Here’s a copy of Mark’s election address:

Dear Elector

Chipping Norton is a great place to live and work and that is why I am putting myself forward for election to the Town Council – to ensure we build on our excellent heritage and make the most of opportunities that lie ahead.

My community commitment extends back to one of my first jobs as a Police Constable in Newcastle; more recently I have chaired a local Residents’ Management Company in Chipping Norton. In my day job I deve lop educational programmes aimed at health professionals. All of these roles centre on the need to relate to and understand people’s issues before helping finding solutions to whatever problems they’re up against.

Having fought previous elections and talked to many voters on the doorstep, I have a good understanding of the needs and concerns of our community here in Chipping Norton. This will enable me to put those concerns to our Town Council.

What are the areas we need to look at right now?

Youth Centre, new library, heavy lorries, policing, employment I’d like to expand on two of these areas.

Policing: Having walked the beat, I believe there is no substitute for a visible presence – far more effective than CCTV. We should encourage the role of the PCSO, create more effective liaison with the local police command and work to make our community a safer place.

Employment through partnership: Living where Parker Knoll used to be, I am aware that our world of work and industry has changed over the last five years. I am delighted to see that work will soon start on new business units adjacent to Blissfield Gardens. The Town Partnership must encourage more businesses in town and market Chipping Norton as an attractive place to work, with a willing work force able to adapt to the challenges of the 21st Century. There are many successful businesses cropping up in town which highlight the ‘can-do’ nature of people in our community.

Progressing these and other issues (like facilities for young people) can only be achieved by local co-operation and collaboration – I am proud to be a member of both Labour and Co-operative parties which have these as underlying principles.

I will be a very positive advocate for you, the electorate, and for our town, Chipping Norton.
Please use your vote for me on August 7th.

For those  unable to attend the last meeting here are Rob’s (excellent) discussion notes:

Discussion notes – Rob Evans – CNLP Branch Meeting 20.11.07

Youth – should we be bovvered?

It’s far too easy for society to say ‘Adolescent rebellious youth is just a natural part of growing up’; ‘ we just got on with it and made our own entertainment when we were young’; ‘you can spend a lot of money on one facility and five years later they want something else because youth fashion has moved on!’ BUT - we all know that investing in youth is investing in all our futures - we would have loved better facilities and opportunities when we were young!AND - as a community we are strongly committed to improving youth facilities as a key priority from the 2003 Town Appraisal and current plans and activities of Town Council and Town Partnership.

2. Educational context – do we have community schools?

• ACE Centre - focus on families and learning from earliest age; Childrens Centre – Labour is first govt to co-ordinate universal nursery education
• Primaries – St Mary’s and Holy Trinity have experienced greater funding, new building, stronger parental involvement, improved results
• Secondary CN School – best results ever 2007 in SAT’s,GCSEs and A levels
• Perf. Arts specialism links Theatre, Penhurst, community closer with school Extended schs prog – schools now open 8am to 6pm for youth activities Community Sports Leaders programme with Leisure Centre and primaries
• Raft of opportunities now within schools and improved results. But there is need to create variety of skilled and manual jobs post Parker Knoll, affordable housing and attractive facilities so that young people can expect to work, live and socialise in the town rather fly the nest and then have their children here
• We are compact enough town to organise a town wide school travel plan to encourage more walking to school with focus on safety and fitness and cuts in car travel, congestion and pollution.

3. What is there to do? Are young people bored?

• Around 65 voluntary organisns/clubs in town or area specific to youth or with junior membership – eg sports clubs, Norts, Churches, Scouts, Guides, ATC [some took part in Feb 06 Freshers’ Fair Leisure Centre]
• Lido – youth specific activities and encouragement
• Youth Theatre – 200 members and Music Theatre – 40
• Youth Centre at CNS – and some key villages – Over Norton
• Extended Schs prog at CNS – 83 clubs operating and Family Focus
• Emma’s Trust – Live Music Festival and events but
  • Do enough young people know the variety of what is on offer?
  • Do enough leave their computers and their rooms? Is info online?
  • There are always the non participants in anything organised – TH steps – determined adolescent minority – negative image to all
  • Youth Service needs more funding to offer more evenings

