Ridgeway Ramblings for June by Mike Preston

Well what a week we had after the General election, things seem to have settled down for the moment. I was present at the Loughborough Leisure Centre count. It was the venue of the count for Charnwood and Loughborough constituencies. The ballot boxes were delivered and the counters were in place. The atmosphere was electric as the count started by the initial sorting and verifying of the papers which was followed by the actual count. But how did we do and what was the size of the task.
The Count and Results
Another success was the Election Count itself where the results for the Loughborough and Charnwood constituencies were announced at 1.55am and 2.05am respectively. It was great to be the first in Leicestershire to declare – only one authority in the entire East Midlands Region managed to beat us by a few minutes – pretty good I suppose, bearing in mind that we had to count two constituencies at the same time! However, more important than the speed of the count, was its accuracy – our counting machines really helped there. Above all this, the success of the election and the count was very much down to the Election staff who worked long hours.
Charnwood Forest
Charnwood Forest takes in parts of the districts of Charnwood, North West Leicestershire and Hinckley and Bosworth. It contains the oldest rocks in England, dating back more than 550 million years – some containing the oldest fossils ever found anywhere in the world. 85 species of breeding birds, nine species of amphibians and reptiles 21 species of spiders. Bradgate Park, the county’s busiest tourist attraction, plus Beacon Hill Country Park and the Great Central Railway. For further details, see www.leics.gov.uk/charnwood_forest
Eco-bollards land in Leicestershire 
By taking simple, practical steps and embracing innovation, we can save money and reduce the council’s impact on the environment. The new ‘green’ bollards guide and warn drivers and are highly visible. If national regulations are changed later this year, as we expect, we can replace the remaining 3,000 bollards which would save a massive £100,000 a year and 526 tonnes in CO2 emissions. This latest project will add to the benefits generated by switching off a number of streetlights across Leicestershire, set to start in the next month. For more details, please visit the County Council website at www.leics.gov.uk/bollards .
You may remember that by switching off or dimming a number of streetlights across Leicestershire, the County Council is hoping to save £700,000 and cut carbon by 3,000 tonnes.
Leicestershire is cutting its carbon footprint and saving cash by switching to new eco-bollards. The ‘green’ units are reflective and do not use any electricity – a number are also fitted with solar panels. This is the first time the innovative bollards have been used in the county and are being brought in to replace the old-style, illuminated kind. So far, the County Council has put in 500 across Leicestershire and hopes to introduce another 3,000 later this year – this would save 526 tonnes in CO2 emissions, equivalent to the amount used by 58 homes. The initial move will cut costs by £32,000 and cut carbon emissions by 79 tonnes.People are backing the county council’s campaign to protect the Charnwood Forest by making it a regional park. For more details of the proposed boundaries see http://www.leics.gov.uk/figure2_unitary_boundaries.pdf. Leicestershire County Council is looking for funding to pursue the idea; after consultation showed local residents welcomed it. A partnership of organisations, led by the county council, has produced a vision for how the scheme could work and a map showing the suggested boundary. Having regional park status would enable the council and its partners to work together to attract investment, protect features that give the forest its unique character, such as dry stone walls and rocky outcrops, promote and improve public access to the area Encourage walking and cycling and use of public transport. The organisation of the General Election in the Loughborough and Charnwood constituencies went very well with a combined turnout of 70%. On a day where there were problems elsewhere in the country, polling went very smoothly locally with more than 105,000 people casting their votes. A surprising statistic was that out of the 15,500 postal votes issued by Charnwood Borough Council, 94% were returned, which clearly demonstrated the electorate’s desire to vote.