They Blog For You

Douglas Hurd once said to me when he was Foreign Secretary that one of the  strongest reasons to support the British system of having one MP for each constituency (a lot of democracies use proportional systems with multi-member constituencies) is that it kept your feet on the ground. For him, [...]

An email arrived from some constituents today drawing my attention to a website from a pro-HS2 organisation called Yes to HS2 or Campaign for High Speed Rail. It’s a free country so the supporters of HS2 are as entitled as its opponents to ount a campaign. But I was a bit [...]

Greengauge 21 is a company that has long supported High Speed Rail, and has weighed in behind the HS2 proposal. They’ve recently published a report in which they argue that it would be possible for the government to link HS2 to improvements to local rail services that would give people [...]

Those of you who are already members of BBOWT (the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust) will already know of their concern about the impact of the HS2 plan on the natural environment. They’ve spelled out their concerns in detail on their web site which you can link to here. [...]

I have been informed that Transport for Buckinghamshire, working with the District Councils, has lifted the necessary temporary traffic regulation orders in order to permit street parties to celebrate the Royal Wedding. Applications for road closures will be accepted for 29 April (the day of the Royal Wedding), as well as the three days following it.  I hope that this decision will [...]

I’ve finally had a reply from the Ombudsman to the letter that I sent her back in January asking if she would in principle be able to investigate claims of maladministration by the panel making decisions about the Exceptional Hardship Scheme. She has said that she does have that power, [...]

I spent an hour on Friday at Walton Parish Hall at an exhibition that brought together many different local government, private sector and voluntary agencies that work together to help people in and around Aylesbury who can live independently but need some kind of support to do so. Their clients [...]

Today the Secretary of State for Transport, Philip Hammond MP, launched the public consultation on HS2.  I have included below some important pieces of information which will help you to respond to it. The consultation documents can be found on the dedicated HS2 consultation web-site here. On the consultation web-site there is [...]

I still haven’t been told when the public consultation will start but rumours abound that it will be on the very last day of February.  I’ve been involved in a whole series of preparatory meetings: with representatives of local campaigns and amenity groups; with the District and County Councils, and [...]

On 20 December the Secretary of State for Transport, Philip Hammond MP, announced that the Coalition Government has chosen route three as its preferred option on which to hold a public consultation regarding HS2. This news will have come as a heavy blow to many residents. At the time of [...]

The Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, announced today that he is designating HS2′s Route Three (the Misbourne Valley) as his preferred route on which he will go to public consultation during 2011. I shall put a link to Hansard up here as soon as it becomes available. You can see Mr Hammond’s statement  [...]

Please find below a press release from Arla. The press release has details about public meetings regarding plans for a new diary in Aylesbury.   Starts: Arla Foods to host public consultation events regarding proposed fresh milk dairy Aylesbury residents are invited to two public consultations to discuss the proposed £150 million investment into the world’s [...]

Do young people in Aylesbury get a fair deal in terms of social and cultural life? That was the question buzzing in my mind after two meetings in the town last Friday. First I called in to Aylesbury Police Station for one of my regular catch-up meetings with Superintendent Richard List, [...]

The Aylesbury Indian Cultural Society’s annual Diwali party is one of the constituency events that I most enjoy. The mood is that of a big, informal family do. Everyone is encouraged to take to the dance floor and even my somewhat awkward Bollywood steps (I might give Ann Widdecombe a run [...]

My last correspondence to you was shortly after the Secretary of State, Philip Hammond MP, visited Aylesbury on 30 September. As a result of that meeting, I wrote to Mr Hammond about two issues that needed further discussion. The first letter was about fare prices and whether the probable high [...]

Please find below the reply that I received from HS2 Ltd’s Chief Executive, Alison Munro, regarding the letter that I sent to her on 16 September about the noise impact of route 3 (please see High-speed Rail entry dated 17 September).    [...]

David at Buckinghamshire Economic & Learning Partnership’s (BELP) briefing for MPs on 8 October 2010. At the meeting local Bucks MPs discussed the performance of the Bucks Economy from the perspective of the emerging economic data and the coalface views offered by business.  The key messages that came out were that: Ø  More businesses are [...]

On 13 October 2010, Lloyds Banking Group in Aylesbury told its I.T. and Operations Department that up to 40 staff could be made redundant by the end of next year. The Department currently employs 400 people in the constituency. Constituents who have been following the story will know that last year [...]

As many of you already know, the Secrtary of State for Transport, Philip Hammond MP, visited Aylesbury on 30 September to discuss HS2. Following on from the meeting with Mr Hammond (see post below dated 2 October), I have written two letters that raise a number of issues that were highlighted at the meeting, but could not be discussed in [...]

Throughout my time in Parliament, my constituency has included parts of both Aylesbury Vale and Wycombe District Councils. So last Thursday I went to Wycombe DC’s offices to talk to the Chairman (Bill Bendyshe Brown), Leader (Lesley Clark), Deputy Leader (Tony Green) and Chief Executive (Karen Satterford). [...]