The latest report from the County Council shows that the Kenilworth Station project is making some good progress.

The first key task is to decide the “Joint Promoter and Funder” - i.e. the private sector company that the Council will work with to bring this project to a successful conclusion. The tender documents were completed last month, and a contract notice published on the 28th November, for expressions of interest by no later than 13th February 2009. Invitations to tender will be issued in March, with the contract to be awarded in May 2009.

Discussions with train operating companies are in progress, and the original outline business case has been reviewed and is still showing a very positive return for this project. The aim is to deliver the new station by March 2012, and a possible bid for new regional funding may assist this further.

I continue to be a strong supporter of and advocate for a station for Kenilworth, and will do everything in my power to help bring this venture to a successful conclusion.

Today at the County Council we scrutinised the senior officers’ and Conservative Cabinet’s budget proposals for 2009/10. This is just one more stage in an ongoing process that will culminate in the setting of a budget next February. Because Warwickshire is a “hung” council with no overall control for any one political party, final agreement on a budget depends on the support of at least two of the political groups on the council.

This year’s budget decisions will be much tougher than usual. The financial settlement from central government takes little or no heed of the real cost pressures facing local government (energy bills, an ageing population, increased demand on children’s services etc). Also 2009 is an election year for county councils, so cross-party agreements may be much more difficult to achieve. As ever the Liberal Democrats will seek to act as a responsible opposition, promoting our clear and consistent priorities for local services in line with our manifesto commitments.

The Post office announced its decision today to confirm the closure of the Albion Street, Kenilworth Post Office.

It’s a very sad day for the local community in the Albion Street area, who had demonstrated clearly its support for the current branch through survey responses, petitions, letters to the Post Office and Postwatch and attendance at the public meeting in July.

Some elderly and vulnerable residents are going to be very badly affected by this decision, which is based purely on cost-cutting rather than meeting the needs of the community.

The Post Office’s decision document released today also makes no reference whatsoever to the knock-on effects on other shops and businesses in the Albion Street area when the post office branch closes. Many local shopkeepers are very worried about this.

I have today asked county council officers to pick up the Outreach Services alternative again as a matter of urgency, to see if it could offer a solution to keeping some sort of local service to residents in the Albion Street area.

Yesterday the Post Office announced its list of 51 branches it proposes to close acorss Birmingham, Coventry and Warwickshire.

Good news locally is that the High Street Kenilworth branch is not on the list, despite being earmarked earlier on a leaked map that was rapidly withdrawn and denied by the Post Office. A massive campaign of support for the High Street branch, a 2,000 signature petition presented to the Town Council by my colleague Cllr. Ann Blacklock, and publicity from our Lib Dem MEP Liz Lynne and prospective parliamentary candidate Nigel Rock all seem to have been successful.

Bad news is that the Post Office has simply transferred its attention to the next available branch, in Albion Street Kenilworth. This branch, based in the local One Stop shop, serves a local community with a high proportion of elderly people and low levels of car ownership - a community which very much depends on local shopping to provide its basic needs, sustaining a greengrocer, butcher and breadshop/delicatessen.

This morning I shall be outside the Albion Street branch with fellow councillors Ann Blacklock and Pat Ryan, gauging local people’s reactions to the news and gathering their comments and views as to how this proposed closure would affect their lives. We can then decide our best line of counter-attack.

Caring for older people is one of the top priorities for local councils, as the demographic changes (increasing average age of population, increasing percentages of older people with dementia etc) put massive demands on resources and current facilities.

I attended a seminar on this subject yesterday, which set out the County Council’s strategy which is due to be endorsed by the Cabinet next week. One of the key elements is the rapid introduction of an “Extra Care” accommodation option, not currently available in Warwickshire - essentially a form of sheltered accommodation allowing older people to continue to live independent lives, but with good support services on hand as and when needed. Residential homes will continue to be an important part of total provision, but increasingly specialising on care of older people with dementia.

This is a complex and emotive subject, but the issues it raises cannot be ducked. I think the senior officers responsible for the programme are on the right lines, and the strategy has my support.

Yesterday I went to a seminar to hear about the Warwickshire LINk, which is just being set up. LINks are independent of Councils and the Health Service, and are intended to provide a strong voice for local people in the planning, design and commissioning of Health and Social Care services.

The technology and facilities being set up to enable public participation are impressive - full details are on the web site www.communityvoicesonline.org.

Less clear was how the new structure would operate in overall governance terms, how it would set its priorities etc. The government’s view seems to me that this will emerge in line with local needs, but this approach risks a lot of wasted navel-gazing time in the early months. Far better would have been to have put up a standard model to begin with, and allowed each LINk to then adapt this over time as required.

The local press ran a lead story a week ago quoting Cllr. Norman Vincett, the leader of the Conservative-controlled town council, saying that plans for a  ”showpiece” civic centre at Smalley Place in Kenilworth were in trouble. This was confirmed at the Town Assembly on Thursday evening, when Cllr. Vincett admitted that current plans were financially unacceptable and unaffordable, but that work was continuing although no timescales could be promised.

I find it unacceptable to hear such news via the press, when I am a member of a joint Steering Group of county, district and town councillors that is supposed to be co-ordinating efforts to secure this prize for the people of Kenilworth. Until last May, under the then Lib Dem/Labour administration, a senior District Council officer was driving the project hard and keeping everyone regularly informed of progress. Since the Conservatives won the District Council, project leadership has effectively transferred to the County Council (also Tory controlled), but all sense of urgency and real commitment seems to have disappeared, while non-Tory members of the joint Steering Group have been kept largely in the dark.

The Lib Dem group here in Kenilworth has been forced to go on the attack, accusing the ruling Conservatives of letting down local residents by not being prepared to put up any “new” money to make this showpiece a reality - despite having moaned for years when they were in opposition on the District Council that Kenilworth “did not get its fair share”!

Spotted in Burton Green during my ‘Focus’ delivery round today - lots of brand new green bins being delivered to householders ahead of the new recycling service which commences in April. This helps to address a long standing grievance of Burton Green residents, that they were left out when the original green bin scheme was rolled out to Kenilworth and other areas some years ago.

It will also help alleviate the problems experienced by a number of Burton Green residents who have contacted me, that they are banned from taking garden waste to the Kenilworth recycling centre because they drive the wrong sort of vehicle - namely a pick-up. In a quite arbitrary ruling, these are treated as “vans” (and therefore carrying chargeable trade waste), while a large closed-in 4×4 is treated as a car! I have tried my best to get this ruling overturned by the County Council, but officers and the Conservative Cabinet member for the Environment have refused to budge.

I attended an Extended Services conference in Warwick today. Extended Services is what used to be called Extended Schools, and is all about providing a range of services to children, young people and familes that “wrap around” the normal school day - using both school and other community facilities.

Schools have been grouped in “clusters” (e.g. a single cluster for Kenilworth), each with a cluster co-ordinator appointed to pull things together. In many cases it’s about better “sign-posting” of activities already in place within the schools or the community, but in some cases may lead to the development of new activities.

Early days, but I shall follow developments with interest.

I was consulted today about local government plans to establish “localities” at a level below current district areas - so that the three Kenilworth county divisions would consist of a single locality, for example. National government has been making a big thing about the localities agenda, but as usual it’s up to local government to try to make sense of the latest Whitehall idea!

The principle of trying to devolve power and decision-making closer to local communities is sound, but there are many pitfalls - in particular the risk of adding to existing structures rather than replacing them.

I’m still listening, but I remain to be convinced!