dippyhippy

Preparation is key, Cambo! Pacamac and wellies! Tried and tested!

I would have thought they would have "Looked into a suitable spot to put one in" BEFORE the development opened??!! But well done for asking the question!

You and I both know that there is far more to council maths, than meets the eye!! We may not think that the figures add up, but by the time they have finished with them, they most definitely will.....and what's more, somewhere along the line, they will have actually saved us millions!

Yes I absolutely had, Biomech!!! Are you going to see Fiona at Hay Festival?? Friday 30th May 10.00am? "Why choose journalism?" Is the name of the discussion, and the panel is made up of Guto Harri, (News UK) Benedict Brogan(from The Telegraph) and our very own Fiona Phillips. Reading the blurb........"If seeking adventure, intellectual stimulation and the chance to write the first draft of history, this could be the life for you." Or.......you could just delete anything too controversial!

Oh, poor you!! Never mind - hopefully bank holiday Monday will make up for it!

Three million is an awful lot to spend on a building which is demolished after 15 years.....however, an awful lot more than this is going to be spent on the proposed new fire station, with a prediction that this building is only expected to last for 30 years. It takes the phrase "throw away society" to a whole new level. I fear too many folks know the price of everything, and the value of nothing.

I've asked lots of questions via HT in the past, and if they were directed to Liz Harvey, I always got a response......so give her a little time, I'm sure she will reply! Totally off topic - but what a bloody dreadful day! Makes me feel really glum, all this rain!

I wouldn't hold your breath, Flam. If blogging has taught me anything, it's that you rarely get a straight answer to a straight question! We have many brilliant, hardworking councillors, who do a great deal of good. However, these tricky questions that keep popping up on here, again and again, do not get answered. There are forces at play, that make it as difficult as possible, and put so many obstacles in the way, that even when councillors attempt to unpick these messy situations, they are thwarted. I would love to be proved wrong on this! So, councillors, it's over to you! How many staff have received significant pay rises during the restructuring of Environmental Services and Customer Services?? First one to reply gets a gold star!

Very disappointed to hear that Cllr. Alan Seldon and Cllr. Liz Harvey have lost the positions of chair and vice chair of the Overview and Scrutiny committee. To be replaced by Sebastian Bowen and Barry Durkin. Seldon and Harvey made for quite a team. They bought credibility to this committee. I fear this may now be lost......

Thanks for this Adrian, it's always nice to have councillors publicly state they support petitions like this!

Are you whispering this Flam????!!!!! Or checking my eyesight???!!! Well....I am neither elderly nor disabled, but I struggle!! I know plenty of folks who would much prefer to at least speak to someone via a phone. To remove this option is putting an awful lot of people at a distinct disadvantage.

Morning Flam! So......no face to face, no phone contact, just via the internet??? Well that's just great for technophobic fools like myself. And what about those who don't have access to the internet? It's not a given that folks have this, or are comfortable using this technology?? Hi Roger. I would imagine that with all the pressures front line staff have....demanding blinds by "getting a bit moany" would not be top of their list of concerns! When you work face to face with people, being stared at is one of the least things to be concerned about!

In the days before this was pedestrianized, this was where many of the buses would pull up! In later years, there was a "Merritts" shop there - they were the first in the city to have a slush puppy drinks machine, and did a roaring trade, with all the school kids who congregated to wait for their bus to take them home!!

I'm glad to see you got a plug in for Hereford Voice in the comments. I think HT should have swallowed their pride. Their report should have read......"Colin James, local campaigner , has started a petition to shame HC into cutting the grass. This online petition can be accessed via Colin's excellent forum, Hereford Voice, where this and many other local issues are currently being discussed." But that would have been asking for too much wouldn't it.....???

Evening Flam! Pat Morgan presided over Children's' Services. Following an OFSTED in 2012,it was found to be inadequate in every area. Needless to say, Patricia did not feel the need to resign. She did however, successfully oversee the construction of a sturdy new bus shelter, so perhaps I am being unfairly critical of her. OFSTED are back again now. Their latest report should be out quite soon. Birmingham's Children's Services are also found to be inadequate in every area. This has made both local and national television news today. Let's hope that when this latest report comes out, for the sake of vulnerable and at risk children in our county, significant improvements have been made.

Thanks for posting this info, Megilleland. I posted my thoughts on the Black friars redevelopment earlier, on the Weekly Planning/ Public Notices thread, after walking past it, and seeing the artists impression of the finished look. There is no reason why The Boys Home shouldn't be shown the same sympathetic restoration as Blackfriars. Thanks also for hearing my plea,and posting a link to John Bothamleys letter! You are a star!

Megilleland, is there any possibility you could also post this on The Boys Home Thread?? I think it would be useful to have it there as well.

Have any of you walked past what was the Blackfriars building recently? There are hoardings surrounding it, and an artists impression, of what the building will look like when completed, emblazoned on the side. The original red brick building is intact, and to my untrained eye, it actually looks rather lovely...old and new, side by side. One enhancing the other. If only this could be done with The Boys Home. Taking the handing over of this building to a Free School - that I am still not convinced we needed - out of the equation, the plans for Blackfriars would seem to show a much rosier future, than the plans for the Bath Street site!

Spot on Two Wheels - something has got to change. God forbid they create another arms length company, do they never learn from their mistakes?? The amount of money that has been squandered and frittered away, whilst Our City falls further and further into decline borders on the obscene. To all those front line folks, who may now have serious concern about their continuing employment with this council, you have my sympathy. Having been through three restructuring exercises in as many years, I know first hand how stressful this situation is. Now, more than ever, we need to stand together. We need to say, loud and clear.....Enough Is Enough.

Nicely put Megilleland!

Well done Colin! I have signed, and I shall make sure I let plenty of folks know about it!

The Marches Local Transport Body? As well as the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership, these have both featured in The Boys Home thread. What about Geoff?? His many roles, links to the free school, and his variety of hats? That's worth its very own thread!

Right then! I have just read through this entire thread, to refresh my memory, and at this stage in the proceedings, I think its well worth rereading a couple of excellent posts. Page 12. Megilleland's post number 321. Page 15. Megilleland's post number 370, followed by Two Wheels post, number 371. There is a lot of relevant information from the National Planning Policy.

Yup! I've seen it. Its about the petition against the cuts to the fire service. Interesting to note, "Seven petitions with over 9,500 signatures objecting to either budget reductions or the removal of pumps from local stations were submitted to the consultation, but the brigade only counted these as seven responses because they were 'organised outside the main consultation, and were either concerned in general about the overall funding reduction or were concerned specifically about reductions in fire cover in certain fire areas." So the legitimate concerns of 9,500 folks, just swept aside. What a brilliant consultation excersise.........

It's scary stuff. Big Brother really is watching, all the time. What about this "bit coin" thingy, folks were banging on about a while back?? It's a step too far for me!