Harmony in Luton and the other kind of grit

It's been a busy start to the year. With the help of my growing team of volunteers, we've been doing a major leafleting campaign to reach thousands of people in Luton South (interested in volunteering? please email me joe@joehallforluton.com).  I'm updating my campaign materials soon to reflect the work I've been doing on my manifesto -- more on this in the next few weeks.

The biggest news -- snow and grit aside -- has been the trial of the small group of Islamic extremists who disrupted the Royal Anglian Regiment's homecoming parade last year.  With sensational quotes after they were convicted for public order offences, they've been trying hard to scare and divide us.  But we can see through the inflammatory words: they speak for no-one but themselves. We, the rest of us (whatever religion we happen to be, or none at all) want to get on with our lives in peace.

That's why I was really glad to take part in the launch of Luton in Harmony on Friday, a new initiative to celebrate how tolerant and how united Lutonians are. I think we need to make much more of how well we mix together most of the time in Luton.  We should give ourselves more credit and remind ourselves -- and the rest of Britain -- that by and large it just works.

That's not to say life is rosy.  We haven't got everything figured out and there are plenty of challenges.  But that's the point: when there are problems we sort them out peacefully together.  Most of the time it's a great thing.  I think it makes life much more interesting and we should be very, very proud of having such a diverse town.  Even though there's so much more we need to do in Luton, the fact that there are people from different cultures and backgrounds in Luton isn't the big issue it can seem in the national media.  (There are plenty of other issues I believe we need to solve -- more to come in future blog posts.)

Of course the easy part is launching an initiative.  The harder job is making it real, keeping it going and really getting people involved. I've started doing my part and getting some of my supporters and local businesses on-board.  Please do the same: you can find out more at www.luton.gov.uk/harmony.

It's been a challenging past couple of weeks for the many local people affected by the snow  (and more is forecast).  It brought it home to me visiting a street of sheltered housing for older people and helping get some action to have their street gritted.  The Council workers I spoke to were working very hard to help with an enormous task and too few supplies.

But we're also going to need another kind of grit.  Luton's image won't change overnight and I doubt the extremists, few though they are, will just go away.  We'll need a very human kind of grit and determination to make the aim of Luton in Harmony real, to stay focussed on working together, to keep building our town positively together.  Luckily I think we have this kind in plenty.  We could make this a really good year for Luton.

Back to the hard work of the campaign.  Please get in touch if you have questions or would like to get involved joe@joehallforluton.com

Happy New Year! Are you interested in volunteering?

Happy New Year to you, I hope you had a good break.

Nationally, the political parties are gearing up their election campaigns as we look towards a probable late March or early May election (come on Gordon, tell us when it will be).

Locally, many people are still fed up with politicians and I'm concerned that many people in our community simply won't vote at the coming election.  I believe we need to regain people's trust and forge a new kind of politics that's honest and genuinely connected with local people.  That's why I've got back out on Luton's streets this week to engage with as many people as possible.

Are you interested in volunteering to help me on the campaign?  The main things I need help with are knocking on doors and delivering leaflets with me.  Speaking to people on doorsteps is one of the most interesting ways to spend a day or an evening (don't worry, I do the talking!) -- meeting local people from all walks of life, discussing every issue under the sun.  If you think you might be interested or would like to know more, please email me at joe@joehallforluton.com.

Keep enjoying the New Year -- more soon.

Joe

Merry Christmas -- and a Happy New Decade!

Hello,

Just a quick note to wish you a great Christmas and Happy New Year.  

I'm taking a little break over Christmas but not everything can stop: I'm still meeting with some local constituents, but my main goal is to draft my manifesto.  Thank you for everything you have contributed to it: I've learnt a lot from listening to local people, hearing your views and bringing them together with my own ideas and beliefs.  I look forward to sharing it with you in January.  I'm looking forward to the beginning of 2010 -- it's going to be really busy on the campaign!

At this time of year, as well as celebrating, some of my thoughts inevitably turn to those who have less or are living in difficult situations.  Having volunteered at a Luton homeless centre over Christmas before, I've met a few of the people who find this time of year a lot tougher.  Boxing Day five years ago will be etched in my mind forever: I was two weeks into my new job at Save the Children (which at the time was coordinating worldwide communications in disasters) when the tsunami hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and beyond.  Christmas and New Year turned into working round the clock to get information out about what was happening, raise urgently needed funds, and help tens of thousands of families.

I'm looking forward to a calmer end to this year.  I wish you and your family a great break.  Looking forward to the new decade : a time for some new ideas I think.

