Richard Baum

Today has been a day off work, but I have spent most of it attending to council work and writing the new Focus newsletter.

This morning I had telephone conversations with the Council over the cemetery on Bury New Road which has been causing security concerns, and also I finally resolved a blue bin query for a resident that had been rumbling on for about six weeks. Which just goes to show that persistence pays off - although why it took eight emails to get an officer to mnake one phone call is a mystery…

I then sat down to write the new Focus, which needs to be proof-read, printed and folded, but which should with any luck start hitting the doorsteps of St Mary’s when I am back from holiday at the end of the month. There are lots of exciting things to report, including successes in street signs, road maintenance and noise nuisance. And there’s lots going on in the ward to talk about as well, including the proposed Children’s Centre, Tulle Court and the future of the Village. So it will be a packed edition. It certainly tested my desktop-publishing skills - never in my life have I fiddled around for so long trying to fit photos with text. Whoever designed my particular package clearly had a different set of brain wiring than I do, because some of the things on there simply make no sense whatsoever.

I met up with Cllr O’Hanlon mid-afternoon to talk over some casework and take photos for Focus. He was dressed in a suit, having come from work. I was dressed in a polo shirt and jeans and looked as if I’d stumbled off a building site somewhere. So once again Focus will make me look significantly less upstanding than I’d like. But don’t be fooled…

I did have dinner to cook for Tam tonight. I was going to try some sea-bass, and probably burn the house down in the process. Unfortunately for her (but perhaps fortunately for the fire brigade) she is now busy and the culinary / incendiary masterclass will have to be postponed until tomorrow. Which finally allows me some rest. Hurrah.

Rick