Hinton Hitman Posted June 7, 2014 Report Posted June 7, 2014 Just to say that the problems with grass cutting are not new, perhaps the council should ask Mr Hubbard to carry on cutting due to the cuts. The same content was sent to the times but they decline to print it.
Glenda Powell Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 I am looking for a group of people in Newton Farm and Hunderton to start up a grass cutting group in these areas, I am looking for funding to set this group up, is anyone interested?. As this administration has cut the budget, let us take a pride in where we live and show them how it should be done..... Glenda
megilleland Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 The question to ask is how long do this council want the public to cut the grass. At what point will they resume normal service? I don't mind keeping the outside of my property tidy, I pick up the litter when I see it and do several streets and an open area for an hour every Sunday. Is that good enough? This is a scheme to divide the community. There are going to be people who will say why should I do that I pay council tax. There are people who couldn't care less about the environment what with the flytipping we get around here. The agencies who had the manpower and authority are shirking their responsibilities. The only agency cutting the grass is Herefordshire Housing, but that is only to keep their open space attractive until they can sell or dispose of it in the future. What's happening to the city council's neighbourhood plan? All the other parishes seem to be be well under way with theirs.
Ubique Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 I am looking for a group of people in Newton Farm and Hunderton to start up a grass cutting group in these areas, I am looking for funding to set this group up, is anyone interested?. As this administration has cut the budget, let us take a pride in where we live and show them how it should be done..... Glenda For an elected Councillor to say what she said is unbelievable We have fallen Into the trap the Council wanted us to , soon we will be standing at the side of the road and throwing our recyclable stuff into the recycleable wagon and the next week Into the rubbish wagon. All they want us to do is pay their expenses via the Council Tax . THATS MY LAST POST - HAD ENOUGH - just like my best mate Bobby 47
Glenda Powell Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 I do not like what the council done anymore than you do, they will not reverse their decision that was very clear at the meeting last week for the city councillors, but reducing from 7 cuts to 3 a year we can all see the mess our estates are in. I note that when Jim Kenyon got HHL to cut his area with the Tupsley group you all congratulated him. Now I am asking to set up a group in my area its a different matter. I take a pride in my ward and do not wish to see it deterorate any further. And yes I pay my council tax as well both to the county and city council!
dippyhippy Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 Good Grief Ubique! I can't have this! First Bobby, now you....this is an unsettling trend, and one I simply cannot allow to continue! In another week it will be Two Wheels resigning, then Biomech and Megilleland will want to throw the towel in! Flamboyant and GDJ will produce notes from their Mums, excusing them from posting duties, and chaos will reign! This has got to stop! Before we know it, all of the odd bods will have disappeared. No. I'm not having it. I'm putting my foot down.
twowheelsgood Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 I with you dh, having been out on my bike this morning and seen more of the council madness that is driving this county to become its own little third world.
dippyhippy Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 Afternoon Glenda! I welcome anything that helps to tidy up Our City. I think the point other posters may be making, is that those who already take pride in their areas will most likely be the ones to step forward. Out of interest, what funding are you applying for, and where is it coming from??
Glenda Powell Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 I had an email yesterday from the new cabinet member for highways grass cutting etc. he advised the following Quote: that South Herefordshire MP Jesse Norman and Phil Collins of Collins Design and Build has donated £750 with a promise from the county council to match funding for community groups to obtain equipment or training for grass cutting. We are actively encouraging any group that can take the initiative within their locality area to contact their local councillor (Me) or the cabinet member Cllr Paul Rone to get things going. End Hense why I asked if anyone would like to start up a group in Newton Farm and Hunderton in my post earlier.
dippyhippy Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 I'll be interested to hear if my local councillor is as pro active as you and Jim, when it comes to sorting out Whitecross!
Denise Lloyd Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 Reduction in council tax and something similar to a service charge for every person over 18. This money to be given to the Parish Council to arrange their own grass cutting. Money directly paid to local businesses and the responsibility of keeping Herefordshire neat and tidy taken well and truly out of the hands of the Council. The Council have so let us down on this and have proved that they cannot deliver.
