Now I want to make it quite clear I'm not short of something to do!

At this time of year it's good to plan ahead for winter and I'm sourcing wood fuel from here and there  so the Dunsley Yorkshire boiler can be providing us with central heating and hot water through the winter months. One of the key issues is making sure your wood is well seasoned  which means as low  a moisture content as possible. Ideally chopped and split logs should be left for up to 2 years. Seasoned wood tends to have radial cracks coming from the centre. So I've been experimenting with ways to speed up the process

The first step is to weigh your original log

then put the weights of logs and date of measurement

Using the power of reliable English sunshine under a cloche I now speed dry out the logs

I'll see after a week or two if its helped speed up the drying process and reweigh the logs. If all goes according to plan on the log front (my whacky experiments not withstanding) we should be toasty for the winter. Here's a vid from the 'Ice Age' winter of 2010/11

Green Party Leadership Elections - Why I voted for Peter Cranie.

The Green Party leadership campaign is in full swing and we will soon be choosing the 2nd Leader (and Deputy Leader of the Green Party). Ballot papers are out and we'll know next month who will be the public face of the Green Party. In reality we are expecting Caroline Lucas as our sole Westminister representative to remain a  key 'go to Green' for the media, but our new Leader and Deputy will still have a significant profile and media role.

The contest has been pretty good humoured and the leadership candidates have all conducted themselves well through the process. Many activists have had an opportunity to form informed views of the candidates style and abilities. Politically there is very little between them even though some lay claim to 'unique' positions. In reality when you look at what they're saying their uniqueness is the language they use and the particular badges they choose to wear when seeking to attract a particular constituency of support.

The real differences between leadership candidates is in the tone that they use and in how accessible their approach will make them to the wider public. We should not appear to be so strident that we could almost be speaking a foreign language to many electors and even to many members of the the Green Party. As a Party we can be earnest, intelligent and worthy but if we appear to lack the common touch and a sense of humour we will fail to resonate with the wider electorate. Our strength is when we are down there with the people, standing shoulder to shoulder with them in difficult times and doing it with confidence and a smile, in the sure and certain knowledge that we are on the side of the angels. If you have gone through difficult times it gives your words an undeniable authenticity and from that you gain the natural authority that a Leader needs. It is this approach that will give us the confidence we need to give others hope, to show them another path which puts people and planet before the political establishment and profit.

The Green Party was originally called 'People' even before it was the 'Ecology Party'. We have got to show that we are the 'People's Party' because such a poltical force is so desperately needed . That is why I have voted for Peter Cranie.

PRESS RELEASE 'Right to buy? Wrong to sell!' say Greens

The Green Party today condemned the Lib Dem/Conservative Coalition for subsidising and promoting the sale of valuable council housing through the 'Right to Buy' mechanism.

"At a time when public money is being made scarce by the government it beggars belief that the Coalition are increasing the subsidy on the sale of Council Housing to up to £75000. At a time when we need more social housing to give people an option to have an affordable home to rent it is crazy that we are selling off into private ownership much valued public assets." Said Councillor Andrew Cooper , Chair of the Association of Green Councillors

"What is bizarre is that the government supposedly believes in 'choice' in education and in the provision of health care. Though the Green Party does not share the coalitions enthusiasm for the privatisation of health and education it would at least be consistent if they also promoted choice in tenure of housing. The coalition seems to believe that owner occupation or private renting are the only options that should be available to households. One of the fundamental lessons the economic crisis we are facing should teach us is that saddling households with years of mortgage debt they cannot afford is nonsensical" , said Councillor Cooper

The Greens also accused the Coalition of hypocrisy by spending public money on a 'national helpline' for providing information about the sale of council houses when that service is already provided by Councils. "This is a duplication of an existing function and another waste of public money by a government that is imposing austerity on the public sector."

Councillor Cooper also highlighted the possibility of abuse of the Right to Buy mechanism for personal gain by

"The sale of council housing has been and is open to widescale abuse with relatives of tenants and unscrupulous individuals seeking to purchase council houses through the tenants 'by the back door'. These can then be sold on at a profit and therefore at the expense of the public purse," said Councillor Cooper

Huddersfield Examiner Article - Dangerous BT Pole to be moved

Kirklees councillors Phil Scott and Andrew Cooper joined forces to have the pole on Ashes Lane moved.

And after BT carried out an investigation, they agreed to move it to an alternative position.

The spot, which is just below Castle Hill, currently has a floral tribute dedicated to Mrs Diane Lodge, 53, who died on the road last December.

Although there was a concern that the telegraph pole may have caused Mrs Lodge to veer out, it was rejected at her inquest last month.

Almondbury Liberal Democrat Clr Phil Scott said: “I am delighted at the news from BT who have taken on board the views of the local residents, myself and Clr Cooper.

“We have been successful in our fight to prove to BT that the pole, in its current location is in a stupid place.

