Roger

I think the system is ultra efficient at 'recording' ... Absolutely crap at investigating tho until you reach the threshold where it's all guns' blazing from the word go ... Probably due to money ... lack of staff ... or whatever ...

This thread is about drunks outside the Church. It is certainly not about anything I have (or have not) contributed to the City where I was born. If you want to moan about me then create another topic!

The guy was crashed out under a Council camera ... And there were probably a fair few people nearer than me. I'm just the messenger. I'm not the 'carer' for this regular drunk. I did have to ring the cops last week to report something so I have experience of ringing 101. I was on hold for ten minutes. I'm not surprised people hang up and ring 999. I did read recently on FB from a regular cop in Hereford that he rung 101 and was still unanswered after 30 minutes ... So the system is not brilliant.

I don't know if the system is still the same now but the system used to rush to create a 'crime report' to beat the ticking clock on the computer. Then it leisurely swam around the computer system for a while before landing in someone's lap. The person who generated the press release (which is nearly over a month after the event) may not have had personal responsibility for the case for very long.

Police appeal following assault in Hereford12:56pm Tuesday 8th July 2014 in News POLICE investigating a serious assault in Hereford want to speak to a group of teenagers who may be able to help them with their enquiries. A 27-year-old man needed surgery after his jaw was broken in two places after being punched near the Lichfield Vaults pub in Church Street. The assault happened after he earlier refused to buy the group of six alcohol. The teenagers are described as being aged 16 or 17 and wearing jeans and trainers. Anyone with information about the assault that happened at 12.30am on Saturday, June 14 can call police on 101, quoting incident number 425-s-150614. Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111. Hereford Times

Drove past the Baptist Church at 14.10 today and a couple of the regular drunks were there. Albeit sheltering with their booze against the building as it was lashing it down. Went past at 17.45 and the same two were still there. One was shouting at a passer by and the other was horizontal on the steps. In an apparent drunken stupor.

I dunno why (again) you are resorting to trolling me with insults stupidfrustration ... If you want to pump out the Party Line that everything is 100% brilliant that's fine ... You obviously don't like anyone who doesn't agree with your agenda ...

I went there today to fill up ... closed. Pumps being replaced ... No clubcard points for me today!

I might have a BBQ next weekend. World Cup Final and some friends of mine are down from Liverpool to camp at the Beer Festival. My son is down from Liverpool for the Beer Festival as well ... I do invite people from the street for a BBQ ( I did last time) but this will be very low key ... I will probably get some decent stuff from Heggies as well ... As opposed to the rubbish at the supermarket ... All hanging on the weather I suppose ...

Correct. Which suggests to me that the level of 'due diligence' was at a lower level than it could have been as HUFC were an existing sitting tenant. The owner, I would assume, has an end game worked out for this whole situation. We'll soon see what that is.

I don't think anyone on this forum has suggested the City Centre is 'out of control'. The party line from the authorities is that boozing/assaults/disorder is low here compared to other places and that may well be true statistically. A sort of 'glass is half full' approach/propaganda. But not very helpful if you get randomly battered/sexually assaulted on your night out or on your way home. Which happens. The random nature of what happens also helps to fuel the fear of crime generally. Who would feel safe walking around the Castle Green on their own at Midnight? I wouldn't! So some people could, and do, take a 'glass is half empty' view as the truth is the City Centre can be pretty dodgy on occasions. Plus if groups of drunks are able to spend considerable amounts of time slumped outside the Baptist Church boozing from cans' then that will attract comment. There appears to have been an operation in town the last week or so according to Twitter but it seems to have generated virtually no publicity or interest so I dunno how successful that would be classed as a publicity exercise.

I drove past the entrance to the Burial Ground on Commercial Road at about 2.45 pm today. Some fella sat there supping a can of lager. Accompanied by his lurcher dog. All seemed in order but I suppose it's in the black/white area. ie no drinking there officially ...

I worked that beat until 2009. You would never have caught me collecting litter. Very commendable actions but misguided ....

Our neighbours had a few friends' around for a BBQ today ... With the entourage of kids' aged about 10/11 ... It all went downhill when the kids' started shooting foam missiles at my hounds' ... I've no problem with a BBQ but kids' out of control I have got a problem with ... One missile landed in my kitchen. Good shot but it has pissed me off again. And they wonder why the dogs' bark! Morons ...

I was out and about in the car yesterday and noticed that they've cut the grass on Tesco Island and on Victoria Street by West Street car park. Strangely they've cut 80% of the patch of grass by the entrance to the subway (at the West Street junction) but left 20% 3 foot high at the foot of the old City wall. It could only have taken another 5 minutes to do the whole lot. The scruffy grass under the saved Lime trees next to the roundabout has not been touched.

