For me, things have changed significantly in the last week. I have moved from being the Executive Member for Active Travel Transport and Highways, (ATT&H) to Executive Member for Planning and Enforcement. Whether this will change the numbers of e-mails arriving in my inbox each day remains to be seen!
The ATT&H team gave me excellent advice and support during my tenure, for which I would like to publicly thank them. I am sure that they will continue to do so for my successor, Adrian Betteridge.
My final Council meeting as Exec member ATT&H had the usual range of questions on highways matters and one on a subject that is a long time hobby interest of mine, rail services. The Borough has an interesting mix of rail routes and services. Using these as effectively as possible can help our aims to improve overall transport for all users. By reducing congestion and reducing the environmental impacts of transport, we can improve the quality of life in our Borough. It is worth reminding ourselves that this isn’t just about emissions of exhaust gases and dust. It can include other aspects, such as the noise impact, particularly the intrusive noise of vehicles at speed. I was reminded of this when attending the Forest of Imagination event at Dinton Pastures. The road noise was actually enough to drown out speech and that of overflying aircraft departing Heathrow.
In the chamber last week our most significant item was the revised constitution. To review the old constitution, with all the ad hoc additions and amendments added over the years and turn it into an easy to use and coherent document was a significant task. This new document was accepted and will form the basis for future amendments and additions as a “living document”,
In my new role as Exec Member for Planning and Enforcement, I will be meeting with the Officers. This gives me the opportunity to establish strong relationships with the team that do the hard work behind the scenes and who provide me with advice, guidance and answers to ensure that the planning responsibilities that the Borough has are discharged correctly. It will be a steep learning curve and one I am looking forward to learning. I will report back on my experience in this new area of responsibility in a future article.
By Cllr Martin Alder
