Rice and peas and steel band

The rain shows no sign of letting up. Today is the Caribbean Afternoon at the Museum of Harlow, and I'm worried it'll be a washout. However, on arrival it's clear that imaginative use has been made of the grounds, so that there's enough cover to keep the food and drink and the steel band dry, and provide some shelter for spectators too.

The food is great - rice and peas, jerk chicken, plantain, saltfish fritters, sweet potato dessert, and non-alcoholic ginger beer so spicy that the children are daring each other to down a glassful in one go. The steel band is brilliant too, with very enthusiastic young performers putting on a great show.

In the morning, some local schoolchildren have been giving guided tours of the Museum. They've been training for weeks, so their performance is very accomplished and they've got a lot to say about the exhibits. They talk me through a couple of their favourite pieces in Gallery Three - a puzzle jug and the tapestry created by Mary Altham in the early 18th century.

The Museum is keen to gather the memories of local residents about Harlow's past, so today's visitors are encouraged to write down on a special form their thoughts and memories of moving to, and living in, Harlow. I write my piece, about moving to Bishopsfield in 1981, about becoming a councillor in 1991, and about the relocation of the Water Gardens. At the end of the project, the Museum will have an archive that will form a permanent record of what life was like in Harlow.

Diamond Ball

Tonight is the Diamond Ball - a glittering occasion to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Harlow as seen through the eyes of the business community.

We arrive at the Civic Centre with my special guests Jean, Maureen, Joyce and Bert from Harlow Stroke Support Group, at about 6:50, for champagne and canapés. Jean has brought some leaflets about the charity to hand out to people, and there's a description of the group's work on the inside page of the dinner programme - 25 per cent of the ticket sales will be going to the group.

There are lots of people we know, so we mingle and talk until it's time to go upstairs for dinner. There's a seafood starter, followed by roast lamb with roast potatoes and vegetables, and strawberry pavlova and cream. Jean and I circulate round the tables, introducing ourselves and talking with the guests, from GlaxoSmithKline, the Harvey Centre, the Water Gardens, the Chamber of Commerce, Harlow Renaissance and other local businesses and organisations.

After dinner, I present awards to five local businesses who have been in Harlow since the 1950s - Glanville's, Tangles, Bernard Chapman, the Occupational Health Service and Sheardown Engineering. Then it's time to hand over to Chris Smith & the String of Pearls, to provide the music so that everyone can dance the night away.

They let me win at dominoes

It's my first visit to my chosen charity, Harlow Stroke Support Group, since I became Chairman. I arrive half an hour after the start of the Friday get-together (I've been doing the Shades Day photocall), so things are already in full swing.

The group have recently had an outing to a craft centre in Tiptree, where they've picked up canvas, yarn, tapestry frames and all the other necessary bits and pieces for some stitching and sewing. There's a small group learning how to do cross-stitch, and another group working together to make a rug - I've no idea how to do that, so it's fascinating to see the instrument they use to knot each individual tuft of yarn onto the canvas.

The ladies start reminiscing about the craft shop that used to be in Little Walk, where you could get all the yarn and materials you needed. The craft work itself is excellent practice in physical coordination and concentration, and the memories it evokes are great for language skills - as well, of course, as just having fun and making friends.

One or two people are doing crossword puzzles or just sipping tea and talking, but the big event of the day is undoubtedly the dominoes tournament. I haven't played dominoes for nearly forty years, but I'm persuaded to join in for a couple of games by two gentlemen who very kindly let me win.

A couple of members want to talk to me about the problems they want resolved - like disabled parking spaces, or transfer to a suitably adapted house - so I take notes and promise to talk to council officers about them.

There's a small table with items for sale that have been brought in by members or volunteers. The pack of historic postcards finds a willing buyer, but not - for some reason - the brand new white towelling dressing gown that organiser Jean and I model (perhaps that's the clue).

The time truly flies by till the session ends at noon, and I'm really looking forward to going back.

Shades for a Day

Today is the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association's annual Shades Day. Along with thousands of young people and adults all over the country, I'm putting on my sunglasses to help raise awareness of the need to protect eyes from the sun.

Exposure to sunlight can lead to eye conditions such as cataracts or Age-related Macular Degeneration - and the harm caused can be permanent. Shades Day is a fantastic way to both raise money for Guide Dogs and to highlight the importance of wearing sunglasses.

The local press have come along to photograph local resident Maureen Spicer, with her gorgeous guide dog Faldo, and me. Faldo is five and a half, and a delightful, well behaved dog. He needs to sit for the photos, and though he'd much rather be lying down, he poses for the camera beautifully.

Making progress

A diary meeting with Joan - several new invitations have come in, so we check the calendar through to the end of August and work out what I can attend, and what I'm going to have to miss.

