bobby47

Colin, The work ethic, 'we work to serve you' is something that was lost sometime ago. Oh, they'll say 'yes we do work for your benefit' but they no longer see that we are particularly important. It's an arrogance that has crept into politics over a long period of time and they no longer feel that they are accountable. They've simply lost their way and they've no idea that they are acting in a poor manner. They ain't doing it deliberately. They've no idea that we think differently to them. It's simply a cultural thing that has dug into their way of delivering democracy and it takes time for cultural beliefs to change. We've gotta get new blood into our leadership selection process and when we vote for our local leaders we should take more care because local politics is becoming more and more important. My warmest regards Colin.

My dear Colin, I can tell from your writing style that you are very angry by this silly chain of events brought about by stupidity. My good advice to you would be to let it go, not give it a backward glance and simply conclude that they, this particular Parish Council are the losers and they will come to regret it. Mind, if you can't let it go and you choose to go to war, and its your choice, then simply enquire with the Council Monitoring Officer whether or not this Clerk followed agreed protocols and sought advice from the Councils Legal Department as to whether, or not, the statement made by our Glenda was libellous. I suspect you'll find that no liaison or presentation took place and this Clerk, from her very narrow field of training, concluded it was libellous. The clumsy point Im making is, had the Clerk taken advice, then you, they, Councillor Powell and Belmont Voice wouldn't be embroiled in this silly situation. Let it go my dear and good friend. It's simply not worth it. Our Glenda will be exonerated and your baby, Belmont Voice will continue to flourish and prosper and gather more interest. My very warmest regards Colin. Well done. Now put it down and forget it.

Very well done Colin. I am sorry you and your family have had to deal with this rancid bag of rats. It's truly madness. And all this because another Councillor became jealous of another Councillors popularity earned through hard work. As for the Clerk to the Parish Council, this good woman is relied upon by those around the table to act wisely, give good council and above all not give her listeners false information which they may conclude is correct and a cause worth fighting. This Clerk has clearly given advice that has caused those around the table to believe that they have been libelled and this advice is wrong. Very wrong. The facts are that this Clerk to the Council should have taken her view that this was libel and with the full knowledge of those around the table, she should have provided written or verbal evidence to the Council legal Department and had her interpretation of events and views sanctioned by a Solicitor. Had this been done, the Solicitor would have told her what I am saying. This is not libel. No individual has been defamed and you cannot libel a collective group or organisation under these circumstances. The Clerk has failed in her duty. If this Clerk says, 'I took advice', then she's either being economical with the truth or she's liaised with a Solicitor who knows nothing about this area of statutory legislation. This is not libel. Never was. Never will be , and anyone with commonsense who's had no lick of an idea about the libel laws of our Country would have told the Clerk to the Council that very same thing. How on earth did this gathering of presumably intelligent people, allow themselves to get carried away because of jealousy!

I see from the Hereford Times two Councillors, Rone and Atkinson, very unfortunate names if placed together, have tabled a motion that Councillors take a cut of ten per cent. On the face of it you might conclude, 'Aint they nice. What a lovely gesture'. Well I ain't pleased. I'd like more than that from some of them. (Not you Glenda). Crumbs from the table is what this offer is. Another gimmick designed to win over the disenchanted voters who've lost their loyalty toward this ruling elite. I want more than ten per cent. I want an arm. A leg, or better still to see the howling mob gathered at the City Gates demanding change and the head of those that have mismanaged our funds on gimmicks, pointless drivel and giving tacit approval to 'suits' from outside our County home who've asset stripped us for all we've got left. No! Ten per cent is nowhere near enough!

