Thank You for Your Vote.

To everyone that voted for me on the 5th of May.

Thank you for your confidence in me.
I will do my best for the Wards of Priestwood and Garth.

Bracknell Forest Fires

Members of the public are being urged to stay away from the area to allow for emergency services personnel to continue working together to tackle the fires. People must not impede firefighters in their work and should be aware that the travel of both fire and smoke can change unexpectedly.

The fires are not at a stage where the fire authority are confident that matters are under control.
There are 16 fire tenders still on site out of 22 available to them. Fire crews have come in from Surrey, London and Hampshire.
They also provide the backfill cover for the appliances in use so the fire risk to the general public is not being compromised.
Even so, the situation continues to be serious.
The wind direction puts Crowthorne downwind and at greatest risk.
The houses in Brookers Row were evacuated last night due to fire risk and seem likely to remain so tonight.
There is limited access for residents to return to get possessions etc.

The fire authority asked for the schools in Crowthorne to be closed today.
They were closed because of the high level of smoke around this morning as well as concerns about road traffic and the problems that would have been caused if an evacuation was needed during the day.

The Look Out was closed because it provides the point of access to the woods and was at risk if the wind had turned.
Coral Reef was closed for much the same reason.
With Coral Reef the thinking is that access might be possible there is way to control access to the car park for users only.
The council is looking at this as a possibility.

The situation is now being managed by the Fire Authority from their Silver Command by the Golden Retriever pub on Nine Mile Ride.
There are problems with the public going on site generally and messages are being put out via comms asking people to stay away.
Despite this, there are still joggers going into the woods for example.

Decisions as to whether or not the schools should open tomorrow can't be taken yet.
The schools will be informed that they may have to be closed again and the message will need to go out as we do closures due to the snow.
The low temperatures forecast tonight could mean that there will be a temperature inversion and the smoke will hang around unless the wind keeps blowing.

The Councils Adult Social Care have made checks on the vulnerable residents in the community who might be affected and we are in liaison with the HPA.

The main roads (Foresters Way and Nine Mile Ride) need to stay closed to facilitate access for the emergency services and to enable them to pump water around using hoses along the roads.
There have been some problems with the public ignoring the closures.
There are additional barriers in place and the main points have Police in attendance.
At the moment it seems that the roads will need to stay closed for at least another 24 hours, perhaps longer.

This afternoon the forestry commission are bringing in plant to construct more fire breaks across the woods to reduce the risk of fire spread.

See:
Council Website News

See also:
BBC News

There is a map at:
http://bracknellblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/map-of-fires-in-bracknell-area.html
Courtesy of
http://bracknellblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/map-of-fires-in-bracknell-area.html

Bricks to clicks and town centres

I was looking back at a previous post about the changing shape of high street shopping.  "Bricks-and-clicks" integrates offline (bricks) and online (clicks) presences.

For example a store chain may allow a user to order products online, and the have the product ready pick up at a local store.

A store may have displays locally from which a customer can then order an item electronically for delivery to their home.

An article I read at the start of the month talked about how John Lewis could have spotted a gap in the retail market. Simon Russell, head of multi-channel sales for the partnership, thinks that improving the “click and collect” experience – that of customers who buy online but collect in-store – could be a big selling point for John Lewis, which has started to roll out collections to Waitrose stores and hopes to add further partners. Bracknell-based Waitrose is the food division of John Lewis.

Another retail website says that with 60% of phones sold today being smartphones, and more users likely to connect to the internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs within five years, retailers are rushing into m-commerce with alacrity. Apps have been big news.

One wonders whether Waitrose will be taking further advantage of these systems in Bracknell.
http://www.propertyweek.com/news/waitrose-to-sign-ahead-of-bracknell-regeneration/5009165.article 

Road Safety

There has been talk in the press recently about road safety, and last month the BBC reported that the number of people killed on British roads last year reached a record low.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10408417.stm
I took an interest in this, given that I was involved in a study of accidents in the Bracknell Forest Council area.  More about that later…

A bit over a year ago, the Guardian reported that “Road safety, cycling and bus priority schemes across England are under threat amid fears that the government is preparing to cut its £2.1bn local transport budget.”
This month the BBC reported that half of all fatal road crashes occur on one-tenth of Britain's roads. This article also reported that improved junctions and markings, along with resurfacing with high friction, anti-skid treatments, drastically reduced the number of serious accidents.