Then a quick meeting with Lynn to update on progress on my 'raising aspirations' project. Unfortunately we won't now be able to hold the first meeting of the advisory group until September, which means that the session at the Business Forum in July, and any visits I undertake to local businesses in July and August, will have to be done without the benefit of the advisory group's help. But we can't afford to delay, as almost all of the work will have to be done by the middle of March. Hey-ho.

Anyway, I've ordered my dress for Friday's Diamond Ball.

Singing in the rain

Today is the Chairman of Sawbridgeworth Town Council's "Music in the Garden" afternoon, in his lovely garden near the Capio Rivers Hospital.

Despite the adverse weather conditions (it's still raining), the gazebos are up, the band is performing, and people are arriving, albeit in smaller numbers than last year - when, the Chairman, Roger Beeching, ruefully remarks, there was blazing sunshine.

Roger shows round the garden, and explains that the event is intended to raise money for the various charities he's supporting during this term of office. Each charity is doing something to raise funds this afternoon. There's a tombola stall, cream teas, a bar, and hot food - including freshly cooked paella which is proving very popular.

Nick and I spend time talking with the Mayor of Ware and his wife. It's not often that the Mayors and Chairs of Harlow, Sawbridgeworth and Ware get to meet, as so many civic events are organised on county boundaries, so Hertfordshire and Essex don't mix! But of course, Ware and Sawbridgeworth are very close as far as Harlow is concerned, so it's sensible to be neighbourly, and we all agree we must include each other in more civic events.

The rain stops enough to do a final tour of the gazebos; I put in my £2 and come away with a wardrobe organiser - which will no doubt come in handy.

Souls and heels

The big question this morning is, what does one wear to lunch with a bishop?

I've been invited to the Bishop of Chelmsford's Civic Luncheon, and so at quarter past eight I'm frantically pulling stuff out of the ironing basket and asking my daughter for the benefit of her advice. We settle on a dress and short-sleeved jacket, and decide the only suitable matching shoes are a pair of flimsy silver tie-up toe-post high-heeled sandals - not the most comfortable footwear in my wardrobe, but they'll have to do.

At 11:45 I'm off in the official car, courtesy of Dave my driver, and heading towards Margaretting. We arrive absolutely on time at 12:30, and I walk into the garden to be greeted by the bishop. It's then that I realise what a mistake the sandals are - the ground is wet, and every time I stand still my heels sink right down so I'm literally pegged to the lawn.

I take the earliest opportunity to sit down, and savour the local wine - from Felsted - as I chat to clergymen, council chairmen and chief executives from around the county.

We seat ourselves in the enormous marquee for lunch, a two-course buffet featuring local produce from around the county. The theme of the event is 'Celebrating our county', so it's natural that the food and drink should as far as possible be locally grown and produced.

I'm seated with the chief executives of Epping Forest and Uttlesford councils and their wives, the chief executive of Maldon, and the chairman of Uttlesford Council and her husband, and it's a chance to chat and enjoy the view of the impressive garden. The bishop's dog also has a splendid time, pacing quietly but determinedly around the buffet tables in the hope of food being dropped.

The bishop gives a brief concluding speech, and it's time for me to depart - I have to be back at the Civic Centre at half past three for an interview.

The local government Improvement & Development Agency is carrying out an 'ethical governance light touch review' today in advance of the council's inspection next month, and they want to talk to me in my role as Chairman of the Council as part of a series of interviews with councillors and officers.

The questions range around subjects like standards of behaviour on the council, relationships between councillors, the roles of councillors and officers, dealing with conflicts of interest and so on. We finish at about 4:20, and then I spend half an hour or so with Joan going through my diary and the most recent invitations, before heading home to cook dinner for the family and get on with some work.

Raising aspirations

I meet Lynn, the senior council officer who will be helping me with my theme for the year - raising aspirations for our young people. We need to draw up a timetable for the project, as I'd like to present the final report when I step down as Chairman at the annual council meeting on 22 May next year.

We've already agreed that raising aspirations will be the theme for the next meeting of the Harlow Business Forum which I'll be chairing next month. We now decide we need the first meeting of my Advisory Group to happen before then, so that we can agree what questions we're going to try to answer during the year.

Lynn promises to draft a possible list of Advisory Group members for me to consider, alongside my own suggestions.

A washout

Today I was supposed to be attending the Food & Drink Festival in the Town Park, but the organisers have rung to say it's been washed out by the heavy rain.

A trip to London

My cab arrives just after 7 o'clock in the morning to take me back to Stansted for the morning's business of the European New Towns Platform conference. By 9:20 we're piling into the coach for a trip to London - one of the reasons the group chose Harlow for its conference venue.

