Devon schoolgirl has Swine Flu

Gordon Brown announced in the House of Commons earlier today (at PMQs) that a 12 year old girl from Paignton plus a couple of adults from other parts of England have been confirmed as having swine flu in addition to the newly married couple from Scotland that we already knew about. As a precaution the girl's school, Paignton Community College, has closed temporarily and the pupils have been offered anti-viral drugs. It turns out that all five of those in Britain who have contracted the illness have recently returned from Mexico.

So should we be unduly concerned about all this? Well the BBC has a useful and comprehensive Q & A page on its news website that you can access by clicking here. This answers a lot of questions, the BBC are good on this sort of thing. One or two general observations: apparently the early symptoms of swine flu are very similar to those of the common seasonal flu that people get - this makes me wonder therefore if there are more folk in the UK with this new flu than statistics are suggesting. The next thing is that the government are rightly trying to downplay the situation somewhat, the very last thing needed is any sort of mass panic. Thanks to the fairly recent threat of avian flu, yet to mutate to something much nastier, our country seems to be as prepared as any in dealing with a pandemic - not everything is bad about Britain!

I was pleased to see both Cameron and Brown being statesmanlike at PMQs today about the swine flu when Cameron led on this subject. The experts tell us that the World is overdue to have a pandemic so this could certainly be one. One final point - the name swine flu is a little unfortunate in as much people might think eating pork, bacon and ham is now a no-no. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes you have to cook pork thoroughly but that's always been the case. So 'bon-appetit'.

Spring catching up after winter cold

Having experienced more cold weather this past winter than we have been recently accustomed to I wondered if that would put nature way behind this year. The steep slopes on the other side of the Tamar from my cottage are clothed in dense woodland and it's interesting to note that they are getting fully 'greened up' now whereas there have been times in the past I have had to wait until the start of May to see their Spring colour. Although a little cooler today with showers we have enjoyed some above average April temperatures and lovely sunshine with much of the rain coming conveniently at night. So nature is now taking off.

I believe that the value of sterling slipped a little more following the budget; the silver lining is that our local tourism should benefit even more. As I understand things bookings for the likes of caravan and camping sites are looking particularly good. A hot and sunny summer is all we ask for!

Tedburn St Mary won their case

My last post was about a main road and I'll continue the theme in this one. Back toward the end of October 2007 I wrote about the fact that the central reservation crossing point on the A30 dual carriageway just south of Tedburn St Mary was being closed. At that time I supported the move by 'Highways' making the point that the Cheriton Bishop flyover was reasonably close and that in my opinion it was just too dangerous to permit right turns on and off such a fast road. Subsequently the folk from Tedburn applied for some sort of judicial review (I don't pretend to understand the legal niceties) with the result that Tedburn won their case! This happened a little before this last Easter, I just hope no calamitous accidents happen as a result of this judgment.

In fairness if I had to make such a right turn on or off a dual carriageway the Tedburn one wouldn't be so hazardous as some. Visibility is good and I've never found that piece of road particularly busy. I haven't driven it in the rush hour though or on a Saturday afternoon in the summer so my experience isn't necessarily characteristic of the road. But the judgment still worries me.

Dobwalls Bypass officially opens

Dobwalls bypass in SE Cornwall is now open - and that's official! In fact all four lanes were in operation just before last Christmas but, as usually the case, there was a certain amount of work still to be done after the full width of road had been completed and Thursday saw Roads Minister Paul Clark escape the Westminster hothouse and his Kent constituency of 'Gillingham and Rainham' to come west and do the official plaque unveiling. Looking at his CV incidentally I see that he was born in Gillingham and it is good to note an MP representing an area with which he has a real connection rather than being parachuted in to a safe seat somewhere else. I believe that his majority is just a few hundred so he could be looking for a new job come the General Election though.