Just lately the LGA is suggesting that along with Housing, education, major transport projects and social cohesion programmes, road safety may have reduced funding.
It is probably just as well that Bracknell Forest has invested heavily in road safety in the past. Various schemes were implemented throughout the borough to bring down the number of accidents.
In the Working Group report that I contributed to, it is noted that “Further reductions in casualties are increasingly difficult to achieve, and it has to be recognised that there is an irreducible minimum number of casualties which no amount of investment could remedy.”

The Working Group noted that BFC had committed itself to further reduction over and above the targets set by Government. The working group concluded that the Council’s annual targets should not set a step reduction in any one year, but instead be based on a straight-line reduction to the ‘stretched’ targets.
http://democratic.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=492&MId=2259&Ver=4  (item 12)

Let us hope that there will not be a too drastic reduction in road safety spending. It seems that on-going education is needed in this area, even though the Council has already used many means to engineer-in road safety to our streets and roads

Garden Grabbing

I noted that the Bracknell Standard picked up on my query to the planning officers about the issue of “Garden Grabbing”. One of the objectors to a recent application had cited the change in policy in this area by the new government.
http://www.getbracknell.co.uk/news/s/2073790_garden_grabbing_gets_green_light

The big headache with planning issues is that we are very much bound by law, the weight given to various government planning edicts, and policies contained in local plans. The local plans themselves although called local, are often constrained by Government policy.

I asked the question to clarify the position that we are now in. It appears that we are now in a much better position to write rules that will prevent future high density development in back gardens. The change in the regulations already gives us more room to manoeuvre.

The previous governments planning rules created a shortage of homes with parking and gardens. Whitehall regulations were pricing a whole generation of low and middle income earners out of buying a family home. As they pledged, the new government are now changing planning rules to encourage more new homes with bedrooms and gardens for families – in place of dense blocks of flats.

A letter that was recently sent to Planning Officers if available at http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/lettergardengrabbing

I am writing to confirm that the Government has amended Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing (PPS3) with the following changes:

 • private residential gardens are now excluded from the definition of previously developed land in Annex B

 • the national indicative minimum density of 30 dwellings per hectare is deleted from paragraph 47

 Together these changes emphasise that it is for local authorities and communities to take the decisions that are best for them, and decide for themselves the best locations and types of development in their areas.

In 2000, John Prescott introduced new national planning regulations for housing – which forced all new housing developments to pack in 12-18 new dwellings per acre. The flawed rules also classed gardens as ‘Brownfield’ land. As a result, blocks of flats were increasingly being crammed in the place of existing homes with gardens. This is also known as ‘garden grabbing’. Reports suggest that the price of a family house has risen at eight times the rate of a new flat since 2000, and there has been fall in the number of detached and semi-detached homes being built. There is now a relative over-supply of flats in many areas.

In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for families across Bracknell Forest on modest incomes to buy a home suitable for children to grow up. But house prices don’t change in isolation from government policy. Labour’s national planning rules, laid down on high from Whitehall, have in many areas created a surplus of pokey flats and a shortage of family homes with parking spaces and gardens.

Recent government figures suggest the proportion of houses built on previously residential land, such as gardens, increased from one in 10 in 1997 to one in four in 2008.

Dr Simon Thornton Wood, director of science and learning at the Royal Horticultural Society, said gardens had medical as well as environmental benefits.

"Gardens, like parks, are the green lungs of cities, improving air quality, controlling air temperature and flood risk, and providing a haven for wildlife.

"Beyond these very practical benefits of gardens we know that gardening is great for physical and mental health.

"That's why we would like planning measures to go further than protecting existing gardens, to guarantee high-quality green space and gardening opportunities in all new building developments, wherever they are."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8728633.stm

Now that the new government have scrapped the rigid density rules, let’s hope that it will now let the market build the homes that people want and need.

New Priestwood Community Association Meeting

Priestwood and Garth residents are invited to the meeting of the New Priestwood Community Association at 7.30pm at Priestwood Community Centre in Priestwood Court Road.


On the Agenda :
Welcome.
Reports – Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer (Presenting the accounts) Manager.
Election of Officers and Executive for 2010/11.
Refreshments and Raffle.
Spokesmen on Heatherwood Hospital – Frank Minal GMB and Russell Bryant

The primary purpose of the AGM is the approval of the financial statement and elections.
Volunteers are needed to help. People who can make Priestwood and Garth and even better place for all to be.

