Settling Della down again for her school day and then meeting up with Mr Chris Winfield of Anglian Water Authority and Percy a tour of the St Neots Sewerage works where there was an immediate acknowledgement of the bad smell
Then planning for a very successful evening regional council meeting where we outvoted the Tories 6-4! The North Norfolk Planning Office are going to recommend approval for my planning application to develop Heronshaw which is very good news indeed.
The Iraqis and United Nations still tussling over the removal of documents listing Iraqi personnel involved in the national nuclear programme; Michael Watson, the boxer, is still critically ill and must be considered likely to have severe brain damage if not to die although. The rain came at last this evening and was torrential
Another better night, even though I again had to settle Della down to bed and leave her awake quite late. A little earlier this morning so that I could give Della her piggy back and play session without too much fear of her missing the bus. She must be getting more confident because she insisted on going ahead of Debbie on her own to the bus-stop but I made sure Debbie was not far behind and keeping her eye on her. Once more unto the sewage works and this time I met Mr Chris Winfield of Anglian Water Authority with Percy and we were taken for a tour of the works. Mr Winfield immediately acknowledged that there was a problem with the bad smell, and we agreed that it was first coming from the open settling tanks that are filled with the sewage when it first arrived and then by the gravel beds on to which is sprayed the settled sewage for treatment.
** "Read More" BELOW for the complete story **
He offered to examine the possibility of "deodorising" the smell during conditions that lead to the smell distressing local householders and we also discussed the ultimate solution which is to replace this largest and oldest works in the district with a modern process that forces oxygenated air through the sewage to treat it to a better standard and without the same environmental pollution. The outfall consent was established a long time ago and would theoretically allow largely polluted discharges. This done, I drove into town for a haircut and to do some building society transactions before buying a couple of hats and coming home for lunch. I called Sally to compare notes on recent meetings and to get her to pursue still further the short-term lease of some unused shop front in the town to act as a Liberal Democrat campaign centre for the forthcoming election campaigns.
A nice healthy lunch of smoked mackerel salad with wholemeal rolls and then down to work for the afternoon. I first updated this last few days' journal and then got my papers straight after some recent confusion. Then I edited and typed out the FOCUS copy that I had received so far before reading the latest HDC committee papers and sketching out a draft recommendation for this evening's southern area meeting. Della joined me in eating some nice grilled trout for tea enjoyed it immensely. After tea and the above preparations, I went along to the St Neots Priory Centre for this meeting of all the district councillors in the "Southern Area" of Huntingdonshire District where there is a paper majority of Tory Councillors in theory; but in practice many of them do not turn up.
True to form, I had all five of my Liberal Democrat group there and Labour's Daisy Seager to only five of the Tories which number included the chairman, the blustering John Denny. Percy was due to put our motion about trying to stop the County Council Tories closing the Shortsands Old Peoples Home and I had previously got Sally to speak to Tory Town Councillor, Alan Sharpe, who normally supports us on issues on behalf of the town and also spoken personally to Daisy Seager who was keen to second the resolution. The meeting went well despite the hostile chairmanship, and we won the day by six votes to four with Alan Sharpe abstaining and so a critical recommendation will now go to the policy and full meeting of council!
The meeting was over by 8.00pm and so I went back to Derek's house with Sally to go through the agenda for the forthcoming Leisure and Amenities Meeting which took until quite late. Home later still and to bed after mid-night which was a pity after my efforts to become less tired lately! The news is of the Iraqis and United Nations still tussling over the removal of documents listing Iraqi personnel involved in the national nuclear programme; but a compromise seems to be on the way which would allow removal provided the documents are catalogued and signed for.
Michael Watson, the boxer, is still critically ill and must be considered likely to have severe brain damage if not to die although nobody is saying anything. His surgeon speaks out on the safety aspects of boxing and many former boxing fans, me included, no longer want this professional "sport" to continue. The rain comes at last this evening and was torrential as I settled down to bed. I telephoned my Norfolk architects today and discovered that the North Norfolk Planning Office are going to recommend approval for my planning application to develop Heronshaw which is very good news indeed.