A message from Patrick McLoughlin who will open Stoney Middleton Well Dressing

12.16.00pm GMT Mon 16th Jul 2007

Patrick Mcloughlin MP

The West Derbyshire constituency has almost a hundred parishes and towns, but I doubt if any of them has been in the national and local news more in the last year than Stoney Middleton. A 'factory' producing some of the most toxic drugs in the country, floods of mud and of course, the attempted closure of the village school.

None of these are the kind of events the people of Stoney would have chosen to make their village's name.

So I have visited Stoney more often in the last year than any other village in my constituency. I have been to public and private meetings at the school and seen the streets deep in mud. On every visit, I was impressed by the strong sense of community and purpose. Unlike some, perhaps more conventionally pretty, places, Stoney remains an interesting and attractive place to live. The new Smile playground, the brilliantly successful school campaign and these annual well dressings show the strength of the local community, still enjoying its traditions but also looking towards the future.

I am honoured to be invited to take part in this year's well dressings and I hope they will be a great success - the village deserves a splendid week of fun and celebration.

Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP

19th May 2007

House of Commons

London SW1A OAA