After I asked for suggestions on where I might take the blog yesterday one of the comments expressed disappointment that it wasn’t asking what issues I might take up!

So now I’m asking, are there any issues, concerns or problems with which I can help?

I make the offer from time to time and usually get a few responses as a result, but it’s a standing invitation.  You can get in touch at any time.  Full contact details are on my contact page, but, to save you going there you can email me at cllr@jamescousins.com, find me on twitter as @jamescousins or, if you want, leave a comment below.

But please remember, you don’t need to wait for an invitation!

This blog is coming up to its half-birthday.  Well, sort of – there are all sorts of dates I can use, for example the blog went live on 17 December, a great time when everyone is thinking about Christmas and no-one gives a stuff about a mere councillor blog.  However, before it went live I had it as a private blog to see if I could actually keep the posting momentum going; I don’t think there’s anything sadder than an abandoned blog.

The earliest of those blog entries I’ve kept was from 24 November, in which I questioned the value of the VAT cut.  So merely for my convenience I’m using that date since I can then say six months is a good time to re-assess the value of the blog and my Twittering.

First of all though, thank-you.  I want to say thank-you to all those who read this little effort at blogging.  Thank-you to all those who comment, and thank-you in advance to all those who will comment (seriously, just write something, no need to register and you can use a fake email address if you want – comments are there for discussion, nothing else).  And while I’m at it, thank-you to everyone who follows me on Twitter.  I was genuinely flattered, when I was openly thinking of quitting Twitter, to have people tell me I should stay and was adding value to it.  I should, of course, thank all sorts of other people, like my parents, or Mrs Robinson (my English teacher who never seduced me) but I shall refrain.

But most importantly I’d appreciate some feedback on the blog and my efforts, and don’t feel you have to pull punches.  I started off blogging and using Twitter as a way of engaging and would like to know how you find it.  Are there elements you don’t like?  Are there things you think are missing?  Is there anything you think it particularly good?

And there are two questions that I have been thinking about specifically:

  1. Should I keep the content solely to politics and the council?  While I know that is why most people come here I do have some (not much, but some) life outside of the two and wonder if possibly letting some of that on here would provide a bit more flavour and balance.
  2. Should I start using other media?  I really want to have a play with AudioBoo and have been toying with Vimeo and YouTube as well.  Would they add value, and what sort of content would you be interested in seeing?

So it’s over to you; either that or tumble-weed blowing through the comments while a bell tolls, slowly…

Having had the blog for a few months I decided it was time for a new look.  I hope you like it.

While the original template worked, it was put together fairly rapidly and never intended to do more than service the site while it was in something of a trial phase.  Having got beyond that trial phase it was time to put something a little more permanent together.

Overall, the site hasn’t changed too much.  The biggest change is the move from a template compatible with 800×600 screens to one that needs 1024×768 or above.  I did hesitate before doing this, but (excluding iPhones and PDAs) less than 1.5% of visits come from people with screen resolutions of 800×600.  In contrast, more than half of all visitors have screen resolutions in excess of 1024×768.

It’s impossible to tell how many of that 1.5% are regular visitors, but if you are one of them, I do apologise for the inconvenience.  The site should still be readable without too much horizontal scrolling, and I would also point you toward the RSS or email options.  The BBC who have are required to be far more accessible than a lowly councillor made the shift to 1024 over a year ago, so I think it’s now an acceptable standard.

Other changes include moving the navigation and search features to the very top of the screen, a second side bar and some typographical changes to make the site roomier.  Hopefully this improves the look and feel and will allow for more visual content in the future.

I’ve tested the site on all the combinations I am able, all the way down to Internet Explorer 6 on Windows and it seems compliant with major browsers.  However, I obviously do not have access to every combination, so let me know if you spot any rendering problems, either in the comments or by email to cllr@jamescousins.com.

Having had the blog for a few months I decided it was time for a new look.  I hope you like it.

While the original template worked, it was put together fairly rapidly and never intended to do more than service the site while it was in something of a trial phase.  Having got beyond that trial phase it was time to put something a little more permanent together.

