SALE OF THE CENTURY

I have little doubt that 2012 will see a big move forward in the building of the long awaited extension to the Grovesnor Centre, and as a result local politicians will crow their success in rescuing the town centre, others will be quick to welcome a positive sign for future prosperity for our town. But what will actually be built? And who will have really paid the bill? And what will be the long term costs to local tax payers?

I was a member of Northampton Borough Council when it signed its "historic" deal with Legal and General and as leader of the Independent group I was shown the details within the contract, Because of a commercial confidentiality clause I was prohibited from revealing the details, however I can still express an opinion without having to divulge the figures.

I have already intimated in public that I believe that the price paid by Legal and General for the Bus station and surrounding land packages was far too cheap, yes this deal was done in the height of the recession, but the over eagerness of the politicians to do a deal at any cost in my mind gifted the land and property to L&G at a price they could not refuse.

Moreover the deal as we now have had revealed, left the cost of moving the Bus Station and the cost of it's replacement together with the cost of paying off the existing tenants at the bus station (Stagecoach) solely with the council, and ultimately you and me, local taxpayers. Why Stagecoach were ever given such a long and rewarding lease in the first place is a complete mystery to me, after all I remember when they sold there own bus station on the Bedford road for housing development and then turned up overnight to park their buses at the councils bus stations as squatters with no rights at all. But now we must pay them £5.5m to move out!

In addition we must also pay an estimated £8m to build an inferior bus interchange on the Fish Market site. The deal between the Council and L&G will also see a change to car parking operations in the area and New Cllrs would be well served in revisiting just what deals have now been struck and how much extra this will also cost the taxpayer in lost revenue in years to come.

If any new Labour Cllrs at the Town Hall want to make a name for themselves I suggest they submit the following questions to the Council:

What is our current surface and multi-storey Car Parking land holding in Northampton Town Centre?

How much of that is included in the sale of Land to Legal and General?

What is the current annual income from those car parks proposed to be transferred to L&G?

What annual income will the Council recieve from these car parks thereafter? and:

Who will make up any difference in revenue?

So overall in my view L&G seem to have done very well out of the council, a knock down price paid for the land, the taxpayer picking up all the costs of moving the bus station, a potential new income from car parking, not to mention the new rents from any new stores attracted into the new build (hopefully not from the existing high street) But I still fear a further twist, what's the betting that what is finally delivered is but shadow of what was originally proposed? A scaled down version of all of those iconic plans so far revealed?

It is my view that the both the last Liberal Democrat and the current Conservative administrations at the Town Hall have both been so blinded by the desire to deliver something, that they will in fact accept anything. It is also my belief that we the taxpayer will in the end pay the most for their weak negotiating skills.

I suggest to both groups that if they want to prove me wrong then we can always examine the deal line by line in an open scrutiny committee so the public can judge for themselves whether we are getting value for money from this whole fiasco.

I have long held the view that in any multi million pound negotiations that if both parties say that they are so much in agreement then in reality only one party is actually doing the thinking and as a consequence only one party will come out on top.

On that score I guess I should congratulate Legal and General on their adeptness and savour-faire and commiserate with the public for having to pick up the bill.

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

SHONA DEANS (MESSINGER) Born 29/10/1963 Died 19/06/2011

Another funeral today I am afraid, they say that the older you get the less weddings and the more funerals you attend, but what shook me today I guess is that we were saying goodbye to an old school friend Shona Deans.

So is this a new chapter in my life where those of the same age start to depart stage left?

Well hopefully not too quickly, Shona was only 47 and died of cancer and as such left this life far far too early, but I guess in any group of friends some will go too early and other will seem to be around forever and always manage to look younger than you do?

Shona was a real star, full of life and energy, always thinking of others whilst also enjoying her own life to the full. At school she was drooled over by the boys for her looks and respected by all because of her strong will and character.

Shona got me in to real trouble at School after I had bought the current Mrs Clarke three red roses for Valentines day, Shona wanted to know where hers were. I suggested to Carole that as I had given her three that she might want to share at least one of them with Shona. As I remember neither Carole nor Shona were too hot on that suggestion and it was not one of my more better diplomatic inputs!

Carole finally relented, and a couple of weeks back took three red roses up to Shona in Cynthia Spencer, unfortunately, Shona was too ill for visitors on that day and passed away on the 19th.

Today at the funeral Shona's son Ross was a real credit to her as he calmly yet obviously emotionally told us all what a great job his mum had made of bringing him and his sister up as a single parent and how the lessons she had taught them would go on to help them both throughout their lives.

I believe Ross is only 19, but he has had to grow up very quickly since his mum was diagnosed, he was a rock today, and his mother would have been very proud of him and of her daughter who also helped to lead the mourners with an obvious love and pride for a good mother taken away from them way before it was her time to go.

Sleep well Shona XX

FIGHTING FOR PEACE

Luckily today's Trade Union action has passed with only minor scuffles breaking out in London as Anarchists, helpfully having dressed themselves up in all black so they could easily be identified, failed to get past police lines and cordons.

Unlike some peope I am happy to give my full unequivical support and soidatory for those taking industrial action. Why shouldn't they do so. There pay has been frozen for two years and now a sorry mixture of Tory, Lib and Labour muppets in parliament tell them that they need to pay a lot more each month for their pension which will be smaller than they were promised and that they cant retire until they are 66! Breach of contract Full Stop. And if Local Government cant afford it then they shouldn't have been so keen to take so many pension holidays in the 1990's or used their non paid contributions to offset council tax rises

The troubles however in Greece continue to escalate. But if I am allowed a slight giggle at what is a very worrying time, it is because of a classic live interview given yesterday lunchtime on Radio 4 by a Greek protester.

The unknown women was asked what she had witnessed following what seemed like a massive brawl on the streets outside of the Greek Parliament and she told the beebs reporter without any sense of irony:

"It was nothing much really, we are all peaceful protesters and we had found amongst us a man dressed all in black who was clearly there just to cause trouble, so we all decided to beat him up"

Fair enough I guess? who needs total pacifism whilst there are still just causes to be fought for? Trouble is from the shots I have seen the rioters are in black, the police are in black and many of the local muslim community wear black, so its not an easy call!

Still anarchists in Britain should beware!!


IT GETS DIRTIER AND DIRTIER

Some of you may remember this post:

http://tonyclarkeindependent.blogspot.com/search?q=dirty+little+secret

In it I outlined how thousands of tonnes of contaminated waste had allegedly been dumped onto Delapre Abbey in 2005 within the two giant earth bunds by a local contractor (Thomas Haulage) right under the noses of the Borough Council and the officers who were supposed to be monitoring the works.

Despite Northampton Borough Council having been given signed affidavits from both one of the Lorry Drivers involved who tipped the contaminated waste and also another from one of those who had loaded it on the wagons, they had still failed in their statutory duty to take proper legal action to bring the polluter to justice and to make them pay for the clear up of the site. Because unless they do it will be and you who picks up the bill in the long run through our council tax

I also raised this matter in the council chamber on several occasions only to repeatedly hear from the then Liberal Democrat Administration that there was no contamination!

So I was interested to read in Saturdays Chronicle and Echo that the same company has just been fined £27,500 for dumping more illegal waste (10,000 Tonnes) into a lake at Billing Aquadrome last year! This action was taken by the Environment Agency, well done to them. But what about Delapre Abbey?

