I am deeply disappointed that the efforts to save the Belton Surgery have been unsuccessful. Despite the concerted efforts of local campaigners which included Belton Parish Council, the PCT has decided to close the surgery in Belton from 1st June.

It now essential that the PCT ensures that the transition is as smooth as possible for local residents, who may be left struggling due to poor transport links. The PCT needs to proactively engage with transport providers, remembering that villagers from several villages use the surgery not just those from Belton. The  PCT should also ensure that some outreach services are retained in the village possibly via the medium of weekly surgeries held in a local community facility.

The loss of the surgery is a real blow to the people of Belton and the surrounding villages, It is now important that the PCT ensures that the impact of this change is softened as much as possible.  I hope that the PCT will continue to work properly with the community to ensure that a way forward can be created.

A limited service will be returning from Tuesday the 15^th May. The subpostmaster at Catfield Post Office will provide a service on Tuesday and Fridays between 9.30, and 12.30. This provision will provide an essential life line to many people in Rollesby, many of whom are elderly and depend on the Post Office.

Post offices are a vital life line for many rural communities and I know that many people in Rollesby have struggled during the last year. I am pleased that a solution has now been finally found. This is fantastic news for the people of Rollesby and I would like to thank the subpostmaster at Catfield for agreeing to take on this role.

They do a short pool swim, followed by a short bike round on the track and then into a run to the finish line. None of the distances are very great but it is a super way to give people a first taste of triathlon, or in some cases athletics all together. It was great to see so many (around 900 on any one day) school children enjoy this experience and you have to smile when you see their faces come out of the bike transition, with huge grins (without exception) as they start to pedal away from the transition and into the main race.

This series is being taken around the country and it is well worth finding out if there is one near your school and if so, make sure your school takes part. It is an excellent day and a great way to find out more about triathlon.

My own training has been too spasmodic. I have done the odd 5-mile run and 30 odd mile bike ride but not consistently enough, which bodes badly for the season. Frustration is that I did work hard over the winter but as Easter has come and gone and local elections have arrived, along with late finishes and early starts at work, I have let my regular daily workouts go. I am admitting this as part of my own recuperation in the sense of making sure I turn this around from this point on and get back to a daily routine of doing some form of exercise everyday. The other side of a chaotic couple of weeks is that I have let the healthy eating go to the side somewhat and this too needs to be pulled back into line. Onwards and upwards.

Therefore, what may seem an obscure debate about applying VAT to the sale of static caravans is an important issue for my constituency. This new measure was buried away in the pages of the Budget report announced by the Chancellor last month. It is an attempt by the Treasury to address an anomaly (in their eyes) where the sale of a touring caravan attracts VAT, the sale of a static caravan attracts none. Along with many other MPs, particularly those representing coastal communities, I have lobbied ministers to drop this specific measure as it addresses a so called anomaly that doesn’t need addressing.

Following our lobbying the Government has extended the consultation deadline on this issue and following a debate in the House of Commons yesterday it is clear the Treasury are keen to hear from the industry in that consultation to ensure they have a full understanding of any impact this would have. My office can forward details of how to take part in the consultation, which, runs until mid May and the government will then respond formally in the summer.

Much of the debate centres on the technical specification of static caravan – should they be treated the same as mobile holiday accommodation or should they be treated like caravans that are used as park homes.

This is a good example of how MPs play an important role in scrutinising the fine detail of Government policy and working together can tell ministers that they have got it wrong and should think again.

Today with the sun shining I managed to do a very enjoyable run. I had not pre set target or time in which to do it, just the fun and freedom to run until I had enough. In the end I was out for about 1 and a half hours at a fairly leisurely pace. But the fun of it was the ability to run with no specific target or time frame and with the sun and fresh air it was superb. It reminded me why we do this, for FUN!

I returned home and read my latest copy of 220 Triathlon magazine earlier this evening and there is a column by Chrissie Wellington in each edition. This month she mentions that very important issue of raising the profile of Triathlon and minority sports more generally. I fully support this view and her position in World Sport means that she does have the ability to do that and she is certainly making a god job of doing just that and as she correctly notes, a couple of medals at the Olympics will help us go even further.

She also notes in the column the need to see a wider spread of sports at a young age. It is spot on. One of the reasons I like the concept of the TATA kids of steel events is that it introduces so many young people to our sport. However, we do need to do more to ensure people know there is more to sport than football and rugby. For those of us working in politics I accept there is also more to do. Chrissie rightly makes the case for seeing more be invested in school posts and a wider choice of sports and government has a role to play in that. It would also easy for me to say that this government is restricted by having less money to use due to the last governments profligate spending over its period in office, however I have been generally true to my word of not making this Blog political and with this minor exception I will stick to that.

The government is giving schools and especially academies more and more power to do their own thing to have more freedom to set their own agenda and with that will come the chance to influence our local schools and colleges to look at more sports. Locally here in Norwich I met the Head of the Victory Academy recently where a large number of the staff take part in triathlon and that will feed through to the pupils who will be encouraged to take part. No doubt I will be seeing them all flood past my slow version of the Fritton Triathlon this summer in Great Yarmouth!

Good teachers have a huge influence on us as children and we can all still remember our best ones. Sport is a valuable part of our education as it helps to instil not just discipline that sport needs, but also healthy way of life, competitiveness and a chance to release any extra adrenaline we have as well as most importantly having FUN.

If we can get our educational teams to promote the wider sports on offer and get kids taking an interest then we can see this develop further. For now this will be helped by more and more of us taking part, spreading the word and being true to a core part of why sport matters: having FUN!