We point out Stratford and the general location of the 2012 Olympic Games (still a sore point with some of our French friends!) and then follow the route through the East End to the London Eye. We've booked a flight on the Eye for our guests, so we're 'fast tracked' through - which, frankly, doesn't feel any faster than being slow tracked. Our visitors are very impressed by the Eye, and the views of London, from Canary Wharf to the new Wembley Stadium.

After the flight, we walk across to the House of Commons, for a meeting with Harlow's MP and one of the members of the European Parliament. One of the aims of the conference has been to raise the profile of the new towns group at parliamentary level, so this is an important meeting. Afterwards, while some of our visitors take a tour of the Houses of Parliament, I make my farewells and walk back with those who have earlier flights home, to Westminster underground station from where we travel to Liverpool Street and (in my case) home to Harlow.

It's been a busy two days.

European conference comes to Harlow

Today is the start of a two day meeting of the European New Towns Platform - a group of nearly 30 new towns in European countries including France, Spain, the Netherlands, Finland, Poland and Hungary. Membership of this group is an opportunity to learn from each other's experiences, lobby the European Parliament, and develop joint projects which can attract European funding.

The meeting is being held here in Harlow, and there'll be a second part in Sénart, near Paris, next month. Last November I went to the group's Board meeting in Ouest-Provence to ask them to come to Harlow for this meeting, so I'm delighted we've been chosen to host this event, and to see familiar faces again.

As Chairman of the Council, I've been asked to chair the first morning of the conference. This starts with a film about Harlow's aims and ambitions for the future, a presentation from the council's joint leadership, another presentation from one of the group's new members (the Polish town of Stawola Wola), a speech from the group's President Mrs Joke van Doorne, and a presentation from Harlow Renaissance.

At lunchtime we take a coach to the Museum of Harlow for a buffet lunch in the grounds. Our visitors love the formal English gardens, and many of them take the opportunity to pop in to the museum to see some of the exhibits showing the town's history.

When we get back to the Civic Centre I have to leave our guests, as I have a meeting with the council officer responsible for organising the Harlow Business Forum, which I chair - and then I have to go home and do some 'real work'. Many residents don't realise that most councillors have day jobs - being a councillor isn't regarded in this country as a full time job, even though it feels like it! This is also something that shocks our European guests, who find it difficult to understand the idea of local government being run in people's spare time.

The evening arrives, and it's time for the conference dinner at the Stansted Hilton. I'm there to welcome everyone to the event, and I host one of the dinner tables, where I'm seated with guests including senior representatives of the dinner's sponsor Kier Harlow, Harlow Renaissance, and the East of England Regional Assembly.

During the conference and dinner, I've received several gifts from the European New Towns Platform and several member towns, which I'm storing carefully to take into the Civic Centre next week for display in the Chairman's suite.

I deliver a brief final thank-you to our guests, and then share a cab home to Harlow. I've got an early start tomorrow morning.

Well played!

Tonight is the eagerly-awaited cricket match between the Harlow Council cricket team (formed specially for the occasion!) and the Broxbourne Council eleven. I'm not playing - heaven forbid! - but I'm there at the cricket ground in Hoddesdon to lend moral support to our valiant team of council officers.

Lou is driving the minibus from Staple Tye, where I'm greeted by Helen, who has put together the team and has ended up having to step in and play, due to a last minute injury sustained by Phil.

Mark is captaining the team, whose other members are Niel, Declan, Vicky, Chris, Ben, Frank, Chris and Peter. Harlow are in first to bat, and achieve a valiant 97 runs before rain interrupts play and the heavens open.

After the sudden downpour has passed, Broxbourne take over, and sadly outstrip the Harlow team. We all adjourn to the bar for tea and sandwiches kindly provided by the host team. It's been a thoroughly enjoyable evening, and already the talk is of a return match - and perhaps even a series of local council fixtures.

Rogues' Gallery

Today I've had my official photograph taken, to be added to the series of photographs of previous Chairmen of Harlow Council affectionately (or perhaps not so affectionately) known as the Rogues' Gallery.

Charity begins at the Civic Centre

Today is the first opportunity since I was elected Chairman for me to meet my chosen charity for the year, Harlow Stroke Support Group. Jean and Reg from the group join me at the Civic Centre, and we spend three quarters of an hour talking about what we can do during the year, and swapping dates in diaries for events and visits.

I've obtained two tickets for the group to the Diamond Ball on 29 June - part of the town's 60th anniversary celebrations - and the organisers have kindly set aside two more. This will be an opportunity for the group to get to meet local businesses and 'stakeholders', as well as to raise their profile (and funds for the group). I'll also be including them in my plans for the council's Civic Dinner in the autumn, and - if possible - for my marquee at the Town Show in September.