In addition I recently got sent anonymously some photos of the said waste in situ, and I have asked for more!

The continued failure by the Council to take any action, despite the overwhelming and growing evidence pointing to an even bigger crime having been committed at Delapre Abbey suggests that they are either Spineless, Gutless cowards unwilling to tackle the polluters and to make them pay, or even worse it suggests they may have something themselves to cover up regarding this whole sorry affair?

Either way I think a new Conservative Administration should take the opportunity afforded to them in being newly elected to make a statement declaring their intentions.

As I have said before this one will not got away!! No matter how deep some people want to bury it.

TOPICAL SHORTS 2

Just an update on a few "what's been happenings" in  downtown Nampton over the last few days and weeks:

ANN FRANK AWARDS

I was humbled on Saturday in receiving an Ann Frank Award from Northampton Youth Forum, the awards recognise young people who have achieved great things and also educators and community activists who have supported young people in their lives. I was delighted to receive the award for my work both as Cllr and MP for supporting young people through my actions and also in my role at NTFC in supporting disabled youngsters and others through sport. I told the young people present at the award presentation at Northampton Carnival that they shouldn't make a habit of giving awards out to politicians as usually it us that cause most of their problems not resolve them. My congratulations also go out to the other recipients including Dostiyo for their work with Asian girls and also my partner in political crime Ann Timson for showing an example to young people through her brave intervention in that infamous smash and grab robbery last year!

IT'S HIM ALRIGHT

An anonymous poster to this site was very upset at the picture of "Dave" (below) looking all glum and suggested that it was certainly not the Prime Minister at all? Well yes it was I am afraid. It was taken after his election defeat in North East Leicestershire in 1997. It also seems that there are a large number of less than flattering shots of the PM doing the rounds, most provided to the press by his ex chums at Bullingdon and beyond. The shot included in this post is just one of many many more that we will need to get used to seeing even if we don't want to believe it is the PM. I think this pic is very "Beckhamesque" as  "Dave" sports a very fashionable male sarong, but somehow footballers seem better able to carry off  this look than politicians can. But at least it shows that the great man is just as capable of making a dick of himself as the rest of us.

SPECIAL AGENT

News reaches me of alleged unfortunate election irregularities by at least 4 successful Cllrs in this May's Borough Council Elections being investigated either internally by their party and/or by Inspector Knacker of Campbell Square. Some of these investigations may be as a result of harmless or  genuine errors, one reported to me by the BNP was not even of the candidates making as NBC show they are just as capable of making gaffs as the parties are. Another it seems involves alleged fraudulent signatures being placed on candidate  nomination forms and if true is far more serious, and of course if found to be proved could inevitably lead to a by election. The most serious accusations though that have come to my ears involves the age old time practice of  "Postal Vote Farming" where candidates sign up willing voters on the doorstep or in their homes and process their postal votes for them when they arrive!! One potential victim told me he told the candidate where to go and said he would cast his own vote at the Polling Station, but the candidate in question it seems still took away his mums, his sisters and his dads votes, his dad's Postal Vote return had only just been filled in and freshly signed that very minute, even though his father wasn't even home at the time! And to think me and John Dickie were reported and questioned by plod for simply leaving an imprint of of a letter in the 2007 election! It would be improper to name the candidates or their parties but I can't help but think that a lot of the above wouldn't have happened if the Party Agent was on the ball, or even present during the election!

STARSHIP ENTERPRISE

There is a certain irony about the fact that only Malcolm Mildren and myself (both now ex NBC  Cllrs) at the time challenged NBC's deal with Enterprise to take over street scene and refuse collection services from the in house team at the Council in what could be a 14 year contract. The Lib Dem's were very proud to be pictured signing the deal and boasting about it to all and sundrie in their election material, The incoming Tory Party also then" resigned" the deal in front of the Chron's cameras to suggest it was in fact all their doing. And yet despite us warning them both on many occasion of problems galore just up the road in Peterborough where the same company were running into difficulties with their Council, no one was willing to listen. The leader of the Labour Party even said at the time that she was happy with the contract as long as the colour of the wheelie bins didn't change and that the garden collections continued. Well now that hiccups are turning into coughs and rubbish still lies waiting for collection and recyclables sorted by householders at source lie mixed together in heaps at the Council yard, we are both waiting to see if the incoming Tory's will eventually  blame the Lib Dem's for signing the deal before the election or if the outgoing Lib Dem's will blame the Tory's for  signing it after?

WARNING LOFT POLICE OPERATING HERE

When an old friend from Cotton End contacted me to tell me the Council had sent him an enforcement notice and were chasing him for £221 because he didn't have the correct notification in place before he commenced work on insulating his loft, I thought he was the victim of some sort of scam.

So I asked him for copies, and subsequently fell off my chair! It seems as if the new Tory/Lib Dem government  from October 2010 have been insisting on new rules first introduced by a Labour Government in 2006 being imposed on us more rigidly to correctly monitor the size of our wedge! In other words, how thick is your insulation? But the Lib Dems on NBC it seems have gone one step further.

My friends above had a new roof constructed by a friend in the trade and being climate friendly decided to upgrade the loft insulation at the same time. They shouldn't have been so eco minded as that act of green conscience has now cost them an additional £221.

The Council (who are never shy in issuing penalty notices or taking firm action against wrongdoers, see http://tonyclarkeindependent.blogspot.com/2010/02/theres-no-t-in-democracy.html) have told him "it is an offence not to send the notices required by the Building Regulations for change of use; failure to do so could make you liable to a fine. In addition, notice can be served on you requiring you to cut into, lay open or pull down sufficient of the works to ascertain whether there has been any contravention of the regulations" and then they threaten him with legal action if he doesn't comply.

He is fitting loft insulation for Christ's sake!!

Confused I did a trawl of the net and found that most Councils complied with the new law in as much as asking householders to apply for permission and be subject to inspection, but they sensibly waived the fee. It also seems that the measure is very hard to police and most councils sensibly turn a blind eye to everything but new build. But when has Liberal Democrat controlled Northampton Borough Council ever done the sensible thing?

The cost of getting someone in to insulate an average size loft is around £250, if you do it yourself then its a lot cheaper about £5 per sqM.

But in Lib Dem Northampton you can now add £221 to that bill! Hardly encourages you to be green does it? Best just leave well alone I guess?

The 2007 Liberal Democrat Manifesto for the Borough Council elections also told us that:

"To maximise the impact of environmental improvements we will investigate schemes to encourage home and building owners to 'retrofit' these environmental improvements to existing buildings. This may include increased insulation, solar heating schemes, grey water schemes etc."

Just how is charging an extra £221 encouraging home and building owners to retrofit insulation? Another meaningless Lib Dem promise sold out at the altar of High Conservatism. At least Cllr Perkins will be pleased.

Its not the Lib Dem's that are green it is us for ever believing them to be eco friendly in the first place

SEASONAL SHORTS

Sorry guys work and caseload has taken me away from the blog in recent weeks. So here's a few short thoughts regarding the blogs I nearly made!

WAR WAR IS STUPID

Hearing Ed Milliband declaring that the last Government were wrong to go to war was refreshing, but the applause of so many Blairites who are now happy to clap Ed and the Party being so anti war now it has become official Party policy sickened me.

These were the very same people for god sake who tripped through the yes lobby in Parliament knowing it was wrong to go to war but put their careers before their conscience, hypocrite's of the very first order, all of them.

