Incinerator contract signed just a few days beore election

Seems strange that the County Council have rushed through, and signed a contract for the controversial Calvert incinerator just days before the election. Could it be that the cabinet member, Steven Adams thought he should push the decision through just in case he does not regain power?

I would have thought the fair thing to do would been to leave ths matter to the incoming administration.

Peter Cooper 23 April 2013

The County Council press release reads as follows;

Energy from waste contract signed

Date: 22-04-2013

Buckinghamshire County Council has signed a contract with FCC Environment to build and operate an Energy from Waste plant in Greatmoor, north Buckinghamshire.

The facility will convert 300,000 tonnes of waste a year—that cannot be recycled—into enough energy to power up to 36,000 homes. It will also create around 300 temporary jobs during the construction phase, 64 permanent jobs and 31 further jobs in the supply chain.

The 30-year contract will be funded through an innovative use of construction-only finance and prudential borrowing.

Neil Gibson, Strategic Director for Communities and Built Environment, said: “Both the Council and FCC Environment have worked very hard to reach this stage and ensure that Buckinghamshire’s waste will be managed more sustainably in the future. The Energy from Waste facility will not only divert substantial amounts of waste from landfill but it will also be saving our council tax payers over £150 million over the life of the contract. We are very excited to be working with FCC Environment to deliver this.”

Steven Adams, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “The Buckinghamshire County Council Energy from Waste project is another example of this council working to protect this county’s natural environment, keep council tax bills low and protect investment in other critical frontline services by being innovative and bold. This exciting project is an exemplar of local government at its best.”

The County Council named FCC Environment as its preferred bidder for the residual waste treatment contract in 2011, and the Cabinet awarded the contract last July (2012).

FCC Environment Chief Executive Paul Taylor said: “We are delighted to have reached this important milestone with Buckinghamshire County Council, and are looking forward now to delivering the facilities and an integrated service that the county can be proud of."

Construction of the plant is anticipated to start later this year.

Canvassing in the Bucks County Election - My doorstep experiences

The messages I am receiving from voters as I tour the communities of the Wing division are interesting and encouraging. Its clear that the vast majority have had enough of the politcal bickering that is a feature of the daily media coverage and is the basis of party political literature. The negative banter that some candidates are sharing on Twitter is also being dismissed as irrelevant.

I suspect this will be an election in which voters will make their choice by the quality of the candidate rather than the colour of their rosette. This must be a sensible approach and one which might bring debate and common sense back to the council chamber.

Peter Cooper - Independent candidate for the Wing division
18 April 2013

Superfast Broadband. Peter Cooper's update

Tenders for work to bring enhanced broadband to parts of Bucks with low speeds or no connection close at the end of next week and cable laying should start before the end of 2013.

The search to select a company to lay the cables started in February and the deadline for bidders to get their tenders in is on Friday April 19.

A contract is expected to be awarded by the end of May.

Suppliers were formally invited in February to submit tenders for work to reach around 62,000 homes and businesses in Buckinghamshire with broadband speeds of 30 megabits per second (Mbps) or more.

Bidders had to show how they would reach homes that currently have low speed or no broadband, demonstrate the technologies they would use, and say how they would phase delivery.

The contract will mark a major step forward for the partnership initiative between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire County Councils, the Government and the private sector to feed high speed broadband to more than 118,000 homes and businesses in the two counties.

The initiative, with anticipated funding of around £16 million, should start laying cables before the end of the year.

Neil Gibson, Buckinghamshire County Council’s strategic director for communities and built environment, said: ‘High speed broadband is one of the greatest drivers of economic growth and creation of jobs. In Buckinghamshire we have one of the highest rates of business starts in the country, and we must keep driving forward with our broadband plans to support our small firms and residents in rural areas.’

Current data suggests that 28% of the 220,234 premises in Buckinghamshire will not have a high speed broadband connection by 2015, based on supplier rollout programmes.

Of these, 60% are in Aylesbury Vale district, 22% in Wycombe district, and 9% in each of South Bucks and Chiltern districts. It should therefore be expected that Aylesbury Vale will get priority over over other parts of  Buckinghamshire. This is one of  Independent candidate Peter Cooper's  (Wing Division) planned targets if elected at the County election on 2nd May.

