Putting Whittlesford and Thriplow first

I have decided to step down from being portfolio holder for planning, sustainability and climate change on the district council.

The work has been interesting and at times exciting, particularly over the summer of 2011 when the traveller evictions at Dale Farm in Basildon raised concerns about Smithy Fen, near Cottenham. I am pleased that the issue was handled firmly and sensibly, without a lot of scaremongering.

I think the south cambs planning department, which went through a difficult time, has emerged in good shape. I know planners get a bad press, but this is a crowded island, and without the rules it would be a free-for-all. 

And I enjoyed meeting a smattering of Ministers, for whom the Cambridgeshire economy matters a great deal - and so it should. If anywhere will kickstart the UK economy out of the doldrums it is the enterprise and innovation around the country's oldest university, bar none.

But the portfolio post came with a requirement to attend a lot of meetings, most during the day, and that isn't easily reconcilable with the need to go to work - and work away at times.

So my focus for the future is on the villages of Whittlesford and Thriplow, and the Heathfield settlement, and doing my best to serve the residents of those communities as their district councillor.

And I can spend a bit more time on my vegetable patch, currently under snow.