COMMONS DENOMINATOR

So what do Micheal Ellis, Sally Keeble and Margaret Thatcher all have in common? is it

A: They all share the same Birthday?
B: They all share the same political views?
C: Both of the above?

Answers please





SELECTION BOX

Turmoil continues apace it seems in the race to represent the Lib Dems in next Mays Borough Council Elections. After deselecting the sitting Mayor and losing another deselected Cllr to the Tories, the local party are now going through a second round to reselect some candidates who have already dropped out!

What's not clear of course yet is how the boundary commission may lay waste to all their plans, Not only have the Lib Dems selected their candidates for yhe new wards which have still not been confirmed by the boundary commission but their is growing concern that even if confirmed their will not be enough parliamentary time available to pass the changes through the commons! Leaving the seats on NBC as they currently stand. And the candidates?


THE SECRET DIARY OF A JANITOR

New has reached my ears via a reliable source (and then Aufona) that Den the Pen Merideth is currently writing his auto biography!  How delightful a read that will be! John Dickie suggests the first line might be

"I was born at a very young age"

followed by tales of the playground and maybe a few juicy tit bits about his love of the chase!

"The breath so near her pillow, that she shrunk back into it, lest these wandering hands should light upon her face."

Stick me down for a copy please Dennis.

ALL INSIDE THE BIG TENT

I was delighted that the motion put down by our Independent group at September's Full County Council meeting was passed unanamously. The motion which asked for any "Big Society" to also be a "Fair Society" also asked the Council to commit to paying its front line staff a "Living Wage" Which Jim Harker was happy to accept.

We now just need to hear from Jim as to what rate his group has set the Councils "Living Wage" for the majority of Councils so far who have agreed to this messure a sum of £7.00 an hour is the norm with £7.20 being paid in London.

The current Pay and grading denbacle has some County Council staff on as little as £6.31 an hour. So come on Mr Pastry, how say you tell us what the new rate will be and make a lot of disgruntled staff a lot happier?

YATES' WHINE LODGED

And so it came to pass.........................After just 3 years and 4 months the Liberal Democrat majority on Northampton Borough Council has been wiped out. Having started with 23 councillors and a majority of 6 Cllr John Yates' defection to the Tory benches has placed them in a minority with just 20 votes left to the oppositions 21.

Ironically it wasn't council policy or the shame as to the Liberal Democrats actions in power which finally broke the back of Liberal Democrat resistance, no in true Lib Dem fashion it was good old self interest and infighting.

John Yates, a likeable ruralesque Lib Dem who will settle well in the Tory Party crossed the floor simply because in his absence his Lib Dem colleagues ousted him from his Council seat as a potential candidate for next years election! He wasn't alone, even the current Lib Dem Mayor Cllr Marianne Taylor couldn't escape the cull as her seat disappeared to another favoured replacement leaving her in an embarrassing situation of not even being able to see her Mayoral year out as an elected Councillor.Others also have fell foul of the selection process

The night of the long knives it seems has been orchestrated by Cllr Andrew Simpson aided and abetted by Cllr Richard Church and as a result the internal atmosphere inside the group is outright poisonous. So driven apart are the local group that Cllr Malcolm Mildren and myself popped into the Wig and Pen the other Friday for a quiet drink only to find two sets of Lib Dem Councillors drinking in two different parts of the pub! We didn't know which way to turn or who to upset first!

But it just might turn out to be good news for the people of Northampton, no more will we have to suffer the arrogance of the Liberal Democrats when forcing through their pet projects over the heads and suggestions of others and no more will we have to listen to the uncompromising whinges on why the Council won't sit down with our sporting clubs and find a way out of the Planning mess that they themselves have created with their outright subservience to national planning advice and their over friendly relationship with Legal and General.

At some point in the coming months a sensible motion will be moved in the Council Chamber offering a way forward for the town and for Saints and the Cobblers without the need for the future of the town centre to be jeopardised. When it happens it will be interesting to see how the votes stack up? my guess is that with an election just around the corner we might find a few Lib Dem's suddenly have a change of heart!

So well done John, the town owes you one!

HAVE THEY NO SHAME PART 3

Mohammed Warsame knows all about forced eviction, 10 years ago he was fleeing for his life from warring factions in Somalia. He eventually ended up in the UK and in Northampton, and in September 2003 after serving his time on the waiting list he moved into a one bedroom council flat in Spring Boroughs with his wife and young child.

Mohammed is a proud man and has never claimed benefits, he quickly got himself a job on Brackmills and has always strived to pay his way. His family had at last found peace and security and soon after a second child was added to the family. Life was beginning to take on an air of normality after all the trauma in their homeland and their flight from fear.

But living with 4 people under one small roof in a small one bedroom flat was not easy and the Council were not in a position to offer him anything bigger. So Mohammed, as is his way sorted out the problem himself. His mother in law, lived in a larger flat in Chelsea, and those who understand Somalian culture will know that it is very normal for young mothers to reside with their own mother whilst the husband was working. in Somalia many of the men work hundreds of miles away from their family to earn money to support the family so Mrs Warsame and the two children moved in with Mum even though they wanted to be at home in Northampton with Mohammed.

Mohammed carried on working 5 days a week at Brackmills and then at the weekends he would visit his wife and children at the mother in laws in Chelsea. His mother in law was not working, and it soon become apparent that Mohhamed would need to support both households, so he worked harder, did extra shifts and tried to pay his way the best he could, but he fell behind with the rent, not hugely, but enough to worry him. At one point he was £800 in arrears with NBC, but by working a bit more overtime he reduced that down to £400. All this it seems was to be to no avail!

You seen those kind souls at Lib Dem controlled Northampton Borough Council, decided to serve him a repossession order and took the case to court to evict Mr Warsame on the grounds of unpaid rent. Now those who understand how the Council works will be amazed that they took such an austere measure over such a small sum, residents usually can run up arrears into the thousands before the council would even consider taking the case to court for eviction. So why was Mohammed being treated so badly?

Thankfully the Judge agreed, and noted that Mr Warsame had been reducing his arrears not allowing them to grow and refused the Council the right to repossess the property. But the court costs still added another £120 to Mr Warsame's arrears, hardly helpful to him giving his current position. but at least he could keep his flat? Or could he?

Before Mohammed had even left the court another kind soul from the Borough Councils Housing Department caught up with him and handed him another pre prepared eviction order! This time under the auspice of the flat in Spring Boroughs not being his main abode! So they once more told him he had to go and duly evicted him in May. He couldn't understand what he had done wrong? And didn't know who to turn to.

Ever since he has been sleeping on friends sofas in Northampton during the week to ensure he keeps his job and then commuting at weekends back down to Chelsea, where he recently received a bill for over £1100 from NBC who had added another months rent (notice of intention to quit) to his bill despite them evicting him.

Mohammed came to me to ask we what he had done wrong? And why the Council were victimising him? the only response I have got so far from my enqiuries to the Council is that they had discovered that Mr Warsame's name had appeared as being resident on a housing benefit claim in Chelsea, he was of course, and the claim probably in the name of his mother in law was simply being truthful as to who resided there albeit only at weekends.

But what business is it of Northampton Borough Council what his mother in law does in Chelsea? and how did they source this information with the Data Protection Act in place?

