In 2005 as our General election candidate I increased the LibDem vote locally by 4.7% and I seriously believe that this will further increase next time. I am constantly asked what motivates me to be in the public eye all of the time. Well the answer is simple I believe our 2 Towns deserve better and are crying out for a new direction. Like many of you I have lived my entire life in this area and care deeply about its many varied communities and I get angry when I see the policies of the Conservatives locally and Labour nationally consistently fail the resident’s of this area. I get even more fiercely defensive of our area when they are the butt of jokes by many comedians. Our area has failed to thrive in my lifetime and realise its full potential it has consistently been let down by Conservatives for as long as anyone can remember.  If I was paid £5 for every time someone said to me the Conservatives always win here and always will I would be a very rich man now.  So why am I prepared to stick my neck on the line time after time well that’s simple too OUR TOWNS’ AND COUNTRY DESERVE BETTER AND ITS TIME FOR A SEA-CHANGE IN NATIONAL POLITICS!During our recent leadership election campaign I supported Nick Clegg and I am absolutely ecstatic that he is now our leader. Nick and I share the same vision for our country  we are the same age both have passion and care deeply about the state of politics in our country today and we are both essentially Liberal to the core.

Britain is a Liberal Country and so are the Towns of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton as the only prospective candidate who can challenge the Conservative arrogance in this area it falls upon me to take the Liberal Democrat message to every corner of our community. Over the next few months I will be doing that highlighting here and on our local party website my position on many crucial local issues and my vision for the future of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. I will be taking to the streets campaigning on the big issues but also talking to as many of you as possible on the doorstep I want to give you a serious alternative to another Conservative MP I want to make your MESSAGE FOR THE FUTURE MY MESSAGE I WANT TO DELIVER THAT SEA CHANGE ALTERNATIVE AND TAKE THIS AREA BY STORM! 

In the past on site 6 Bersted Parish Council under my chairmanship took developers and Arun District Head on to argue the case against development on this site. We succesfully applied to the high court to get this site quashed and removed from the local plan only to be let down by the Labour Secretary of State who finally gave planning permission for the site.

My concern is the the New Parish Council has not yet woken up to the danger that lies ahead. I constantly warned that if planning permission for site 6 was granted then all greenfields in Bersted would be at risk of development. With potential allocations within the North West Bersted area they need to have their eye on the ball at all times. Sadly when it came to setting a budget for next year only a small amount was allocated for professional fees to look into these matters. There now seems to be a hardcore who seem to want to cut costs to the taxpayer even though this can be measured in pence to the individual than looking ahead and meet the challenges that will shape the community for decades to come. I can only hope in the long term they will rise to the challenge again.

During the next few months construction work will begin on Policy Site 6 with the planning applications for both elements now live and available for public comment. A decision will be made by the Development Control committee on the 23rd Jan and fortunately I am a member of the committee. I am also part of the Site 6 Advisory Group which is able to make pre application comments and will aslo make sure that the development is done to the highest standards. As I said when re-elected last year my main role now is to see that developers deliver on their infrastructure proposals and make sure the relief road is built as early as possible.

 I still remained concerned about possible flooding to the exsisting houses in Chichester Road and North Bersted Street and have made sure the Advisory Group has met with Southern Water to ensure that they upgrade the current sewage system to modern day standards. They came to see us in December and are due to come back to us in January with an update on proposals and to answer the many technical questions that I and others raised.

Bersted Parish Council has now submitted an outline management plan for the community centre on the site 6 estate. This is still at the very early stages but none the less is a very vital clogg for community integration over the next few years. I am still of the opinion that by setting up a trust and delivering the services from the centre on behalf of Bersted Parish Council is the best way ahead. That way we are in a position of influence on what is happening within the community and ideally placed to pick up and deal with any underlying problems.

Looking to the long term future Arun District Council will be moving forwards on the Local Development Framework. This work was put on hold last year due to the inspectors report on the South East Plan where it is proposed that an extra 2,000 houses in Arun have to be accomodated within the plan. However in Bersted we need to be very vigilant as one of the areas of seach puts Chalcraft Lane firmly in the picture for development including over possible fields in Bersted. I am on the LDF sub Committee and hopefully ideally placed to speak up on behalf of local residents. Last Year the figure being muted was 1500 houses this figure could well increase if the Secretary of State accepts the extra 2,000 houses or indeed increases it further. My main concern for this site along with many others is the historic ground water problems in this area. there is a major study being carried out on this at the moment and a strategic flood assesment report is due to the committee in the near future. I will in due course keep residents up to date on these findings once they are availiable to the public.

