Louise Lotz

Louise Lotz

Fright Night

I went to the meeting with local police at 11 am today to talk about a youth project planned for halloween.

This is called Fright Night - a free event arranged for Halloween. Halloween is on 31st October, which in 2009 falls on a Saturday. This is going to be called Fright Night. The rationale behind it is that there is a big nuisance spike at Halloween, and in the past, some of the usual suspects have been taken off for a weekend away. Although this has given residents a measure of relief, it has led to people to feel angry and to suggest that that is tantamount to rewarding bad behaviour. What about an event for everyone, and especially families and those who do not misbehave? This year there will be a community event that everyone can go to - not just those kids who misbehave.

The venue will be King George V playing fields and it will be organised as a family event from 5 pm to 10 pm with a mini funfare. This will be a no-alcohol family style event. There will be a free shuttle mini bus to bring kids in from around other areas, including those from other wards and afterwards a drop-off will be arranged. - We are hoping to take kids back to the street where they live - not just a single drop off point.

Things that are planned are a funfair - with dancing, bands, on stage thriller dance. Organised with help from Oaklands College who have also picked out some of the best students, including those who were talent-spotted during the street dance project over the summer.

There will also be a mini-funfair.

Some of the events will be:

Ghost Train
Stage magic
Spooky bouncy castle
Local School bands
Free face painting - with the help of students from Oaklands college
Costume competition
Children's rides
Fire brigade
Smoke tent

WGC safer neighbourhooods team will be there
Oaklands college will send 15 - 20 marshalls, and stewards, these will be drawn from the public services course at Oaklands College.

There will be media present - Heartbeat FM, Anglia TV.

See you there - this is an event not to be missed!

Underage Drinking now much improved

Some time ago I made a posting about under age drinking in Peartree - it was a real problem then. You may know that PC Alex Kettle came to join the PCSOs in Peartree. Those are the community police officers. Alex has had some success in Welham Green where there were a number of problems with young people, underage drinking and youth crime in the area. After tackling these problems, Alex was brought in to help locally with the problems in Peartree.

Things are so much better now that the police are moving from 'enforcement' to 'provision' - that is they are thinking about what can be offered to youngsters much more than just stopping them from doing harm. It is quite a fine line. In the beginning there were just too many problems and it was more imp0rtant just to get tough and stop things from going too pear-shaped, if you will excuse the pun.

So it's great to know how things have moved on and that the great bunch of Peartree kids are not getting a bad reputation just because of the actions of a few. With Halloween coming soon there is a treat planned for kids in Peartree. Hopes are that this will result in a win-win situation where kids have something to do, are happily occupied, and do not bother residents, and residents feel safe.

Welwyn Hatfield Council goes Blogging

A group of councillors in Welwyn Hatfield went on a blogging course on Monday 17th November. They have set up their blogs, which you can find at the following sites:

Louise Lotz
Mandy Perkins
Kim Morris
Roger Trigg
Fiona Thompson

Have fun reading their blogs!

Cheers

Louise

Vince can solve your credit crunch problems

Vince Cable is pictured here with Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate, Paul Zukowskyj. Vince Cable shows how a basket of groceries has increased in price. But Vince has the solutions to the credit crunch Read our story - left, to see what they are. In 2007, the groceries cost nine pounds and seventy-one pence. Today, in 2008, the same basket of groceries costs twelve pounds and twenty-four pence. That's the effect of the credit crunch. But Vince Cable has the solutions. Read on to find out what they are.

"People are feeling the pain of the credit crunch and rocketing prices," says our PPC Paul Zukowskyj. "The government is doing too little, too late to help people get through the hard times.

"We need to put money back in the pockets of people who are struggling to make ends meet.
Liberal Democrats are calling for a 4p cut in the rate of income tax, paid for by upping taxes on pollution and closing tax loopholes used by the rich.

"We would also get tough on unnecessary and wasteful government spending, and use some of the money saved to cut taxes even further for those on low and middle incomes."

Liberal Democrats in Peartree Ward welcome plans to tackle booze problems

Alcohol-related disorder in Peartree Ward on Friday and Saturday evenings could be tackled more effectively under new powers proposed by the Liberal Democrats. The plans to tackle binge drinking were launched by Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg MP on Monday 8th November.

Problems caused by alcohol and binge drinking round Woodhall shops has made the whole parade unpleasant for everyone, and street wardens and police have a job at the weekend tracking down the binge drinking culture which has had a knock on effect on the young people of the area who imitate this anti-social problem with large numbers of young people in the area and also from the surrounding wards congregating in parks to drink.

Louise Lotz said, "For too long, binge drinking has been causing problems in Peartree. I am pleased Nick Clegg has put forward these plans as I believe they will go a long way to tackling the binge drinking culture that is such a problem here."

The proposals, outlined in Tackling Booze Britain, include:

· Stop irresponsible drink promotions by introducing a minimum price for alcohol
· Put an end to the sale of alcohol to children by imposing a 'one strike and you're out' policy
· Protect Accident & Emergency staff by fining disruptive drunks in hospital A&E departments

Launching the proposals, Nick Clegg MP said, "The Government's failure to tackle the alcohol misuse in this country has left many of our town centres as no-go areas on Friday and Saturday nights.

"We cannot afford to ignore the impact that this problem is having on many people's lives.
"These proposals will increase funding for treatment of people with a drink problem, force retailers to sell alcohol responsibly, and ensure that those people who cannot handle alcohol responsibly are held to account.

"Following the publication of today's Home Affairs Select Committee report, these changes now become inevitable.

"We need a radical new approach to the alcohol related problems in this country. Parents, young people, and the alcohol industry must all play their part if we're to have any hope of dealing with the country's binge drinking culture.
"Ministers have spent years ignoring this growing problem. It's time action was taken to tackle this now."
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