Overall, the site hasn’t changed too much.  The biggest change is the move from a template compatible with 800×600 screens to one that needs 1024×768 or above.  I did hesitate before doing this, but (excluding iPhones and PDAs) less than 1.5% of visits come from people with screen resolutions of 800×600.  In contrast, more than half of all visitors have screen resolutions in excess of 1024×768.

It’s impossible to tell how many of that 1.5% are regular visitors, but if you are one of them, I do apologise for the inconvenience.  The site should still be readable without too much horizontal scrolling, and I would also point you toward the RSS or email options.  The BBC who have are required to be far more accessible than a lowly councillor made the shift to 1024 over a year ago, so I think it’s now an acceptable standard.

Other changes include moving the navigation and search features to the very top of the screen, a second side bar and some typographical changes to make the site roomier.  Hopefully this improves the look and feel and will allow for more visual content in the future.

I’ve tested the site on all the combinations I am able, all the way down to Internet Explorer 6 on Windows and it seems compliant with major browsers.  However, I obviously do not have access to every combination, so let me know if you spot any rendering problems, either in the comments or by email to cllr@jamescousins.com.

This blog will be taking a few days off over Easter (unless anything really exciting happens) so I’d like to wish you all the best for the long weekend.

If you’ve come this way on a Wandsworth related search, it’s worth pointing out the council’s website is unavailable this weekend.  If you need to access council services the following is straight from the council:

The council’s website will be offline and unavailable over the Easter bank holiday weekend while essential maintenance works are carried out to the town hall’s computer networks.

The website will close down at 6pm on Thursday, April 9 and come back online at 3pm on Monday April 13.

However, it is likely to take some time after the switch on for all online services to be fully restored.

The council would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank users for their patience.

In an emergency you can contact the council’s out-of-hours emergency services on (020) 8871 6000.

Residents are also being advised that the technical services department’s ‘One Stop Counter’ will be closed over the Easter bank holiday weekend. It will close at 5pm on Thursday, April 9 and re-open at 9am on Tuesday, April 14.

The borough’s parking shops will also be closed on Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Bank Holiday Monday.

Anyone who wishes to make a payment for a parking ticket can however do so in the normal way over the Easter weekend by dialing 0845 130 5758. Callers will need to have their parking ticket reference number to hand.

People who need to visit the car pound used by the council’s vehicle removal contractor will need to use either cash or a cheque to recover their vehicle. This is because the essential maintenance work being carried out to the council’s computer network means staff at the pound will not be able to accept credit card or debit card payments.

The network upgrade also means that the council tax service’s automated telephone payment line as well as its online payment facility will be unavilable while the website is down. Residents with bar-coded council tax bills can however still pay at either the post office or any paypoint outlet.

Although I’ve had the various icons towards the top right of every page since this blog was started I’ve never really explained them or pointed people towards them, so decided it might be worth advertising the ways you can follow this blog without having to point your browser to this website.

RSS (generally) stands for Really Simple Syndication, which essentially means that articles from this website are published in a format that can be read in a ‘reader’.  The reader can either be a website, like Google’s Google Reader or in a program on your computer.  As a Mac user I use NetNewsWire, but there are plenty of free and paid-for programs for Mac, Windows and Linux.  All the feeds are handled by FeedBurner so clicking on the link will give you a number of options.

Alternatively by popping your email address in the box you can get the day’s postings delivered to you.  The delivery takes place every evening – you’ll get one message a day and I promise I won’t spam you.  Again this service is provided by FeedBurner.

The BBC News site offers a very good description of RSS feeds that I will point you to rather than trying to replicate.

The final option at the top right is Twitter.  You are more than welcome to follow me @jamescousins, and there’s a page describing my approach to Twitter on this website.  However, I should warn you that Twitter and I are having a trial separation at the moment, so following my account won’t be the most fascinating of experiences!

Once again I’m largely working outside London so will have sporadic internet access this week. While I’ve a few posts lined up and may manage few Posterous posts it might be a lot quieter around here this week.

Also, please be patient if waiting for responses to calls, emails, comments or tweets – you’re not ignored or forgotten, I promise!