7 March 2022
Since the election I have been acutely aware of the fact that I was fairly 'visible' across Swale East ahead of the election, but have been much less so since becoming a councillor. There's a certain irony in the fact that the busier you are, the less time you have to be visible. Ideally a balance has to be struck which allows you to do both, but it's a little like spinning plates, as the more visible you are, the more enquiries you receive, which in turn means you are busier!
The past month has been a particularly busy time, so I thought this month I would write a 'week in the life' piece to give a brief summary of the kind of things that keep me busy, but not necessarily visible. The week in question was the week beginning 31st January 2022.
I spent Monday morning responding to emails (which, along with meetings, make up the vast majority of my work) including enquiries relating to speeding traffic on the A2 at Teynham, a dangerous T-junction in Graveney, and the authorisation of a grant payment towards the installation of an air filtration system in Stalisfield Village Hall.
In the afternoon I attended a meeting of the Swale Local Children's Partnership Group. This group meets five times a year, bringing together representatives from KCC, Swale Borough Council and a number of local groups and agencies in Swale to encourage dialogue with the goal of enabling more cohesive services for children in the area.
On Tuesday I attended a training session on project management in the morning, and in the afternoon headed to Doddington to meet with parish councillors and KCC officers to look at potential options for managing the flood risks in the village, which was badly flooded in May 2018. Emails today included an enquiry about the morning bus service through Graveney and a planning application for brick earth removal from a field in Bapchild.
Thanks to a last minute postponement, Wednesday was a rare, meeting free day. I dealt with email enquiries including tree planting in Bapchild, broadband vouchers in Throwley, a dangerous road in need of repair between Bredgar and Milstead, and an odd case involving a streetlight that no one owns in Selling.
Thursday's email enquiries included a request to improve a well used footpath in Teynham, a request for road repair in Doddington and ongoing work towards the introduction of a 20mph limit on Lees Court Road in Sheldwich. In the afternoon I met with my Green and Independent group colleagues to talk about the amendments we were planning to put forward at the KCC budget meeting on 10th February, followed by a meeting with a Traffic Schemes officer to discuss various projects and works suggested by residents and parish councils, and see which of them might be viable on KCC's ever tightening budget.
Friday was packed with back to back meetings, including two more budget amendment meetings and a briefing from KCC officers to all councillors about the budget. All four of the Greens at KCC were newly elected last year, so the budget process was a very steep learning curve for all of us. I'm hoping we remember everything we've learned over the last few weeks by the time the 2023 budget comes around!
I know a couple of years ago I wouldn't have had much of an idea of much of a clue about what the day to day activities of a county councillor would involve, so I hope that this has been an illuminating and informative summary.
Rich Lehmann
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