For all of us who take part and enjoy triathlon the job rests with us to spread the word and continue to enjoy our great port and to ensure it always stays FUN.

We visited the office of the company;  as part of Mr Pickles’ visit to Great Yarmouth, and met with the Managing Director, Blair Ainslie, as well as a range of representatives from the LEP, including local councillors from Norfolk and Suffolk. During the meeting we discussed the growth of the firm and their plans to relocate to the new enterprise zone, becoming possibly the first firm in the Country to start trading from within one.

I was delighted to show the Secretary of State just how far we have come in making the Enterprise Zone a reality. That Seajacks may be the first company in the County to take advantage of these zones not only good news for them, but good news for Great Yarmouth as it shows how seriously we are taking unlocking the economic development of our community

I have been using the MP3 recordings by Chrissie Wellington for my runs, from Audio Fuel. These have made it much easier to do interval work and give the right level of support via the headphones to keep you going, especially when it gets tough. They are great for a short sharp but useful 25 min run or for a longer 50 min stretch. I have not yet used the turbo trainer sessions but hope to in the next few weeks.

Last year I was running and averaging around 12 min miles to 12.5. This year thus far I am more like 10 min with the odd dip into 9.5, which is a big jump for me. However, I have not done anything like enough swimming yet so am looking forward to the open water being available in the next few weeks at Fritton.

With the sun back with us, I managed a couple of bike sessions this week, with high hopes for a long ride by the end of the week and over the weekend.

Reading the Chrissie Wellington book; Life without limits, has given that extra nudge to work a bit harder and see what I can do this year in terms of times and the range of events. I have also finally, after 18 mths of debate with myself, my bank account and Mrs Lewis, ordered a new road bike and hope to collect it on Saturday so that I can give a first run out on Sunday morning. Very excited about that and will no doubt blog over the weekend about my first run out on it, weather permitting.

Under plans announced by Greg Clark, Minister for Decentralisation, planning rules have been transformed and simplified into a short 50 page document. Previously the collected rules ran to thousands of pages. The minister also outlined new measures to free up land for housing and business development whilst removing barriers for growth and enabling sustainable development. The document goes on to include a ‘town centre first’ provision which requires councils to primarily promote developing town centre shopping areas – feeding into the Government’s Portas Review to drive growth in our towns and cities.

The new framework also encourages local authorities to support the expansion of electronic communications networks – something which is vitally important for rural Norfolk and ties into the regional campaign for superfast broadband being rolled out across Norfolk.

The planning policy framework is a major step in cutting back red tape in order to create an environment for growth to occur. It is a real revolution, now the planning process will be an enabling process, rather than a costly impediment to development. The key safeguards for the green belt are still retained within these regulations, which will promote business development; helping to unlock the economic potential of our community.

This weekend  I braved the weather to join members of Great Yarmouth Cycling Club and the Community Interest Group, Activating, for a ride through central Yarmouth and Gorleston in order to promote safe cycling.

Following the high profile  ‘Safe Cycling’ campaign launched by The Times and Parliamentary Debates on cycle safety in town and city centres, I felt it was important that I showed my support for this cause.

The ride started in Great Yarmouth, and made its way through the busy one way system in the town centre, towards Gorleston on cycle paths and a variety of roads before ending up at Yarmouth Stadium on Caister Road. Great Yarmouth Cycling Club greeted us at the stadium and invited us to take part in their weekly training session at the track – teaching young and novice riders, in a safe environment, the essential skills needed for cycling on the road.

Great Yarmouth Cycling Club are strongly affiliated with Activating, which promtes the positive aspects of cycling whilst breaking down barriers  preventing people from cycling on a regular basis. Since September Activating have worked with 36 schools across Norfolk to educate children about the benefits of an active lifestyle; tackling the perceived dangers of cycling and helping to overcome sedentary lifestyles – resulting in 45,000 school journeys being completed on bikes; an 9% increase on the national average.

I really enjoyed this morning’s ride through the busy areas of Great Yarmouth and Gorleston and I am pleased to see the issue of cycle safety being addressed locally. Cycling is a great way to keep fit, however it is important that safety whilst cycling is being taught to our young riders. Neil and Kev from Activating are doing a great job in getting into our schools teaching these skills and it is encouraging to see Great Yarmouth Cycling Club are continuing this at their stadium sessions each Saturday.

Therefore, it was a surprise to receive a sloppy, almost inept approach, from the Travelodge Hotel chain. My first contact from them was via a news report in the EDP, supposedly publicising a letter urging me to do more to support tourism. The only problem was I hadn’t received any communication from the company. You would think they would double check I had received the letter before firing off a press release.

When I eventually received the letter, after four requests to their headquarters, it was a model of how not to do something properly. Firstly, it was addressed to “Dear outside of London MP”. Then it referred to the “x number of our hotels in your constituency” and how they can create jobs in “[MP’S Constituency]” Quite clearly this was a round robin letter that they couldn’t even be bothered to fill in the blanks.

Additionally, if they had done the most basic of research they would know that I have a constituency with a big tourist sector. As such, since my election I have consistently asked questions in the House of Commons, met with tourism ministers and hold regular briefings with local tourism providers. Over the last two years I have met with numerous tourism related bodies and companies. Only last week I met the Secretary of State to discuss tourism in Great Yarmouth. This week I have met the Local Enterprise Partnership to discuss Norfolk wide tourism , attended a meeting of the Broads Tourism Group with fellow Norfolk MPs

Perhaps, rather than run an inept publicity campaign they should be looking for a new PR company to advise them.

You can see the letter sent from Travelodge here.