Useful links:
http://www.bracknellnews.co.uk/news/bracknell/articles/2010/04/27/46140-hospital-on-the-agenda-at-residents-meeting/
http://www.makesachange.org.uk/cms/site/docs/Bracknell%20Forest%20LINk%20Steering%20Group.%20who%20we%20are.pdf
http://www.getbracknell.co.uk/news/s/2019010_mp_backs_petition_to_protect_heatherwood
http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/other_news/2010/february/heatherwood__wexham_nhs_trust.aspx
http://www.bracknellnews.co.uk/news/roundup/articles/2010/02/08/44701-casualties-of-costcutting-at-hospital/  
http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/yournh/yournh-tvp-pol-area/pub-pg-nh-upds-N346?id=119836

http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/priestwood-and-garth.pdf

Phillip Lee - The campaign continues

A party political blog post. But first a short story from Cardiff Blogger


Serious stuff!
I recently asked my friend’s little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be Prime Minister some day. Both of her parents, New Labour, were standing there, so I asked her:
‘If you were Prime Minister what would be the first thing you would do?’

She replied, ‘I’d give food and houses to all the homeless people.’

Her parents beamed.

‘Wow…what a worthy goal.’ I told her, ’But you don’t have to wait until you’re Prime Minister to do that.
You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, weed the garden and sweep my patio, and I’ll pay you £50. Then I’ll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the £50 to use toward food and a new house.’
She thought that over for a few seconds then she looked me straight in the eye and asked: ’Why doesn’t the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the £50?’
I said: ”Welcome to the Conservative Party!”
Her parents still aren’t speaking to me.


Anyway - moving on...

Participation and Donation


Anyone and everyone can help Dr Phillip Lee get elected.
He is eager to serve all the people of Bracknell Town, Finchampstead, Crowthorne and Sandhurst. He wants this constituency to remain a great place to live.
www.phillip-lee.com/ 

Helpers are always most welcome.
You can help by distributing literature.
You could carry out surveys/canvassing in your area in order to gain information about the electorate’s voting intentions, worries and concerns, etc.  This information enables us to campaign effectively and helps to increase our membership base.
Many people find that their skills can be best utilised by helping to organise the many varied social events that take place throughout the year, helping to raise funds as well as bringing enjoyment to everyone involved.
Donations to campaign costs are always most welcome.

More at myconservatives.com/dr-phillip-lee-for-bracknell 
And at bracknellconservatives.com 

Find Bracknell Conservatives on Facebook HERE

Garth Hill College, Sandy Lane School, Parking and the old NAGs

I see that the replanting of green screening around Garth Hill College has been taking place. It was a great shame that the mature vegetation had to be cut back to provide for a safe route to the new entrance. The new college though, will be a great asset to the area.

At the Priestwood and Garth Neighbourhood Action Group Meetings (NAGs) we have discussed the dangers of parked cars all along Folders lane up to Bull lane.  Some parents seem to leave the safety of tier children up to others. I have had a car stop in front of me and a child leap out in the “wrong side”. Very nerve wracking.  It also very dangerous when parents park on the bend.

Hopefully the council can come up with a scheme to help make the area safer during the school and college opening and closing hours, once the new College entrance is operational.

The police say that there have been reports from Wick Hill College car park attendants that parents from Garth Hill School and Sandy Lane School keep trying to use the car park at the start and end of the school day. This car park is only for students and the bus from Bracknell & Wokingham College. Some of the car park attendants have been verbally abused by parents. If you are picking your child up from the above schools, you can use Braybrooke Park or Albert Road car parks. There are also reports about some parents stopping on the yellow zigzag lines outside Meadow Vale School. PCSOs have been outside the school as often as possible to stop this happening.
It is good to note, from the above police report, that overall crime was down by 31.2 per cent compared with the same three months in 2008.

Parking as always is a problem everywhere. Of the 291 Priestwood  and Garth residents who responded to the neighbourhood survey on five aspects of life in Bracknell Forest which most needed improvement, parking came in at 43% behind Police on the Streets at 50%, the level of speeding at 39%,  Litter at 39%, and Anti-social Behaviour at 36%.

On a more positive note; on the five aspects of life in Bracknell Forest people in Priestwood and Garth  liked best: Parks and Open Spaces (54%), Access to Nature (42%), Health Services (38%), Sports and Leisure Facilities (29%), Cultural Facilities (26%).

Lights out?

