Next Surgery

The next surgery will be on Saturday 5 May 2012. For any urgent matters or if you are unable to make the surgery, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will make an appointment to see you. If you notice in the St. Stephen's or Northgate areas that there is a streetlight not working please note the letters and numbers that appear on the column on the streetlight and the location. If there is a pothole or dangerous pavement in St. Stephen's or Northgate, please respond to this posting and I will ensure this matter is taken up with Kent Highways. If you would like to make an appointment at the surgery please telephone 01227 280277. I am in the constituency each Saturday and can usually arrange a visit on a weekday if that is more suitable.

KCC's Chairman's Charity Dinner

This week the Chairman held a charity dinner in aid of his charities for the year at Canterbury Cathedral Lodge. The charities he is supporting are:

1-2-1 Youth Befriending (West Kent)
SNAAP (Special Needs Advisory & Activities Project)
KASBAH (Kent Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus)

For more information on these charities please visit their websites:

www.youthbefriending.co.uk
www.snaap.org.uk
www.kasbah.org.uk

I was delighted to be a part of the dinner and more importantly, in excess of £2000 was raised for these charities.

Chaucer Fields

I have been very interested recently in a plan by the University to develop a hotel, conference centre and student accommodation in the area behind Durnford Close and Harkness Drive (commonly known as Chaucer Fields). There was an exhibition last Saturday and I was pleased that so many local residents came and expressed their views. I was interested to speak to people and I will do my upmost to insure that the views of local people are known to the University authorities.

This proposal will have a really significant impact on local residents and I am very concerned that insufficient thought has been given to their interests and needs. The Fields also provide a significant drainage facility of rain water and I believe there are really serious implications of excess rain water not being able to drain away and flooding the area at the bottom of the hill and down into Salisbury Road and other roads.

Do you have a view? If so, please contact me and I will be taking up issues directly with the University.

University of Kent Conservative Association (KUCA)

I recently visited KUCA to talk about The Big Society. The Big Society is a key theme of David Cameron's Coalition Government and a very exciting debate took place about what difference the Big Society concept would bring to the UK.

Members of KUCA were really interested in reflecting around many of the key themes of Government and especially treasury management, education and health. I made the point that the decisions that we take now will have wide implications upon how people live in this country for many years to come.

Thanks to Kirsten McDonagh, the Chairman of KUCA, for organising my visit and I look forward to meeting up with Members again in the future.

Kent Partnership Board

Today I visited one of the regular meetings of the Kent Partnership Board for people with a learning disability. The meeting took place in Gravesend and was co-chaired by Steven Chapman and Margaret Howard.

I was very encouraged to observe the many activities that are being developed for people with a learning disability across Kent. It was especially interesting to talk with people about the steps that we must take to support people with a learning disability into permanent work.

I took part in a Question & Answer session and Members of the Partnership Board challenged me about a whole range of issues in connection with the County Council, the Coalition Government and the "Big Society". People did seem very interested in developments in health care and especially how they could make their views known to the new Health & Wellbeing Board that is a key element of the Health White Paper.

I also agreed that members of the Learning Disability Group Cabinet should meet with the County Council Cabinet in the early part of 2011.

Big Bus

I was very pleased this week to support the Big Purple Bus on its visit to Canterbury. The Big Purple Bus is highlighting the role of volunteers in our local community. It is hoped that the publicity that The Big Purple Bus provides will encourage more people to consider how they can give some of their time to support the local community.

I just take this opportunity to thank the vast number of people across Kent who already give so much of their time to helping a whole range of organisations and activities.

Bulb Planting with the Market Way Residents Association

Last Saturday (9th October) I enjoyed bulb planting with the Market Way Residents Association. They have done so much to improve the local environment with tree and bulb planting and I thank them for their great enthusiasm.

Mini Bus

The St Stephens and Northgate Community Minibus was formally launched on Monday 20th September. 20 people were present at the launch event and some were able to experience a drive in the new minibus. Many people commented on how valuable the bus will be for local residents. I would like to take this opportunity to thank officers of the KCC Public Transport Team for their support and ideas in developing the concept of having a minibus. I hope it will be of great value to local people and will look forward to hearing stories about how people have used the bus to support community activity.

