From Herefordshire Council News - 12th May 2017

The Report of the Herefordshire Independent Remuneration Panel will be considered at next week's Council meeting.
 

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Herefordshire Council has published the Report of the Herefordshire Independent Remuneration Panel, making recommendations on Councillors allowances, to support the new constitution, which is due to be considered by Full Council on Friday 19 May.

The independent panel has reviewed existing arrangements and made recommendations on the allowances that may be payable. The report includes analysis of allowances paid by similar unitary councils across the country for comparison. The council must have regard to the report when making or amending the scheme. Any decision will be taken by a vote at Full Council.

The recommendations are based on the principles of the Councillor’s Commission, which aim to encourage people from a wide range of backgrounds to serve as local Councillors, to compensate Councillors for their work and have regard to the full range of commitment and complexity of their roles, while providing transparency and observing benchmarks.

The recommendations made by the panel include:

Increasing the basic annual allowance that all Councillors received from £7,400 to £8,489 (14.7% increase - 53 councillors @  £1,089 = £57,717 increase )
 

That the Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) for the role of the Leader of the Council be set at 4 x the new Basic Allowance (£33,956 per year)
 

That the SRA for the role of Cabinet Member be set at 1.75 x new Basic Allowance (£14,856 per year).
 

That the SRA for the role of Chairman of the Council, Scrutiny Committee Chairman, and Chairman of Planning and Regulatory Committee is set at 1.25 x new Basic Allowance (£10,611 per year).
 

That the SRA for the role of Chairman of Licensing Sub-Committee, Chairman of Audit and Governance Committee, and the Councils Member representative on the Adoption Panel be set at 0.75 x new Basic Allowance (£6,366 per year).
 

That the SRA for the role of the Cabinet Support Member remain as an allowance of up to 50% of the Cabinet member allowance, subject to the total budget currently allocated for individual cabinet members not being exceeded.
 

That the SRA for the role of Group Leader remain unchanged at £1,634 (plus £124 per group member) provided group membership exceeds 10% of the Councils total membership.
 

That the current scheme in relation to payment of no more than one SRA per Councillor (with the exception of the Group Leaders SRA) remain unchanged.

There are further recommendations on childcare and dependants careers scheme, travel and subsistence scheme, which remain unchanged, although it is recommended that claims be made within a year of the spend.

Meanwhile Matt Whittaker, chief economist at the Resolution Foundation, said:

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Pay is now expected to be £320 lower this year than was predicted just three months ago, and more than £900 lower than the Bank thought this time last year.

The pay squeeze were currently experiencing is set to continue throughout the year, resulting in a renewed phase of living standards stagnation over the coming years.

Nice to know we are all in this together! As only 8 councillors in the Cabinet appear to make all the decisions and never listen to the public and ratepayers, why not get rid of the other 45 councillors and save a possible £382,005. They can then run the authority as a dictatorship. Oh, they already do!

Well these new smart artificial intelligence sensor traffic lights look promising...Herefordshire Council take note.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/3572311/smart-traffic-lights-which-count-the-number-of-vehicles-on-the-road-to-launch-in-the-uk-and-they-will-give-priority-to-cyclists/

Disposal of the former Records Office in Harold Street - selling it to Cathedral School - was put to and approved by Cabinet in November last year, and we now hear that the Cathedral School are shortly to submit a planning application to clear the historic site and build a 40+ bed accommodation block for foreign students. 

More details when we have them!

In the news yesterday was the, in my opinion, frankly astounding news regarding our glorious PM's views on fox hunting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39861011

I, personally, find this story abhorrent that in this day and age, the Prime Minister of our country can actually believe that hunting foxes with hounds is acceptable and is prepared to give parliament a free vote n order to repeal the ban.

It makes me wonder what our current MP feels about this?  

I have contacted him asking that question, not that I am expecting a reply any time soon.

Also, what are the views of Jesse's most likely possible replacement, Mr Kenyon?

Is Mrs May that confident in the run up to the election that she feels she can say anything, knowing that however backwards it may seem to civilised people, she will still win the upcoming election?

If the Tories win again, I see very dark days ahead...

Any news affecting the Wye Valley NHS Trust?