Not so long ago I couldn't have cared less about local elections and the purpose of Councillors. I used to think that I'd vote at the General Election, which I allways did, and the rest of it was a load of rubbish which I wasn't interested in. Now? Ive changed my mind. National Politics have become very distant to me, I get the impression they are moreorless the same, and, with the exception of UKIP, they have nothing new and original to say. Nowadays, since I've been blogging and I've learned a great deal about how local power is used, I've come to the conclusion that local politics is much more important than the politicians and mandarins that flounce around Westminster and Whitehall and I've decided that whatever 'we' want or need, they ain't going to deliver it to us and therefore, we've gotta get hold of power and pull the levers ourselves. That means, we've all gotta start taking more interest in our local politics and take more care about who we elect and who we want to pull the levers of local power. The next time we hold our local Council elections, when some shiney bloody happy clappy person comes trotting up your path and says, 'vote for me because I live around the corner and I look lovely in a suit' ask them questions and make them earn your vote. They've had it easy for to long (not you Glenda) and its about time we, the little people started using our collective strength and began to hold some of these elected Councillors to account. I've been to some of these Council meetings and I've seen at first hand how dull and unimaginative many of these Councillors are. They are not clever'er than us, they've not got more wisdom than us and believe me, some of them struggle to say anything other then Yay or bloody Nay. In short, many of them are thick and some are completely unsuitable to be anywhere near power and the levers of power that they can pull in the name of local democracy. My idea of a Councillor is of course someone like Councillor Powell. A grafter who earns the right to be called Councillor. It's not someone who takes the money, sticks their bloody hand in the air and votes away another twenty million bloody quid on something that we don't want or don't need. I say we've gotta start looking in different places to find our leaders. The ones who've walked in our shoes and are able to stick their hand up in the air and say, 'No. Get stuffed. We don't need things we can't afford and things that we don't bloody need'. My conclusion is, the safest bet is an Independent and someone who ain't driven by political dogma and are not slaves to a political party that dresses themselves up as good, kind and understanding but they are really out for themselves and the glory that comes with being called Councillor. We've gotta change things. We've all gotta start thinking more about local politics and we've all gotta start taking more care about who we elect as a leader.

Well I'd much rather they'd taken him to some rundown place. An area in the City steeped in misery, deprivation and bereft of any hope. Bloody High Town for example. Ten minutes pottering about there and he'd want to open a vein and demand a bloody cuddle from one of his entourage. Mind, if he cried, 'someone embrace me and give me solace', it'd be our Mayor who'd probably rush forward and give him a manly hug. Then of course it'd all kick off, Edward pleading, 'a wet wipe, a wet wipe, all I own for a wet wipe. Who will rid me of this theatrical red blusher that the Mayor has rubbed on my face'.

I sat in the Treacle Mine recently pondering this very thing. As I stared out at the scene of this unfolding bag of rats, sucking on my *** and drinking my ale it suddenly crossed my mind, what's left of it, that 'they', the ones who administer over these schemes are either unqualified and they acquired their qualification from the Internet or they are mad. It's one or the other. It can't be anything else. I mean, who'd sit down, plan the work, confront the bloody options and then shout out, 'that's the one for me, lets get our lads down there and begin buggering about before some fool changes our minds'. The entire plan, and I use the term plan in its broadest possible sense, is the work of idiots. If my dear wife, a nosey women if ever there was one, came rushing home and delivered me her plan that was along the same lines as this bag of dirt, I'd embrace her, tell her I loved her and I'd remove her from our home, take her to see the local Trick Cyclist and Id demand they carried out an imeadiately full frontal lobotomy. Our Colin suggests its a joke! This ain't no joke. This, and all the other schemes that are delivered up to us and shoved down our throats is madness and anyone who says otherwise, disagrees with me.

Once again, this is lampooning a political figure and its truly not intended to hurt. In fact, if anyone looks ridiculous, it's me rather than our Phillip. I am unable to think in straight lines and its this that makes me the idiot rather than Phillip. That said, Bill's find on the Internet was an extraordinary gift to a fool who thinks like I do. Wonderful find Bill.

Phillip, or, as me and the lads down the pub like to call you, The Old Widow.Its not been the kindest or even the easiest of weeks has it? Don't despair. It'll get better. In about seven to maybe ten years you'll feel less bruised and battered by the experience and you'll look back on this as one of those experiences in life you'd be happy to never recall again. There's of course the letter that you submitted to the Hereford Times that mentioned your association with dear old Albert. Then, there was the ill fated piece in the Hereford Times which questioned your suitability to be in charge of two wheels. But of course, the real disaster came when our Bill Thomas happened upon your other secret life. Life as a Pamtomime Star. More pointedly, your role as Widow Twanky at the Birmingham Hippodrome when the Brummie Lancett commented, 'the best man we've ever seen dressed up as a girlie.' High praise indeed and though I wasn't a part of the paying audience, I'm assured that you were indeed outstanding during that particular matinee performance. Anyway, there was a point to my posting and as usual, I've gone off at a tangent. This is what you must now do! Please examine the picture of you playing Widow Twanky which my friend Bill recovered from your performance at the Hippodrome. You'll note that you are in role, very heavily made up and of course wearing the clothing of a Pantomime woman. Now, with a wee spy glass, examine your image when you were photographed in your Mayoral costume. Compare the two images Phillip and if you are careful you'll see that I am able to say this.......After coming off stage you immediately went to Hereford, got into your new Mayor's costume and your image was captured by the photographer. How do I know this and how can I be so certain that I am right? Blusher Phil! Blusher! Red make up Blusher. You'll see that following your performance as Widow Twanky , you did not remove the Red Blusher from your facial cheeks. The Red Blusher on your facial cheeks appears on your picture as the new Mayor of Hereford. What's my point? Get your make off after each and every performance before you leave the theatre.