flamboyant Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 I'm sorry I disagree that we should give in to what is essentially blackmail and start forming groups to cut the grass. As stated in an earlier post when the Council stop increasing the salaries of Senior managers and prove they truly do have the Counties interests at heart I will do my bit. There is considerable evidence to support that restructures to cut the wage bill resulted in salary increases in many departments that saw reductions in front line staff! Is anyone paying attention? To clarify - 3 front line staff earning a combined wage of £52,000 lose their jobs a saving of £52,000 'excellent we are heading in the right direction' yes? No! 3 managers then all receive a wage rise of £8.000 = £24.000 and then they create 1 new post with a salary of £35.000 total savings minus £7.000 !! The result, the Council close a service because they've dismissed the front line staff! Claiming they can no longer afford it! I'm not quoting an isolated incident it's happening every single time there is a restructure someone usually a Senior Manager gets a wage increase! Justified by the additional work he/ she will have to do! No they are lucky to remain employed! Now we will be blamed for the deterioration of our communities because we didn't volunteer to cut the grass! It doesn't make you a hero if you cut the grass it makes you a mug and a coward for not standing up to the mismanagement of our services! Councillors should be demanding answers to the statements above. How many directors, managers, staff received wage increases since 2012. How many new posts have been created since 2012 and who authorised all of it? Those figures should be published per department so the public can judge what is essentially a gross mismanagement of public funds. If you find 1 salary increase in a department where someone lost their job then you should launch a full investigation! If one member of staff was made redundant and the entire saving wasn't re-directed to children's or adult social services then someone's head should roll! Councillor Powell this is not a personal attack I truly believe you are between the rock and the hard plate! My warmest regards to you..
twowheelsgood Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 Do we really need a cabinet member for grass cutting, for goodness sake? Particularly when there isn't any being done! It's madness!
Glenda Powell Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 Out of fairness to Cllr Rone since he took over his position as cabinet member he has been very proactive, by getting funding for these community groups to apply for. He has other duties as well. The administration has given him half of Cllr Price portfolio and in my opinion he got the poison challice.
gdj Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 I agree completely with Flamboyant. It is difficult to accept the "there is no money so what else can we do" line when there are managers getting payrises, expensive consultants being taken on for vague "transformation" advice and legal and other costs being incurred through doing things wrong. Cllr Vaughan-Powell, this is not a criticism of the community grass cutting efforts which are laudable, but do you have any opinions on front line staff being made redundant and it resulting in extra pay for managers, new senior positions created and resulting in less front line work at greater cost? Many people (including me) could give you examples.
twowheelsgood Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 Another slice of madness not widely discussed or known is that BB are concentrating on resurfacing C class and unclassified roads throughout the county - this was a harebrained scheme developed by the former Cllr Hamilton before he had a tantrum and resigned. The remotest of lanes that might only see a few vehicles a day are now being completely resurfaced, yet the plan, confirmed to me personally by Hamilton in a letter, is to effectively abandon B and A class roads for the time being, with only makeshift repairs, which is what we are seeing. Some of these roads, such as at Hampton Bishop are benefitting from government flood money, but they wouldn't have been done otherwise. Hard to fathom the level of idiocy that pushes through a scheme like this. Similar to one that abandons mowing the grass I guess. Just to show I'm not making it up, I saw this today - it’s a 500m stretch of lovely new tarmac which has been laid on a no-through lane which serves a single property. Having been nearly shaken to death and struggled to avoid lethal potholes along Aylestone Hill (east side), Venns Lane, and Whitecross Rd whilst on my bike, I really question the vaidity of such work - it simply cannot be the best use of limited resources. Ironically half a mile down the road, longstanding flooding is still blocking the road and a little further on Ruckhall Mill bridge is still closed two years on since its temporary closure.
Cambo Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 Thought I'd post this PROPAGANDA pic of Jesse & Paul doing there bit?! I have to say that Jesse doesn't look like he's ever done any mowing before??
Glenda Powell Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 I do not agree with staff losing their jobs, and I am known for asking for a reduction in management cabinet members reduction of their allowances and management salaries, I have brought it up many times at full council meetings, that is why I did not agree with the budget for 2014-15 and did not vote for it giving my explanations, I got booed by the administration. Also earlier this year I supported two other councillors who like me was willing to take a 10% cut in our allowance, but I again ask for management to take the same cut from their salary, needless to say the management did not take the cut. I could give you many examples of management officers not doing their job, but one in particular where they could not cope with their job and got two people from away to help at a salary of £500 per day, I said she should either resign from her post or pay their salary out of her salary that was when I was booed.
flamboyant Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 Isn't it time to take a stand? Cllr Powell go back to Cabinet and tell them to look at these pages. Stop trying to organise community groups to cut grass and let's all put our heads together. There are some very intelligent people on these pages and I strongly believe that there has to be a way to bring the wrong doings of Herefordshire Council to the attention of Central Government. Megilleland, Twowheelsgood, Biomech and GDJ to name but a few, put your heads in gear and help us formulate a resistance to this incompetence! Why not form community groups to stand outside Brockington Towers with placards requesting a full investigation into Herefordshire Council. Invite the BBC along if you make enough noise it will be discussed in Parliament then you will have a chance of changing things for the better. Either Central Government will admit Austerity measures are wrong or they will investigate the administration. We need to stop convincing ourselves there is absolutely nothing we can do, that's bull! They want you to believe there is nothing we can do!
flamboyant Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 Btw Twowheelsgood it might be worth investigating who lives in that property at the end of that newly tarmaced road!
