Olly Wells

On Saturday 12^th December I met up with another local Community Speed Watch volunteer to carryout a Speed Watch in Bagshot Road.  Pleasingly as soon as we set up our signs cars noticeably slowed down along a busy stretch of road. Sadly we still found 10 cars to be speeding over an hour long stretch with the fasted travelling at 44 mph in a 30 mph zone. As usual all 10 speeding cars will receive a warning letter from Surrey Police and face the possibility of being added to a Surrey Police database of possible speeders if they have already been caught by a Community Speed Watch twice before.This is only the second time we have carried out a Community Speed Watch on the Bagshot Road and follows soon after a Surrey Police initiative to raise awareness of speeding traffic to read more about this see http://www.surrey.police.uk/neighbourhood/neighbourhood.asp?area=WKNB

I must thank all the Community Speed Watch volunteers in Knaphill, as without them it would be impossible to get out as often as we do. We will be there again in January and hope to find fewer speeding cars next time.

I was pointed in the direction of an excellent website by Lib-dem MEP Catherine Bearder this week, which makes it clear that so much of what we read in the press about the EU being bad for Britain is simply not true. 

It was very interesting to read about the fact behind the fiction. Such as the fiction that Britain’s special relationship with America is undermined by our EU membership…A viewed disagreed with by former US Ambassador to Britain, Ray Seitz: “If Britain’s voice is less influential in Paris or [Berlin], it is likely to be less influential in Washington.”

To see Euromyths debunked visit http://www.bearder.eu/pages/Euromyths.html

I popped down to the Knaphill Community Day this afternoon, but missed all the fun.  It had closed up early due to the weather.  I can’t say I blame them as the rain was turning to snow when I arrived.  I was hesitant to go having been in bed ill for the last two days, but thought it was too important to miss and I had to leave the house to take my bicycle in for a service.  I wanted to thank our local policing team for all their efforts and to wish them well for 2010.

Even if it did end a little early, I am sure the event would have been a success and that the local community in Knaphill is grateful to the police team for their continued hard work.

With the Lisbon treaty finally signed, Europe can stop focusing on its own internal political structures and more on effectively governing and delivering solutions to transnational political issues.  One of the strengths of the Lisbon treaty and why I am very much in favour of it, is that it makes clear the powers and responsibilities of the nation states and the powers and responsibilities of the European Union. At the heart of this, one of the political concepts dearest to my heart and to most other Lib-dems, is the idea that decisions are made at the level they are most relevant.  In this case transnational issues such as the Environment, Competition policy, Aviation and many others are tackled at a European level as these issues are not confined to national borders and require significant cooperation.  Some powers are even being given up by the EU under the Lisbon treaty as these are seen as more the domain of the nation states.

The Lisbon treaty has created clear and more efficient decision making processes including increasing the amount of majority voting as well as giving more power within EU processes to the European parliament made up of our elected representatives – MEPs. The advent of a President of the EU and an EU high representative for foreign affairs will go a long way to enabling the EU to act as a coherent single body on the world stage acting in the interest of all the citizens of the EU.

The European project has done a great deal for citizens of the EU and will continue to do so, not least in the form of stability and economic prosperity coming from our common and integrated economies. The EU has done a great deal for the countries of Eastern Europe and this in turn has enriched the lives of every citizen of the EU.  The draw of the prosperity that comes from membership of the EU has been a spur for many former communist countries to reform both economic and social policy as well as respect for the rule of law and the democratic process, not least in the enactment of Human Rights legislation, clearly missing from some European nations still outside of the EU such as Belarus and to some extent in Serbia and other potential future members.

As a young lib-dem I was fortunate to be elected into the bureau of the International Federation of Liberal Youth with responsibility for organising cooperation events within Asia and other areas of the world.  I met other young liberal activists from all over the world and took part in training sessions with those who had recently succeeded in the struggle for democracy or were still engaged in the challenges posed by the country in which they lived. In almost every conversation, what was clear was that cooperation on the level seen in the EU is something that others strive towards because of the strength it provides.  This is something of which residents of the UK should be proud rather than afraid.

On Saturday after I had finished running Saturday detention at school I went over to see the Rainbow Warrior – Greenpeace’s famous ship in Docklands. 

As a member of Greenpeace I had an email last month inviting me to visit the ship and take a tour.  The Rainbow Warrior is moored in Docklands, London on its way to Copenhagen where it will take part in campaigning at theCopenhagen summit next in December.

It was amazing to learn about life on the ship and hear firsthand from experienced campaigners the lengths that Japanese whalers will go to, to meet their quota and the efforts Greenpeace activists go to, to protect the whales.  Having met a lot of staunchly pro-whaling Japanese people when I lived and worked in Osaka and now having met some very determined Greenpeace activists I can imagine it really must be quite a tense experience.

While I was there I signed up for the Greenpeace Airplot campaign to be one of thousands of beneficial owners of a strip of land Greenpeace has purchased that will be needed by developers to build the third runway at Heathrow.  While this may not actually stop the runway being built, it will significantly complicate and delay the process.  More information can be found at http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/whats-your-plot-stop-third-runway-20091022 

Next time the Rainbow Warrior is in town I recommend a visit to anyone interested in the work of Greenpeace!

Cllrs Ric Sharp, Diana Smith and I were in Knaphill High Street between 10.30am and 11.15am on Saturday 28^th October to talk to local residents about issues that concern them in Knaphill.  Residents were generally happy, but the usual concerns regarding the cleanliness of streets and the need for leaves to be picked up and trees cut came up as usual.  All of which have been passed on to the relevant council officers. There were mixed feelings regarding the new garden waste scheme with some concerned that the cost was too high for the least advantaged members of society, compared to the old scheme.

It is always nice to meet local residents at these monthly surgeries, if you have a concern and you are passing by, please do stop to let us know.  When we are not in Knaphill High Street we are also available at home by phone and on email.