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Local politics with The Albion Party.
Credit crunch time the good news is with property prices falling over the last few months they are still 60% higher than 10 years ago. Let this event be a wake up call for another looming economic time bomb, climate change. The days for economic growth are doomed. An Albion government would use this opportunity to readjust our investments and our finances in order to cap climate change.
Shrewsbury’s continued prosperity, hinges on how well we meet the challenge of this belt tightening period.
Parking is an urgent issue; priority is needed to get shoppers in to town easily. and swiftly if all the empty shops are to be filled. To much development of railway land is going for houses before improving road access and parking for the station, including the town centre. The station could have potential of being an important transport hub with 5 rail routes. Prosperity hinges on sorting it all out .This must be a number one item for the new Shropshire council 2009, with reducing business rates through rationalization of the council’s operations. 39 million savings could be made on 2 capitol expenses the north west relief road and co education project by cancelling them for restoration of the Newport Shrewsbury and Montgomery canals. What will the new council do with aprox 50 million cash? Albion Party would allow Shropshire to have its own currency (good for stimulating trade) and create a Shropshire building society specialising in mortgages for first time buyers on low incomes living in rural areas. This service could be run through post offices as with other council services e.g. paying rates fines etc

Credit crunch for council

Should we say no to Northwest relief road £100 million?
No to the Sixth form college/London road college amalgamation £65 million?
These two projects total £165 million.

Should we say yes to Shrewsbury Newport canal £65million?
Montgomeryshire canal £35 million?
These two projects total £100 million

Savings of £65 million help reduce council tax, lower CO2, sustainable prosperity.

I say no to the 6th form college move and primary school closure.
No doubt most of you will have heard the head masters of the 6th form college and London Road plus Counsellor Tandy on radio Shropshire justifying these plans in the interest of offering better facilities to educate our future young children in the interests of business.

What is our MP’s political views? He is in favour of 1 large campus on the London Road site and at the end of the day Primary school closures. With public uproar he would appear to be against the 6th form move and school closures. By doing a good job of representing the electorate by stating their case, he hopes to gain their votes in a general election. How does he believe the Council will balance the books? Increase taxes like Capital Gains tax and/or Business rates? The move and closures will happen eventually by political stealth.

The education of children will only be safe in the hands of the Albion Party. The council should balance the books by reducing the spend on Health and transferring it to Education. The most important years of children’s education is from birth till approximately 12 years old. It is vitally important that society gets this right. New flashy buildings don’t deliver well educated children. Teachers are by far the most important ingredient. Fun, excitement and stimulation are good ways of stretching child ability, with tests at appropriate stages, not to suit boxes for statistics.

When the heads and governors of the schools decided on the move why wasn’t the carbon footprint considered? Was any consideration given to the change that this move would create in the carbon footprint? Isn’t climate change an important issue for future generations?

The London Road infrastructure will not cope with the increase in students it will be like the fiasco of the new football stadium on match days, but 5 days a week and 36 weeks a year.

My vision for Shropshire education is to abolish this sausages style manufacturing of education that the main political party’s are signed up to. League tables are not much use to small businesses if the by product of this education scheme is that most students are stressed out and need fags, alcohol, drugs and fast food to cope with a days work. Small businesses need well balanced educated pupils who understand food and nutrition, the costs/dangers of fags, alcohol and drugs to health and/or premature death. Coping with the emotions of sexual stimulation for pleasure or creating another human, the pros and cons of parenting. Pupils need to understand English and its structure. In a globalised world and a multinational country this is a must. Small businesses are suffering through lack of interpreters due to pupils lacking English skills. An educational system that can deliver this for small businesses will mean that they will be able to develop careers for these pupils.

A reflection on history would not be a miss.
In the heat of the Industrial revolution and the mania for material prosperity created changes so speedily that society could not cope. This caused the Wesley brothers not break away from the Church of England in order to create sanity within society. Then Doctor Brooks was so alarmed by ill health, through poor working conditions and a lack of exercise, he reinvigorate the concept of the Olympic Games to promote well being. My vision for Shropshire is to invigorate good eating and sport in order to save money on the Health budget for education.

Finally
The government are planning metal detectors for schools. I am against this move as it sends out totally the wrong message for schools, and is mainly a cover up for poorly run schools. Any head who has his pulse on running a school should not have a problem. Heads who feel they have a problem, they are either in a position for which they lack experience and/or qualifications or need to be trained with extra skills.