In our weekly Friday Politics column, Cllr Pallavi Devulapalli discusses gardening, health and politics…
We have been having some rather hot and dry spells, and my garden is certainly feeling the effect.
Like most gardeners, I have been spending an hour or two every day watering the more delicate plants which are hanging on, just about. After years of despair, I finally gave in this year and put up fruit cages and netting, and so far, it seems to have been successful at keeping the muntjac, rabbits and pheasants away from the plants. Fingers crossed.
Cllr Pallavi Devulapalli and others at last year’s Garden Wildlife Competition
These past few weeks have been dominated locally by the climate change motion debate at council, which I could not attend due to the late change of date clashing with other work. If I had been present, my contribution would have been to say climate change is happening, whether we like it or not. I could not have supported cancelling the earlier motion declaring a climate emergency. But I do agree with the second part of the motion that our efforts must focus on mitigating the effects rather than emissions reductions. Wildfires in Spain have sadly taken lives in the past weeks, and as these events intensify, I worry that communities everywhere will pay a heavy price for lack of preparedness.
So I thank Cllr Austen for bringing the motion, and I will support any efforts to improve local resilience to an increasingly fragile and unpredictable climate and geopolitical situation.
I have read some opinions in these papers bemoaning the county council’s instruction to remove political messaging from libraries and other public spaces, and stopping the flying of non-union/England/county flags at County Hall. The objectors are guilty of the very thing they are accusing the county council of doing. By protesting so volubly, they have revealed that they are the group who are obsessed with wasting public money on flags and political messaging. The irony is not lost on the majority of the public who have little interest in flags and other symbolic gestures. I agree with the county administration that council has no business wasting public money on supporting certain political groups, howsoever worthy they may be, because that is partial and discriminatory against other groups, and not a good use of taxpayers’ funds.
Cllr Pallavi Devulapalli
Today (Friday) is the final day for entry into the Garden Wildlife Competition, so if you have been meaning to enter, please do so now! We have already received some very good entries, and I am looking forward to the team creating a shortlist of potential winners, and then visiting the shortlisted gardens later this month to make the final decision.
West Norfolk is full of wildlife enthusiasts, and it’s been a real joy to raise awareness of this competition locally. I truly believe that we are on our way to becoming a true wildlife haven, and I hope the competition can also be implemented right across Norfolk in future years.
In other news, I have been appointed to the board of governors at the QEH and have my first meeting with them next week. I am looking forward to being a critical friend with the goal of ensuring that we have a fully functioning district general hospital for years to come. Healthcare is being transformed at a rapid pace, and it’s imperative that our infrastructure keeps pace with that, as well as our changing population. I’m in favour of using the best evidence available to ensure value for money- hospitals need to work smartly across social care and primary care to ensure people get the right care with the available resources.
I am saddened to read and hear the sexist, crude and hateful comments made about Reform spokesperson and former Conservative minister Anne Widdecombe, who was brutally murdered in her own home at the age of 78. Whatever happened to the common courtesy of not speaking ill of the dead? Many people have come forward to reveal their own memories of knowing her – to say how kind and generous she was, an outspoken and fearless champion of free speech and a formidable campaigner for the causes she believed in. May she rest in peace. I hope the culprit/s are found and that they face justice. Whatever one’s political views, we must be able to express them without being in fear for our lives. Otherwise we cease to be a democracy, and that is not a welcome prospect.
I love eating out at local places when I have time – recently I have been to Sunny Hunny to eat and drink at The Spontaneous Cuppa, a safe and welcoming place if you’re after gluten-free cakes and food, the Ship Inn at Brandon Creek – a great stopover on the A10 which has beautiful views over the rivers, and the lovely Marriott’s Warehouse in Lynn. We are truly blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the world, and my job as councillor is to preserve the good and improve the rest if I can. That is my constant aim, whether I’m taking part in a planning committee meeting or listening to officers talk about transport plans for the region.
Stay cool. Here’s hoping for some welcome rain for the orchards and gardens around West Norfolk.
Comments are closed.