Amanda Martin

Thanks Cambo. You are right.

Jean, I promise I will do everything I can to stop this road.

It's like the Purple Rose of Cairo in here - a whole other little world full of wonderful characters. Yes Hereford Voice is terrific.

Thank you so much

...but I'm relieved to hear I won't be out for a duck :-)

To tell you the truth I'm feeling a bit bruised. I'd like to say people's rebuffs are irrelevant to me and I just shrug them off but it's not true. I limit myself to a brief introduction on the doorstep but a couple of people just shut the door in my face. One bloke kept saying "No thank you" each time I tried to speak without even looking at me. Half the people complain when candidates don't call and the other half abuse you when you do. Tail's down a bit. The highlight of my day yesterday was the hour I spent with a lady of 92. She invited me in and told me about the Britain she grew up in. Old people are regarded as irrelevant and shuffled out of sight but they have great wisdom. We should listen more.

I attended a hustings in Dinedor on Friday when Cllr Peter Sinclair-Knipe assured the audience that he was very much in favour of the new Southern Link Road. This, you will recall, is the Cabinet's shameful roadbuilding swan song which will spawn acres of shoddy new hutches and a big fat profit for house builders south of Hereford. It would also incidentally, ruin Jean and Michael Harris's beautiful garden, although Cllr Sinclair-Knipe didn't mention that bit, probably because he doesn't care. Inevitably, the subject of the Council's pi*% poor record on transport came up. I was guillotined for not phrasing my contribution as a question but blatantTory plants were allowed to speak at will about footpaths, stiles and what a wonderful job farmers and the Council are doing in looking after the countryside. Meanwhile Cllr Sinclair-Knipe, with his massive expertise and broad perspective in this field, was getting into his stride with an incoherent stream of party briefing key words like "jobs" "growth" and "market forces" and shrewdly anticipated the argument I would have made had I not been cut off with "When you say THE CONTINENT, you mean HOLLAND ! Cycling is all very well but YOU WON'T GET PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR CARS" and HOLLAND is FLAT and what about when it's RAINING and *cue triumphant chuckle*, you can't get much shopping on a BIKE can you and, and, and (pause for tweeting birds)" ...................people haven't got TIME !!" Apparently, though we all have time to sit in traffic jams. Now Julian's walking round the house repeating "YOU WON'T GET PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR CARS........" and suggesting Cllr S-K probably drives along in his Turbo deluxe f*c _king Shogan tank with a shotgun pointing out of each window blasting peasants and wildlife. Here's another gem: " It's all very well all these arts festivals, but WHO"S GOING TO PAY FOR THEM? EH? EH? The businesses? ARE THEY GOING TO PAY??" Not very "Big Society". ....and here's how our urban streets should look

Or fewer.....

Sorry about that, Adrian. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure about the rubbish collection. I would like to see a return to weekly collection but there may be contractual or financial reasons why we can't achieve it, at least straight away. I do know that the budget is horribly stretched. I will find out.

To deal with your other point, Denise, I do not accept that human poverty, corporate greed and distortions of the market place are justifications for the abuse inherent in industrial agriculture and I reject your view that it is intensive farming that preserves the countryside and keeps the poor out of food banks. Neither do I accept that the abolition of factory farming would plunge people into starvation. In fact, as my family demonstrates on a daily basis, no-one needs to eat meat and most people would benefit from eating a good deal less of it. Industrial agriculture is a cause of widespread environmental destruction and the products benefit neither human nor animal health. I do not have an objection to eating meat in principle but farm animals are not commodities to be used and abused for profit; they are sentient creatures capable of suffering and suffer they do in their millions; the evidence is literally under our noses. In my view they are entitled to some consideration and the extent to which we are prepared to acknowledge this is an indicator of our moral progress as a society.

Denise, I had a letter from Clare Greener of the NFU yesterday offering me briefings and asking for my support in halting the dismantling of the County holdings system. I'm happy to publish my response below and to stand by it: "Dear Ms Greener, Thank you very much for your introductory letter of 23 April, together with enclosures, which I have read with interest. Like most new councillors, if I am elected, I will be using my initial weeks in office to inform myself about local issues including the challenges faced by Herefordshire's farmers. Ten years ago, as a newly qualified solicitor, I had several farming clients, one of whom was facing eviction from his County holding. This case made me aware of the difficulties faced by County Farm tenants and it is an issue that has already been explored by It's Our County's Executive Committee during policy discussions. It's Our County's manifesto contains a commitment to the retention of County holdings. We are aware that Herefordshire's farmers play an important role in the County both culturally and economically and I personally would like to see the local authority playing a part, through County Farms, in encouraging those farmers who would like to commit to high standards of animal welfare and countryside custodianship. It's only fair to say, at this stage, that I am personally not a fan of intensive farming methods. However, I realise that intensification has come about as a result of financial necessity rather than by choice in many instances and I would like to see HC use its functions and resources to favour those farmers who would like to move away from these methods of production but cannot do so without some assistance. I am very conscious of not wanting to over promote myself at this stage; I'm aware that our manifesto commitments may not go qhite as far as my own personal views but they are together in spirit I believe. I would be very happy to meet you and to receive briefing documents and look forward to working with you as, I'm sure, would many of my colleagues. If It's Our County does achieve a good majority on 7th May, I think we could see a very different approach to these and other issues and an exciting opportunity to start changing priorities. Kind regards Amanda Martin "

Yes and I should add that, unfortunately, animal welfare is not a material planning consideration when it comes to applications.

