Councillor Crosby - Mongolia comes to Bedlington

[Bill Crosby]

Hello everyone.  I hope you all had a good Christmas and can I wish you all a happy and prosperous 2018.

In December, I was pleased to learn that Stead Lane Primary School had taken delivery of their new outdoor classroom in the form of a Mongolian Yurt.  This came about after I was invited to attend a meeting of the school’s PTFA where I was asked if I would contribute to the cost of an outdoor classroom for the school.  I agreed that I would and I suggested the idea of a Yurt to the Head Teacher, Reuben Anderson, who embraced it wholeheartedly.

I have to confess, however, that it wasn’t my idea; I borrowed it from the Head of Whitley Memorial Primary School, who was thinking about purchasing one to replace the classroom that was burnt down in the summer; this was raised in a conversation Councillor Russ Wallace and I had with her when we offered to contribute to the cost of the replacement classroom and I am pleased to say that Russ also contributed towards the cost of the Yurt at Stead Lane Primary School.  I was happy to see it in situ when I attended the Christmas Fayre at the School, where I also had the honour of drawing the numbers for their Christmas raffle.

 

This momentous event was reported on BBC Look North and Radio Newcastle and I think that we can be quite proud of the fact that the only Yurt in Northumberland (so I’m reliably informed) is located at a primary School in Bedlington East for pupils to enjoy for many years to come.  I wish they’d had a yurt with a wood burner when I went to that school!  Mr Anderson deserves a great deal of credit for his initiative.

Last week I attended a full Council meeting which, for the first time, was being streamed live on social media.  This can only be a good thing and the public can now see exactly how these meetings are conducted and possibly put faces to names that they have only heard about.

Those of you that haven’t had a chance to see it can click on this link:

https://youtu.be/YMNZstfU1FA

At this meeting, a vote was required to approve the change in the Terms of Reference for the Strategic Planning Committee so that issues of strategic importance would be considered at county wide level rather than by Local Area Councils.  The Labour Party opposed this, and on this occasion I agreed with them; therefore, when they called for a named vote, both Russ and I voted with the Labour Party against the proposal.  The proposal was, however, passed by four votes.

I have read somewhere that the Independents had voted with the Conservatives on this issue so I thought I would put the record straight.

The benefit of being ‘Independent’ is that we can vote however we want  in the best interests of Bedlington.  Sometimes we may not all vote the same way but at least we can judge all issues on their merit and choose which way to vote, unlike those tied to a political party.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this blog.  Can I remind you that if you wish to contact me you can do so at: –

bill.crosby@northumberland.gov.uk or telephone 07779 983656.

I also hold a surgery on the 3^rd Thursday of the month beginning at 6pm at East Bedlington Community Centre. Why not pop along for a chat?