Anne Turrell is an excellent choice.

She has proven beyond doubt that the interests of Mile End residents have come before anything else but in the past she has been stopped by Conservative indifference. I sure she will be very fair!

Lets hope we are in for a period of stability between the three parties controlling the council where "party" politics should take a back seat in favour of a group who can, at last, take Colchester forward.

Beverly Oxford and here family are excellent in looking after the interests of there highwoods residents.
They listen very carefully to what all the residents have to say and work very hard.
They keep us up to date with a good newsletter and always anwser our emails.
Well done and good luck!

I really hope this is the start of a new dawn for Colchester. The town seemed to be being milked for all it was worth by the last adminstration. Lets hope the intention with this council is to make it a better place for us all to live in.

I would like to make several points regarding the above posts.

Please note that I didn't vote at the last election and I don't support any politcal party.

Point 1) The Highwoods Independents are nolonger independent they have sold out what scrap of independence and integrity they once possessed for agreeing to be part of this sordid alliance.

Point 2) It was only two short weeks ago that the Lib Dems and Labour were calling each other untrustworthy so and so's in their respective election leaflets. So it will be interesting to see how these tax thieving, lying, hypocrites get along together.

Point 3)There is nothing in the Colchester Borough Council bank account to pay for the proposed Labour and LibDems plans. The Tories spent it all on useless projects like the VAF and the Community Stadium and that is why the Tories bailed out of office.

Point 4) Tim Young and Tina Dopson are too strong for Anne Turrell and in particular Martin Hunt. They will politically out-flank and walk all over them.

Point 5) The Colchester electorate now knows that the Lib Dems, Labour and the so called Highwoods Indpendents are now part of the same sorry group of lying shysters that I have christened the Lib-Lab-Indies who are in it together but mostly in it for themselves.

Point 6) The Colchester Tories under Robert Davidson's leadership are doomed. They are on a downward spiral to oblivion. The Colchester need new young blood to invigorate the party but it doesn't look like it will happen.

If any of you think Colchester was bad under the Tories (and I agree it was shocking) - it is going to get even worse under the tax and spend Lib-Lab-Indies.

Would the last person leaving Colchester please turn off the lights.

So much for LibDems principles regarding their so called hatred for Labour over the war in Iraq, post office closures, abolition of the 10% tax band that has increased taxes for nearly 6 million tax payers and the introduction of ID cards.

The Liberal Democrats are neither liberal or democratic.

The Liberal Democrats are a bunch of sandal wearing, spineless, tax raising, two faced, beardies (and that includes their women members).

oh dear, what a shame, when people become personal, I am afraid the point is lost.

The one thing all these unhappy whingers have in common is that they never suggest an alternative.
If not a Lib Dem/Lab/Ind pact then what?
Rememberany administration needs 31 seats for a majority and the Tories have walked away.
So come on clever people, stop complaining and tell us all what you'd do.

Not one party has enough of a majority to form an administration, hence the original Lib Dem idea of asking all parties to participate. This ensures everyone has to collaborate for the success of the town. The Conservatives "lead" by Robert Davidson (who if he is a leader I am CEO of BA) didn't want to become part of the administration and therefore it fell to the remaining largest groups to do what is best for the town. Old "two faced" Davidson actually apparently wanted to join, but his group voted against it and then the stupid old fool has the hippocracy to slag off the decision even though he said he personally supported it!! The man is a total liar and twit! No wonder his party are in such a mess! Get rid of him Conservatives - the man is pure poison and stupid as well! The Lib Dems will be the biggest group on the Council, with Labour and the Independents only having one seat each on the decision making cabinet.

The local administration has naff all to do with the abolition of 10% tax rises and national ID cards - suggest Geoff understands the difference between local and national politics, as clearly he hasnt a clue!

Well done to Flat Foot Soozie. She nailed the whole issue with her point by point posting.

I also agree with Geoff's points about the Lib Dems.

With regard to the posting from "Get the facts right".

The poster seems to suggest that the Lib Dems at local level are different from the Lib Dems at national level.