Last time I drove the Dobwalls bypass it was still under construction so I am looking forward to experiencing the final result. I may have mentioned this before but the Dobwalls project is an example of a road improvement that was very much needed but the sort of thing that many environmentalists oppose. I admire the tenacity of groups such as 'The Friends of the Earth' but where I take issue with such organisations is when they exhibit blanket opposition to road construction. Let's say I could wave the magic wand and stop any increase in traffic, even reduce it a bit, but the vehicle numbers through Dobwalls would still make life intolerable for the locals if there was no bypass. Emissions would be higher with the stop-start motoring too. I like to think that I am as concerned as most about the environment but I find that I can't join bodies such as 'Friends of the Earth' because they are just too dogmatic.

There is a large roundabout at the west end of the new bypass where the traffic streams split between the A38 heading for Bodmin and the A390 going off to Lostwithiel and St Austell. The 38 going through the Glynn Valley is particularly poor and I'm glad to see a roundabout rather than a more expensive flyover because west bound traffic needs slowing down considerably after many miles of dual carriageway. I'll have to find a reason to use the new road before too long!

Some thoughts on the Budget

I'm not going to write a lot about yesterday's budget because apart from anything else I've not really looked at the detail but there are one or two random thoughts I want to record. So here goes:

• Bearing in mind that Gordon Brown was Chancellor for the first ten years of the 'New Labour' administration and that he is a control freak I can't help thinking that he had a lot of input into this budget. Sure much of it is Alistair Darling's work but because of Brown's previous position I think he, Brown, will have had his fingerprints on some of the decisions.
• The Budget predictions for a rapid return to growth have certainly raised a few eyebrows. When one remembers the simply colossal revision that has had to be made by Darling of his figures in the pre-budget report, projections only five months old, then it is easy to see why nobody is giving the latest figures any credence. I would like to share Darling's optimism but can't; of course if the recovery is slower than he anticipates then there will be more borrowing / more tax hikes / cuts in spending.
• One of the cleverest taxes that Gordon Brown brought in - it was some years ago now but I can't remember just when - was a 5% tax on insurance premiums. I have a feeling that quite a few people may not even register the fact that it exists. It surprises me that no attempt was made to increase the rate yesterday (or perhaps it has been for all I know) because this is a tax that is relatively painless and as so many people pay for their insurances on a monthly basis it is one of those government sources of income that comes in on a very regular basis.
• Car scrapping scheme. Instinctively I dislike this idea. One country that has been mentioned having a similar scheme (apparently successful) is Germany. First thing to note is that we are not Germany, it is always dangerous to assume that what works in one country can be applied to another. Briefly then if one has owned a 10 year old car in the UK for at least a year it will be possible to have that car scrapped and then purchase a new car at £2000 off its purchase price. Of this £2000 half will be stumped up by the government, you and me in other words, whilst the other £1000 will come from the motor industry. I think that the Treasury have earmarked enough money for 300,000 new cars to be bought using this scheme. Now I don't know about other parts of the country but in Cornwall I can't imagine very many people being able to go from a 10 year old 'banger' to a brand new car even with this £2000 discount. It's the supposed environmental plus of having a new car that really gets to me though. Yes of course technology has moved on and we now have 'greener' cars but no mention is ever made of the environmental cost of making a new car which is much greater than that of the repairs / servicing of the older model. It seems so wrong to me to remove a serviceable but elderly car from the roads just to appease the motor industry. I do have my doubts about the practicalities of the scheme and will be very interested in seeing the extent of any take up.
  

Government minister makes long rail trip

Lord Adonis, Minister of State in the Department of Transport - a name and face I wasn't familiar with but now he is in the news for the best of reasons. He is on a fact finding mission this week traversing much of our railway system meeting MPs and various lobby groups along the way. He started off taking the sleeper train from Paddington to Truro on Monday night and yesterday included the branch line from Par to Newquay in his itinerary. Now I've long been a proponent of government ministers getting out and about to get a proper understanding of their brief so all credit to Andrew Adonis for taking this initiative.