Child protection in the county is "back from the brink" 9:34am Friday 4th July 2014 in NewsBy Bill Tanner CHILD protection in the county is back from the brink two years after being branded “inadequate†by Ofsted. This week Ofsted said Herefordshire Council’s safeguarding service still needs improvement – but there are now no widespread or serious failures that put children at risk. Another “inadequate†verdict could have seen Whitehall directly intervening in the running of the service. The Ofsted report reveals that agency social workers were brought in ahead of the latest inspection to cut a case work backlog, with child neglect a major factor in many of the cases examined. Though the “inadequate†rating the service has been working under since 2012 is gone, the report says safeguarding is not yet delivering “good†protection and help. As such, Ofsted says all areas – with the exception of adoption – still require improvement, with progress acknowledged as “slow†and “very recent.†Too many of the areas for development identified in 2012 continue to require improvement, the report says. Both the council and Ofsted recognise that the service still has some way to go to get a “good†rating by 2016. Jo Davidson, director of children’s wellbeing, said the identified improvements were a “strong staging post†towards that target. Councillor Jeremy Millar, cabinet member for children’s wellbeing, said he was “reassured†that no children being cared for in the county are at risk of harm. As of March, 237 childrenand young people were subject to protection plans in the county, this is up from 208 in March 2013. Another 1,269 children were identified as needing a specialist children’s service– down from 1,444 the previous year. A further 242 children are in the council’s care, up from 216 this time last year. Ofsted reported neglect as a major factor in most cases examined by its inspectors and, though identification of neglect was getting better, in some cases oversight was poor and approaches too focused on the needs of adults. Individual social worker case loads have come down from an average of more than 30 last October to around 18, with help hired from an outside agency. Recruitment and retention of social workers, however, remains a key risk, and, while management and supervisory functions were “improving slowly†they were still “too variable.†The Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub – which puts child protection professionals in a single contact referral and assessment centreis proving “increasingly effective†after an overhaul. But children were still seeing too many changes of social worker and dataand information management was not yet accurate enough. The Herefordshire Safeguarding Children Board (HSCB) is said to be workingbetter than in 2012 to ensure services are co-ordinated. Board chairman Dave McCallum said many of the improvements are too recent to have made significant differences. “There is still further work to do to ensure that the board’s policies and procedures are up to date and that it is getting accurate and relevant performance information from partner organisations. “The board also needs to ensure that the work is manageable and prioritised in its ambitious programme of improvements.†Hereford Times It seems that the service seemed to scrape up to one level above inadequate by bringing in temporary staff to paper over the cracks. There is also apparently 'some way to go' to obtain a 'good' rating. Which incidentally is a rating that they had in 2010.

Breakfast Club at the Church suspended for one week ...

Dont get me wrong ... I love football ... And the HT is publicising the issues (quite rightly) ... but this seems to be the only issue they want to push ... Other proper news seems sidelined ...

I missed that H+W item Bambi ... And I quite frankly don't know what to say about your own personal situation which anyone would acknowledge is challenging. The argument seems to revolve around the fact that no one is pocketing the overcharged money and this £50k is being used usefully as it's too expensive to change the machines. Whether it is being clawed back somewhere else is something else again. How much would a new machine cost then? As £50k would buy 60 new machines if they all cost £833 each. And do the machines in the Station Approach car park have the potential to overcharge? They were installed just weeks ago. Long after this situation would have been known about ...

Is it in the printed paper anywhere? I haven't bought a copy. I did see the front page splash in the shop tho. About roadworks ...

I don't think the opening times are set in stone but 6-23 seems pretty common. The one on Holme Lacy Road is 6-23 as a direct comparison.

Tesco appear to be asking for an alcohol licence to start from 10th August 2014. Hours: 6AM to 11PM Licensing Application

A HEREFORD trader believes that something has to be done to help motorists after it was revealed that Herefordshire Council makes around £50,000 from people 'overspending' in car parks. Angela Siemieniuk, who owns independent fashion accessory store Hat Trick and Foot Note in East Street, says that motorists are 'constantly hammered' which has a detrimental effect on city centre trade. The council has confirmed £2.96million was generated in its pay and display car parks during 2013/14. That includes around £50,000 of 'overspent' charges because change is not given. Ms Siemieniuk, who is behind a campaign to stop on-street parking charges being introduced, said the money raised should be used to benefit the city. "I don't know why charges can't be rounded up to say £1.50 rather than £1.70 because not everyone has the right change," she said. "Some cities have free parking after 3pm or before 11am, which work really well. "We're always told that the council hasn't got any money, but they have got £50,000 in overspend charges, so this money should be taken into account. "They should also put the Merton Meadow car park back down to £2 all day because that is a car park used by a lot of workers, so you end up hitting them. "Money needs to be used to benefit shoppers." The council states that the cost of replacing its 60 pay and display machines across the county would be 'significant' and notices are in place to inform people that change is not given. In some car parks, motorists do have the option of paying via their mobile phone. However, even that has caused problems for some people. Hereford Times deputy editor Andrew Doyle was shocked when he was charged £1,409 for parking in Venns Close in Hereford. “I asked for two hours of parking, which came to £1.70 – or so I thought,†he said. Mr Doyle was shocked when he received a call 24 hours later checking whether he wanted 7,774 hours of parking – to May 2015. “The money had already left my account," he said. "I phoned the council and was told I’d have to contact the PayByPhone service for a refund. “It was incredibly stressful – though they did sort it out quite swiftly. “I was told by a customer services advisor that I most definitely requested that amount of parking according to their records and that the service would have confirmed that amount. “That was not my experience – the first I knew about it was when I was contacted by the council. “I won’t be using the service again.†PayByPhone maintains Mr Doyle requested 7,774 hours of parking and that there is no fault with the system. Hereford Times Angela Siemieniuk has previously been very vocal about this survey and the potential 'on street' parking charges ...

I don't think that is actually the case. The cops would obviously respond to a call from the job centre (or any other person) as appropriate. Which might involve a blue light. Times have changed though. Just look at the case of Supermarkets where they all (apart from Lidl) seem to have a regular guard where they never did 20 years ago. That's not because the cops wouldn't respond to a call. It's because security has now become an essential part of running certain premises due to the constant problems that requires a prevention element. Also pubs have more doormen. You could also cite football clubs where the number of stewards is astronomical compared to a few years ago. It has shifted to providing your own security basically.

Update today by the local Police. If you look for cans' and bottles you will find them ... It's how often they want to look for them that is probably the issue. On a sidenote I drove past The Exchange in Widemarsh St. today and saw it had a new outside beer garden. On the pavement. Possibly the smallest beer garden in the County!