I suppose it is easy to get confused about the Lib Dems and their many faces so the point about the Lib Dems being two faced is spot on.

With regard to Labour - it's great to watch them tearing each other apart.

Old Two Jags Prescott, Cherie Six Houses Blair and Lord CashPoint Levy all have books out at the moment detailing the liars and back stabbers that make up the modern Labour party.

We all know that the Tories are still a nasty party but they very second division compared to the double dealers and back stabbers that make up the lovey dovey champagne socialists in Labour and the Lib Dems.

Colchester is going to be a fun place to live in during the next two years.

Will Martin Hunt and Tim Young be calling a truce on calling each others party untrustworthy in their forthcoming newleters?

Forget about car pollution. I'm already choking on the smell from LibLab b*llsh*t.

Flat Foot Soozie...You said it all you fool.."Please note that I didn't vote at the last election "....typical idiot..enough said.

To Bystander - you clealy do not understand local affairs and should become educated - as you clearly know nothing!

Question. Name the political party that would associate themselves with the technically bankrupt, morally bankrupt and politically bankrupt Labour party?

Answer. The Liberal Party.

Show me your political friends and I'll tell you what you are.

Great article in the Financial Times link - http://www.ft.com/cm
s/s/0/53f23c76-1c66-
11dd-8bfc-000077b076
58.html

detailing Labour's financial woes.

What would happen to Colchester's gang of three if Labour can't pay it's loans and is declared bust?

Also what is happening about Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg's expenses?

Old Cleggover said that he would publish his expenses. That was 45 days ago and as as today he still hasn't published his the promised figures.

It enough to turn someone to drink but enough of old Charlie for another day.

Up the revolution.

This is just like TDC all over again.

Look whats happeend there. The leadership of the alliance bow down to certain members of the alliance because they threaten to leave the alliance if they dont get what they want. It doesn't really work as it means that the leadership is considered weak and a puppet for the other parties in the Alliance.

These alliances look good on paper and sound good till you realise at the end of it all you still have several different parties whose beliefs are different to one another and they are all pulling in another direction. Its not a viable long term solution as no one is singing from the same hymn sheet.

I'm still waiting for the alternative to be suggested - but I'll wait in vain won't I because you're just ignorant troublemakers who love stirring it. You don't actually know anything - well nothing anyone would want to know anyway.

Cliff are you still here?

I thought the men in white coats had carted you off ages ago.

Now leave us ignorant trouble makers alone while we have fun.

Or are the Lib Labs going to ban fun and laughter in the same way that they try and ban everything else - health & safety and political correctness.

Now run along Cliff before my gamekeeper mistakes you for a fox.

In Italy we have had 42 Governments since the end of the Second World War.

Most of them have been coalition governments.

I understand that Colchester Borough Council wanted to create a more continental drinking culture. Although the image is somewhat diminished by the sight of vomiting, obese slappers wondering around Colchester high street in ASDA flip flops.

Instead Colchester has got European style coalition government with Colchester's very own Lib-Lab-Indies. .

I'll give it until February 2009 around the time that the Lib Lab councillors start fretting about their council seats and the basic £6,000 a year that they get paid for the wheels to come off the Lib-Lab-Indie cart.

I also hear that the Lib Dems are in bed with the Tories in Ipswich.

Is there anyone that the LibDems wouldn't sleep politially with to get power?

Another ill informed idiot obviously!

Here's an alternative, whoever has the highest number of seats from the election results should control the administration.

That was not the Lib Dems, it was not Labour and it was not the Independants. None of those have done enough to take control in their own right, so the idea of all three of them doing so is just absurd.

What exactly have Labour done in the last 11 days in which they can be trusted by the Lib Dems whereas before they couldn't?

What exactly have Lib Dems done in the last 11 days that they can be trusted by Labour whereas they couldn't before?

What have Labour and Lib Dems done in the last 11 days that the Independants don't want to be independent any more?