My curiosity having been aroused by this guy I thought I had better do some research. Here then is a potted biography of Lord Adonis: born in 1963 Adonis was an academic at Oxford before becoming a journalist at the 'Financial Times' and the 'Observer'. In his early political life he was a Liberal Democrat before turning to the Labour party. Although he has never served as an MP he was made a life peer in 2005. Now there are those who might raise an eyebrow about him getting a life peerage because although active in politics he hasn't been through the mill of being a member of The House of Commons. That doesn't bother me too much, in fact I think it is good to have some active ministers who have had a life outside of politics and being a lord means that he is not burdened with constituency work. I've written before about my belief that there is something wrong with a system whereby a government minister has to represent his or her voters in Parliament at the same time as doing their government job - a case of "two into one won't go" perhaps.

North Cornwall LibDem MP Dan Rogerson was pleased with the Adonis trip on the Newquay branch line. Whether the south west will see any benefit as a result of the minister's journey remains to be seen but there is nothing to beat seeing a situation on the ground and talking to a variety of people before new policies are formulated.

Before setting out on this marathon five day rail journey Lord Adonis wrote a piece for 'The Times' which can be read here outlining his itinerary and his philosophy for making the trip. Worth a read.

Purple toothwort and kingcups in flower

All in all it's been a very good Easter weekend here in the Tamar Valley. Admittedly it has now clouded right up with, as I type this in mid afternoon, a little light rain falling but Saturday and Sunday were very pleasantly sunny and quite warm as well. On Saturday afternoon we enjoyed a cracking ramble to Morwellham further down river and on the Devon bank. There are some wetland areas adjacent to this walk and it was good to see plenty of kingcups in flower; another speciality that we hoped would be seen is the parasitic purple toothwort, the white or pink variety might not be particularly rare but the purple one is much more so. It is quite spectacular regarding the vibrancy of its colour and we were rewarded with the flowers being out.

It always seems to be the custom to remember miserable weather on bank holidays in this country and forget that they can be pretty good on occasion. I've just looked at an entry I made at the end of August 2007 when I made a similar observation having experienced good weather for both the Easter and late Summer Bank Holidays that year. Lets see what the two May bank holidays throw at us next month.

Anti-social tenants evicted from Dawlish flat

I was pleased to read that two men, Simon Goy and David Johnson, have been turfed out from their flat in Dawlish. Apparently their aggressive, noisy and drunken behaviour was making life absolutely hell for the neighbours and, using the Anti Social Behaviour Act 2003 police are able to close any residential property for three months if the courts rule that persistent disorder has taken place.

In this instance this is indeed what Newton Abbot magistrates found so police and council staff removed personal items from the flat and then changed the locks and boarded up the flat. Dawlish is in the Teignbridge District Council area but Teignbridge will not find alternative accommodation for these two men as they are considered to be "intentionally homeless". Someone else in another part of the country might therefore be burdened with these two as neighbours.

I'm glad to see this legislation being used, maybe other 'Neighbours from Hell' might take note from this particular case but I doubt it. For too long now our legal system has been more than tolerant of these sorts of people and the only way is to get really tough with them.

BBC Countryfile moves to a new time

There were a couple of programmes on TV on Sunday evening which I thought were worth watching. The first of these was a repeat of something I had missed previously - it was all about actress Joanna Lumley heading to the far north, the very far north inside the Arctic Circle in fact, so that she might have a chance of realising a lifetime ambition and see the Northern Lights. I was always known in the office for having a soft spot for Joanna, it's not just a matter of looks it's the fact that she is a very intelligent person, that she will take up the cudgels on something she is passionately concerned about and as was shown on Sunday she has a huge infectious enthusiasm. I'm glad to say she witnessed the 'Lights' in all their most spectacular glory and she displayed the most genuine almost child-like pleasure with this sighting. Yes a good programme.

