And this week's star prize... Anna Pascoe, Lib Dem PPC for South West Devon has a winning week... kinda

By PRSD, on Monday, December 14, 2009

Forget life being a lottery – a series of small wins (like getting time to buy food) followed by a raffle makes it a ‘Good Week’ for South West Devon’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Anna Pascoe

Monday, December 7
Having once been something of a swimmer (and when I say that, I mean someone who dragged themselves to the leisure centre more frequently than nowadays, not a Westcountry Rebecca Adlington by any means), I made it back to the pool for the first time in ages this evening after work. I was surprised to see how quiet it was, hoping that this is just symptomatic of how busy folk are with Christmas at the moment and not that yet another industry is being affected by the recession.

Dried off and back at home I despatched out some more telephone canvassing packs before getting an early night.

Tuesday, December 8
After catching up on some casework first thing in the morning, I then did the dutiful granddaughter bit and picked up my aunty to go over and visit my nan. Nan grew up in South West Devon, so she was very excited to hear all of my campaign news and we chatted about the things that had changed since her time and what was still the same (Brixton fish and chip shop still being a quality establishment for example)! I was put to good use re-programming the digibox before we had a spot of lunch together (actual food, not caffeine, which is good progress from PRSD diaries passim). Then it was off to work for a bit more bashing away at the computer keyboard that evening.

Wednesday, December 9
The working day flew by today and it was soon time to endure the A38 in rush hour again. The temporary closure of Manadon this evening was a particular bonus, gave me some lovely time to reflect on the world passing by for an hour or so.

One of the many reasons why the proposed incinerator application at Lee Mill seems a triumph of confidence over practicality is the assertion that “only” adding 100-150 resultant vehicle movements to the A38 isn’t a significant impact. I can scarcely think of an occasion when this road isn’t busy at best and congested and dangerous at worst and I shudder to think how soon a truck carrying pre- or post-processed waste might be involved in one of the sadly near-daily accidents on this road if the application were to be approved.

I spent the evening with some residents in Brixton, chatting about their priorities in the area and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere at the rather lovely Foxhound pub.

Thursday, December 10
The familiar bleep of the alarm going off while it’s still pitch-black and apparently still the middle of the night occurred again today. After splashing cold water on my face in a bid to wake up I then braved the also ever-busy A386 heading over to Tavistock to help out with the borough council by election there. The weather stayed fair for us and the electorate even fairer, with a stunning 29 per cent increase in the Lib Dem vote to return local young woman Kirstie Clish-Green to the council by a convincing margin.

In the afternoon I visited Viridor’s exhibition at the Smithaleigh Hotel, Plympton, on their planning application to build an incinerator at Lee Mill just outside of Ivybridge. I was expecting to see much more detail on the plans, especially as a submission to the planning authority is apparently imminent in early January 2010. It was disappointing to find that the exhibition was basically just the info that was already available on the Viridor website, with staff on hand to answer any questions. It looks like the detail of the planning application, which will run to hundreds of pages for a project of this size, is being kept under wraps, or “finalised” in Viridor-speak, right up until it is submitted.

Friday, December 11
I love the hustle and bustle, and the challenge of meeting new people and tackling tricky projects, that are all part and parcel of being a young parliamentary candidate. As I’ve mentioned before though, it’s quite easy to get so engrossed with all the different facets of campaigning that normal things like visiting Ma and Pa Pascoe or doing the hoovering end up being missed for a bit too long. With the day off work today, having not been food shopping for the best part of a month, I thought it might be a good opportunity to stock up the cupboards before the Christmas shopping crowds angling for the plumpest turkey became too much to bear.

I managed to kill two birds with one stone when I heard the familiar dulcet tones of said Ma Pascoe talking about what to get me for my birthday with one of her friends from church from the other side of the shop in town!

Made inroads into the emails when I got home, but sadly nowhere near approaching the nirvana of “zero inbox”. Maybe that’s what mum could get me for my birthday!

Saturday, December 12
Another early start over to Ivybridge to take part in the massive public demonstration against the planned incinerator at Lee Mill. It was the first time I’d been to Ivybridge in a long while that it hadn’t been absolutely pouring with rain, which was good news for the 300+ concerned residents who had turned out. Crooked Tempo, a local band from Ermington, certainly had us entertained and drew attention to the banner-waving, brightly-attired protesters of all ages.

Frankie Dolan, the lady who has been co-ordinating the campaign, spoke passionately again about how the Lee Mill site is not the right place for the incinerator. As I said when I addressed the crowd, it is up to politicians to listen to what local people want, not for politicians to tell local people what is right for them and I hope that Saturday’s demonstration sent a loud and clear message to the elected representatives of Ivybridge and SW Devon not to take their mandate for granted.

Sunday, December 13
My week was rounded off a treat by the shock of winning something for the first time ever in the raffle at the Lib Dem Christmas Dinner. My ticket was only the second one drawn out, so I got to pick something that I actually wanted, which was a double bonus! I am now the proud owner of a large stainless steel roasting pan, with folding handles and removable rack (I have no idea if these accolades define an ordinary roasting pan from a particularly special one, but the label seemed to indicate they were worth trumpeting).

No excuse for me not to cook the family Christmas dinner this year then – I normally get off with buying some cheese straws and an Arctic roll for tea as my sister is a chef, but I might have to step up to contributing to the main event now this year…

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