…since the election that brought me to my current position as Councillor for Leeming Ward and the Mansfield portion of the Ashfield & Mansfield Liberal Democrats met to discuss our roles for the coming year. We all chose to remain on our present committees, roughly speaking, with the odd small change to accommodate changes in personal circumstances.

I am still on Planning Committee, Health & Safety Committee and Select Commission 1. I am also taking the role of Leader of our LD group for the next year, so that will be a few more meetings to attend.  I hope to retain my seat on the board of Greenwood Community Forest, when the vote is taken next week. During this past year I have attended working groups and training sessions which in number were far beyond what I expected when I was elected, but the whole experience has so far been one that I feel very fortunate to have had. I look forward to the next 3 years.

We at the Liberal Democrats are always looking for people to join the party and if you feel the need to be a part of local politics and have your voice heard, then look to the left of this column to find out how you can join us.

…neglected and are crying out for some attention, so I must away and give them some of my time, before God makes a special appearance and uses the dust on my shelves to create an even more perfect Adam!

I must say that being a Councillor is so enjoyable and rewarding that dusting has taken a back seat in my life…….but my house is ‘clean enough to be healthy, but dirty enough to be a home’. Whoever coined that phrase has my blessing!

…took place   at the Sodexho Suite last night with the Chairman’s chosen charities benefitting from the generosity of those who attended, which included me and my husband. It was a wonderful evening, the food was well worth the money and the entertainment was provided by The Union Gap, of 60s fame.

I danced the night away and enjoyed it enormously, even without any alcohol intake.   The atmosphere was ‘electric’ and it was fun to get together with some of my fellow councillors at a social event. I am afraid to say that even without alcohol, I found it difficult to keep my feet during the energetic dancing and I went ’base over apex’ (aren’t I polite?) and cracked my head on the edge of the loudspeaker support. I blame the slippery floor …… but I have decided that if I attend future events, I shall have a drink, because then if I fall, I shan’t feel it!!! Putting aside that little mishap, I must say that the whole evening was a very worthwhile occasion and I say’ Well Done, to the Chairman of Mansfield District Council’

I picked up this piece of information and thought it worth sharing with you…

LIB DEMS TABLE 10p RATE AMENDMENT; CLEGG TARGETS LABOUR MPs

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has today written to Labour MPs urging them not to be bribed by the Government’s ‘last minute smoke and mirror promises’ and instead vote for the Liberal Democrat amendment against the plan to double the 10p rate of tax. The unspecified measures announced yesterday by the Government won’t come into effect until November at the earliest, and will not help all of the millions of people affected by the original change. The Lib Dem amendment comes after Labour MP Frank Field withdrew his. [BBC]

“I strongly hope that, for the benefit of many thousands of your constituents, you will join us in a cross-party effort to defeat this punitive tax change. There has still been no commitment to ensure that all people made worse off by this tax rise will be fully compensated. Regardless of whether the Treasury back-dates any future compensation payment, this will still mean low paid workers will be out of pocket for at least the next seven months. Parliament should send a clear message that we do not believe that the poor should be targeted to pay for tax cuts for the better off.” (Extract from Clegg letter to Labour MPs)

I’ve had! It’s not my usual post, but it may explain why I haven’t been updating. My PC was invaded by a Trojan virus, resulting in a loss of passwords and other vital statistics, so I couldn’t get in to my own site. At last that’s all remedied. I have also been grounded with an almighty head cold (not the head that was almighty, but the cold) and laryngitis, so I couldn’t speak (which pleased some people more than it should have!)

Anyway, I’m back now, so follow me to the next post, as soon as I’ve caught up on my emails and reports.