4. What more do young people need? Can new facilities be achieved?

• Facilities in centre of town – more to do in the evenings
• MUGA [Multi Use Games Area] and Shelter – WODC and Lottery Funds secured for facility to be established on Common
• Hailcorns Association fund raising for play equipment on Cornish/Hailey play area
• Enigma – Discos in Town Hall – hoped to revive
• Weekly after school ‘Chill Out’ session in Lower Town Hall – Youth Forum and Town Council currently under discussion
• Better transport and inexpensive – get to other places and events
• Theatre wants new space for expanding Youth and Music Theatre [expressed interest to OCC in current Library building if it moves].
• New Youth Centre in town centre [coincides with CNS needing current facility for its extended 6^th form]. Town Council has recently proposed current Hospital building when vacated in 2009 – could it be adapted and work with Youth Theatre, Emma’s Trust, sharing building and possibly other inter generational facilities also [eg new Library, space for Clubs]? How achieved ?
  • Young people in driving seat – need to have ownership of anything new - Town Meeting 2006, Youth Forum
  • Difficulty of getting all youth groups together– no uniform voice – identifying right location for new facilities
  • Key player is Town Council – seeking ways of using Town Hall for youth and bringing together all key players OCC, WODC, PCT and others to create and fund a new Youth Centre
  • Complicated land ownership and management deals needed through careful negotiation to create multi complex centre

5. What can the Labour Party do? How can we attract young members?

• Research govt policy and initiatives and chase funding opportunities
• Work creatively and co-operatively with others on the initiatives
• Investigate co operative/social enterprise solutions for new centres/ facilities
• Approach schools and youth centres offering speakers, question and answer, presentations on our local activities and ideas
• Create blog /website accessible/attractive to young people
• Organise event/s predominantly aimed at youth?

R.Ll.E 20/11/07.

Summary of first part of discussion at November meeting: 

We began the branch meeting with a general discussion which touched on both party morale and the prospect of a general election campaign in Witney. Was it useful to attend Party conferences when a Labour government seemed to be paying even less attention to the membership?  Rob suggested that it could be a morale raiser to meet like-minded people and network with them: another view was that the real priority was to identify like-minded people locally. (This led to some discussion about reviving the practice of sending out birth card cards to teenagers about to come of voting age, also on how to make contact with the new migrant community, and the need to identify their voting entitlement/) 

There seemed little doubt that the party has lost that sense of enthusiasm which it had ten years ago with which people on the doorstep could be asked to identify. This was partly to due to the passage of time but also to the recent series of disasters. How would we, as a Labour campaign, be able to make a credible pitch on the doorstep when it came to an election with David Cameron as the high-profile opponent?  Some doubt was expressed as to whether the media really would focus on Witney when Cameron will be getting most publicity as he travels around the country, not here. But it was still important to find a Labour candidate who could make the most of the opportunity. Should we follow up the Tribune advertisement by a letter from our constituency officers inviting people to apply to “take on a Tory toff”?It was suggested that a Labour campaign in Witney could only credibly tackle Cameron if it did not feel obliged to defend every government policy. Indeed, it might be more attractive and newsworthy if a Labour candidate freely acknowledged, for example, his/her opposition to the Iraq war — and then attacked Cameron for Tory hypocrisy in first backing the war and then backing away from it. John Gitttings

Recently received announcement: 

After the successful fringe meeting at Conference, on “winning in the south”, and a followup meeting held at Woking in November, it is clear that we need an organisation in the south-east to help local parties in the region to work together.

So we have established “Southern Comfort” as that group (the name is inspired by John Denham’s talk Southrn Discomfort that started the whole process).

The Woking meeting agreed that we need a way for CLPs to talk together, and a website and newsletter were the places to start. The website is now live on the web and the address is

www.southern-comfort.org.uk

You can check this website regularly for news on:

• campaign events and by-elections
• policy discussion events where CLPs would welcome guests from other areas
• social events
• party training events
• news and policy developments in the south east
• tips on campaigning against the Tories and Lib Dems
• leaflet templates that you can download

So please check the website regularly for news.

And if you have any events that you want to publicise or campaign ideas that have worked for you, please email them to info@southern-comfort.org.uk and we will put them on the site and in our newsletters.

Later we hope to introduce a secure and private system for south-east members to ask questions or for advice and debate policy.

We also plan to hold a fringe meeting at the South East Regional Conference in March - more news will follow in the New Year.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please email us.

Southern Comfort

As part of CNLPs desire to inject more politics into our meetings, John Gittings’ iniated an interesting discussion on the ‘non-election’ and its implication for both the party and the country at large. Comments welcome.

We have to admit that the non-election affair has dealt a body-blow to members’ morale and leadership reputation. If there is any doubt, just imagine how difficult — even impossible — it would be to explain/justify what has happened on the doorstep of your typical Chippy voter!

