At last the number 11 bus petition has been sent off to its two final destinations. On Tuesday I hand delivered a copy for Jim Harker, Conservative leader of the County Council to County Hall. I enclosed a letter pleading that he and his colleagues show some compassion for the elderly, disabled and car-less of Links View, and find it in their hearts to subsidise this bus route. Today I delivered the same petition to the Transport manager, and all the company directors of Country Lion. Another pleading letter was enclosed. In all, 107 people signed the petition. We’ll wait and see shall we?

A re-think and change of plan has taken place since my last post. Having consulted with various colleagues, it has been pointed out to me that One way systems in fact encourage speeding. Councillor Richard Church is in the process of arranging a public meeting to debate potential possible actions. As soon as a date has been decided upon we will inform local residents.

Yesterday Brian Hoare and myself were out speaking with residents of Broadway in Phippsville. It is a narrow road, with buses travelling in both directions. A great many people would be in favour of a one way system being introduced. There have been several accidents in the past – some quite serious. Several residents expressed concern about the safety of school children who get dropped off at a nearby primary school. We will be delivering a street letter within a few weeks time, with a petition attached for all of those in favour of a one way system being introduced. This will be presented to the County council, who are in charge of highways.

A number of residents in Byron street have complained to us about the service they are getting from Enterprise – the waste disposal and recycling company that now operates in Northampton. Recycling boxes often get lost as they are hurled haphazardly back onto the pavement once emptied. Rubbish gets spilt out onto the road and left there where it is unsightly and a nuisance. I have been in contact with NBC who have said that they will be looking into it.

As of the arrival of the postman yesterday morning, we have now received a total of 100 signatures for the bus petition. The remaining few Focus are being delivered, and I am very much hoping that this number will continue to increase steadily. If you have a Focus at home and have not yet signed the petition please do so. I will keep you up to date with this shortly.

Former councillor Andrew Simpson and myself can be found most Saturday afternoons in Kingsley, knocking on doors, handing out surveys and finding out what the issues are in general. A week does not go past without someone bemoaning the darkness of their street at night. Several people have hurt themselves tripping over recycling boxes that have been left out overnight because they were unable to see them. Others have stepped in dog dirt. One woman complained to me that she simply cannot see to put her key in the lock at night. The Liberal Democrats are continuing to shout into the deaf ears of the Tory administration on the County Council. Perhaps one day they will hear us.

Those of you living in Links View, parts of Kingsley and Poets corner will be finding a Focus on the door mat within the next few weeks. This Focus contains a petition which is to go out to The Country Lion bus company, and the County Council. Our campaign aims to bring a decent bus service to the people of Links View, many of whom are elderly, disabled in some way, or car-less. Please sign this petition, whether it affects you or not. It addresses an issue of basic human rights.

Over the last couple of months I have been knocking on doors all over Kingsley division. Far and wide from St. George’s Place to Oliver street, people have been complaining about neighbours putting their rubbish and recycling bins out on the incorrect day. Some residents report black bags being put out as much as six days in advance. This kind of thing invariably causes a lot of mess on the streets. Help is at hand in the form of your local environment warden who will investigate. First you must phone the borough council on 837837. They will pass the information on to the appropriate warden who will come out and investigate. If they are able to discover who the guilty party is they will issue warnings and if necessary fines.

For some months now I have been hearing from concerned residents about the risk of flooding to their properties. The source of the problem seem to be the ponds in Bradlaugh fields that sit at the back of Fulford Drive. Various houses seem to have been affected over the years, many on Greenview Drive. Several people have told me that the problem first arose when an Anglian water pipe suffered damage and was then left to leak.

County Councillor Richard Church has been pressuring the NBC to deal with this matter, and finally we have had a reply from the Regeneration and Development department. Within the next seven days a slit trench is to be created, and the water diverted. The build up of silt and tree debris from the outlet grille in the pond is also to be cleared. An annual inspection and maintenance activity has been ordered.

The Kingsley Focus team have received many complaints lately about the scarcity of reliable bus services. Since the roadworks at Kingsthorpe are now pretty much completed I would imagine that more buses are now running closer to schedule; still, however, there are just not enough of them, and going to the places where they are needed. I have seen elderly people carrying heavy bags of groceries up steep hills towards home. All the bus services in Northampton are now run by private companies and are not the direct responsibility of the council. This year the Conservative run County council cut the limited subsidies they gave to bus services, meaning virtually all bus services operate to run on a commercial profit. Liberal Democrat councillors opposed this cut, but it has gone ahead nevertheless. Sadly this means that the council now has very little opportunity to tackle the problems raised.