8th June 2009
Congratulations to all those elected last week to serve in local Government in our area – there were 12 County Council elections in my constituency, and three by-elections – one for Crewkerne Town Council, and one District Council by-election in each of Ilminster and Cokers. We have some excellent new people elected onto the local councils, and the return of a number of dedicated and longer serving colleagues.
Our election counts in this area now always take place at the Westlands Leisure Complex in Yeovil. I have to admit that I do my best to avoid all election counts, as not only do they occupy a lot of time, but they are always rather nerve-wracking. I like to just hear the final results!
However, by some quirk of fate, I did drop in at the Westlands Centre on Friday morning, to attend an anniversary meeting of the very successful Yeovil Stroke Club. This group has done fantastic work in our area, helping those who have experienced strokes, and indeed it often has a queue of people wanting to join. My congratulations to all those who have worked so hard to make this group a success over the last decade.
On Friday morning I also called in at AgustaWestland itself, and its main HQ in Yeovil – off Lysander Road.
I had a long conversation with Managing Director, Graham Cole, about a range of issues affecting the company. In general, Westland is doing well at the moment – particularly since the all-important confirmation of the £1bn order for the Future Lynx/Wildcat helicopters, as well as the upgrade work on existing Mark 9 Lynx helicopters. The stability of Westland has been a major positive factor in helping the South Somerset economy during this time of world recession.
One big recent disappointment has, of course, been the US Administration’s decision not to press on with the VH71 Presidential Flight order. However, much of the Yeovil-based work on this order had already been completed, and will obviously have to be paid for by the US. So the major jobs impact of not proceeding will be in the United States, and not in Yeovil.
An interesting new prospect which may be opening up domestically relates to the British Government’s plans for new medium lift helicopters. Until recently, the Government was planning to go ahead with two upgrade programmes to extend the flying life of the French made Puma helicopters, and to upgrade some Sea King helicopters. However, Defence Minister Quentin Davies recently questioned whether spending this money to patch up existing helicopters really makes sense – or whether it would not be better to buy new helicopters with the money.
In my view, it would be far better to buy new helicopters, not least because of serious issues about whether the existing, rather old, Puma helicopters are really worth upgrading. This could be an opportunity for the armed forces to acquire better helicopters, as well as being a commercial opportunity for Westland. I shall certainly be pursuing this matter.
Finally, last Friday I also dropped in to an event in Yeovil to celebrate the third anniversary of the very successful “Shopmobility” scheme, which provides portable scooters and manual wheelchairs for people in Yeovil – to get around the shops and town centre, as well as for short and longer term hire. This is an excellent scheme, and has proved very popular. Hundreds of people have used the scheme since it started. Well done to the hard working staff and committee. If you want to know more, please call Shopmobility on 01935 420889.
At this event, I was particularly pleased to see Darren Way, the Yeovil Town footballer. Darren is still recovering from the terrible road accident last year, and for a while he used the shopmobility scheme to get around – when he could not walk.
Darren is making an impressive recovery, after almost losing his life in the crash. He has been one of the outstanding and most inspirational of Yeovil players over recent years - and to borrow from Lord Mandelson he is “a fighter, not a quitter”. We all wish him and his family the very best for the future.
Ever,
David.