Oh it is amazing that the lib dems are the ones that come across as the caring party and as good ward Councillors. Ask Martin Goss where he was last week when he should have been dealing with Council work....he was at work cos he could not get the time off! So how is he going to actually act on all the words that have come from his mouth. He has also been banned from the planning committee because of all that he has said. If he had a brain cell he would have learned what he can and can not say before he was elected then he could have made a difference to the people of Mile End!

Just reading these posts and some of them are very funny and very informative. What strikes me is how humourless the LibLabs are in their posts. With regard to the above posting about the bankrupt Labour party who are £20 million in the hole there is a story going around that the Northern Rock Shareholders Action Group have offered to takeover Labour for £100 in a deal similar to the deal where Northern Rock was nationalised by Labour - so far Labour hasn't responded. This is the link that shows the offer letter. http://bp0.blogger.c
om/_EQc_hLHXONE/SCgt
Sn5Ut7I/AAAAAAAABy0/
55rc9GW2xpo/s1600-h/
labour-bankrupt.jpg

People have such short memories, they don't remember all that uncollected rubbish and a Waste Service in complete disarray four years ago (a failing frontline service that we pay for with our Council Tax) At least the Tories sorted that out. Whilst on the Tax subject, the Tories kept that down too, lets see if this new Administration can really deliver the 0% increase that the Lib Dems have promised us!

Years ago the Lib Dem Administration was given the choice of Colchester moving forward as a Growth Area or remaining a quiet Market Town, did they hold a referendum and ask the people of Colchester what they wanted (I don't remember one!). So all this building (imposed by the Labour Government) that everyone has been blaming the Tories for is in fact something that the Liberals signed Colchester up for! Now we hear (on a separate thread) that Martin Goss father was the Chairman of the planning committee that approved the enormous expansion of North Colchester, the very issue that Martin Goss blamed the Tories for and got elected on the back of! (you couldn't make it up!!!) The VAF is another Liberal project which they rode roughshod over everyone (including their new friends the Labour Group) to achieve, yet they seem to have conveniently washed their hands of!

Yes we do have interesting times ahead! Lets hope this coalition holds together (and works together) for the good of Colchester. Business 'partnerships' with three people are invariably a disaster, I sincerely believe this will be no different.

The Council is effectively a £100,000,000 business, personally I don't care how 'nice' someone is or how many 'Newsletters' they distribute, I want to know they are capable of managing a business of that magnitude!

Be careful Laura too much home truths like those spelled out above and the lefty Gazette will shut down thic comment section to protect their Lib Lab friends.

In reply to Laura why didn't Robert Davidson and the Tories raise these points about Martin Goss and LibDem push for the VAF, before and during the build up to the election?

This seems like a big failure with the Tories they are not very vocal.

'Chairman' is right, the Tories have not been very vocal, perhaps because they were trying to get a positive message across (certainly in the material I got pushed through my letterbox), they were after all the Administration. It has been very easy for the Liberals and Labour to snipe at things whilst in opposition. Now that the Tories find themselves in that position I'm sure they will 'find their voices'(Tony makes a good point though, the Gazette probably won't report it when they do!). They have been taught a hard lesson, being 'nice' and 'positive' does not seem to win elections in Colchester!

I hope Tory PPC has learned some lessons from this experience in Colchester. If the Tories want to remove from colchester at the next General Election they will have to politically get Bob Russell by the scruff of the neck and kick him out and the work on that must start with immediate effect. She must also understand that the Gazette is a Lib Lab paper and if she wants to get her message across - she must be more direct and bypass the Gazette & Standard

'True Blue' I'm sure the Tory PPC has worked that out by now! Personally when I read the Telegraph, I fully expect it to put a Conservative spin on things, if I read the Guardian I will get a different perspective (though not a lot recently!). Local Papers should not be partisan, and it is a great shame ours are. Bypassing them will be incredibly difficult because people believe 'what they read in the paper' they do not see it as covert propaganda, whereas political leaflets are seen as just that. I'm sure as a 'True Blue' the Tory PPC would welcome your suggestions as to how to tackle this problem. I have not declared myself a Tory (although I usually lean that way - I have voted differently at Local elections) what has annoyed me this time is the fact that the Lib Dems have effectively gained control of the Council by blaming the Tories for problems that they created and the Tories inherited. Talk about a 'poison chalice'!

