martinturner.org.uk

 One of my earliest memories of Stratford upon Avon is the beautiful willows along the banks of the river. But now someone wants to chop them down. The Bancroft trees, along with the footbridge, face the axe as part of the ‘World Heritage’ proposals for Stratford upon Avon, and the Tory-run council is planning to  approve the plans this week. What madness is this? The trees are part of the historic character of Stratford, which makes its waterfront a world attraction. True, some of the trees have become diseased. Most have not — but the spurious argument being put forward is that the only way to protect the remaining trees is by chopping them down. Protect… by chopping them down… ?  Willow trees take hundreds of years to grow. The real reason for the proposed cull  is to ‘create vistas’ as part of Stratford’s regeneration. As everyone knows, I am a strong supporter, and have been since my days at West Midlands Arts, of the plans for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. But these plans do not involve, or require, the destruction of trees. Nor is Stratford an urban-deprived council estate in need of drastic surgery to make it habitable again. (more…)

Last Thursday was the day the snow began to fall. Local Authorities in the West Midlands were busy congratulating themselves on their success at gritting the roads properly, which was all very well until it fell again the next day, and the region came to a stand still.

But last Thursday was significant for me in a very different sense. It was the evening on which Stratford-upon-Avon Liberal Democrats voted to adopt me as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate — fourteen months after Menzies Campbell first leaned across to me at a dinner and said “I hope you stand for Stratford.”
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