And why oh why did no one at NBC think to invite him in to talk about his housing needs? after all if the Council had done it's job properly Mrs Warsame and the 2 children would still be in Northampton with their husband/father living in a slightly bigger property. So much it seems for secured tenancies!

I have of course asked the council a number of questions on Mr Warsame's case including:

Why an eviction order was served and a court case fixed on such a low arrears amount when it was clear the tenant was reducing the arrears?

How come a housing officer was in the court with a second eviction notice for a different reason on the day of the hearing?

What are they doing involving themselves in the affairs of another local authority area?

Why was Mr Warsame not offered any help at any time since 2003 instead of being treated so badly and evicted by any means possible?

Mr Warsame now tells me he has had more arrears bills sent to him in London regarding his Council Tax far beyond the point that he was forcefully removed from his tenancy.

So once again take a bow Northampton Borough Council and their Liberal Democrat administration, you must all be very proud of yourselves.

Perhaps this one should go directly to Northamptonshire Race Equality Council for them to investigate?



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

LAST OF THE SUMMER WHINE

So farewell then Cleggy my old friend, you kept a nation entertained with your mad cap misdemeanours and along with your fellow partners in crime you created a coalition of the hopeless and hapless, but all good things must come to pass and the BBC have called time on your period in the spotlight.

Ironic then really that as we come to the end of another summers political break that the BBC should be marking the passing of one Clegg just at the time that the vultures are circling around another. And this particular Clegg's exploits alongside his posh mate Dave are far less funny than those played out on the small screen.

You see local Liberal Democrats have had there own long summers whine. Publicly it's been all chocolates and roses and sycophantic columns written by LD apologists in the Chron, but underneath the surface and in private the battle for Cleggs successor is it seems gathering real pace.

Internal email trees leaked to myself and it seems also to the local press show that all is not well in sandal land as local Councillors and Candidates become worried about their prospects at next years elections and consider standing not in the name of the much maligned national party "Liberal Democrats" but as "Northampton Liberal Democrats" or the "Kingsthorpe Focus Team"

All is not well!

You see Nick Cleggs problem, just like his name sakes Norman in the sit com is that all of his old friends have now deserted him, and the watching public in response has now lost interest and decided that things aren't as good as they used to be, the show has lost it's shine and the popularity figures have plummeted.

But should we really be surprised? after all we all knew that the Liberal Democrats had been sold a pup by their New found Tory chums in Westminster. The price of all their heartache in being blamed for hitting the poorest hardest and an unnecessary attack on public spending was supposed to have been a cast iron guarantee on electoral reform but instead the Party has been left with faulty goods and a bill which may not even reach the ballot box and even if it does, the chances of a positive outcome for Britain's third party are looking pretty slim.

I remember when I was in Westminster that the whips worried long and hard through those summer weeks when we as MP's were in our constituencies taking soundings from the party faithful, and they knew that on our return we would be more rebellious than ever.

But this time I think the rebellion will be played out at a local, not a national level, as the harsh reality of those Local Government cuts come home to roost in the nests of local Lib Dem and Tory Councils. no longer can they blame the government for under funding local councils, no longer can they suggest that if they were in charge things would be different, instead every cut has a yellow and blue tag tied to it, and the brave amongst their membership won't stand for it.

In Northampton however, I don't see any of the local Lib Dem Council at the minute having the courage of their own convictions, it is far too close to the next election for them to change course, so they will have to put on a brave face and go to their execution with their heads held high in shame as the poorest and the most vulnerable amongst Northampton's public pay for the folly of Hapless Clegg and his foolish mates in the Westminster Village.

Expect at County Level for more Care Homes and Day Centres to shut, at Borough Level expect the elderly in Sheltered Housing to have their services cut even further!, in fact expect all service levels to drop even further as whole sections of the Council are contracted out to the cheapest deliverers, more intent on making a fast buck than delivering any type of acceptable service. Expect Leisure Centres to be hived off into Trusts, and through all of this privatisation and the hiving off of all our services expect the Liberal Democrats to suddenly find an appetite for small local government and the Big Society.

It is all smoke and mirrors though of course, and no matter how hard they polish those mirrors Liberal Democrats will still be left standing in front of them seeing a service cutting Tory stare back at them in their own reflection.

No amount of harping on about the national deficit will help them either, that cat is well and truly out of the bag, and before long it will be clear that the actions of the coalition since coming to power have damaged not improved the economic outlook for the country.

So whatever happened to the Liberal love affair with Keynes? Since when did any Local Liberal Democrat Council sign up for "small" Local Government?

It seems as if The Last of the Summer Wine left our screens because people no longer thought it was funny! Well their won't be much laughter around in our County and Town Halls this Autumn either as the harsh reality of just what the Liberal Democrats have allowed David Cameron to do in their name comes home to bite them hard.

I just hope that some of them (even one) have got the balls to stand up and stay true to their political principles, after all it may be the last chance they get to redeem themselves before the public have their say!

DON'T GO CHASING WATERFALLS

Regular readers will remember my concern over the safety of the newly installed Water Fountain on the Market Square. Where I questioned why our council had spent so much money installing a water fountain which had proven to be unsafe by another council who installed the exact same system from the exact same company? http://tonyclarkeindependent.blogspot.com/2010/05/aint-no-fountain-high-enough.html

Some may also recall that when I raised this in full Council that Cllr Richard Church got most upset and accused me of scaremongering (always a good defence when you are afraid the truth might come out) I also asked him to send me copies of the risk assessments carried out on the fountains operation.

He duly did so on the 2nd of July, The problem was the risk assessments he sent me were only carried out after I had asked for them and didn't deal with any of the concern I had raised with regards to possible ingestion of Cryptosporidium Parvum parasites.

Ever since I have had to ask ever more detailed questions in order to uncover the truth as to whether or not this fountain is safe for children to play in. So here is the truth uncovered so far:

Cryptosporidium Parvum spores are less than 1 micron in size.

The Market Square fountain can only filter down to 2-3 microns

Cryptosporidium Parvum spores are to be found where water has come into contact with animal faecal matter.

The Market Square Fountain is open to pigeon fouling, dog fouling and any organisms transported on the shoes of those walking through the area

Cryptosporidium Parvum spores where present are easily ingested through the air in mist or through the mouth from contaminated water and attack those with low immune defence such as children and those with HIV

The jets in the Market Square Fountain are at just the right height to be ingested by small children playing in the fountain

The council it seems has put its faith in what are called the PTWAG guidelines which stands for the Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group. But again the problem is this isn't a swimming pool! It's not a closed environment The PTWAG guidelines also state that to be clear of Cryptosporidium Parvum a swimming pool would need to be emptied and refilled 6 times after any faecal matter entered the water. And that is with giant filters and open pump rooms. Dog and pigeons also rarely swim in Swimming Pools and people rarely swim in their shoes!

So we have now got to the point where the council accept that cryptosporidium parvum.spores are less than one micron, that the filtration system in the fountain is nowhere near good enough to remove those spores. That faecal matter is present in the immediate environment. That the operation of the fountain produces jets and water spray at exactly the right height for children playing in the fountain to ingest. And that no risk assessment was carried out by the Council before I raised the question in the Council Chamber and well after the works were completed. Nor it seems has the Council bothered to contact the other authority (Clacton) which had installed a similar fountain from the same company to ask why they have acted to remove the risk, and it seems that no proper regime has yet been agreed by the Council for regular testing for cryptosporidium parvum from the fountains water

But as Richard Church says, I am just scaremongering!!!