I see from the BBC website that that Caerphilly council has agreed to turn off lights along non-residential roads between midnight and 0530 GMT.
Apparently there will first be health and safety assessments on certain routes.  "Significant savings" are to be gained according to the council there. Councillors backed the policy after considering the findings of a consultation with residents.


One wonders how they control the system, and what the wiring systems are. I would have thought that one has to look at the whole life energy cost of a scheme. The BBC site also reports on Coventry and a switch to dim lighting. Part of a £64 million package it seems.

The New Scientist had an article about this a while back. This states that street lamps account for 2 per cent of UK electricity consumption. What percentage of that 2% could be saved? Westminster City Council has been trialling the LeafNut system as a part of its SMART Lights project. It believes that it can save up to £46 per street light per year with the system, reducing CO2 emissions by 100kg per street light per year. There is more about this on the New Electronics website.

I wonder what the potential for this is in Bracknell/Bracknell Forest? It would be interesting to find out how the systems are set up. I suspect that there will be several, given the history of the town and surrounds.

Any more would have to involve public consultation. I can see all sorts of worries about crime in the dark, and accidents.

On yer bike

I was recently reading an article in the IET magazine. Apparently “significant” numbers of bicycles are still being manufactured in Britain. It also says that a combination of convenience, cost saving and health and environmental concerns have inspired this urge to saddle up.
This, and a question from someone, prompted me to again look at Bracknell’s cycleway provision. It looks like there is money received from developers to join up more of the network in Bracknell. This money has been collected by the way of section 106 agreements, which may be used to support the provision of services and infrastructure. As this money has been already collected for this purpose, it seems that various schemes will be able to go ahead including cyclways. It is likely that it will be possible to provide some missing links in the network, on the Wokingham road in Priestwood.

Since we got a dog the amount of cycling for leisure that me and Diane do has gone down a lot. This has impacted a bit on my cycling for other purposes, as dog walking does not seem to keep one as fit as cycling does. Diane tells me that this means I should spend more time in the Gym at the spots centre. Hmm. Maybe...

This is all the more interesting since at the next council meeting a report of the Independent Remuneration Panel  is to be considered. It says "That reimbursement for travel to approved duties within the borough be restricted to travel by bicycle as detailed in paragraphs 22 and 47 of Annex A"

I wonder what shape the other councillors, and their bikes are in?

Privacy and Dignity in Healthcare

The Bracknell Standard reports that new research has shown that 97 per cent of people in Berkshire view privacy and dignity in healthcare as important. This comes after a health service memo, seen by the BBC, which says the government is "rattled" over the "failure" to eradicate mixed-sex wards in English hospitals.

Katherine Murphy, director of the Patients Association said she was glad Alan Johnson finally accepts the government has failed time after time to deliver on its promises on mixed sex accommodation.
"Single-sex accommodation is the only way to ensure patient dignity, privacy and safety.
"Successive ministers have made promises for the past 11 years - patients finally deserve action not words."

Dr Phillip Lee

There was a question on another blog about the Conservative candidate for the next General Election. I thought that I may as well post the information here as well with a few useful links.

Dr Phillip Lee has already been on many “walkabouts” in the constituency despite the weather. The reception he has received has been most encouraging. People are impressed by his sincerity and integrity. There have also been deliveries of old fashioned leaflets through the doors. The literature has been somewhat slow going

out due to the weather situation. You can read the thing (in PDF format) at http://www.bracknellconservatives.com/news/itw10.pdf

The Conservative party has a Facebook page for local Conservatives at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=232485490146 and Phillip has a page at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=162793066550

If you are really passionate about a better future for tomorrow, why not join the campaign, donate, or just get involved at http://www.myconservatives.com/campaigns/dr-phillip-lee-for-bracknell

See also  http://www.bracknellconservatives.com/

Why not go that bit further - join the Conservative Party and Make Change Happen.

The hole problem

It is not just Bracknell forest, but in a great many other Local authorities, that they are working flat out to repair large potholes that have appeared across the country’s road network following the worst winter weather for 30 years.

A condition called “freeze-thaw” has attacked our roads. As the water in a road freezes it expands, causing the surface of the road to break up. Councils have asked the public to report problem areas so that holes can be fixed as soon as possible. Call BFC on 01344 352000, or log it online at http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/potholes (Use the highway damage report form on the right). I reported several roads in Priestwood, before the last freeze, but roads like Shepherds lane have suffered even more since. One worries about the knock on effect on next years highways budget, already constrained but the current monetary situation.

