Village shops, dementia care and electricity pylons - a mixed bag!

Written by David Heath MP and published in Western Gazette on Fri 4th Dec 2009

Just over a year ago I put in an appearance as an auctioneer at a fund raising event in Kingsbury Episcopi. I remember writing about it at the time, firstly because it was great fun, but secondly because the event was so well supported by the village - it seemed almost the entire community was there. The event was raising funds to do something which a lot of villages would like to have the drive and gumption to do, to try and bring back a functioning village shop.

Well, fund raising fundraising has gone from strength to strength since then, and the bank account is now a healthy £7,000 in credit. What's as important is that so many people in the community feel that they have done their bit towards it and have a stake in the success of the project. Now I've heard some very good news. The organisers applied last August for the Village SOS lottery Scheme, and a week or so ago, Kingsbury heard that they were through to the last twenty eight selected nationally. If they are successful now in getting into the last six in May, not only will the village appear on the television as their plans come to fruition, but they stand to win the nearly £300,000 to make the whole scheme a reality.

Of course, they face tough opposition, with rival schemes running the gamut from building a water-mill or re-opening a railway to a wildlife reserve and a "natural burial centre". But I think the case for Kingsbury is strong. A few years ago, the village boasted seven shops. Now it has none, and that means for many people either regular journeys into Langport or Martock, or complete isolation. With more and more elderly residents, that doesn't make sense. I wish them well.

While on the subject of elderly residents, I was particularly pleased on Friday last to be asked to open the newly refurbished and extended Cary Brook house in Castle Cary. Cary Brook provides homes for elderly people with varying degrees of dementia, and a very good job they do as well. The extension has been exceptionally well managed, and everyone was full of praise for the local builders who did the job. But I most wanted to thank the care staff in the home. It is an extraordinary difficult job, and one which I think needs exceptional qualities, yet the system really doesn't value the work they put in. More and more people are going to need this sort of support as the population ages and survives longer, and it's important we make the provision that's needed. As I have said many times, dignity and care in old age is the sign of a civilised society.

Long-term care has long been a hot political issue. There is a most extraordinary anomaly in the present arrangements by which in England (but not in Scotland), continuing nursing care is provided by the NHS but personal care is not. I defy anyone to make a proper distinction between the two in the case of people with the various forms of dementia. There is also the required contribution from assets of elderly people to pay for their care which means that family homes have to be sold to meet the bills. The government have latterly brought forward proposals in parliament which it claims addresses the issue, but in fact merely scratches the surface of a big problem. If this is to be an issue for political discussion, that can only be for the good, but I hope in the process we don't forget the most important people in the equation; elderly people themselves, their families, and the people who care for them.

Lastly, a landscape issue which strictly speaking doesn't affect my constituency, but certainly will leave its mark on Somerset as a whole and I think will be very detrimental to our tourism industry. National Grid have started a consultation exercise on a new series of pylons to connect the putative Hinkley C nuclear reactor to the grid. Apparently, they need to build pylons that carry power not at the current 132,000 volts but at 400,000 volts. The towers will be 152 feet high, and each will have to be lit to co-exist safely with Bristol Airport. And they won't be able to carry power from any barrage or lagoon system in the Bristol Channel if that were to be built.

Setting aside any reservations which I might have over building new nuclear power stations (and I have plenty), this project will have a catastrophic effect on the landscape of the levels and the west Mendips. I suppose I should be grateful that the suggestion of driving the route from Bridgwater bay across to Melksham has been rejected, but the two "options", both of which run from Bridgwater up to Avonmouth, are equally bad. And the consultation exercise only allows for one or other of these bad choices to be made. There is no option of routing the cables underwater in the Bristol Channel, or underground as is the case in many countries, or even along the route of the M5 which at least already has a detrimental landscape feature in the form of a busy motorway.

The consultation closes on January 4th - great timing to get a maximum response! Then National Grid will go ahead on one of its preferred routes, both of which are, to my mind, ill-considered, poor value for money, and will do irreparable harm to our countryside. With the new planning laws this government has introduced to push through major projects, there will be little opportunity to test the case or for local objections to be heard. Welcome to the brave, new world!