I will let you, as always, judge for yourself

"FALSE FACE MUST HIDE WHAT THE FALSE HEART DOTH KNOW"

I am sure Shakespeare's mind was not on the actions of Northampton Borough Council when he penned the above, but Stratford upon Avon is not too far away so who knows?

But Billy Waggledaggers poetic muse sums up perfectly the insipid, secretive and undemocratic manner in which the current Liberal Democrat Administration on the Borough Council are conducting their affairs, or more is the point how they are allowing Council officers to conduct them on their behalf.

Last week the council decided to give its portfolio holder and officers delegated powers to sell Cliftonville House when staff move out later this year. Now I am not allowed to tell you what they are getting for it (even though it is your money) but let us say it is probably the highest capital receipt the Council has ever received (even after the Legal and General deal which we also can't talk about!) So you would expect with so much involved that the Council and it councillors would have looked long and hard at the deal?

No such luck. The council has spoken of moving out of Cliftonville House before, but the matter of selling the site only went on the council forward plan at the start of July.

One of the recommendations that they passed read as follows:

That Cabinet supports the disposal of the Council’s freehold interest in the property (shown edged red upon the attached plan at Appendix 1) known as Cliftonville House and Brer Court, Bedford Road Northampton to St Andrew’s Property Management Limited (subject to final agreed survey)

The cabinet were also told that the Secretary of State needn't be involved and that the land need not be sold on the open market because the price agreed with St Andrews Property Management was above the market rate.

This was all explained in a very complicated valuation report which did the equivalent of comparing eggs with bicycles also contained in appendix one of the report.

Still with me? good,

So they took the decision based on an attached plan and on the content of the valuation report in appendix one right?

Wrong!

There was no attached plan, and there was no appendix one, and not one of the cabinet felt it necessary to say so during the meeting, they just blindly agreed to say they had done something which they couldn't have possibly done due to the papers not being there.

Now believe it or not I don't mind them selling Cliftonville House, and I think all the staff moving into the town centre will have a positive effect on local trade. Also the move will save the Council money. But all that is different from ensuring that we take the right decisions in public, with all the papers in front of us and also so the public who own the property can be assured that everything is above board.

But the problems didn't finish there, the Cabinet also agreed on the night to spend £2m of the income from the sale on IT on the back of a hastily produced report saying that it was a priority for the council to do so as part of the move!

Again, I was outraged, This council has many capital priorities! we have homes which are not fit to live in, we have listed buildings such as Delapre Abbey and the Archway Cottages in states of disrepair, we have pavements which need repairing, we have bins which need replacing, we have Leisure Centres in need of painting, so where was the scrutiny as to what the priority should be for spending a large part of the windfall?

As a consequence of all of the above, myself and Cllr Joy Capstick (Labour) decide to call the decision in to ensure that the issues where addressed pproperly, Cabinet might not give a hoot and be willing to nod matters through without having the details before them but the rest of the council should not follow this poor example.

Our call in read as follows:

The call in authors ask the scrutiny management committee to note that all matters relating to the  sale of the freehold of the Cliftonville land, and proposed capital expenditure from any capital receipts from such a sale were not placed on the forward plan until July and not listed as separate items. We ask the SMC to further note that Papers for the Cabinet Meeting on 14 July were not available until the very last minute and that background papers were not even available at the Cabinet meeting. It was also clear that the Cabinet did not have all the relevant papers and appendixes to hand when making the decision.

Therefore the Call in authors call in the decision of Cabinet from it's meeting of the 14th July 2010 on the agended item on the grounds that:

There was no pre scrutiny of the proposed sale of the said property

There was no pre scrutiny on the use of capital funds derived from the sale

Additionally, the report of the decision states:

"Cabinet supported the disposal of the Council's freehold interest in the property (shown edged red upon the attached plan at Appendix 1) known as Cliftonville House and Brer Court Bedford Road Northampton to St Andrews Property Management Limited (subject to final agreed survey)"

As there was no such plan attached to the papers, nor available for members to peruse we feel that this decision is unsafe.

The call in authors also believe that under the new arrangements for scrutiny, a material decision such as this should have also have been scrutinised by the Audit committee.

Call in authors Cllr Tony Clarke Independent, Cllr Joy Capstick Labour.

David Kennedy the Chief Executive then wrote to us both declaring our call in invalid, first without explanation and then later on the grounds that our reasons for call in were all  "Procedural Matters"

Lack of pre scrutiny is always a difficult reason to sell for the purposes of call in as it is not an absolute requisite for a decision, but given that the item was not put on the forward plan until July 1st and also that the issues had not been brought to the attention of the Council before we felt both pre scrutiny calls were valid. But even without these to say that taking a decision without the relevant papers in front of you and then agreeing to say you had seen them is simply procedural is bizarre. As a consequence I have now challenged the decision.

A call in may have resolved the above matters and said to officers that they need to respect Cllrs a little bit more rather simply asking for delegated power to take the decision without giving all the facts to elected members.

The denial of the call in though in my view brings the whole council into disrepute, its says to the general public that we don't care if the decisions we take are taken without proper information being present and we don't care if other Cllrs want to question that. It says we will do as we please, and to hell with the rights of elected members. And it sends a clear message out to the public that says, don't bother voting because we will take no notice of your elected representatives as we the unelected officer class know better and we will do as we please.

I blame the current Liberal Democrat administration for lots of things, I am by my position on Council a member of the opposition, I am also a malcontent and I have total distaste for the whole way Local Government is run these days. But for all the crazy ideas and plans that the Lib Dems have inflicted on us since coming to power in 2007 none are as bad as their blind and meek acceptance of the above state of affairs.

Having championed the rights of those Councillors not in the executive for so many decades before coming to power they have in just 3 years become part of the problem not part of the solution as to how we bring more democratic accountability into our Town Halls.

They are yellow bellied, subservient, forelock tugging lackeys doing the bidding of their unelected masters, and I will not rest until they have found out locally like they are doing nationally that in politics to say one thing and do another is not the natural state of things and that principles unlike administrations are for life not just for convenience.

ELECTION PLEDGES IT SEEMS HAVE A BEST BEFORE DATE

The Liberal Democrats both locally and nationally before the last election warned us of the proposed Tory VAT Tax bombshell. Nick Clegg during the Leaders debates clearly declared on the 8th of April 2010 that:

"We will not have to raise VAT to deliver our promises...Let me repeat that: Our plans do not require a rise in VAT"

Local Lib Dem's including parliamentary candidates Cllr Andrew Simpson, Cllr Paul Varnsverry, Cllr Scott Collins and Cllr Portio Wilson all campaigned throughout the election against the rise and accused the Tories of introducing a regressive tax which would hit the poorest the hardest.

So you would have thought it would have been easy for the same Local Lib Dem's at the town hall to back a Labour Group motion tabled at last nights Council meeting which read as follows:

“This Council expresses its concern at the increase in VAT announced in the budget on June 22^nd 2010, which will have a disproportionate impact on the poorest families in Northampton.

The Council recognises the Government’s need to bring down the borrowing deficit and the need to make decisions over tax and spending. The Council notes however that this should be done in as fair a manner as possible, should not have a disproportionate impact on the poor and should not risk economic recovery.

The Council further notes the report produced by the Institute of Fiscal Studies which says that the increase in VAT will impact those on low incomes the hardest and this includes pensioners living on savings.