The Daily Mail says there are 45 NHS trusts affected, but their location map only shows 37.

There is a general statement on the NHS website.

Nothing on the Hereford Times website, obviously waiting for the office to open on Monday.

Latest (Sunday 13th May)
Item on BBC H&W radio say there are no hospitals affected in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Herefordshire Council’s electoral services have published the ‘Statement of Persons Nominated’, which details the constituency candidates standing for the UK General Election on 8 June 2017.

North Herefordshire Constituency:

• Ellie Chowns – The Green Party
• Arthur St John Devine – Independent
• Jeanie Falconer – Liberal Democrats
• Sasha Rose Alicia Norris – Independent
• Roger William Page – Labour Party
• Bill Wiggin – The Conservative Party

Hereford and South Herefordshire Constituency:

• Anna Coda – Labour Party
• Lucy Ann Hurds – Liberal Democrats
• Jim Kenyon – Independent
• Jesse Norman – The Conservative Party
• Gwyn James Price – UK Independence Party (UKIP)
• Diana Stella Toynbee – The Green Party

The deadline to register to vote in the General Election is 22 May 2017. Postal and proxy votes can be requested online until 23 May 2017.

You have to hand it to Mayor Jim Kenyon, this is not only funny but brilliant with this spoof Love Actually video

Well I need some help with this!

There was a great deal of fuss over this with the government trying so hard not to publish before the election!

Hopefully looking for something juicy from within.....Well it's absolutely empty...a ring binder folder with signs that someone has withdrawn many of the pages from within. Now I'm no Megilleland so no copy and paste of report here however I'm not sure it's worth it.

The government fancies passing on the responsibility to local councils ...Well hahaha to that and as for suggesting that a scheme be set up to trade in old vans for cash ..you are having a laugh. Herefordshire is the land where old white vans come to die which is why the town centre is one of the most polluted. There is no money to give out so if this council wasn't broke it soon would be. What a cracking idea from the team negotiating our Brexit!

Thanks to Mayor Jim Kenyon for the personal invite to the Mayors Ball.

Top night!! 

I heard today the the Hereford Sony Centre (Hutchinsons) is closing?

If this is true it is very sad to hear about the Sony Centre however, I must say that they close on Sundays and every bank holiday (which is fine but not when your clearly struggling) I was only in there last week and I walked in at 5.15 and the first thing the guy said to me was we close in 15 minutes mate and the previous 4 times I have been in the shop nobody could be bothered to serve me, so if this is the way they do business, I can't say I am surprised they are closing...

Below is a chart of new speeding fines and penalties that have come into effect this month. Although I see the need for people to reduce their speed this again is aimed the working person doing well! 

This is not a level playing field at all! 

Example 1: 

Worker 1 earns 150 per week drives at 75 mph on motorway will be fined £75

Worker 2 earns 400 per week and drives at the exact same speed as worker 1 will be fined £200.

Example 2:

Worker 1 earns 150 per week drives at 42 mph in a 30mph will be fined £150

Worker 2 earns 400 per week and drives at the exact same speed as worker 1 will be fined £400.

How is this fair?

I see a notice in Thorntons window today announcing that the shop is closing this month, sad to see another shop closing down.

https://t.co/UkxlMnxsIo                   BBC News - 'Concerns' over top Cheshire East Council officials' conduct

I'd like to see all drugs defined as controlled under the provisions of the Misuse Of Drugs Act legalised. The whole lot. Cannabis, Opiates, Amphetamines, Cocaine. Decriminalise them all and allow our members of society a free choice as to whether or not they wish to take drugs.

The benefits would be felt immediately. The Criminal Justice System would be relieved of its responsibility to prosecute, the prices of say a kilo of Heroin would shoot down and even Cocaine, the champagne drug of choice and so costly to purchase it's become out of reach for me and many others who's income won't stretch to buying an ounce a week to enjoy it's mind altering properties, would become freely available to those with a limited disposable income.

Whatsmore, by taking this step, our roads would become much safer for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Every single year statistics show that hundreds of fatalities occur involving drivers who are not intoxicated or out of their minds on drugs. Indeed, last year in the United Kingdom, not one person was killed by a driver who was drunk and under the influence of smoking Cannabis and snorting three lines of Cocaine. You can't argue with facts. Statistically, the records show that the more you drink and the more drugs you take, you are less likely to flatten a pedestrian on your way home.