I agree with True Blue and the point about the Tories getting hold of the issue by the scruff of the neck.

I like Jill Skalla the Tory PPC. She could be very good for the town particularly if the Tories win the next General Election. However the Colchester Conservative group haven't shown that they 100% behind her. The party's election organisation seems very ramshackle and disorganised as evidenced by the recent council election. I agree with Laura's point that it would be difficult to by pass the local papers but the Colchester Tories are just not getting the postive coverage that they deserve.

The Tories also need to get into non traditional areas like St Andrews and St Annes.

I don't want to respond to most of the pro-Tory propoganda being trotted out here (to suggest that all their leaflets were sweetness and light and mum's apple pie is a real laugh) but a few facts might be of some interest.

1. Yes. The largest party should form the administration. The Tories have 27 seats, 4 short of enough. They were invited to join with the other parties to form an administration which they would have led, but they declined and took their bat and ball away. The opposition parties, therefore, had no choice, but to bury their differences and work for the good of the town.

2. The VAF was indeed approved under a Lib Dem led council (with Tory - and in the first instance Labour - approval) a few years ago. While the Lib Dems ran the council the project was on target to keep within its budgets. It is only since the Tories have been in charge that the project has gone belly-up.

3. Martin Goss's father was chairman of the planning committee about ten years ago well before all this development started taking place.

4. There are no borough elections until 2010 so, tough, you can't do anything about it until then.

5. The Tories lost 5 seats in a year when they were crushing Labour (and to some extent the Lib Dems) in every other part of the country. They must have done SOMETHING wrong (like not listening to the public or consulting them meaningfully for instance).

6. The Gazette is an independent newspaper and certainly does not support any party or group of parties. It is always the case that a party which has lost the favour of electors seeks to blame the press.

7. Bob Russell will slaughter Jill Skalla when the general election comes. But that's a personal opinion as I was Bob's agent at the ast election and may be again at the next.

Put that lot in your pipe and smoke it!

Love Colchester - I did read your comments and wanted to set you straight on the facts.

1. I have not missed any council meetings - the only meeting I chose not to attend was a tour of the Customer Service Centre - given that I was personally asked around 12 months ago to look round and meet the staff as I have been active in the community for nearly 3 years, CBC management felt this was a good tour for a non-councillor (at the time) to have. Given I am not into wasting valuable CBC time and money, I chose not to attend as I already know many of the staff, processses and management. I am sure you will agree I am being careful with council taxpayers money by doing this. I also work locally in the town and infact 5 minutes walk from Rowan House, so any meetings I have with council officers tend to me during my own lunchtimes and this was the case even before I was elected.

2. I have certainly NOT been banned from any planning meetings! If by defending the very people and area where I live is constituted as not doing my job (even before I was elected), then please tell me what words you would consider I should speak on over-development. You can rest assured that I will be at every planning meeting where there is a Mile End and Braiswick application, representing residents.

3. You will see me taking a very active role on several committees - watch this space!

4. Yes my dad was a councillor many years ago, but he did not vote through any over development in North Colchester. As chairman of the Planning Committee (as he was until 1998) it is rare that they ever use their casting vote unless there is a deadlock - similar to the one the last Conservative Planning Chairman had several months ago and he used his vote to push through 4 storey flats in Colchester which face Castle Park. The local residents were not thrilled by that decision were they?

If you want to ask me anything direct in future please email me on gossmartin@hotmail.c

om as I always respond and ensure people get the true facts.

Mr Goss, you forget to mention that you have been banned from sitting on the planning committee because of your comments. If you really wanted to represent your area the best you would have kept quiet about saying you will ban flats in Mile End so that you could have made a real difference.

Martin Hunt and Martin Goss seem like very sensitive souls.