Ubique Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 Wasn't going to do anymore comments but I couldn't ignore twowheelgood comments , he is talking about a different stretch of country lane . I posted the below in December 2013 in the Pothole Post - I have since been advised that that it cost £23000. Add that to the £10000 it cost to clear the Travellers Site between Burghill and Tillington .........said enough .. With all theses potholes around the County , some of them really dangerous both for cyclists and cars why , Oh why did the Council contractors and Balfour Beatty spend all week preparing and tarmacking the whole length of the single lane road running between the entrance to Stretton Nursing Home and the road which runs between the Bell PH at Tillington and Credenhill , a distance of over 500m . No more than 20 vehicles a day use this road. Unbelievable waste of time and money. - our money .
megilleland Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 Maybe this is the answer: Weed-eating goats coming back to Dry Creek The city is working with Goat Green LLC to get 220 goats this summer at a cost of $50,000. Geringer said the city could use human labor to manage the vegetation, but that would be substantially more expensive than goat labor. The city is in the process of contracting with Goat Green LLC of Cheyenne to provide 220 head of goats between June 7-July 19 at a cost of $50,000. The company uses Kiko goats, a type originally bred in New Zealand, said Donny Benz with Goat Green. "They are a real hardy kind of goat that can live in all kinds of weather," he added. Not only are goats more cost effective than human labor, but they are a "green alternative" to lawnmowers, Geringer said. They also are able to graze along steep banks that often are inaccessible to lawnmowers, he added. Geringer said the city is working the Laramie County Conservation District on exactly where and how to best use the goats. "We need to make sure we don't overgraze because (that) would be a detriment (to the basin) as well," Geringer said. "Overgrazing could increase erosion." Staff from the city and the conservation district will decide how to "divide up the Dry Creek area into small units that the goats will slowly progress along," Geringer said. "We have identified the worst areas that we really need to get a handle on," he added. Sounds like a good idea. If this works then we can replace the Cabinet with monkeys.
megilleland Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 It is not only Herefordshire residents that are complaining. Sounds like this no-cutting directive has been put out across the country by the Colition Government as some sort of scheme to cause dissent.
Denise Lloyd Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 Why not just replace the organ grinder or even better make his post redundant
Cambo Posted June 8, 2014 Report Posted June 8, 2014 Direct action is wot is need the best weapon people have is not to pay your council tax if enough people had the balls to stand together as a political statement? then I believe central government would then have no choice but to take notice? The thing is are there enough people who'd be willing to do so? with the possible risk of prison? Like bobby I would things will never change unless your willing to make a sacrifice & by not paying our council tax we would be taking direct action by peaceful protest I might add!!!
Biomech Posted June 9, 2014 Report Posted June 9, 2014 With all theses potholes around the County , some of them really dangerous both for cyclists and cars why Heading south over the new bridge the hole at the lights has opened up again, hit it hard yesterday, and when I looked in my mirror the 4x4 behind me dropped about a foot of the left side as it went it.
twowheelsgood Posted June 9, 2014 Report Posted June 9, 2014 The Highways Agency are working here at the moment (at night) - I cycled through the junction from Barton Rd yesterday. Brand new tarmac at the junction, abutting a gulley blocked solid with weeds growing out of it - standard issue 'not our department, guv' I suspect. Usual numpties parked in the Advanced Stop Line box as well ...
dippyhippy Posted June 9, 2014 Report Posted June 9, 2014 Hi Two Wheels! I have just been admiring the photo you posted yesterday! A beautifully smooth surface! Where exactly is this?? There are no identifying features!!
flamboyant Posted June 9, 2014 Report Posted June 9, 2014 Just to show I'm not making it up, I saw this today - it’s a 500m stretch of lovely new tarmac which has been laid on a no-through lane which serves a single property. Having been nearly shaken to death and struggled to avoid lethal potholes along Aylestone Hill (east side), Venns Lane, and Whitecross Rd whilst on my bike, I really question the vaidity of such work - it simply cannot be the best use of limited resources. Ironically half a mile down the road, longstanding flooding is still blocking the road and a little further on Ruckhall Mill bridge is still closed two years on since its temporary closure. Where exactly is this stretch of road?
Biomech Posted June 9, 2014 Report Posted June 9, 2014 It doesn't really matter anymore does it, they got what they wanted, people are now outside cutting the grass and paying the council for the ******* privilege
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