Denise, I think intensive chicken houses are a bad idea in every way I can think of and I'm on record saying so. In view my they and other forms of agribusiness are uncivilised, economically unsustainable, environmentally devastating and morally unacceptable. I don't speak for my colleagues but It's Our County's manifesto commitment is to encourage humane, responsible farmers who want to move to less intensive methods of production but who currently operate in a skewed market.

Twowheelsgood , I don't think the website was taken down deliberately - I believe this is being sorted out. Denise, I would endorse what James has said. In addition, i would say that the issue is not just whether we should build but what we're building. Part of the "jobs 'n growth" agenda has been the imposition of acre after acre of bleak, soulless hutches: designed with minimal care and constructed to the poorest standards and tacked onto the periphery of existing settlements like a badly done transplant. We need to demand more of our developers and ensure that we are creating a built environment that will enhance and enrich and not degrade and depress. I personally have reservations about the over emphasis on "affordable" housing ; this is becoming a euphemism for somewhere to dump the poor and get away with shoddy building. Rich or poor, we all want a decent attractive home within a settlement that will function as a community not a ghetto and if developers are going to profit from house building then they should be made to jump through some hoops. I haven't looked into the detail of the Kingstone development but I believe the feeling was that this was something a bit different.

By the way, jeanharris, slightly off topic, I watched John Perkins' video about the Southern Link Road. This is an appalling road scheme and I will do everything in my power to stop it whether or not I'm elected. I can't speak for all of my It's Our County colleagues but I know many of us are opposed to this road. I can imagine how this is blighting your life at the moment. There may be another thread - I'll look for it and post separately.

To qualify that: it's not really about heaving a sigh of relief and going off to enjoy our little victory over a large cappuccino and a goat's cheese and olive wrap. I've realised that through my own smug complacence, I have been complicit in the harassment and abuse of others: "all that is needed for evil to triumph "etc. We did actually head for the large cappuccino and, as we sat outside the Rocket Cafe enjoying our middle class sunshine with frothy moustaches (definitely no sprinkles) I felt a vague sense of guilt and unease at the thought of all those people who have been caught in possession of a brown face or an unlucky absence of friends or an inability to write their own statements of complaint. I'm still hoping that, in Hereford at least, Julian's experience was an aberration and that most of our officers are decent and fair: they certainly have a hard, stressful and dangerous job and I'm the first to admit that I couldn't do it. It's important, for the sake of those officers, that the bad apples are identified and removed and that's really the result that we're looking for: it's not about revenge or compensation or even particularly about us any more. Bobby47, your post made me smile as usual but, if someone comes calling, that's the response they will get.

We're going to sue.

We arrived at Court to be told by the prosecutor that the charges had been dropped.

There's nothing package like about the South Wye Transport Package. In fact, it's just another manifestation of the beak "jobs 'n growth" agenda being rolled out by the Marches LEP and the dead eyed suits we soon hope to be turfing out at Herefordshire Council. The main element is the southern link road, another pointless road that will take out part of Michael and Jean Harris' garden and, of course, no self respecting Tory councillor or highways engineer can go home feeling they've done a decent day's work unless they've taken out a 500 year old oak tree by lunchtime. We'll see about that.

Amazing. You can come to Widemarsh too but don't knock me off my bike.

dippyhippy thank you so much.

The video would have been hilarious if not horribly accurate. J has just said actually it was hilarious. OK well tomorrow is the day - just the plea I imagine. Bobby47 thanks for that - I was wondering what would happen to the conviction if the complaint is upheld.

Pmsl. Says it all. If this is the degree of insight he brings to his role as councillor .....

Jeanharris, thank you. Yes, Monty was OK. Apparently he was anxious and barking as they took Julian away but he would have settled down afterwards and that probably saved him - being a black and white dog in the dark, he wouldn't have been noticeable to passersby but it's a horrible thought. As one of my prospective constituents said to me the other day while I was out leafleting: "People think they don't have feelings, but they do." The complaint went in last Monday and was acknowledged very quickly but it probably won't be dealt with by the time of the hearing. Cambo, this is the worry really. It's not that ridiculous a prospect.