, but I think that the way that some councils approach it is not the best: I'm quite keen on having a box or really tough bag for garden waste (think of those brambles) similar to the ones people in Plymouth have, and using plastic crates for cans, bottles and paper: this would cut down on all those multi-coloured plastic bags we use in the South Hams- far more environmentally friendly.

South Hams DC has made some really good progress- ninth best in the country for recylcing and so on- but needs to look again at things. It's an ongoing thing, but I think looking at re-usable boxes is the way ahead.

And we need to get rid of those fortnightly bin collections, before we think the whole thing is a load of rubbish.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/04/21/nosplit/dt2101.xml#head2