I understand that many of the traders in the road are planning events and this will be used as an opportunity to showcase Westcliff-on-Sea’s high street.

This does raise a couple of thoughts in my mind.

I am informed that only category one holes are dealt with at the moment. (Category one holes are those that exceed 40mm in depth.) I have no idea how many categories there are, but if 20,000 is the number in category one one can easily envisage in excess of 100,000 holes of all types across the borough. This suggests that our roads are in a shocking state; in some places that I have seen a comparison with the third world is no exaggeration.

I wonder how effective the repairs are. When we are dealing with this issue year after year one is tempted to question the efficacy of the repairs. Are we opting for the cheap and cheerful solution for a short-term saving? If we are, then those short-term savings are surely costing more in the long run.

What is true is that many roads after repair display a patchwork of grey fixes that to my eyes is most unattractive.

No local authority can avoid potholes appearing, and no councillor (surely) can resist this staple of ward newsletters. What I hope to achieve are cost-effective fixes that also satisfy aesthetic sensibilities, and maintain more than minimum safety standards. I cannot state for certain that fixes are not cost effective, but I am sure that fixes are not attractive, and that public safety is being compromised by the plethora of holes and the selective nature of their repair.

(I guess we still know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.)

The average of the last week’s polls look better for Mr Cameron, but still show his party at less than 30%.

What surprises me is that it has taken three years to get to this point. Austerity and the cuts were never going to be popular, and add in the usual mid-term blues (no pun intended) for any Government then PM could argue that his party’s support is holding up surprisingly well. Except …

A brief flowering of a fourth force in UK politics has happened before, and the aim for Ukippers is to see this maintained through 2015. The SDP and Greens have been in similar situations, the former opted for absorption, the latter remains a voice on the periphery.  If UKIP is merely soaking up chunks of the none-of-the-above vote then I do not see this translating into seats. If it is a harbinger of a genuine split on the Right then we are witnessing a massive sea change in British politics.

Labour will wish for better polling, you always want more, but there is no need for panic. Being ahead and staying ahead, especially after a disastrous General Election in 2010, shows that recovery is well and truly embedded. The Liberal Democrats will take some solace from the fact that they could be doing worse (and have in some by-elections). Whilst their vote is being squeezed hard in some places, where they are engaged in a two-horse contest with the Tories their vote is holding up.

The last decade has seen a decline in Labour support in a ward that was once seen as a target for us. Our vote share has barely moved since the General Election, in contrast to many other places, which suggests that it will take a few years to rebuild our support base.

What is also noticeable is that the backdrop of a national election does damage the Independents chances – 2010 saw a Conservative victory. 2014 will see another national election (those for the European Parliament) and Tory hopes must be that this will be enough to secure victory. There will be UKIP to factor in, if they stand here. Their sole appearance in Shoeburyness was in 2010 where they received 5.2% of the votes cast.

A Tory hold is possible, but likeliest outcome is an Independent gain here in twelve months’ time.

I have argued, long argued, that the grammar schools system in general, and in particular in Southend-on-Sea, has more to do with money that ability. Unless you believe that the poor are innately less clever, the numbers I have just received confirmed the wealth bias.

One of the measures of poverty is the receipt of free school meals. Whilst not perfect, it is sufficiently good for the numbers to be captured, and for these numbers to help frame policy.

The table below shows the numbers of pupils at each of Southend-on-Sea’s secondary schools, and the numbers of pupils recorded as taking Free School Meals (FSM).

The four grammar schools have just 6.09% of the total number of pupils who have free school meals. 93.91% of free school meals pupils go to the non-grammar schools; only one in sixteen pupils who have free school meals will attend one of the town’s grammar schools.

I cannot undo the past, but I can help shape the future. Rather than the usual over-complacent acceptance of the status quo I hope that the Conservative portfolio holder responsible for this shambles is mindful of his duty to all residents of the Borough of Southend-on-Sea.

There were many positive conversations, as well as many worried about the state of the local economy.

Where does the requirement to scoop apply?
The requirement to clear fouling applies to all land open to the air and to which the public have access including:

• Roads
• Pavements
• Footpaths
• Verges
• Walkways
• Passageways
• Parks
• Public gardens
• Recreation grounds
• Sports grounds
• Open amenity areas
• Car parks
• Beaches and promenades

For further information contact the council at:
w: www.southend.gov.uk
t: 01702 215006

I am pleased to note that the division that I helped out in had the biggest swing, and this is testament to Jerry Gibson and his hard-working team.

It does show the size of the mountain that Labour has to climb that of the 73 divisions in Essex we have only got above a fifth of the vote in fifteen of them.

Of course, all sorts of accountancy tricks are employed to make some of this spend appear as if it comes from the Magic Money Tree. Ultimately, though, it is money taken from the pockets of British taxpayers.

What possessed the ruling administration to embark on this doomed project – doomed because the damned kiosk has been barely open in its two-year existence? £623,875 would be bad enough if spent on something that was in use, it is profligate insanity to waste it on a facility that has seen the ‘closed’ sign adorn it for the majority of its miserable existence. It is an insult that this spending is set against closures to libraries and children’s centres, threats to residential care homes, and an air show once deemed economically necessary and now viewed as expendable.

Rather than opt for a basic but serviceable design our council chose to go for a folly that never lived up to the planning. Described as the Warrior Square Gardens Pavilion the silly roof never got off the ground. This flower would be blooming ridiculous if it were not so blooming expensive.

I am so angry I could cry. I can think of no better testament to the lop-sided set of priorities the Conservative administration seem to have. Our town is in need of regeneration, and needs to adopt a more business friendly face. Building a kiosk that is not on a main thoroughfare, and sees much better competition in the High Street, just goes to show how out of touch the Tories in Southend are. That they have to waste a fortune building it puts me in mind of Oliver Cromwell’s words: You have sat too long for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you.

The next set of elections cannot come too soon.

In the meantime, the kiosk (or pavilion) is up for rent – I cannot imagine that the taxpayer is going to get much of their money back. The council may even have to induce someone to take it over.

When it was explained to me that the money came from central Government (an alternate route for wasting taxpayers’ money) this little gem was included: The project was developed by Renaissance Southend and the Council took over the delivery and also contributed to the overall landscape improvements to the square.

Landscape improvements! Do they really think that what we have today is an improvement on the tranquil Victorian gardens we had before? Good grief …..

(Subject to full council endorsement this Thursday) I will be on the Place scrutiny committee.

I will also sit on the following committees: General purposes, Licensing, and Audit.

I will be on the following working parties: Conservation, Pier and foreshore, Public transport and buses, Traffic and parking, and Waste management.

I will not be on any outside bodies.