Congratulations to Nick Clegg on being elected leader of the Liberal Democrats. His acceptance speech was quite outstanding for a new leader and really went to the heart of the problems facing Britain today. I am particularly pleased that his main area of concern is to tackle social mobility when residents here in Bersted and Bognor Regis and Littlehampton are facing high levels of deprivation on a daily basis.

Well I have to admit with poll ratings on 23% in the Guardian last weekend something must be happening. Vince Cable has been superb over Northern Rock,the Queen’s speech and a whole load of other issues. OK to be fair alot of this has played to his main strength on the economy. but his principled stand on not going to the state banquet in honour of the Saudi King has won many friends too.

 But hey this week at question time was the best of the lot when he said that in the space of week we had witnessed Gordon brown changing from Stalin to MR BEAN. WELL ONE THINGS FOR SURE THAT COMMENT AND MR BEAN WILL STICK FOR YEARS TO COME. Well done Vince keep up the good work to think a few years younger than Ming and suddenly his age is not any issue

There are currently 2 planning applications that are live for the Bersted area on the policy site 6 site. If you want to make any comment or look at the drawings please contact Arun District Council or Bersted Parish Council where they will be happy to advise. These applications are very important and represent one of the last chances members of the public will have to influence development on this site. I make no comment as to the merit of these application as i am a member of the Development Control Committee who will ultimately make the final decision.

A weeks along time in politics Harold Wilson once said the last 6 weeks must seem like a lifetime for Gordon Brown. Having got rid of the cash for peerages scandal you would of thought the labour party would of put their own house in order. Not so we now have the remarkable story running of 3rd party donations where a wealthy doner keeps his name out of the spotlight and uses employees and friends to make his donation for him.

Whats more Gordon did not know until last Saturday then tried to leave his deputy Ms harman to shoulder the blame. Not a good move Gord she threw straight back to him. Party political funding in this country stinks and is ripe for misuse. Its time to clear up this mess once and for all. A limit of say £1,000 per year by any one individual and proper funding by the state of political parties should be the starting point. Whilst we are at it why not clean up the whole corrupt system introduce proportional representation in time for the next election and elect the House of Lords by PR and no nominations. This is truly radical and would start to clean up the mess but of cause Gord is too cagey to take up the challenge when he knows the current system still dispproportionately favours Labour.

Well we moan about our rights as individuals but at least ours are protected. A teacher from this country in Sudan is disgracefully sentenced to 15 days in prison for allowing her class to name a teddy Mohammed. Well that may well be the name of the Muslim prophet so what you say but out there they are calling for her execution. Its unbelievable lets hope government intervention and common sense prevail and she is relased early and allowed to return home.

 I feel sorry for the children she was teaching who no doubt had a more rounded and happy education thanks to her skills and kindness. She went there to help and improve things as a caring individual and ended up a political pawn. Thank god I live in England.

Well it would appear for now at least the Tories at county are listening. They have delayed a decision on doing their own thing on devolution until February giving enough time for the current committees to meet and make coment. Personally I think they are paying lip service to local members so that they can say they have consulted before going ahead with their own local committees. I believe that this all part of a hidden agenda to promote Cpounty longer term as a potential unitary authority under a future Tory government.

Well the rhetoric behind Cameron’s crusade to bring power back to local people is proving to be just that. Local Tory Councillors at Arun are pushing further powers to the Joint Western Area Committee and allowing all 3 tiers of local government to vote on issues that affect the daily life of local residents. However at West Sussex County Council the Tories have thrown the toys out of the pram and propose to set up their own local committees for just County Councillors to make local decisions at County Level.

 JWAC was working well with proper grassroots input to the process and some very lively discussions. However I think the last two were possibly more lively than they can take. Frank open dicussion and the possibility of losing control of the situation clearly does not appeal to them despite all those sitting around the table holding an elected mandate in one form or another. The way forward for local government in this area is supposedly for closer working between the different tiers some hope when Tory councillors can not agree amongst themselves at different tiers.

 I find their attitude disappointing and not within the spirit of partnership working. I will be over the next few weeks be making my feelings clear and to both Arun and West Sussex.