Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Trooping the Colour event as part of the Queens Platinum Jubilee celebrations and I have to say what a magnificent display of Great British patriotism I witnessed. Absolutely stunning and by the way the whole of Westminster draped in Union Flags made sure no one could be in any doubt as to how our great country feels about Queen and country. As I witnessed the air display over the Mall, I thought to myself I feel so lucky and proud to be a part of this great country of ours. I came home full of excitement to carry on the celebrations with friends, family and constituents who had gone to great lengths to trim their homes, streets, and shops up to celebrate our Queens service to this country. However, I was extremely disappointed when I visited our town centres to see Ashfield District Council had not put any flags or bunting up. I felt quite embarrassed at the lack of effort shown by the Ashfield Independents who have quite clearly missed the mood of the area. My inbox is bursting with emails from furious constituents who felt the council should have stepped up and made more of an effort for this momentous occasion. The Independents have been busy with their latest campaign of targeting rogue shopping trolleys around Sutton which seems to be taking up all their time, but for just a few days they could have stepped up and turned our town centres into sea of Union Flags. A missed opportunity for the people of Ashfield.
That said I was out and about visiting several street parties throughout the constituency where people had gone to great lengths to get into the spirit of things. A big thanks to Zoe from Woodland Close in Kirkby, Rob Dennett, David Jaques and Joy Green from Burnside Close and John and Darlene from Winsdor Avenue who invited me along to their street parties. Great people doing great things for their communities, and I am so lucky to represent this area knowing full well the vast majority are patriotic to the core.
I am still getting asked by people about their £150 council tax rebate from Government to help with the cost-of-living crisis and urge anyone who is struggling to contact me so I can get on to Ashfield Council to make them cough up. They have the money so there is no excuse unless they enjoy seeing the large amounts of interest building up in their bank account.
Kirkby residents are fed up with the roadworks on Kingsway which has caused major traffic problems and disruption to local businesses. I have raised this at the highest level at NCC who made some changes over the Bank Holiday weekend and are looking at installing traffic lights to allow traffic to move much more freely. If only the local Councillors would have raised this important issue in the first place, then the MP would not have to get involved. Step up Councillors and do the job you are paid to do.