Hello Wendy, I enjoyed reading your Post. It was cleverly crafted, thoughtful and imaginative and for the most part I fully agree with you and your concerns about the Car Parking within the City. That said, you use the word 'strategy', which tends to imply that some thought has gone into this issue or there is some plan that many of the great and the good have produced, signed off and delivered to us with a bucket full of optimism. There is no strategy Wendy. There hasn't been for some considerable time and unless we have some divine intervention and the entire Council leadership jump into the Wye, we ain't going to have any strategy in the forthcoming future. Whatever this Council leadership touch, glance at or think about, the entire scheme turns into a bag of rats. This happens because they do not think about anything from beginning to end and consider the final outcome. They collectively lurch from one badly thought out scheme to another, rarely ever giving any of the chaos they've created a single backward glance. No, there is no strategy Wendy. We are lead by a bunch of economic lightweights who haven't a single clue what to do for the best. Successive Council leaderships have had their hands on the levers of power and they've all added to our current woes. We are where we are because for to long we've all said nothing and allowed and trusted our ruling elite to do as they pleased. We have no infra structure, our wages are low, our kids are leaving in their droves, High Town is near to ruin, the Council are more or less bankrupt and they are selling whatever they can to plug the holes in the side of our sinking vessel. They've taken our future and what wealth we had left after the crash of 2008, and in a game of chance, a punt at the gaming table they've handed it all to Stanhope, Hereford Futures, Hoople and Consultancy Firms. Between them, they've asset stripped us and this is why they are ridding themselves of low cost parking. This is entirely about collecting revenue to prop up our ailing economy and the funding of the huge public service job creation programme delivered to us by New Labour. It's economic madness to discourage people from visiting the City but this is exactly what they've done. All I can say Wendy, is they didn't do it on purpose. They simply didn't think things through.

Bill, Genius. As for this entire thing, it's lampooning a political figure. It ain't personal and, whilst I realise it can he hurtful, it's not intended. Nowadays, with the way our democracy is delivered up to us, taking the Micky, lampooning and teasing, is the only way the public can get their views heard.

Phil, Take no notice of the Hereford Times Posters. None of them, particularly me, know anything about anything. They are a gathering of fools if my words are worth a jot of notice. You look lovely in your costume and with luck, good fortune and a sprinkling of patience from the rate paying public, you'll have a great twelve months, drinking, eating and travelling at our expense. And as for those who have pointed out your past views about the Mayor's office and the wearing of the lovely costume, and it is a lovely costume, you'd be a fool to say it wasn't, ignore them. There is nothing wrong in blind naked ambition and a desire to see your name on a plaque alongside your dear old Great Uncle Albert. For my part, anyone who is prepared to slide their limbs into the Mayor's tight britches and walk amongst us dressed in the lovely costume is a man who is prepared to sacrifice his personal dignity in pursuit of fame and local celebrity. That, in itself tells me two things. Firstly you are a man. And secondly you are prepared to dress up. There, I've said it and anyone who takes a different view to mine, disagrees with me.

Councillor Powell, For the love of God, don't pick up the phone, get the job done and cause any further distress to those who don't share your work ethic. If you must do something, write letters here, there and every bloody where, arrange a meeting, invite the great and the good and talk about it endlessly untill we all forget it was ever a problem. I'd respectfully urge everyone that contributes to these pages to urge our Glenda to keep her head down and do nothing. Do absolutely nothing that helps our communities at all!

Hello Alex, Thank you so much for taking an interest. Find the Archive for Open Forum and then fiddle about and search for a topic relating to Northolme Football Pitch. Once you've found it, its all fairly self explanatory. My very warmest regards to you and all who have taken an interest in this worrying issue.

Hello Colin, There is no need for you to be intrigued my good friend. The information I act upon is to be found in public houses from disgruntled staff of this Council who, like you, me and everyone else, are dismayed at the antics of this unholy bloody Council. Your cameo role in this chain of events was relayed to me as, 'the man who runs Belmont Voice'. The rest, I was able to piece together through tittle tattle, rumour and more leaked information via disgruntled Council employee's.