Jean and Reg invite me to the group's AGM in July, and we make arrangements for me to visit the group's regular Friday get-together at the GPCA building on Abercrombie Way later on this month. It's been good to get some ideas going, and I'm looking forward very much to the opportunity to work with the group during the year.

My theme for the year gets off the ground

The day does not start well. The meeting moved from yesterday to 9 o'clock this morning had in fact been moved to 9 o'clock on Monday morning - my muddle, and an unnecessarily early start.

However, I have two meetings today to kick-start the 'theme for the year' I announced in my Chairman's acceptance speech - raising aspirations for Harlow's young people. The first meeting comes up with some ideas for how the project will run, people to involve and visits to make, and it's clear it will take up a lot of both my time and other people's, if local people are going to be as involved as I want them to be.

The second meeting at the end of the day is with Jon from Harlow Education Consortium. Jon gives me some information about some of the initiatives the Consortium is involved in, and we have a lively debate about what the project is seeking to achieve and the best way to reach our goal.

The next stage is a meeting in a couple of weeks' time with one of the council managers to start getting an advisory group set up to help run the project.

As Chairman of the Council I also have the ability to raise issues on behalf of all councillors with the council management, so I bring up today two things which have been causing a bit of minor grief for some of my fellow council members. One is access to the Civic Centre building after 6 o'clock in the evening, which doesn't always work for members of the public or councillors who've forgotten their swipe cards to operate the front door. The other is which parts of the building it's appropriate to use for events involving food and drink (given the potential for quite large areas of carpet to be ruined by spillages). We hammer out some potential solutions, and I'm promised that I'll see a draft shortly of a letter which will be sent to councillors explaining what's what.

The best laid plans

Today is just one of those days! The meeting in my diary for noon today has now been moved to tomorrow at nine o'clock, and the meeting I said I could manage tomorrow at half past twelve now has to be at half past four. It's just as well that I keep my diary on my BlackBerry, as if it was on paper I wouldn't be able to read it for all the crossings out.

If you go down to the park today ...

The Town Park is the venue for today's Teddy Bears' Picnic, part of Harlow's 60th anniversary celebrations. There are children aplenty, together with mums, grandmas and childminders.

The Council has put up a bouncy castle, there's a marquee for face painting and mask making, and Goldilocks and one of the Three Bears are in attendance too. There's music, and games of Pass the Parcel, and Pets' Corner have brought out some of the rabbits and guinea pigs for the children to see, and Spurriers Café is open, and everyone seems to be having a great time. The weather isn't the best (it's a bit nippy) but at least it's dry.

I spend a happy hour talking with some of the mums and childminders. Brian, the photographer hired by the council, gives me a lift back to the Civic Centre, so that we can take a quick photograph of me with the planter presented by B&Q at the end of last month and send it to them with a thank you note.

Brian is parked in Park Lane, and as we drive off, a baby squirrel jumps out into the road and stands staring at us. It doesn't move, even when we drive right up to it. We could drive with two wheels each side and hope it stays still, but we think that's too risky, so I get out, hoping that as I get closer it'll scuttle away. But it's absolutely frozen (I didn't know what the phrase 'like a rabbit in the headlights' meant until now!) - so Brian ends up picking it up, carrying it carefully into the park and setting it down on the grass. Let's hope it comes to no more harm.

World Environment Day

Today is World Environment Day, and the Council is honoured to have Dr Rob Mulvaney as a guest speaker talking about climate change. Dr Mulvaney, from the British Antarctic Survey, is talking about his work in the Antarctic collecting and analysing ice samples from deep below the surface. These - and in particular the air bubbles trapped inside them - tell us what the climate was like many thousands of years ago, and how it has changed.

It's clear from Dr Mulvaney's talk and the diagrams he shows that climate change is a serious issue. There have been ice ages and warm periods before, but the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising at a staggering rate, and what's happening now is unlike anything in the last 750,000 years. Food for some very serious thought indeed.

Chinese Centre open day

The Chinese Centre, in my ward, has very generously opened its doors for the afternoon as part of Harlow's 60th Anniversary celebrations. I've been asked by Anita Ng to open the event with a few words of welcome, which I do.

There's plenty to see and do: Chinese music, a Tai Chi exhibition (and encouragement to join in), flower making with plastic drinking straws and squares of tissue paper, Chinese calligraphy, an exhibition of the different kinds of Chinese tea (with opportunity to taste!), and a sumptuous hot buffet lunch.

Mr Man demonstrates to fascinated onlookers his skill in carving all sorts of shapes and figures out of carrots, and makes handmade noodles from flour and water which he twists and shakes into a cat's cradle of strands using only his hands.

There's an excellent attendance from local residents, and the Police Community Support Officers are also on hand. It's a brilliant day, and a terrific contribution by the local Chinese community to the marking of our town's history.