Labour lesson on Areley Kings visit (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Labour lesson on Areley Kings visit

8:00am Thursday 29th July 2010

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PUBLIC servants must remain above partisan politics. Therefore, I won’t name the important figure from local government whose recent visit to Areley Kings took him to several locations which show direct benefit from Labour’s 13 years in national government.

One location was the new housing development in Martley Road, built on brownfield land, a fundamental aspect of Labour’s planning policies.

Here our guest saw 27 properties which have contributed significantly to the targets for social housing set and met in Wyre Forest.

In addition to national government, much credit in reaching targets must go to the Community Housing Group, a Labour creation locally, in partnership with the district council.

The route to the next construction project was by way of a path recently cleared of graffiti.

The request to clean it came from pupils of St Bartholomew’s Primary School, at one of their regular junior PACT meetings with police and councillors.

Community participation, a Labour policy, has created a better quality of life, as this example shows.

Our guest then came to the primary school and children’s centre where construction is just coming to an end.

Now the site boasts facilities not just for children from birth to 11 years, but also for adults involved in family-based activities.

This extended schools/Sure Start policy, key to Labour’s vision of a fairer society, has been brought to fruition with Conservative-controlled Worcestershire County Council.

Labour believes that councils, of whatever democratic political hue, should be involved in providing fair opportunities for all.

Finally for this letter’s purposes, was a focus on local policing, from the vantage point of Old Ford Walk, a street on the Walshes estate where the police have an office.

From this base, they work on issues across Areley Kings, often with the assistance of housing officers and street wardens.

Consistently, the figures on crime and anti-social behaviour locally are showing a downward trend, strong vindication of another Labour policy.

Partnership working, social cohesion, community participation, provision of social housing, capital expenditure on schools, record numbers of police – Labour policies with major benefits locally are under dire threat from the Conservative Coalition government.

Let’s hope our guest learned from his visit to Areley Kings JAMIE SHAW Labour district councillor for Areley Kings

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