Two issues arise in my view from this debacle, which offer us a challenge but perhaps an opportunity.

1. Taking at face-value Gordon’s explanation that he needed more time to present his “vision”, let’s try to find out what that vision is. Gordon’s conference speech does cover some substantial topics, but he only used the vision word twice: (1) on “Britain leading the global economy”, and (2) on the need for “an NHS that is both pioneering new cares and personal to you.” There’s been nothing of substance since. Actually the most visionary document put out since he became PM was back in July — the Green Paper on Governance which has a lot which we should follow up on parliamentary powers, House of Lords reform etc.

2. We as members seem to have very little communication to and from the party; even the usual flow of emails seems to have dried up since the conference- just when we need to hear more. We should debate our own view of the “vision” and ask questions about it. We need more dialogue, more ideas. It might  be a good idea to activate the Constituency page on the Party website, and start our own rolling blog there — in addition to making good use of Chippy’s own site.

I first got to know Brian through the lecturer’s union NATFHE nearly 30 years ago when we were both actively involved from different Oxfordshire colleges. From the outset he was a great friend and mentor whose formidable campaigning was always complemented by good humour and the ability to draw out and see the best in everyone. At the heart of his socialist convictions was a passion for education and its potential to liberate people in all walks of life and in all countries. Brian packed a plethora of campaigns and causes into a busy life many of which he was still pursuing with alacrity and enthusiasm right up to the end. At the centre of every one, whether parochial, national or international, was the strongest desire to pursue social justice, redress unfairness or glaring inequality and improve people’s quality of life. And every campaign was always conducted with total integrity and humanity.

As county councillors for neighbouring divisions we worked very closely together and I always received the maximum degree of encouragement and support – and true democrat that he was – independence to pursue my own campaigns and views. No one could quite match Brian’s huge network of friends at County Hall, or indeed throughout the whole county. He made a friend of everyone whilst also respecting professional boundaries. No one could match Brian’s encyclopaedic knowledge of county matters either or his extensive archive of newspaper cuttings to add many pertinent rapier thrusts into his rhetoric to disarm his critics.

Brian was a persuasive communicator filling the letters pages of local and national newspapers, making eloquent and impassioned speeches at Levellers, County Hall and conferences, canvassing the streets of Chippy with us in red rosette and Charlton Athletic scarf. He was also an effective fundraiser getting fun and enjoyment from his promise auctions, quizzes and sweepstakes – always giving of himself for other causes. Whatever he wrote and said was always genuine and heartfelt – there was never any posturing. He gained widespread respect across the political spectrum because he stuck to his principles and convictions but was, at the same time, a pragmatic and practical politician who worked tirelessly with colleagues of all persuasions to improve the welfare of his constituents and people right across Oxfordshire. His work has been tragically cut short but he has inspired many to carry forward his achievements.

Once again we are having a ‘Quiz and Chips’ at the Chequers. These are always fun nights and if you’d like tickets (£5) please call Charles on 645955.

It’s now official, Tony Blair has announced his departure to the Cabinet and will make a formal announcement in Sedgefield.

So after ten years, three election victories, continuous economic growth, controversial social and foreign policy decisions, what are our views of Tony Blair’s performance and that dreaded word, legacy.

All views welcome.

The next meeting is on Wednesday 28 March (not 20 March as previously posted). Not only will it be a chance for us to meet other Witney LP members, but it will be an opportunity to discuss our strategy for the forthcoming WODC and Town elections. All input is welcome, if you cannot attend it would be good to know if you would be able to help out with canvassing, leafleting or knocking up, so we can plan the campaign.

Also post replies on here if you’d like to contribute.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday at 7.45pm in The Fox (The Chequers is being used for the Lido on that date). Also please take this as the official announcement of the Branch’s AGM which will be held on 20th February, venue to be decided.

On Tuesday we would like it to be a political meeting, where we can discuss issues around the theme of ‘10 years on…what next’. I’m sure you’d agree that the last 10 years have been interesting, and there are any number of issues, local, national and international which could be discussed. Gina has suggested we could discuss issues in the form of questions that would come from people when we canvass. So if you have any suggestions please send them in and we can draw them out of the hat and discuss what answers we could give.

Also please note that the next Constituency Meeting is Tuesday 23 January 7.45 at Witney Corn Exchange with Kate Hudson Chair of CND and John Gittings on Trident and Britain in the World.