Best wishes,

Joe

From today's Luton & Dunstable Express

Apology

The team was Luton United Football Club, not Luton Allstars as the article said.  Please would both teams accept my apologies.  The mistake was mine.

I wish the two teams well and thanks again to Luton United.

Something important happened last night

It's been a little while since I blogged -- a testament to being busy with the campaign.  More coming more regularly from now on, I promise.  (And in case you missed it, you can compare Esther and me side by side in Discover Bedfordshire magazine -- pages 10-12.)

Something important happened last night involving people from across Luton (not this incident which was a few people representing no-one but themselves).  I joined around 300 people coming together to find community solutions to reducing crime.  As I've been out meeting local people on the doorsteps recently, I've heard how crime is a big concern for Lutonians -- particularly anti-social behaviour.  And I know from personal experience what an impact crime can have on you (I was mugged as a teenager in Luton).

What was good about last night was the involvement of local people who put forward their views in a frank give and take with the police, the Council and other representatives from public services (the discussion on my table was still in full swing after the event had finished!).  Strong themes came out from people around the room -- a desire to have more high-visibility local police officers, to have greater accountability from the police and the Council, and a real will to come together in Luton: every community, neighbours and across the town, young people and old.

It was very thought-provoking as I build my policies and my Plan for Luton which will be ready in the New Year.

Every day out meeting local people is thought-provoking -- on the doorsteps any issue under the sun can come up.  A number of people I've met recently have wanted to talk to me about immigration.  Most say -- and I believe it as I speak to them -- "I'm not racist".  And most like living in a diverse town, but they do have concerns about immigration and the size of Britain's population (living in Luton we are in one of the most densely populated towns in the country).  But they feel that the political parties simply have no interest in listening to their concerns.  I'm listening to them, trying to see things from their point of view, and find answers.

The irony that many outside Luton don't realise is that some of the best work anywhere to unite diverse communities is happening here.  Over the past few months I've been to as many of the many great events as possible: from concerts of a dozen cultures in One World week to an international Community Kitchen this week with students (I'm cooking the traditional British food!) to bingo with folks at the Irish Forum to the launch of the Luton Faith Map -- and more.

Great things are happening in Luton and I strongly believe Britain has a lot to learn from Luton.  But I can't help thinking that too often systems work against communities coming together.  When people feel they're competing for their slice of a small pie in a time of recession.  When too many people in Luton are fighting for scarce social housing.  When the main political parties are vying to make the most "savage" cuts that would stop our many brilliant public service workers from helping knit Luton together and improve our town further.  That's when I feel we really need an independent voice fighting for Luton and our future.

More updates soon.  Thanks for staying up to date with the campaign.  If someone you know would like to be added to my email list, if you have any questions or comments, or to take yourself off the list, please email me at joe@joehallforluton.com 

Building Luton's future (in a more positive way)

Here's my letter in today's Luton News (original version - they changed it a bit) with some first thoughts on how to improve planning, which is causing so much hostility locally -- but could be something really constructive if we do it right.

Interested to hear your views:  joe@joehallforluton.com 

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"Planning" seems to have become a dirty word.  We have a deeply unpopular proposal for building homes West of Luton and another equally unpopular proposal for East of Luton.  (Not to mention the new sports centre in Stopsley!  I was there last Tuesday night and spoke to people angry about the plans.)  I wish it was simply a party political problem but they're all involved: Conservative Central Beds Council and Labour (previously Lib Dem) Luton Council.

So what would fix this situation?

I could be popular with some by simply campaigning against these developments, particularly building on the greenbelt.  But it's not that simple.  People in our town desperately need more and better housing.  It's clear there aren't simple, easy solutions: we have little space in Luton and we need to grow or in time we will wither away.  I recognise that our Council has a tough job on its hands.  

This is all the more reason we have to get it right.  Developments cannot be railroaded through.  If there are tough choices to be made, the people of Luton and the surrounding areas must feel that they play a genuine part in making them.  

The problems are systemic.  So we need a systemic change in the way local and national government are run in order to solve it.  A Tory government would simply give more power to the Council -- that's not the solution here.  The problem is people are at loggerheads when we need to be working together.  Four suggestions I have for a more constructive approach:

1.  We need to get the facts clear, end the myths and speculation.  According to the Council there are 1,200 empty homes or less in Luton (we need tens of thousands).  We need a reliable, independent figure for the potential of brownfield sites (but I'm not convinced they will be enough).

2.  We need real involvement of local people from step one  -- not a 'consultation' once divisive plans are already on the table.  If there's a case for building on greenfield sites, local people need to be part of that from the very beginning.  