Well done Bill. Good lad. You are right. It's absolutely nothing but this 'nothing' that we think of as 'nothing', became very important to those who wielded the knife. They must have stewed upon this 'nothing' before they took their first step. Demanding Councillor Powell apologise and then demanding our Colin James, the very man who's done such a great deal for his community and us, to close the thread of news relating to Northolme Football pitch and demanding the comments all be deleted. I would imagine, Colin James being the man I think he is, looked at the comments on this thread of news and concluded, 'it's nothing. I ain't censoring free speech to please a couple of Councillors who choose to be offended by nothing. Now, a bunch of public money, that we no longer have, is going to be thrown at this issue. They'll have their hearing, all at our expense, they'll talk grandly about this 'nothing' and how Councillor Powell should have held a meeting instead of sorting it out, and at the very end, some Chair person will say, 'this is bloody nothing', why have we gathered here today, at the publics expense to please a couple of elected officials who have become very jealous of Councillor Powell. Complaint dismissed. Once again Bill, thank you so much for your kind words.

Thank you so much Frank and Alex. Your kind words will give some heart to our battered and bruised Councillor Glenda Powell.

During the latter part of 2012, Colin James invited Hereford Times Posters to register with Belmont Voice. For one reason or another, I became the only blogger from the Times to register and take part in your wonderful social platform. Three things struck me when I first visited these pages. Firstly, you all are part of a truly wonderful tool that allows you to discuss and resolve the issues that directly affect your neighbourhood. Secondly, Megilleland was here who I know is a prolific blogger and thirdly and finally, how lucky you all were to have Councillors regularly contributing to your discussions. In this day and age, it's no easy task to get elected Councillors to emerge from their burrows and say something that might come back to bite them, yet, Belmont Voice was fortunate to have two Councillors, namely Bridges and Powell who contributed toward the issues affecting their constituents. In the case of Councillor Glenda Powell, I was astonished at how much she contributed toward her community and this social forum and its fair to say that I have always been impressed by her dedication, her hard working ethic and her willingness to address any problem and give it her best shot. You might be thinking, ' sounds like this fool Bobby47 is a close friend of Councillor Powell's. Well, truly and truthfully, I've never met this Councillor, I've no idea whether or not she and I would share the same political values and I've no idea whether she and I could become friends. However, what I do know is that for the past twelve months, bloggers on the Hereford Times have been objecting to our current ruling elite and we desperately wanted to find Councillors who spoke their mind, were not afraid to emerge from their burrows and could evidence that they worked hard for their constituents. During my visits to these pages I have genuinely been impressed with the industry and hard working ethic of Councillor Powell and her willingness to grasp a stinging nettle and do something. Not talk about it. Not hold a meeting. Not waffle and flower things up that are meaningless and of no help, but to actually, get on and do the job. It seems to me that Councillor Glenda Powell displays all the attributes of a public servant who gives her very best and she deserves a little help and recognition for her hard work. Why am I mentioning all this? Well, through rumour, the grapevine and some inside knowledge, I have learned that some Councillors have orchestrated a complaint against Councillor Powell. Apparently, because of an issue relating to an old thread of news on BV sanctions are being sought to reprimand Councillor Powell because she took hold of a complaint by a constituent, she ran with it, did something which was to the annoyance of her fellow Council colleagues and failed to follow protocols. Some might say this has been done because Councillor numbers are to be reduced and by getting rid of Councillor Powell it's one less Councillor to cull and safeguards the survival of others. Me? I think all of this has been done in haste. I think those who have wielded the knife may feel that their actions were somewhat hasty and unwise. Whatever the reasons, I would like those involved to end this farce and concentrate on the issues that are important to us all. Holding this bloody Council to account for all the money they have wasted on gimmicks and pointless schemes that have brought about our fiscal ruin. In an effort to support Councillor Powell , I respectfully request that all the Belmont Voice Posters who have reason to be grateful to her contribution to this forum and her constituency, you simply note this message and state that you appreciate her hard work. My very warmest regards to you all.

Hello Councillor. I saw your letter in the HT. Well done. The aircraft at Pontrilas has been falling apart for a long time. Constant flash bangs and forced entries have reduced the old training craft to a pile of scrap. This is its replacement Glenda.

