A Lib Dem/Labour Spat that serves no--one

I had a trip around the Hucknall and Ollerton area of Nottinghamshire today. I often buy local newspapers from places, I was glad I did today. The headline in the Hucknall Despatch was all about Ashfield District Council's internal review which highlighted that they were not performing well enough in 40 out of 75 indicators. That in itself is a worry, but if I were a resident I would be more concerned about the political response; the Lib Dems and the Labour Party arguing about who is to blame with one party accusing the other basically because the Lib Dems took control last May. It is this sort of response that really turns people off.



The most important point is not who is to blame, but how the issues are going to be addressed. What is more disturbing is walking through areas like Central Walk in Hucknall it becomes apparent that some of the basics are lacking - it desperately needed some TLC, with litter strewn around and a large brick flower bed with a tree as the centre piece with weeds and grass growing around it. There are some great parts of Hucknall and an absolutely fantastic piece of public art relating to the area's mining heritage near the Tesco store, but I couldn't help feeling that politics is a barrier to better delivery rather than a driver for it.