Immediately following Joanna's programme there was 'Countryfile' in a new prime time slot. It has always seemed to me a little bizarre to have shown it in the middle of Sunday morning for so many years - surely many of its target audience would be out enjoying the countryside at this very time. 'Countryfile' has had a bit of a makeover for this new series and I have to say that I'm fairly comfortable with what they have done. It is no longer introduced by that stalwart John Craven but I'm pleased to see that John retains a position on the show being a roving reporter on issues of importance (in this instance considering the conflict between seals and salmon farmers). It was down to Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury to effectively do what John Craven had done previously in hosting the show. Sadly we no longer have Michaela Strachan, Charlotte Smith, Miriam O'Reilly or Juliet Morris presenting; when the BBC had announced the changes to the lineup a few months ago some of the press were accusing the BBC of ageism in axing these particular presenters. Of course the Beeb denied this but there is some evidence that they want younger faces on their programmes. I was particularly sorry to learn that Juliet Morris will no longer be on Countryfile, she has strong west country connections and was a presenter on the BBC Spotlight programme for some time. Juliet is very much the 'girl next door' type in my eyes, she seems to be the sort of person that would be great relaxing company and it was a huge shame to lose her to the bright lights of London! One presenter that Countryfile has retained is Adam Henson. He has a farm in Gloucestershire and we are promised that each week he will do a slot from his farm. This is excellent news! Why? Well there is still a big divide in this country between the consumers of our food and those farmers who produce it. Admittedly with farmers markets and so on the gap is closing slightly but there are still too many who never get closer to the source of their food than the shelves in Tesco. This thing is a bit of a hobbyhorse of mine I have to admit but I really feel we need to understand much more about how food is produced. On Sunday then Adam showed us one of his ewes trying to lamb only for one of its front legs to have got stuck so that Adam had to insert his arm in you can imagine where to sort the problem out having gently eased the secured head of the lamb back into its mother for the manipulation. He has livestock and crops and it will be educational to see how his farming year unfolds over the coming months.

'Shelterbox' poised to help quake victims

"To provide humanitarian aid worldwide in the form of shelter, warmth and dignity to people displaced by natural and other disasters.” This is the mission statement of the Cornwall based charity 'Shelterbox'. Less than 24 hours ago, and in the middle of the night, a large earthquake struck in the middle of Italy but today I heard Tom Henderson, the founder of Shelterbox, say that his organisation are already on the case with staff based in France going to the scene of destruction to make an assessment of what is needed.

I've written about 'Shelterbox' before and make no apology for again flagging up their marvellous achievements. It was in 2001 they made their first deliveries of the boxes and of course it was following the boxing day tsunami of 2004 that they became so widely known. Last year saw them reach an incredible milestone: they had helped people in no less than 50 countries! For me they tick so many boxes (unintended pun) - the kit in the boxes is of immediate practical value, their response to a disaster is extremely quick and also their admin costs are I understand markedly lower than that of other relief organisations leaving more of your pounds being of direct help to those who need it.

Yes this is a truly remarkable charity. Their website is here.

A gated community is not for me

Perusing this weekend's 'Westcountry Homes' supplement in the Western Morning News I was interested to read about a development on the west side of Holsworthy in north west Devon. Called 'Rydon Village' and marketed through local estate agent Christopher Bond the blurb in the paper says it "has been designed to create a peaceful but accessible sanctuary for the over 55s". It goes on to state "Rydon Village will consist of 57 homes in a secure gated community" (looking at the detail on the website it would seem to be 58 homes actually). The picture of the exterior of some of the houses with a gently curving road in front looks aesthetically pleasing but it is the fact that the residents are going to be in this "gated community" that I find bothersome.

I'll just interject a quick comment here to say that I usually give this weekly supplement a glance to see if I know any of the locations mentioned and to get some idea of what is happening in the property market. Not that I wish to move to Holsworthy although I have nothing against that town!

Back to the gated community thing. I've never lived in such a place and can't get my head around the concept. Here, in this Tamar Valley village, people come from every background imaginable and there is a wide spread of ages among its inhabitants too. As a person who absolutely refuses to be categorised in any way I get a lot of contentment in the fact that we are a diverse lot and I can't imagine myself ever wanting to be sealed off by gates on the road into a development. It doesn't seem natural somehow!

Incorporated in the development is 15 acres of landscaped grounds with conservation area and lake. We are also told about some clubhouse facilities: a range of catering, fitness and treatment rooms. For anyone interested prices kick off at £195,000.