Over the past month I have become increasingly dismayed at the tactics being used by leading members of Pendle’s Labour Party to smear and discredit the name of Pendle’s Prospective Conservative MP, Andrew Stephenson.  I believe certain people involved in Pendle politics are attempting to achieve their objectives by whatever means, whether they be fair or otherwise.  Mr Stephenson is a friend and colleague, all he has sought to do since he became Pendle Conservatives’ Parliamentary Spokesman is to present an open and honest record of what both he and the local Conservative Party have been doing to help the people of Pendle.  Our opponents are now attempting to use whatever tactics they are able to muster in order to discredit Andrew’s campaign to build a better Pendle, sadly, this has much to do with the meeting which decided the control of Pendle Borough Council.  The basis of the attacks is founded on the fact that certain councillors were denied access to the levers of power, they can’t handle what happened and are playing the sort of petty politics we have sadly become accustomed to in Pendle over recent years.  Please, ladies and gentlemen, can we go back to acting in the interests of the people who elected us, and not resort to this?  Is it too much to ask?

On 2nd July, I attended a meeting of Nelson Town Council.  Further discussions took place regarding the work the council will do on behalf of the citizens of Nelson.  We agreed that a further meeting of the working party would take place at the end of July, and that the task of recruiting a temporary Town Clerk is now underway.  During the first year, the Town Council will seek to establish itself and its means of operation, along with its organisational structure and setting a budget.  At the next meeting of the working party, it is hoped that decisions will have been taken on structural issues and the initial agenda for our work to benefit the town will also be fleshed-out.  At present we are very much a “work in progress” as an organisation, but as time goes along, the council will be up and running and working to improve life for the people of Nelson.

As a daily public transport user, I am very pleased to see the new public transport interchange taking shape in Nelson.  This will mark a step change in the travel experience of both bus and rail passengers arriving in or leaving Nelson.  A move I particulary welcome is the return of a rail ticketing facility to Nelson, something we have not seen for some fifteen years.  This together with enhanced passenger facilities will mean that the Nelson’s bus and rail users will no longer be treated as second class citizens when it comes to departure and arrival facilities.  I would like to thank Lancashire County Council for helping bring about this important and essential project.

On Thursday, 26 June, I attended the first meeting of the Nelson Town Council Working Group.  The purpose of the group is to determine the way in which the Town Council is stuctured and goes about its business.  A number of decisions were made, and these will be reported to the full council meeting on 2 July.  This will convene at 7pm in the council chamber at Nelson Town Hall.

The Lancashire Telegraph recently published a very negative and very unfortunate front page story about the future of many of the high schools in East Lancashire.  The newspaper claimed that based on last years’ exam results, the government had threatened these establishments with closure if they didn’t up their game.

One of the schools named in the report was Marsden Heights Community College, as a governor of Marsden Heights, I am particularly concerned that the reputation of the college should be sullied in such a way.  Indeed, if one were to believe the protestations of the Lancashire Telegraph, just about every high school in its circulatory area would be under threat in one way or another.  Having spoken with our chair of governors, Rev Ed Saville and our head Mr Mike Tull, I can confirm that the college will not be closing.  If Marsden Heights Community College WAS threatened with closure, then the investment of £24.3 million in the new campus would not be taking place.  Indeed, it is expected that this years’ results will serve to illustrate the facts set out in the college’s OFSTED report that it is “Satisfactory and Improving.”

I would sincerely hope that local residents would not be swayed by this kind of negative reporting, and would instead recognise the hard work that is being put in day in day out by everyone involved with Marsden Heights to build on the success of the OFSTED report.  I would like to point out to prospective parents, that the college’s prospectus has been in very high demand, and that a second print run has now been ordered, proof if any were needed that the reality is very different from the Lancashire Telegraph’s reporting.