Annual Meeting

On Monday 20th September my Annual Members Meeting took place. I was delighted that 43 people were present and we covered the following subjects:


1. Big Society - This is one of the initiatives of the Coalition Government and it was very good to be able to think through some of the implications of the Big Society with local residents in the area that I represent in Canterbury.

2. Use of my Member Grant Fund - I talked about the various activities that I was able to support from my Member Grant Fund last year. Whilst I had detailed these in the Annual Letter that I had distributed in my division in the Summer, people seemed really interested in the sort of projects that had been supported. People gave some ideas for activities that I could support in the current financial year and I was really pleased that everyone present endorsed my approach to using my Member Grant money, namely that I should support local community projects, based in the Canterbury North East Division.

3. Questions from Residents - Residents had the opportunity to ask questions on any subject. These ranged from concerns about roads and pavements to future health policies as a result of the recent Government White Paper.

I was pleased at the response to this Residents Meeting and I look forward to holding a similar event in September 2011. In the meantime of course, I'm always very pleased to meet with local residents or residents groups so do let me know if you'd like to see me.

Annual Letter to Residents

Each year I send a letter to every resident in my division about some of the activities with which I have been involved. A copy of the letter for this year is below:

Each year I enjoy writing to all the residents in Northgate and St Stephens detailing some of the activities with which I have been involved. I hope you find this letter interesting and feel that it is an effective means of keeping in touch with local residents. Last September I held a public meeting where anyone could come to discuss activities of the County Council and specifically raise issues with me. I will be holding a similar meeting this September and details are on the reverse of this letter.

At the County Council I am the Cabinet member with responsibility for Adult Social Services. The areas that I cover specifically are in connection with elderly people and people with learning disability, physical difficulty and mental health issues. There are increasing numbers of elderly people and people with disabilities and I am delighted that in the last twelve months I have been able to secure an extra £6 million within the County Council budget to support these most deserving groups of people.

Locally I have:

worked to develop facilities for young people in Northgate and St Stephens. I have been able to support funding for a new floor at the Prince of Wales Youth Club. The Club provides really valuable services for young people from the two wards that I represent
supported the creation of a new Silver Club for residents specifically from St Stephens and continued to encourage the work of Northgate Ward (now Canterbury and District) Over 60s. They, along with local Age Concerns, do so much to help elderly people
promoted the activities of Residents’ groups across my division. Residents’ Groups have done so much to improve aspects of our streets by encouraging activities such as tree planting and also by keeping an eye out for petty vandalism etc

Here in Canterbury many residents have spoken or written to me about a range of issues that are of concern to them and I have been pleased to take up issues such as housing, highways, education and social services. I have been pleased to take these up with Council officers and, if appropriate, with our local MP Mr Julian Brazier.

Each County Councillor in Kent has a discretionary amount of £10,000 to spend on local community projects in their divisions. On the reverse of this letter I have listed the organisations in Northgate and St Stephens to which I have provided small amounts of funding in the last year.

Do remember that I hold surgeries normally on the first Saturday of each month and for appointments please contact the local Conservative Office on 01304 379669. Please contact me if I can help you.


Graham Gibbens – Use of Member Grant Fund in 2009–10

Canterbury and District Early Years – play worker and office equipment £2,000
Northgate Ward Over 60s £500
St Stephens Community Centre to support work with elderly people £2,000
Prince of Wales Youth Club – Parent and Child Engagement £2,000
Northgate Ward Development Group Brighter Future project £1,850
All Saints Church – new tables for community activities £500
St Stephens Community Centre for work by Prince of Wales Youth Club in St Stephens area
£1,150

Total £10,000


In addition I have been able to support small funding for a new floor at the Prince of Wales Youth Club. I have also been delighted to fund a new Community Minibus for use by residents of Northgate and St Stephens. I hope this will be used by everyone and especially elderly people and youth groups to access vital services.

I would welcome ideas from local Residents’ groups about the use of my member grant in the current financial year.


Annual Residents Meeting

Please note that my annual meeting with residents will take place on Monday 20 September at 19.00 at All Saints Church Military Road. Do come along and hear about KCC services, ask questions and raise any issues with me.