Martin Hunt should do well to be careful to hide his bitchy little comments which are not appropriate for real men to use - such as:

"There are no borough elections until 2010 so, tough, you can't do anything about it until then". Meoww!!!

and his final comment

"Put that lot in your pipe and smoke it". Meoww!!!

Martin Hunt should be thanked for sketching out the history of the VAF and Labour's backroom involvement in it. That certainly isn't the way that Lord Young of Greenstead has been portaying things during the past few years. He has been making out that it was all the Tories and the Lib Dems fault.

Since Martin Hunt didn't mention it I assume that he agrees with the point of view that that Tim Young and Tina Dopson will make mincemeat of himself and Anne Turrell.

Mr Hunt didn't mention Geoff's post where he said

"So much for LibDems principles regarding their so called hatred for Labour over the war in Iraq, post office closures, abolition of the 10% tax band that has increased taxes for nearly 6 million tax payers and the introduction of ID cards.

The Liberal Democrats are neither liberal or democratic.

The Liberal Democrats are a bunch of sandal wearing, spineless, tax raising, two faced, beardies (and that includes their women members)".

Finally Martin Hunt didn't mention it but is he going to give editorial approval over LibDem newsletters to Tim Young in case there is anything nasty about his new best friends Tim Young and Tina Dopson?

Martin the cat is out of the bag everyone knows that the Colchester Lib Dems are secretly supporting the government and all your bluster and hot air is just smoke and mirrors.

Enjoy the remainder of your time in office Councillor Hunt because the people of Colchester will be removing you at the next election.

This thread is clearly a bunch of disgruntled Tories with their noses out of joint!

Love Colchester - you clearly need to get a life rather than keep making false accusations!!!

well, what an interesting read,I congrtulate and thank Martin Goss and Martin Hunt for submitting their comments under their own names, I know two Swallows do not make a summer,however I wonder how what two"Martins" make.

Colchester is a dirty filthy chav town and there is nothing that Martin Goss, Tim Young, Robert Davidson or Gerard Oxford can do about it.

Martin Hunt let himself down with his nasty comments.

I wouldn't vote Lib Dem again for all the tea in China.

I voted Lib Dem not Lib Lab.

I was mislead by Martin Hunt and his colleagues at the recent council elections and I won't be voting for them again.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it Councillor Hunt.

I Love Colchester - I will do more good attending meetings as a Ward councillor - and speaking either in support or against applications and ensuring I ask people who are affected their opinions.

That is the most effective way of getting the point across.

Interesting what Martin Hunt says about the Tories not listening to people and makes mention of the Tories making a mess of the VAF .

Did the Lib Dems listen to people when they decided to press ahead with the VAF? Did they not realise that a majority of people DID NOT WANT the VAF in the first place!

They didn't listen of course which is a major reason why the Tories gained control. Now they have the audacity to accuse the Tories of the same error that they made themselves!

Now that the Lib Dems have got in via the back door, I am sure that anything that goes wrong, or is perceived to go wrong in the next two years will be blamed on the Tories and has absolutely nothing to do with them.

The voters are not that stupid or that gullible though and if they don't get it right they will face the same fate as the Tories did less than two weeks ago.

I have voted for Labour in the past but I feel that they have left the working class down over the past 10 years.

The rich have got richer and the poor have got poorer.

Gordon Brown has tried to screw poor working class people with the abolition of the 10% rate. I also hate tax credits - why should I have to fill in forms to get tax back that should never have been taken from me.

I visited the BNP website www.bnp.org.uk and I after the recent council elections and I was very surpised by their very good manifesto.

I have now decided to vote BNP in future as they offer many of the things that I want in their manifesto:

1) A reduced, simplified and flat rate tax system.
2) Raise tax free allowance to £15,000
3) Withdrawl from the European Union
4) Renationalisation of Gas, Water, Electricity and British Rail
5) Protection for British farming and manufacturing.

None of which has anything at all to do with local elections.

Neither has the one you forgot to mention - being a racist bigot.