3.  We need to keep regional planning -- but make it more accountable to local people.  Simply having Councils fight it out won't give us the right answers, it'll just lead to more arguments and party politics.

4.  We need a change in culture.  National government should offer incentives to Councils and regional planners to involve people more in planning processes and demonstrate real and constructive engagement.

We're talking about building the next generation of Luton's future.  We can't build it on bitterness and resentment -- we need to learn from the planning mistakes of the past decades in Luton.  We need the real involvement and buy-in of local people: it's our town and our future.

Don't mention the "p" word

Last Tuesday night I was forty feet up a wall in Stopsley.  This is not normally a situation I find myself in.  I'd been persuaded to try the climbing wall at the sports centre (this meant I did have a rope attached to me luckily).  "Wall climbing is the fastest growing sport in the UK," someone there told me.  Given that childhood obesity in Luton is a third above the national average, and adult obesity figures here not great either, we should be encouraging this and other sports as much as possible.  Climbing's also just a lot of fun (it helps if you don't look down!).

Crazy then to hear from one of the climbers that the Council's consultation meeting about the replacement sports centre they're building apparently won't have a climbing wall.  "That's just typical of this Council," he said.  Now I think there are undoubtedly a lot of good people, staff and Councillors, doing a lot of good work at the Council.  But it's abundantly clear that planning -- the "p" word that is inspiring so much anger locally when it comes to housing and more, isn't working for many Lutonians.  I set out last week to begin finding out more...

I started the week meeting a representative from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA).  You may not necessarily have heard of them, but they play a really important role in Luton's economic development.  They fund major projects to build the town and create jobs, including the Butterfield Green business park (where my brother has a small business) and the Carnival Arts Centre.

The lady from EEDA was very helpful and they clearly have a genuine interest in Luton.  But they are hampered by two things: as a regional body they're quite far removed from daily life in Luton, and they don't seem to have a strategy that targets places that need development most (I think there's a good case for prioritising Luton over Cambridge, which is doing well by itself).

You can do a lot to make them more accountable to local people -- our Council is supposed to be the bridge but I don't think that's enough (nor do I think the Tories' plans to simply get rid of regional authorities and give all the power to the Council would work either).  We need some kind of regional planning -- it's just daft not to have it, you can't do everything town by town with each Council fighting for their backyard, we'll never get anything done.  But we do need to change the regions: I don't think it makes sense for Luton to be lumped into the bottom corner of the East of England when we're different from towns like Cambridge and Peterborough and rural areas.

But these are bureaucratic changes.  What we really need is a change in culture in how planning and development is done.  It's got to be done with local people, for local people and by local people.  Planning should involve Lutonians from the beginning, spending should be much more accountable, publicly funded construction work should go to local firms wherever possible.  I believe it's possible to do this much better, to move from 'consultations' to really engaging local people, so people are part of planning not just when they feel they need to complain.

We also need a national and regional strategy that focuses on Luton, and places like it, that urgently need more development.  We have above average unemployment and parts of the town are still some of the most deprived in the country.  Not enough has been done by Labour and I don't believe in the Conservatives born-again conversion to "helping the poor".  We need to reverse the inequalities in our society that have grown under both the Tories and Labour -- in the twenty-first century, in a wealthy country like ours, no-one should be left behind.  Least of all Luton.  We will all benefit if more people in our town can prosper.  I'll be quizzing EEDA again this week about how much priority Luton is getting at their annual meeting... interesting to hear that amongst the many towns represented, no-one from Luton Borough Council has registered.

Up at the airport there was a more positive story about their plans for expansion and increasing numbers of jobs for people in Luton in the long-term (they're being hit by the recession right now, but are optimistic about coming out of it).  This is great news for us.  They also want to do it within the existing land they have and not build on the greenbelt, which is good news for everyone.  I need to find out more about how the expansion plans will affect local residents concerned about noise in particular.

Very interesting to hear a little-known local fact... the airport's revenue that goes to the Council (about £18m last year) basically pays for much of Luton's cultural programme.

We talked about the wider environmental cost of the airport too, an issue I feel strongly about.  They have been making some inroads to reducing the energy use of their buildings (which keeps costs down so it's good for everyone).  Their real focus is the impact of people travelling to/from the airport to catch their flight, which is two-thirds of their emissions (if you count the flights themselves separately).  In all of this, it was clear that more support is needed from government -- apparently it's dropped off, which is crazy.  That's the kind of forward-thinking planning (it's that word again!) that we should be doing.