“It’s location was causing an unnecessary obstruction, which could lead to a serious accident.”

The pole had raise concern among residents from both councillors’ wards, who claimed it “narrowed the road.”

Some claimed they had smashed their wing mirrors on the pole and had come dangerously close to an accident.

Newsome Green Party and Valley Independent Clr Cooper said: “I think it certainly makes more sense to move the pole to a nearby field – which is owned by the council.

“We have worked closely with BT to identify an alternative position, which is more suitable for everyone.”

Labour's Election Expenses for Newsome Ward 2012

When people think about politicians and expenses they often think about duckhouses and dodgy expenses claims. Election expenses are different, they are about how much political parties are legally allowed to spend on local elections. The legal spending limit is based on a base amount and an amount per elector. In Newsome this equated to a spend limit of around £1300. The idea is that a political party can't effectively 'buy an election' by outclassing their opponent with flashy literature and paid support. During the election campaign in Newsome we became increasingly aware of the amount of colour literature being produced by Labour. We had a full colour A2 leaflet, An A4 full colour leaflet, a colour prepoll leaflet, a colour polling day card, student letters, postal voter letters, letters to asian householders (full of misinformation), a colour leaflet for Council tenants, posters. I strongly suspect the people putting posterboards up were paid, at least they said they were when I asked them!

So I went to the Elections Office last week to get a copy of the election expense return for the Newsome Labour Candidate intrigued to know what they had put down as their expenses because we were absolutely sure they must have completely blown their legal limit.  What was interesting in the document was the total lack of detail. Their (friendly?) printer was Sheaf Graphics of Sheffield (the Labour Party's usual printer and provider of receipts). Leaflets on the form said a straight £1095 which was supposed to cover all their printing supplied. On the breakdown of all their printing it states:

• Election addresses (2 sorts) - £740
• Pre-poll cards - £140
• Letters - £120
• Posters - £95

There was no specified number of leaflets that were produced but it is clear that the number of different items  Labour distributed was not reflected in the information provided on the election expenses submission and their leaflets are extremely cheap according to their receipt.

The official election agent for the Labour campaign was Sheikh Noor Ullah but it is well known that the real manager of their campaign was one Mehboob Khan, Leader of Kirklees Council.

Tory Zombie Posterboard in Brockholes

Still up there past its useful life!

Kirklees Libraries - Labour not brought to book!

Where do I begin with last Wednesday's Full Council meeting? Well we learnt that it appears the Conservatives support for Labour at the Annual Council meeting wasn't a one off and that they are intent on propping up Mehboob Khan's administration.The debate on the Lib Dem amendment on the Council budget rollover report demonstrated this new alliance between the supposed adversaries.

The Council had significant underspends of several million on its budgets for 2011/12 on both the Capital and Revenue side. This gave an opportunity to use some of these funds to support threatened services and develop new projects. The  amendment, which was supported by the 8 Green Party and Valley Independent Group Councillors, proposed secure funding of the Library service for the next four years at its current level. This would have protected the staffing of the 7 village libraries currently under threat including Shepley Library which is in the Kirkburton Ward.This gave the combined 'opposition' Councillors an opportunity to outvote the Labour minority administration and save the library service from likely cuts in provision. When it came to the vote the Conservatives voted with Labour against the amendment. So what arguments were used against the amendment by Labour and Conservatives? One argument was that there would be no certainty for the Library service after 4 years. This argument was interesting on a number of levels. For one thing it was an implicit acceptance by Labour that if their Party came to power following the next General Election that there would be no assumed change in government support to Councils and that Labour would continue to follow Coalition spending priorities. Also the Conservatives like all Parties know that we don't plan budgets more than 4 years ahead anyway so it would be consistent with how we currently approach Kirklees budgets. Council Leader Mehboob Khan's oft quoted position is that the libraries are not under threat anyway. Unfortunatelty this is the usual, (and by I guess automatic) attempt to mislead by our glorious Leader. Why the review of 7 libraries if there is no threat? Why did Council officers advise the sum of 1.3 million to the Lib Dems to maintain the service at its current levels if there are no assumed cuts to the services?

So why are the Conservatives propping Labour up? Well they were given several committee Chairs (and the allowances which go with these) at the Annual Council meeting in return for supporting Mehboob remaining Leader. My comment at Council was along the lines of  "The Conservatives have few virtues but one is that when they are bought they stay bought". I think it probably has as much to do with the fact that certain (but not all) Conservative Councillors who would rather walk over hot coals than be on the same side as the Greens. I find it strange and bizarre that such a destructive and partisan approach prevents our communities getting the best outcomes and in this case a secure Library service.

If it's raining and there's nothing on the telly you can watch the rerun of the Council Webcast here:

http://www.kirklees.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/82293

 
We definitely missed Huddersfield Examiner coverage and comment on the meeting and particulalry Mr Barry Gibson's take on events. I guess everyone needs some time off!