This Council instructs the Leader of the Borough Council to write to the Deputy Prime Minister asking him to reconsider the VAT increase to 20%.”

But no they voted en-block against it !!

"The economy is in a worse state than we thought" they cried"

Not true as a) All the opposition parties are shown the red book way before the election and b) The deficit was expected on polling day to be £178bn but bettered to be only around £155bn post election a £23bn boost for the coalition government before a single cut has been made!!

"Its needed to balance the books" they bleated

Not true as the Institute of Financial Studies director Robert Chote pointed out to Mr Clegg when he told him that "the Coalition would not have had to raise VAT if Mr Osborne had not also cut other taxes, such as those on the profits of corporations".

"It won't be all that bad as inflation will fall" they squirmed


Not true as Sally Copley, head of policy at Save the Children UK recently outlined when she informed Parliament that "A 20% VAT rate means the poorest parents will see their VAT bill rise to at least £1,600 a year — affecting already overstretched budgets — and driving some into the arms of loan sharks," Copley said. "We mustn't forget that 3.9 million children are still living in poverty in this country — and that's just not good enough. The very poorest didn't create the financial crisis — so the most vulnerable in society should not be asked to pay the price for clearing it up."

I therefore last night pleaded with them to vote with their consciences and to stay true to their individual principles. I asked them to think about how shallow they will look if having campaigned against the rise in VAT before the election that they now are seen to be backing it.

All though to no avail, as en masse the Lib Dem with heads held low succumbed to the whip and the yellow sheep were safely shepherded in to back their Tory colleagues in voting the motion down

But one comment from Cllr John Yates summed up the whole sorry affair for me and reminded me why I struggle to trust any of the parties these days. His response to the debate speaks not only for itself but sums up the state we are now in. He said

"I don't see what all the fuss is about, all the political parties promise to do one thing before the election and then afterwards they have to think again and then change their minds and have to do something else, it's natural"

Indeed John indeed.

MORE MARKET FARCE THAN MARKET FORCE

Considering that Cllr Richard Church once called me an "Albanian Stalinist" in the Council chamber I was somewhat taken aback at the tirade of personal abuse he espouged at me during last Mondays full council meeting!

This once mild mannered Liberal Lovie has tried to reform himself in to the Lib Dem administration's chief attack dog on Northampton Borough Council as he rallies and rails against any spoken dissent from the opposition benches (How dare the opposition oppose!) or from the public benches.

"You're so negative" "Why do hate your town so much " and  "Scaremongering" he shouts at me whilst telling us all that the Lib Dem's are always always right and are never to be found wanting. I now know how John Dickie felt when Slugger went for him in the imfamous Italian Coffee house!

But his tyrannical outbursts lacked any effect for two main reasons:

1) Despite his best efforts to look like tough and sound like Mr Angry he still comes across as the rather softly spoken geography teacher from our schooldays who every pupil ridiculed and threw paper airplanes at

and

2) Despite his best attempts to convince us that the Liberal Democrat Administration on Northampton Borough Council are a beacon of excellence and pro active engagement within the UK civic arena we just don't and won't buy it!

So my views and concerns on our less than impressive Market Square Water Fountain "still to be switched on last I heard" were treated with denial and ignorance by the Lib Dem benches who simply clapped like performing seals every time Slugger opened his guttural pipes.

Of course I still don't have a copy of  the Councils risk assessment on the fountain which I asked for? or any details as to how the water is cleaned/filtered or chemically treated? We just have Cllr Churchs view that "alls well" and that the Emperors new clothes are very fine indeed

Well it seems not, you see it's not just the opposition on the Council who have had enough of the Lib Dem's continual meddling. The Market Traders themselves are equally unimpressed by the administrations efforts, and now on top of the fountain fiasco we have yet another big blow to the markets reputation and survival as the Lib Dem's attempt to move 34 stall holders in the main Aisle away from their usual stalls to make way for a "Leather Sculpture" as part of the "Blinx" Arts festival. Take the following quotes from their website http://www.northamptonmarket.biz/  as an example

"When traders were asked to discuss the issue, several thought that the intent to remove up to 34 stalls from the heart of the market for a fortnight was a deliberate provocation by some leading members of the Liberal Democrat council. “They are trying to kick the market to death!” Said one angry trader. Others thought the move represented the usual arrogant and thoughtless attitude of the Liberal Democrats, who have continually angered the market traders with many decisions taken which adversely affected traders’ livelihoods"

Traders are now to be shoved down to the bottom of the market into - you guessed it! - the ‘Events Area’! Doesn’t make sense? No, that’s what the market committee thought when they were told about it. They asked why this ‘event’ could not go into the ‘Events Area’, and were told rather vaguely that the artists preferred to show their sculpture in the middle of a working area. So for this arrogant vanity a great many traders have to be moved for two weeks, losing a great deal of regular trade.

The market committee were asked to consult with affected traders to get their views, and report back to markets management with a - presumably sanitised - account of how traders felt about the matter. one said

Traders’ livelihoods are being destroyed for two weeks so a great deal of public money can be wasted on some so-called art event. It’s a bloody disgrace!”

Fitzy our well loved Fruit and Veg seller on the market on his blog says:

I see there has been yet another hold up recently in installing the fountain; getting on for five months now they have been at it: they'll get it right soon. Good job these people are not running the Fire Service.

and

Then there was a series of plans that we protested against to take down almost all the traditional market stalls on June 13th, and then at first replace three, then two, then finally one row of traditional stalls with gazebo popups, which they still haven't got awnings for, after over a year of waiting for non-existent prototypes.

and

Now the latest Lib-Dem twaddle is about an arty farty pseudy arts festival that not only wants to install itself on the market square, but plans to take down up to 34 stalls in the very middle of the market itself, for a fortnight, and dump a moronic 'leather sculpture' in their place, bang in the middle of the actual market. Words fail me!
Have the Lib-Dems taken leave of their senses at last, or is this a calculated plot on the part of Richard Church and co. to take another kick at the market traders? One of the surest and quickest ways to finish a market is to keep moving it about, so no regular customers can find the traders they used to shop from.

All this trouble and loss of trade just so some arrogant arty farty so-called 'arts festival' can drop a piece of pseudo-art 'leather sculpture' into the middle of the market. What is the Events Area for, Cllrs Hoare, Church, and Crake, if not for events? The 'Events Area' which you turfed the market traders out of last year, is supposed to be for events, so use it for this purpose, and let the market traders continue to try to make a living. Things are quite hard enough for market traders as it is, without deliberately kicking them in the teeth. Roll on the local elections next May, when these Lib-Dem turkeys go to their political slaughter.

As I write this blog further news reaches me suggesting that the new  sockets put in the ground for the new lightweight gazebos have all been put in the wrong places! (too close together) preventing any vehicular access to stalls for the Market traders to offload their wares.

We also now know that the annual cost of putting on events on the Market Square has risen to over £175,000 a year! We pay German and Italian Market traders to come an trade on the market at the same time we take rent from local traders and ignore their views, all this money for Market events and yet we couldn't afford to keep the Balloon Festival going! We can't afford to keep public Toilets open and we can't even afford to emply a rat catcher!

But don't moan about any of the above, you will just be accused of not loving your town and being too negative. The changes to the Market have all been a wonderful success story which has secured the future for market traders and improved the area for all. Just ask Richard Church

JUST WHO IS BULLYING WHO?