Funding for the scheme comes from Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire County Councils (£3.11m), Local Enterprise Partnerships in both counties (£2.2m), and the government (£4.15m).

The bidding process means the successful supplier will be expected to contribute upwards of a third of the scheme’s finance.

Technologies available include fibre cable, enhanced copper cable, and wireless.

B

​CLICK HERE to see Bucks Free Press readers poll result​

Buckinghamshire is currently managed by 5 separate authorities, the County Council and the 4 district councils. This means that there are 5 sets of costly office buildings, 5 sets of administration and overheads and 5 sets of councillors. Believe it or not, there are no less than 256 elected council members in Buckinghamshire, not far off half the number of MPs in parliament!

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Tradition and vested interests are largely to blame for Buckinghamshire being governed by this out of date system. Elsewhere in England 56 areas now have unitary status and in Wales, all the local authorities are unitary.

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Recent experience in Wiltshire as reported by Lord Heseltine is a good example of the benefits waiting for Buckinghamshire. This is what he said:

“The transitional costs of creating the unitary Wiltshire Council were £18 million. This compares to a saving of a total £68 million between 2009 and 2013. Back office costs now only comprise 9 percent of Wiltshire Council’s budget as opposed to 19 percent for its predecessor bodies. The new authority has achieved procurement savings of £36 million through increased buying power and stronger market position. Wiltshire Council has found that customers find accessing its services considerably easier with much less confusion about who is responsible for what. The council is also now in a much stronger position to support economic growth and improve the future prospects of residents and businesses.”

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The next chance for Bucks to apply for unitary status will not come until after the general election, by which time the ground work for this reorganisation must be in place. I will campaign tirelessly for the unitary principle and the benefits it will bring.

Watermead under threat

Good news the secretary of state has insisted that the Hallam Land application for 1560 houses between Watermead and Bierton should pass through the AVDC planning ststem, and not go directly to appeal. I hope that AVDC development control committee will reject the application.

Pity they didn't do that with the East of Aylesbury applicaion that was approved and will soon destroy the integretity of Bierton!

It remains likely however, that Hallam will take the District Council rejection to appeal,  and this is were the real fight will start. The local campaign, which is being well organised by Watermead Parish Council, will need active support from the elected District Councillor and the new County Councillor to be elected on 2nd May.

Whether or not elected to the County Council I will fight this application at District level. If elected to the County I will be able to effectively take on the highways aspects which will be critical to Watermead, all routes in and out of north Aylesbury and the growth of rat-runs in the nearby rural villages.

Stopping this opportunistic development and those at Fleet Marston and Hampden Fields will be critical to the future of Aylesbury Town and the whole area.

Any comments on this subject would be welcome.

Peter Cooper - 8 April 2013

Campaign news Saturday 6th April

Finally the weather as been great for campaigning. People are out in their gardens and everyone I've seen today was smiling. It's been interesting to see what's on people's minds. The uncontrolled expansion of Aylesbury and the effect this will have on local roads is a major concern as is the trend for the old school Tory councillors from south Bucks to dump unwanted developments in the north. The Calvert incinerator continues to annoy many!

I will continue to visit front doors throughout the Wing division and look forward to speaking to as many people as possible. If you want to make contact with me please leave a comment at the end of this post or use the following contacts.

Peter Cooper 07860 258833
Email peter@cllrpetercooper.info

Bucks County Council Election - 2nd May 2013

Bucks County Election 2nd May 2013 - Independent candidate Peter Cooper

The election has been called today. I will be standing for election to the Wing Division as an Independent candidate.

Following the recent boundary changes the Wing division no longer includes Mentmore or North Marston parishes but instead takes in Waterermead and Buckingham Park. The full list of communities in the division is:

Aston Abbotts

Buckingham Park

Burcott

Cublington

Hardwick

Rowsham

Weedon

Whitchurchwing

Wingrave

As an Independent councillor, I will represent the views of the people of the communities in the division. I will be free from the constaints of being a political party member and will work entirely in the interests of my constituents. More posts will be added to ths blog as the campaign develops. In the meantime if you wish to make contact, press the CONTACT ME button at the top right of this page.