At least the rubbish collections are getting back into order. Our HUGE pile of recycling was collected today. We had a lot of it because we were away on the collection day before Christmas, and forgot to ask someone to put the bin out for us. The residuals bin normaly does not have that much in it.
In an article in the LGA First magazine the chairman of the LGA environment board, says rubbish and recycling had been collected as normal wherever possible – but public safety had to come first. “Sending a 26-tonne dustcart down an icy residential street packed with cars and pedestrians is extremely dangerous.”

A further brief on the situation is given here 

Choice Based lettings

I attended a presentation on Choice Based lettings today.

This new system moves Away from the traditional points base allocation scheme, and gives people applying for housing a say in where they live. It empowers applicants to play an active role in choosing their home. On joining the scheme applicants are advised of which band they are in and the date from which their date on the register will start. Anyone registered for housing will be able to make a bid for any property they would like to be offered.

Properties are allocated to the bidder in the highest band with the longest waiting time. The results of bids will be published so that everyone can see where the winning bidder stood in the system

Properties available for letting will be advertised on a weekly basis, and anyone registered for housing will be able to make a bid for any property within their band that they would like to be offered.

The system make for better transparency all round, and should provide better data on the housing list situation.

Have a look at www.bfcmychoice.org.uk/

So far the feedback from the users of the system has been good. It will be interesting to see how it develops, and what further feedback the council gets when the system is fully functional at the end of this month.

Snow, grit, birds, and things

It might not seem like it, but the gritters went out last night and this morning to prepare primary routes, but at a reduced rate of spreading in line with government advice to conserve salt stocks.

I had to drop some people at Heathrow Airport at 7am, and made it there and nearly back. The snow has covered up all our hard work on the road, and the car has to stay at the bottom of the hill for the time being. The birds were waiting for me to put more food out for them when I came back. I must get out to the shops to get more food for the birds. I must check back to the RSPB website to see what it is they need. They have water available from our artificial stream (we are having to keep it trickling through to avoid it freezing), and from a couple of trays.

Three gritters have been out this morning on the primary routes, and one doing the principal roads. Traffic congestion around the borough, caused by the snow of course, is slowing progress. Unfortunately It looks like the bin collection plan is back to square one. I will get out shopping one the main roads look less busy, and the griiters have had a chance to work. Probably after 10ish to allow for the belated school openings today.

The Thaw Spot

The Bracknell Standard says "Bracknell is getting back to normal this morning". Well it did on Monday Morning anyway.
Barney the Rough Collie is still enjoying the snow. On Monday evening's walk across the Elms recreation ground we came across some Eskimo types. Maybe Inuits? Igloo dwellers of some type. I thought it best to take a 'photo from a little way back, and not directly into the entrance, so as not to disturb the occupants who were giggling away.

The BBC news web site tells us how Councils and staff at some schools worked throughout the weekend to clear snow to ensure students could sit their GCSE, AS and A-level exams. The Daily Express tells us of just one of many stories of how people have pulled together to help their neighbours. It says a man used his 4x4 to tow an ambulance to a house. He then braved snowdrifts to find an off-duty midwife who arrived with just minutes to spare.

In the Bracknell Standard Council leader Paul Bettison is quoted as saying: “We’re doing what we can to maintain essential services and protect and care for our residents but everyone can help in the effort to keep the borough moving. “We’re asking people to shovel, sweep and salt if they are able to and to check on their neighbours to make sure they have essential supplies and to give them a bit of company as they might not be able to get out during these conditions.”

There is a planned programme of refuse and recycling collection.
The council is prioritise collection of household waste from flats (where there is already a weekly collection) to reduce fire risk.

Subject to the weather, the council will operate a limited waste collection service for refuse only for the remainder of the week, and residents are asked to put their refuse bins out in a safe place from Wednesday, January 14.
There is more detail at www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/abc

Thaw spots where the gritting, and shoveling have been greatest. Too much shoveling might be bad for one. Following an afternoon of shovelling snow, I had great difficulty lifting my pint of refreshing and invigorating liquid. My right arm is quite stiff. Still, It was good to see people in our road clearing their bits, and bits next to the other neighbours.

True Grit

It was supposed to be a picture of the hill going down from our house. Due to the flash being on, but all I have are white dots. I suppose it just shows how much snow was coming down.