Truthfully, when I clicked it on and saw how long the video was I cursed you and thought I'd just give it five minutes. But, his machine gun style and his rapid fire delivery of facts relating to this issue was bloody brilliant and his story relating to the grains of rice on a chess board blew me away.

Like Ive said Mick, I actually have no desire to come out of the EU but we have to have adequate services to cater for the people who come here and, at the moment, we ain't got them. A simple issue like housing for example. These people arrive and there are no houses for them to live in and so when they do get a Council home or Rented accommodation it's turned into an *** and you end up with a house containing twenty or more people who can't get proper housing. The knock on effect with just this single issue is that this *** generates twenty or so bin bags which means the Refuse Collection staff have to work harder to service that one single dwelling. Thats just one single knock on effect that this policy produces. Then, because there's a housing shortage, landlords see a way to exploit these people so they put the rents up which means the property market becomes infected by this strange dynamic and renting or buying becomes more expensive and difficult for everyone. And in the bloody meantime the poor old Polish people cop the flack for the madness that our bloody political leaders have spoon fed us up.

Ours is the greatest Country in the World. Deep down of course I do know that this is not so but it's what I believe and I am proud to be British. Weve given the World many wonderful things such as a language, our culture, the arts and democracy. Weve also given the World a bucket load of things that perhaps we shouldn't be to proud of but, that said, our Nation and the fabric that binds us together is really something special and we are fortunate to be able to say we are British. From my aforementioned comments you'd be right to conclude I have the little islander mentality and I make no appologise for this view of my own Nation. But, I am not inward thinking, I do understand the new world order and I am not keen to get out of Europe. On the contrary, if things were right and as they should be for me and my Country men and women, Id want to stay in the EU. But, sadly they are no longer right and to the long term benefit of my Grandchildren and having voted in the last European referendum in the 70's I can say that this union has drifted to a place where I no longer see as a place I am keen to be amongst. For most people who are described as Euro sceptics, at the very heart of their frustration is the scale and vastness of the influx of millions of people from other EU countries and the cost that this places upon our public services which our Nation paid for and which is now available to anyone who settles here. In January of 2015 the conundrum of Romania and Bulgaria will be placed upon our doorstep and possibly millions will arrive in search of a better life and our public services will be called upon to care for these people. This is not a difficult economic problem. We cannot afford to care for anymore people who choose to come to our Country. The public services that we have and we often take completely for granted are there because of the efforts and price paid by our ancestors. These things were not easily won and we should think hard about balancing our desire to be seen as welcoming and our need to care for our own. The cost to us now is overwhelming and the future cost may mean that our public services will no longer be available because of the huge strains placed upon our economy by the free movement of people who understandably seek a better life. For me, if there were renogiated conditions which resulted in controlled and capped immigration I'd vote to stay in the Union. However, if as I fear no agreement could be reached then Im for leaving the European Union and regaining control of our own destiny. The economic problems that would result from our departure from the EU are many but, our trade freedoms would allow us an open door to the emerging markets around the World and we would not be tied by Brussels and their autocratic rules that limit the level of our trading with the emerging markets of the World. Ive no doubt that to leave would be a huge step to take but I know my Country and I know that our spirit would see us prosper in the future. How would you use your vote?

My very warmest regards to both Victor and Rebecca. Yeah you are right Vic. We are where we are and there's no going back to a time that ain't going to return. Deep down I do know that it ain't the fault of the Police, it's just that I can't stop moaning and groaning about this and every other bloody thing that happens nowadays. This is some persons home and I know how hurt and angry Id feel if they'd done this to my home. The tragedy is that our society has no sense of personal responsibility. No one takes responsibility for their own personal actions and consequently, if these fools are caught and prosecuted they will get some brief to deliver some hard luck story, the Probation Service will drive them away from the City for a days fishing, some box will be ticked to say how well this person did on probation and they'll get a bloody gift voucher for being good. We are bloody doomed and I've gotta stop moaning!

Don't Colin! Dont congratulate me. Im so bloody tired of moaning but its all so bloody depressing. We can all see what we need and what we want to make our home Hereford better, but, can you get anywhere? Not a bloody chance. We are bloody doomed. Nowadays, they all drive around in brightly coloured cars with flashing lights. Dressed in a uniform that I can't recognise anymore. The Utility belts carry equipment designed to stun me, gas me, electrocute me and fasten me up and all I want is the Copper who used to be a part of my community and who played a part in my everyday life.

And just to really buggar up your sleep Bill, they've sprayed the New Bridge demanding the Pot Holes are repaired on our roads. We are bloody doomed.