During the election campaign I received an email from the Borough solicitor informing me that an injunction had been taken out in my name (and every other Cllr) against a pensioner who was deemed to be harassing council staff and other members of Northampton Borough Council. The injunction forbid any contact between the pensioner and any Councillor or staff member without us first giving our permission for any such contact!

I was livid!! Putting to one side for a minute what the individual may or may not have done, what right has the Liberal Democrat led authority to take court action in my name without my authority? Two Liberal Democrat Cllrs gave evidence to the court and yet I and many others were not even aware of the action. When my fellow Independent Cllr colleague Malcolm Mildren asked the Borough Solicitor why he had emailed us after the action and not before? he was told that it was impractical for the council to have done so?

In other words they can  contact us easily after the event by email to tell us what has been done in our name, but not before to check with us if it is OK to use our name in any such action?

I immediately asked for my name to be withdrawn from the injunction. In a bizarre series of events, even though the individual was barred from any contact with Councillors, and with Councillors being asked not to correspond with him in any way shape or form, he still managed to be on the nomination papers of one parliamentary candidate for Northampton North and received personal mail from two Councillors who were also candidates during the election! Cllr Simpson I am told wrote to him on four occasions asking the individual to contact him! Doing so of course would have broken his injunction!

I won't go into details and/or reasons for the action as the case is still in the hands of the court, but I have no problem in giving you my own opinion on the matter which is that whilst some of the Council's concerns may have a modicum of merit and some of the individuals behaviour may have been over the top, I can't help to think that the words sledgehammer and nut come to mind! The individual has contacted me on numerous occasions, I have always replied and he has been grateful for the response. His agitation it seems is with those who do not respond!

You see I have always found that if you communicate and discuss matters truthfuly and honestly with people then even with the most agitated of people, you can usually find common ground and compromise. The use of the court in my mind in such circumstances is a sign of failure of the Council to deal with the matters correctly in the first instance. Not to mention a waste of Council Tax money.

So after the above, imagine my further anger when a constituent from St James contacted me recently to inform me of a letter he had received from the legal team at NBC threatening him also with an injunction if he didn't stop harassing Council staff!! The letter made wild allegations as to the behaviour of the individual and had emanated from a row he had had with the caretaker of a block of flats he resides in. The caretaker had a habit of emptying the bin store outside the tenant's bedroom window at 6am in the morning!! After failing to get any sense from the caretaker himself the resident took the matter up with his housing manager, but the noise nuisance continued. Now I am sure that at some point "words" would have been exchanged. I know if someone kept waking me up at 6am in the morning I might have a few things to say! But again, despite the fault being wholly on the part of the Council, it is the tenant who is threatened with court action by the council.

Now don't get me wrong, where there is threat of violence and or the risk of our staff being attacked or hurt then I would be first to back any action, but I feel that in these two instances (and who knows how many more) that the council have got it badly wrong. If they want people to stop being robust with them then they need to sort out the root cause of their problems. If they want to deal appropriately with any complaint then they need to talk reasonably with the individuals concerned.

Letters threatening court action and indeed court action itself in such circumstances are signs of the Council's weak customer liaison and of the authorities failure to act reasonably in dealing with bona fide complaints.

I therefore want to make it clear here and know that I will resist the Council taking action on my behalf as a Councillor unless they have the courtesy and decency to inform me first as to the reasons for their action and tell me what they have done to date to try to alleviate the problem outside of the court.

At the minute the Council under the stewardship of the Liberal Democrats are the ones in mind who are doing the harrasing, they are the body who are being unreasonable and they are the ones who are acting as the bully, and like most bully's we have to collectively stand up to them in order to show others who may be threatened that they have nothing to fear.

MEETINGS: THE PRACTICAL ALTERNATIVE TO DOING ANYTHING USEFUL

I am not quite sure just who is going to be best served by the planned public meeting 25th March on the future of the town centre and outer town planning? Certainly the Liberal Democrats and the Local Tory Party will be most happy as they seem to be controlling both the agenda and the crowd!

10 minutes for Slugger Church 10 minutes for Binners and just three minutes from any of those in the audience lucky to get noticed?

This isn’t going to be a public debate, it will be a manipulated political theatre production planned and acted out by a very select few, indifferent to the views of the many and then acted out in front of a selected audience carefully picked out and invited mainly by the two parties themselves. It reminds me of the Alan Van De Hiede quote "Meetings are an addictive, highly self-indulgent activity that corporations and other organizations habitually engage in only because they cannot actually masturbate"

And so it was that on Friday night I received emails from the Lib Dems and the Tories informing me that of the 300 tickets available one is to be reserved for each councillor (47) which leaves at most 253 available to the public to be booked only via email at 2 tickets per applicant. Therefore if each party (and they had a head start on everyone else) simply gets 63 of their supporters to order their allowed 2 tickets each pronto then we will have a full house of friendly picked listeners.

Needless to say the email trees were out in full bloom Friday evening and I would be interested to find out exactly how many tickets were left for Joe Public by the time the event was advertised in the Chronicle and Echo the next day.

I spoke to Brian Binley on Saturday and he agreed with me on the unsuitability of the process, and we agreed that if the Council want a real debate, then let’s have all sides of the Council at the top table and let’s have an open door and an open mind policy.

From a personal point if view having discussed this very topic for the 6 years with 5 different Council Leaders 4 different Chief Executives and 3 different politically coloured administrations I too have more than a bit to say!

Let’s have a balanced panel asked and be forced to answer some real difficult questions on the future of our town rather than just giving the Tories and Lib Dems another pre election platform for their own previously failed ideas.

I said recently in the Council chamber that the Planning Process should never be used for political purpose, and I also warned of the dangers of any politician becoming too entrenched in a particular view to the exclusion of any compromise and to the detriment of the town.

And just imagine what we could achieve if instead of a having a Town Centre First policy or a Sports Club First Policy, we had instead a NORTHAMPTON first policy where all potential development was carefully considered on balance and taking into account all of the issues involved, including the future of the town centre, impact on employment, the need for improved leisure provision and a planning policy that was owned and delivered by the Council rather than a blueprint handed down from Whitehall.

48 HOURS IS A LONG LONG TIME IN LIBERAL DEMOCRAT POLITICS

My last few posts have been predominantly about the antics of our Liberal Democrat administration on Northampton Borough Council. So much so that I began to worry that a degree of balance may be needed in order to ensure readers do not think me obsessive with the dealings of our Liberally challenged friends.

But I can only write and report on what is happening, and if we have a Tory County Council which is making itself more and more irrelevant to the everyday lives of people in Northampton, and if we have a Labour Party that is so often as an opposition missing in battle, then the focus will inevitably fall on the activities of what is fast becoming Britain's Craziest Council.

So what delights can I share with you today?

Well, for some time now I have been trying to get the Council to act on ever increasing problems with flytipping in Castle Ward, I pointed out in the local press recently that the Council themselves were responsible for much of the flytipping, as their own housing department staff when clearing a vacated property often just leave abandoned furniture on the road for "later collection" thus acting as a magnet for anyone else to come along and add their own rubbish to the pile.

I have also pointed out to them on more than one occasion that increasing the charge for the household collection of large items from £10 to £25 in last years budget would hardly encourage more people to deal properly with all their old items of furniture.