I did take another picture of Barney (our Rough Collie), but I might of well have of taken a picture of a polar bear in a snow storm. Barney just loves all of the snow. The only bit that upset him was getting the fur on he feet all iced up. We had a bit of a time persuading him to put his feet in some (cold) water to help melt the ice.

Whilst Googling around for the weather I came across an fascinating site HERE. Some interesting data from someone's weather station.

The Bracknell Standard are doing their bit, and reporting the current situation on their website each day. It is interesting to note the comment about the salt/grit level, since the governments "Salt Cell" has taken over. Bracknell's deliveries have suffered since it seems.

A source said: ‘It would be fair to say that while some authorities have shown excellent best practice this time around, some just haven’t got their act together, again, and haven’t learnt from last February’s events

One senior highways officer told LocalGov.co.uk it was unfair those authorities that did nothing to improve their resilience and stock plans were now ‘shouting the loudest for salt’.

‘I accept everyone has to have salt but surely the answer is a properly planned stock management scheme. The other issue that has failed to have been addressed in this country is spreading rates. There is suggestion that the Highways Agency is spreading up to two or three times more salt on average than authorities. Is this really necessary?

Salt reduces the freezing point of water to -3C, so that very cold weather is a further problem. There being less vehicles on the road, there is also another problem it that the salt performs better when "churned", by traffic.

I am told that the SITA staff have been unable to perform the usual refuse, and recycling collections, but this has meant that some can be redeployed on other tasks such as clearing walkways.

There is information about road gritting by the council HERE.

Priestwood's Jewel

I was very pleased that the Koh-I-Noor finally got permission to expand into the vacant unit next door. The restaurant is a great asset to Priestwood, and has won awards for the appearance of the frontage. It is a shame to see any of the local centres with vacant premises. Many people, have asked me, as a councillor, what the hold up was with the gaining of permission. The place is popular with both residents, and people from further afield.

I am doubly pleased, being a curry addict, that it ensures that the restaurant does not have to move elsewhere. It is in easy walking distance for me, and there are two pubs to visit on route if I so wish. The food and service is excellent.

Report from the Bracknell Standard HERE.

Review HERE.

Rugby

It was good to see that Bracknell (Website - Facebook ) managed an away win at Sutton and Epson. The season started in good form with Bracknell beating Jersey who are the current leaders at 55 points ahead of Old Albanians at 46, and Bracknell at 44. In previous years I have travelled to the away matches with Diane, sometimes staying overnight in some interesting places. We have even had two trips to Launceston. It has been annoying not being able to make it to any away games this year.

It is also very frustrating not being able to get to either of the home matches in December. Other commitments have to be fulfilled. Bracknell are playing North Walsham on the 5th, and Old Albanians on the 19th. Old Albanians beat Bracknell 10 - 6 at the away game, so we should look forward to a good home win. Having a reasonably successful first team is a great spur to the junior teams. In fact the Junior and Mini teams, at their level might sometimes even be out performing the Seniors.

I am sure that there will be a very convivial atmosphere at the Christmas lunch with Old Albanians. We will wish them well, and hope that we win.

www.getwokingham.co.uk/...

Picking Blackberrys and dim burgulars

The Bracknell News tell us that burglars in Bracknell are not as good as the ones coming in from other towns!

This was from Acting Chief Inspector Mark Harling of Bracknell police.

Apparently "Bracknell’s location and easy access from the M4 and A329 made it simple for criminals to drive in, break into '10 or 15' homes a week and then scarper."

Perhaps this is where ANPR will come in. Instead of passively catching motorists doing a bit above the speed limit, it provides information on suspect cars entering and leaving Bracknell. There are of course privacy fears over the government tracking our every movement.

West Yorkshire have set up a rapid reaction police squad to intercept criminals' vehicles, flagged-up by automatic number plate recognition cameras.

At the above meeting the police also talked of the introduction of BlackBerry solutions. Officers with mobile devices are able to reduce time in the station and increase time spent servicing their community. BlackBerry smartphones will also help to maintain already high levels of security within the force. For certain tasks officers have to carry paper records such as photographs of suspects and briefing notes which can be lost or misplaced, presenting a security risk. On BlackBerry smartphones this information can be accessed securely and, if lost, the BlackBerry smartphone can be wiped and disabled by a central administrator instantly.

Read more here - http://www.publictechnology.net

A good example of the BlackBerry use is in West Yorkshire where it is helping police officers to outwit wanted suspects who try to bluff their way out of being arrested when stopped on the streets.