Getting my Christmas exercise in early

On Thursday, Labour in Gateshead voted to remove large amounts of land from the local greenbelt and redesignate it as land for house-building (largely executive style housing). We have been fighting these plans for years. Labour tried to pull the wool over people's eyes, claiming until recently that the plans were a "myth". It was a claim that backfired spectacularly when one of the most affected wards, Dunston Hill and Whickham East, which Labour won by 600 votes in 2011, was won by the Lib Dems in 2012 with a majority of 300. We are hoping the same person who ran Labour's campaign then will be running it in the months ahead for the 2014 local elections.

Anyway, residents needed to be told about Labour's decision, so on Friday we delivered thousands of letters across the areas most affected in Dunston, Whickham, Ryton and Crawcrook. It was good exercise before Christmas. My job was to shift 1000 letters in Dunston Hill, along with my colleagues John McClurey and Marilynn Ord. We were finished by lunchtime. So lots of calories were burnt off before Christmas!