But the Councils response was always the same

"Northampton Borough Council has a very good record of clearing any flytipping within the town with 99% of all flytipping cleared within 48 hrs" On their performance reports this is even written in as "two working days"

And yet fridges, beds, televisions, and sideboards seem to lying around the estates for days on end? Perhaps my bit of the borough was the 1% not collected within the stated 48hrs?

But now, once again after lot of wrangling and questioning including from the Labour Group on the Borough Council (I always will give credit where it is due) we finally have a better definition of how long a Liberal Democrats 48hrs really is.

After all, most of us would guess at it being 2 days?

But no, in Liberal time it is 8½ days......................................

8½ Days!!

Surely some mistake I hear you cry?

But no, you see in order to keep the performance indicators the right side of the green line they have determined that 48 hours really means 48 'working' hours and as the council only work 37½ hrs in a five day week, and that a weekend would always intervene then it is a 5 day week plus a 2 day weekend plus a day and a ½ before the whole 48hrs are up.

And this is what we are now up against as the hidden cuts to service start to bite, and the indicators have to still be met, a reinterpretation of the standards to enable the Council to say" look at how wonderful we are" when the exact opposite is the truth? It is the mother of all efficiency savings, a political time machine to make the bad good and the new good palatable

Oh What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.

Whatever next? Perhaps the Lib Dems want their 4 year term in office on the Borough extended in a similar fashion? meaning that instead of an election to remove them in May 2011 we would have to wait until 2023!

God help me, now I am depressed!

THE ANSWER MY FRIEND IS BLOWING IN THE WIND

Most of us are familiar with Network Rails "wrong kind of leaves" excuse to explain "leaves on the line" type delays to rail services. But where Network Rail lead, Northampton Borough Council are sure to follow with increased gusto and even greater hilarity and exposure to public ridicule.

Let me explain all:

A Northampton housing tenant informed me this week that the great mass of leaves outside his block of flats had got so out of control that they were now not only a danger to elderly residents who couldn't use the footpath without risk of slipping but also that the piles of leaves were attracting vermin looking for suitable nesting sites. Its not as if the leaves have suddenly accumulated, most of them have been there since the Autumn! So as a responsible citizen he contacted his landlord "The Council" to ask for them to be removed. He got a very speedy reply, in fact he got two.

The first came from a Customer Relationship Coordinator in the Neighbourhood Environmental Services directorate which informed him that:

"Leaf clearance is conducted by this department up to the edge of the Cartilage (sic) of the property but not encroaching onto pathways or garden spaces. This remains the responsibility of our Housing Department to maintain"

The second response came from a Housing Services Team Leader in the Housing Department who told him:

"I can confirm that Northampton Borough Council does not provide a programmed leaf removal service to any land owned and managed by the Housing Services Directorate"

It then went on to say inevitably that "in light of financial pressures" there are no plans in the future to change this.

So despite the tenants paying a service charge within their rent for "cleaning and maintenance" of communal areas, and despite the Housing Department being responsible for the up keep of their own communal gardens, picking the leaves up to stop people slipping on wet paths, or to stop rodents nesting within them is not it seems within their remit?

I raised this case on behalf of the tenant at this weeks Council Budget meeting and the Portfolio Holder for Housing Cllr Sally Beardsworth informed all present that the tenant should "Do what I have to do at home, and pick the leaves up for themselves" An extraordinary response given that the tenants already pay the council to pick them up for them? I wonder if Cllr Beardsworth would feel any different if she had a paid gardener, who told her that leaf picking wasn't in the contract? And are the tenants in the blocks of flats supposed to take it in turns at being the Floating Leaf Wardens?

It was a callous and unforgivable response from the portfolio holder, and a pointer perhaps to the levels of service our housing tenants can expect to get for their money in the future? Perhaps if the Council now admit to not being able to afford to provide a simple service like this, then the Council will consider repaying to the tenants all the money they have taken off of them in the first place to do so?

So it seems that these leaves will remain outside this block of flats and indeed others, because their in the wrong place for the contract. You see we now have "Highway Leaves" "Housing Leaves" and I guess within our parks even "Leisure Leaves" and whether or not they are picked up and taken away to prevent a fall or remove the risk of rat infestation is dependent purely on which way the wind blows.

Meanwhile in the Council's budget we noted a bid for £25,000 of new money to deal with "rat infestation of housing communal areas" which will have to be paid to an outside contractor after the Council closed down its Pest Control service last year as a budget saving.

So we cant afford a council rat catcher? we cant afford to pick up leaves outside our housing schemes, and we can't even afford to bring in an outside rat catcher to remove the rats from the uncleared leaves which shouldn't be there in the first place without making a bid for new money in the budget?

What a sorry state the Liberal DemocRATS on Northampton Borough Council have now got us all in.

Perhaps they should take a leaf out of Homer's book (from the Iliad than than the Simpson's) when he said "A generation of men is like a generation of leaves: the wind scatters some leaves upon the ground, whilst others the burgeoning wood brings forth _ and the season of Spring comes on. So of men one generation springs forth and another ceases"

So role on Spring 2011, I think a new generation of men and women springing forth at the Guildhall is desperately needed!

Meanwhile will the last one to" leaf" the Guildhall please switch out the lights?

£50 + LIB DEM INFLATION = £350

"The way we plan for the future, the pattern of uses for buildings we promote, the jobs and housing we encourage and the street scene we create in our town centre will all determine whether specialist retailers will want to come here.Increasing the number of people living and working in the town centre is part of this. An office development in Angel Street and a new hotel in St John's would increase the number of people in the town centre during the day and in the evening."

So said Cllr Richard Church, the Liberal Democrat portfolio holder for regeneration when asked in August 2008 what his party's plans were for the Town Centre. Its all part of creating a "City of Culture" where people not only shop, but work, and play and of course LIVE in the heart of Northampton.

But of course living in the centre of town brings its own problems, I live on the edge of town and gladly pay my £25 a year for a residents parking scheme to protect a space for my vehicle, but if you live in Sheep Street? or Castillian Street? or maybe on the Market Square itself? parking your car is a bit more difficult. Of course town centre dwellers are green in many ways, often they have everything they need within strolling distance, and car use is usually limited to getting to and from work and for leisure trips, but where can you park your vehicle?

Well for as long as I can remember, Car owners living in town centre could buy a "residents" permit allowing them to use the Councils car parks to park their cars. It was a sensible way of using space often empty in the evening and whilst the £50 was double the cost for residents just outside the town centre and it was an additional cost, it was accepted as part of the cost of convinience of living so close to all the facilities and there was an understanding that there would an administrative charge of issuing the permits.

So how is Cllr Church and his Lib Dem Colleagues going to encourage more people to choose the Town Centre as their preffered place of residence?

Well for a start they are going to raise the cost of them parking their car by 600% !

Yes that's right 600% at a time when we are all struggling to make ends meet and where the increase of Council Tax proposed by the Council is running above inflation at 2.47% the residents car park charge for those residing in the town will rise from £50 to £350 in one fell swoop.

But worry not, this is one of the income and efficiency moves that Cllr Brian Hoare said we would all like, so I am sure those effected will feel only too happy at the increase. After all they have been consulted right? There ward Councillor was consulted surely? No such luck on either count, as with the rest of the budget this underhand, sneaky and imposed car parking tax was once again hidden away in the minute detail of the budget book.

So as always with the Northampton brand of Liberal Democracy it is say one thing and do another, and they wonder why their star is no longer in the ascendancy?