Here’s another Ansel Adams [1902 -1984] photograph. This one is of the Grand Tetons and Snake River in the Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. You can view many more at the US National Archives.

Councillor Paul Deach, founder the widely known Surrey Heath Residents Blog, has recently acquired a new video camera and video editing software. He says it’s to enable him to report on community activities for his blog in a more entertaining and professional way.

A while back I’d talked to Paul about his coverage of some Surrey Heath-based events was more extensive than the Camberley News, and that he might consider starting some form of local newspaper. I’ve written about a few times about this topic and how social media might replace the local newspaper’, including considering the ‘future of newspapers’. 

Paul dismissed the idea. However, with his new video equipment he’s able to let the people tell their own story, and is almost turning his blog into a mini-TV station. Here’s what I wrote at the end of a blog on thoughts on ‘social media and local press’, thinking about the possibility of new entrants to the local press and media, 

“Is it likely to happen? Yes. Will it happen soon? I can’t tell. But, what I can say is that this week I was at the opening of the new Tomlinscote Vocational Centre, and they have a studio with broadcast quality TV and radio equipment, and post production editing technology. So, it mightn’t be too long before some bright student decides to start a local news business combining local radio, TV, and social media outlets. I hope it happens, because that’ll be good for our communities.”

I guess it’s always easier to talk or write about something than to do it, or fund it with money and time.

A fellow councillor recently asked me, ‘Does the Mayor have a groupie?’. As Mayor I’m keen to support people and events in the borough. Not only do I enjoy doing it, but I hope it signals to individuals and organisations the borough’s support and recognition of them and their efforts. My ‘groupie’ as I attend these events is the ubiquitous Paul Deach, there to capture the event for the Surrey Heath Residents Blog. Hence the ‘groupie’ soubriquet. In the past week or so Paul has been with me,

• Presenting the Diana Award to the Surrey Heath Youth Council members
• Joining the old folk of Mytchett for a fish ‘n chip lunch
• Opening a new playground in Avenue Sucy in Camberley
• Watching the rugby match between Chobham and Camberley
• At the fun-packed World Darts Championship at Lakeside

All Paul’s video blogs can be seen on the Surrey Heath Residents Network YouTube page.

Understanding published school and exam performance results is one of the hardest things I’ve set myself to do. It’s good that the information is online, and that the raw data can be downloaded for detailed study. 

I’m sure what parents want to do is to easily compare performance between local schools, which helps them select the best school for their children. You can do this, but it takes time.

Some good news. It seems easier this year to navigate through the Department of Education website. Also they have more factors to help judge performance. While it’s easy to create an online comparison table of local schools, it could be easier. Enough of that. Here are the links to get you to the data quickly, and a table of local school Key Stage 4 [GCSE] results.

• Department of Education: 2011 Performance Tables
• My selection of GCSE results for local schools from D of E website 
• My selection of A Level results for local schools from D of E website 
• BBC: Q&A on School league tables
• Guardian: Secondary Schools league tables
• Daily Telegraph: Compare your school’s performance

Click on image to expand. It’s an example of the report that can be produced from the Department of Education website.

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You may know of my efforts to have the damaged and missing directional warning traffic signs reinstated on the B311 Red Road. In my Road sign good news report in August last year I reported that two of the signs had been re-erected. Well, I’m pleased to report that this week another of the missing signs has been reinstated. 

Although it involved a lot of scrabbling around in the roadside ditches adjacent to the ‘S’ bends on Red Road, and lots of playing with Google Street View, I thoroughly enjoyed the detective work to find evidence of the missing signs.

It was in early February last year that I presented my report Road Signs on the bends of the B311 – Red Road to the Local Committee of Surrey County Council – Replacement signs on Red Road promised ASAP.

Being an ex-marketing person I know the promotional value of providing survey results at the end of the year. The press and media love reflecting on the past year and predicting events in the future.

Nothing wrong with that. But, when your survey results are in their sixth year, as they are with the Halifax Quality of Life Survey, consistency in their calculation is assumed. Not so with the Halifax survey. Here are the top three places to live over the last six years of the survey [links to the most recent surveys are shown]:

• 2007: 1-Wokingham, 2-South Bucks, 3-Surrey Heath
• 2008: 1-Elmbridge, 2-Mid Suffolk, 3-Horsham
• 2009: 1-Elmbridge, 2-East Herts, 3-Surrey Heath
• 2010: 1-Elmbridge, 2-Hart, 3-Wokingham …. Surrey Heath 9th
• 2011: 1-Hart, 2-Elmbridge, 3-Wokingham

In the Quality of Life Survey for 2011, Surrey Heath does not appear in the top 50 of places to live, nor do previous top three place holders, East Herts, or South Bucks. How odd. It seems to be down to the vagaries of broadband speed, as that is a new evaluation factor for 2011, along with the new house price to earnings ratio.

Surrey Heath remains one of the safest places to live, as it does having one of the most healthy populations. It all goes to show that it’s the choice of evaluation factors that produces the result. Obvious, I know. But, it still odd. I’m thinking that it would be good to see the whole of the data, but by then I’d have lost the will to live.

It’s surprising to me that I’ve opened four new children’s play spaces in Surrey Heath, and the deputy mayor has opened one too. Five new children’s play facilities in nine months is impressive. What’s more impressive is the dedication, resolve, and generosity of the people who made them happen.

I’m thinking you might like to know where they were. I’ve mostly failed to find useful links about the events, so in a couple of cases it’ll have to be from my blog,

1. In July, Portesbury School, Camberley – opened their redeveloped Woods area. This new play area was created by the staff of Lloyds Bank. 
2. In October, School Lane Playing Field, Bagshot – opened a magnificent new playground in Bagshot, provided and managed by Windlesham Parish Council, from developer contribution funds from the Notcutts housing development.
3. In December, Camberley Infants & Nursery School -  opened a new play area, where most of the £10,000 cost was raised by the Camberley School Friends Association. A lovely play space, underneath a spectacular Wellingtonia tree.
4. In January, Avenue Sucy playground, Camberley - opened a splendid new playground costing £28,000. The source of the funds is £14,000 from Surrey Heath Borough Council, Accent Peerless sourced £4,000 from Surrey County Council Local Members’ allocation and £10,000 from the Small Disadvantaged Areas Fund. Local councillor Colin Dougan was the key driver in securing the £10k from this latter source.
5. In November, Cross Farm Infant School, Frimley Green - deputy mayor in attendance as Countess of Wessex opened their new play area.

Now for a couple of pictures:

A lovely and simple idea from MP for Ipswich, Ben Gummer, that every taxpayer should receive a personal breakdown of how their tax is spent. He’s introducing the measure in Parliament tommorrow as a 10 minute rule bill.

I’d love to show you one of these personal tax statements, but those I’ve seen online are copyrighted. The best version is in today’s Sun newspaper – Where does it all go?  Click on their sample tax receipt to view in all its wonderous glory. Tim Montgomerie suggests that the ‘tax receipt’ could show the previous years figures. This would be a good way of showing changes to government expenditure. 

What an all-round great idea. I’ll be checking on the progress of this idea when it’s debated in Parliament tommorrow.

The tragic sinking of the Costa Concordia is in the media spotlight, and will remain so.

What is surprising is the amount and quality of information about the accident that’s available online. Technology always impresses me, especially when Lloyds List published their chart of the Costa Concordia’s routes by the Isola del Giglio, which explained the cause of the accident.

So I thought I dig a bit deeper into all things shipping related. Here’s what I found.

AIS (Automatic Identification System): Since 2004 any ship over 299 tonnes is required to carry on board an AIS (Automatic Identification System) transponder.  This system includes a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, which collects position and movement details, and a VHF transmitter, which periodically transmits this information on VHF channels and makes the data available to the public domain.

Data on ship location and movement being in the public domain means interested parties can process the information are make available for public view. How often have you, like me, when by the coast, wondered where the ships in view are going and what’s their cargo. Well, now you can have a mobile phone app to tell you.

Here are some of the websites and data sources I’ve found,

• MarineTraffic – a free and rich resource on worldwide marine traffic 
• AISLive – a subscription service on marine traffic
• Lloyds List - everything about shipping
• Shipwrecks – seems there’s a sinking or grounding every day
• ShipAIS – enthusiasts plot ship movements around the UK
• Sailwx – has a section on cruise ship locations

Hours of idle fun to be had on these websites, it’s worth remembering that the English Channel is the busiest shipping lane in the world

Needing excercise, on Sunday afternoon, I went for a about a two-hour walk over Brentmoor Heath . I crossed Red Road in Lightwater onto the heathland. On my return journey, again crossing Red R0ad, there was a police car warning traffic about the remains of a car fire.

The policeman said the driver stopped when smoke was coming from the car, and was disappointed to lose his pride and joy. It’s surprising that any car could be so quickly totally consumed.

Ansel Adams [1902 -1984]was an American photographer, famous for his black and white images of Yosemite National Park. His photographs have a clarity and sharpness. Many of his photographs can be seen on Internet sites, such as the US National Archives. I especially like this one for its composition.