Consider Athletics! Instead of spending millions on 'doping' investigative work, allow the athlete the opportunity to compete under the influence of drugs. That way every single athlete would have direct access to drugs and be given the opportunity to compete equally and fairly with everyone else.

Interestingly, if the Athletics Associations grasped this opportunity, it would revitalise the global interest in sporting achievements. Imagine after a few years all our athletes became bulked up, hyped up and generally mentally deranged during their event, remarkable World Records could be achieved. I'm not suggesting that we'll ever see the day when a man or woman can leap over the roof of a semi detached dwelling but the current record of nigh on eight feet would easily be broken by a jump of twelve feet.

Course, it'd cost. The sandpit for the long jump. That'd have to be extended and new safe and purpose built stadia for the throwing events would need to be quickly addressed to ensure the spectators were safe from the Javelin or Discus.

Whatsmore, once the sprinters had digested enough of their drugs of choice, a sub nine second one hundred metres race would become commonplace and in time, possibly in my lifetime, a man or a woman, both sexes are equally capable, could run the hundred yards in less than five seconds.

It seems to me that whilst my view is open to ridicule and I'm pretty sure many will disagree with me, mankind needs to evolve to achieve and unless we open our minds and embrace the idea that drugs are a good and kindly tool to benefit humanity and athletics, then we're never going to see a man or a woman perform exteaordinary feats of human brilliance and advance our humanity and civilisation.

New LBJ Express in Dallas, Texas Aerial Video Shows the Vision is Becoming Reality

One year after the opening of the massive and complex LBJ Express corridor, the number of vehicles using it is up 10 to 15 percent and speeds are up by 15 percent across the entire highway, project leaders say.

Overall congestion is down nearly 70 percent in the past year, according to Cintra’s LBJ Infrastructure Group, which handled the project.

The LBJ Express corridor, which sits along I-635 west of Luna Road to east of Greenville Avenue, fully opened in September 2015. The 13.3 mile, $2.6 billion project features managed toll lanes called TEXpress Lanes, where motorists pay more to drive freer-flowing portions when the highway is especially congested.

The goal of the managed toll lanes, dubbed “Lexus lanes†because their prices rise during peak traffic, is to minimize congestion and add predictability to drivers’ commutes.

The LBJ Express project began in 2011 and included the reconstruction of expanded frontage lanes and main lanes, as well as the addition of bypass lanes and managed lanes. As many as 250,000 cars travel the stretch daily.

The construction includes the complete rebuild of 18 individual lanes with the tolled managed lanes below its surface throughout most of the corridor. The finished project includes new and continuous frontage roads with bypass lane sections, reconstructed general highway lanes and three additional TEXpress Lanes in each direction.

Don't let the Council see this! Built for people who don't want to get out of their cars and couldn't care less about the environment. I can see the elevated sections getting across the Lammas meadows going east. The Hereford Link road is about the width of the LBJ freeway.

Unusually HT got to print this first

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/15244117.Hereford_mayor_stands_in_General_Election/?ref=mr&lp=1

The following could be a worry for the Council if it wasn't for the fact that the Council have appointed Geoff Hughes as project Director? Nothing to worry about he will gather up the usual suspects responsible for the **** up in the first place and they are sure to **** it up all over again! Why because they are ****ing up thinks on a day to day basis!

What exactly does it take to trigger a public enquiry? I am confused as to why the auditors haven't been looking into this?

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/11823873.__40_million_legal_dispute_loss_could__finish__Herefordshire_Council___claim/

Let me tell you all of a slight issue shall we say that Vodaphone have with quite a few customers in some parts

of Hereford.
They have a serious issue with overloading,ie too many customers on some of their systems,College for one.
Although they are in the process of upgrading their systems this has been an on going issue for over

four months.
If you are one of their customers then click on the link below in the evening and have a look at your speed.
You are probably guaranteed 32mps.If you are getting less (I'm getting around 8mps....Yes 8mps)  then contact Vodaphone.
and complain. 


http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk/