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.

THERE MAY/WILL BE TROUBLE AHEAD

George Osbourne's recent bizarre behaviour in calling for reports on the full impact on public services of  a 40% cut in expenditure is worrying indeed.

Not just because of the obvious impact on public sector jobs and the services axed but also because it suggests a government which is determined to out slash the mad Thatch herself when it comes to getting tough with public spending.

How do you even begin to imagine cuts of such a magnitude? Knowing how public expenditure has already been reigned in over the last couple of years it is utter madness to suggest that such high scale change is possible without a huge impact on the economy and on the public good. We are talking about whole scale services being abolished not just a snip here and there. Prepare for whole sale closures of residential care homes, cuts to social care delivered at home and higher charges introduced, black sack collections fortnightly not weekly, Third Sector funding halved if not scrapped, dirtier streets, roads not repaired, Libraries closed, Museums closed Arts projects? forget it! Police numbers slashed, Hospital waiting lists back to where they were 10 years ago. Rail fares up as subsidies are slashed. Anybody who forgot or never knew what it was like to live under a Tory Government won't have long to wait to find out the harsh truth.

Today on Radio 4 it was further announced that Capital budgets as well as Revenue budgets are also to be slashed with public sector new build projects reducing from £49bn down to £21bn A £28bn pound cut to projects already identified as necessary! So what impact will that have on the services and also on a construction industry still reeling from the collapse of the Housing Market? What will it do to NBC's plans for Housing PFI and ensuring a decent Home standard for its tenants?

And equally what impact will have on overall unemployment levels? Public sector jobs it is estimated will fall by 600,000 and any further impact on the private sector order book will add greatly to that number.

Now, and only now the markets are starting to get twitchy, what if he goes too far? what if we have a double dip recession? what if what if the speculators will cry before ensuring exactly the same fall in the stock market that they are warning us all about. The irony of course is that Public Borrowing requirement was £8bn below that which was expected by the Tories when they made their plans for an initial £6bn squeeze on the public purse, meaning that they could have got their saving + £2bn without a single cut instead of carrying on regardless meaning a movement now of £14bn and still the Chancellor wants more!

Well I do see trouble ahead, real trouble, industrial action, rising welfare bills and quite possibly civil unrest, much as it pains me to say it I can't see the British Public just standing by this time and taking it on the chin. And the protests will be mainstream, not just limited to politically motivated farmers, fox hunters  and lorry drivers who have surprisingly gone very quiet recently as petrol prices have rocketed under a Conservative/Lib Dem government!

So where do we all stand when the time comes to stand up and be counted? This must be the most difficult of questions for Lib Dem MP's,  Cllrs and ordinary party members who are attached completely to the actions of the coalition government as it's their party and their leader who are wielding the axe!

Having listened to Tory and Liberal Democrat Cllrs over the last few years complaining that a Labour Government has sold Northamptonshire and Northampton short at budget I look forward to their commentary this time. What exactly will there mantra/excuse be?

No one will buy the lame excuse of national necessity or paying for Labours spending in the past, according to most Lib Dem's the Labour Government wasn't spending enough it seemed! and Lib Dem candidates up and down the country stood on tickets of no rises in VAT and the need to be cautious with any public spending reductions which threaten the economic recovery. What shallow cruel words they now seem, what hypocrisy! And was the price of a vote on the Alternative Vote next May really a price worth paying? Not to the Lib Dem's I have spoken to who think the vote is far too early and the desired outcome far too hard to difficult to achieve at a time when the country will have different voting patterns dependent on local elections.

So we will have a few very interesting weeks and months ahead of ourselves as Lib Dem MP's Cllrs and individual members have to make the toughest of tough choices and decide if they will stay true to their principles and leave the party or continue to sell their souls and reputations to the devil in the guise of further right wing attacks on the public realm the scale of which even Thatcher herself never dared to attempt.

I hope I am wrong on one point though above, no one wants civil unrest, it is always nasty and the public will always suffer as a long term result, but at the minute I can't see an alternative outcome? Not when we have the nasty party back in government this time all wrapped up in the yellow hue of Liberal expedience.

ITS A VISION THING - SO WHERE IS THE VISION?

I recently attended a planning event for Cllrs on the Borough Council to discuss the "THE CITY MEADOWS WORKSHOP" which asked members their views on the future of the river valley through Midsummer and Cow Meadows within the town centre.

The workshop itself had already taken place in October where council officers and outside consultants had already been busy engaging with each other and drawing up plans which they could put to the council. But now the Lib Dem administration felt it needed sharing with us less important back bench councillors

It all had an air of familiarity about it! I remembered back to 1998 in the pre millennium days when we drew up similar plans for a Millennium Mile on the same site. Mark Fisher the then Arts Minister joined myself as the town's MP and Will Alsop and Roger Zagolavich and Marie Dickie as Chair of the project to look at what was possible. Will (an internationally renown architect) had a vision for a series of buildings which bridged over the river on stilts which would could  house amongst other things a National Shoe Museum and restaurants and art galleries. Despite our best intentions It was in the end all fornothing, the opposition at the time (Tory/Lib Dem) threw cold water over our plans saying they were not realistic, too grand, the buildings too wacky!

Will's design for the National Shoe Museum went on to become Peckham Library (left) and won a European prize for architecture in the bargain, and the planners having dismissed our radical ambitions went back to sleep and congratulated themselves and the Lib Dem opposition on having scuppered our vision.

So now the roles were reversed! Now the Lib Dem's wanted our views on their plans, but what would they entail? more lights and fountains? a shining monument to a new coalition government? The only way of me finding out was by attending, so I did.

I was thoroughly underwhelmed! What plans did they have to use the space for future city dwellers to enjoy the riverside in a vibrant go ahead town?

Well dog walking was suggested, or a fitness trail! maybe a motorhome park! Other suggestions from the officer group workshop and the assembled councilors included bird hides and dipping platforms!

Now I have nothing against any of the above activities, and I am sure people derive hours of pleasure from them, but this was "City Meadows" This was our chance to put Northampton on the map and having shot down Will Alsop in 1999 surely the Liberals could have spent the Councils cash more carefully rather than engaging consultants and using officer time to come up with a plan to turn Northampton Town Centre riverside into a Pocket Park!

This is a key gateway to the town the consultant kept reminding us before waxing on lyrically on about integrated street furniture the location of hubs and a possible equestrian centre!

Just where is the real vision I asked? What is it about our council that cannot see what is happening elsewhere all around them ? I pleaded with them for once to have some balls, and to think the unthinkable and to use the space and opportunity to think and do something big to locate something of iconic size and value at little cost to the Council.

"Why don't we go out to the market I suggested, tell them we have free open land available in a town centre environment for  a national project looking to be innovative and exciting. And then use such a facility/building to act as a catalyst to bring more  people down to the riverside where we can then provide even additional facilities for them.

I reminded them of (hush hush) Milton Keynes and the Snow Dome and the MK Bowl and asked why we couldn't compete and for once do something that is a little bit more adventurous than rambling.

Open mouths, silence and then a spark of energy from the back benches of the administration and some opposition Councillors, "yes why not" they all joined in. The moment was almost revolutionary the worm may just have turned?

So help me keep it that way, help me maintain the enthusiasm of others and tell me what should we chase as our dream for the meadow? The peoples plan! free from consultants invoices!

The largest in town outdoor music venue in the UK outside Hyde Park? An Iconic tall building to celebrate Northampton's rebirth? an ecosphere? an HQ for a national sport? and do you agree that we should chase ideas from the market/rest of the UK? spend our money on offering the site rather than on consultants and bridleways

I would welcome your views.

OVERPAID - OVERATED - OVERTHERE NO MORE

Not much to add to the wall to wall post defeat evaluation of England's exit from the World Cup apart from statements of the blindingly obvious:

1: How come the highly paid superstars of Italy, France and of course now England are on the plane home and yet the part time and hardly paid youngsters of Slovakia, Japan, Chile, Paraguay and Ghana march on?

Answer:  Hunger and the pride in wearing their national shirt are more important than wage and personal status.

2: Is it time for goal line technology?

Answer:  No, no law should be introduced to the game that cannot be implemented at all levels of the game from World cup down to park pitch. Players make mistakes (Like green's fumble) and they often cost games. Referees and linesmen ( I refuse to call them assistant referees) make mistakes and equally we should all learn to live with them.

3: Why were we so poor?

Answer: We weren't, we were mediocre, lethargic, didn't play as a unit and Germany wanted the game far more than we did and they outrun us and outplayed us.

That's that really

THE OPPOSITION ARE MERELY THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION IN EXILE, WHILST THE OFFICERS REMAIN THE ADMINISTRATION IN RESIDENCE

Local Government in Northamptonshire is now in a critical state. The 2000 Local Government Act which was intended to help revitalise our local democratic institutions, has for us in Northampton delivered nothing more than fudge and fountains.

Cabinet/Executive style Councils were supposed to make it far easier for ruling party's to govern and for opposition party's to hold the party in control to account, but have they achieved that?

The simple answer is NO.

Backbench councillors outside of the Cabinet of from all parties and none are mere onlookers, bystanders, and are never asked for an opinion in the formation of any decision and are only involved after the event as an act of appeasement. They hardly ever make any real decisions nor are they ever asked for thier input in any meaningful fashion

We of course should not be surprised at this parlous state of affairs within Northamptonshire County Council, after all the ruling Tory party which has controlled the shire authority for the majority of its years simply want "small local government" Councillors accept their role (outside of a selected few) as simply turning up on a handful of occasions (either side of an unnecessary lunch) 5 times a year to rubber stamp the cuts imposed by an authority committed and bound only to setting the lowest council tax in England irrespective of the impact on ever dwindling local services. The secret desire held now by the current leadership at County Hall to jointly appoint a new chief executive in conjunction with a local Health Trust (Quango) shows just how little respect or concern they have for any democratic deficit that may exist between their actions and the needs of the people they allegedly serve

But thats the shire Tories, surely over the road at the Town Hall the ruling Liberal Democratic group would act differently? and want to promote more involvement and partnership and transparency? Not at all.

I guess it is easy to understand to a degree how a Party who has never before tasted real power at the Town Hall might get a little carried away with their actions and to be a little self indulgent in their execution of that power. But in doing so they have destroyed by their inaction and subservience to the officer class, the very foundations of a Council which should now be offering an alternative to the people of our town in respect of any future change to local governance and any drive for a Unitary Council for the town.

That NBC was in a mess at the time they came to power is accepted, and the other two main party's must accept the role they played in creating that mess.

I would also not question that the Council has improved as an operating body and has a better management structure than it had in previous years as a new Chief Executive has taken the authority by its shirt collar and shook it to its shoes. We now have a senior management team  at NBC which on the whole are more professional, more able and more determined than their predecessors, good news? to a point yes but in so may other ways no. Outside of this internal management control the Council is now weaker, delivers less and is far less relevant to the electorate it serves.

You see in its drive for improvement the council has left its elected members far behind standing at the roadside, lost in the outback.. Senior Officer Boards and Cabinet Advisory Panels and Senior Management Boards make all the decisions, set the direction the council is going in and impose changes on the Council with as little interference from its elected members as they think they can get away with. These apolitical acts defy the very reasoning behind any candidate/party proposing a manifesto or set of political ambitions in the first place.

OK so the Council's Cabinet are kept informed to a degree, and made to feel part of the decision making process, but any dissent from within is easily quelled by a reminder to them that  "we really have no other choice" "the budget won't support any alternative option" or even worse "It is fully in line with what other councils are doing" Often this Mantra is then delegated down to the Leader of the Council to use against his own ever frustrated party at it's group meetings (or perhaps that should be "Groups" meetings as half of the group detest the other half and can't even abide drinking with them afterwards, leaving the Mailcoach and the Cordwainer to split the trade between the warring factions)

And all this is why that in 2010 you have a Liberal Democrat Council on Northampton Borough Council turning the other cheek as underpaid and unprotected agency staff turn up in the morning to beg for a days work on the bins or cleaning the streets, before often being turned away without work. It's why a Liberal Democrat Council is selling off the towns built heritage (such as Archway Cottages in Abington Park) to fund in their own words a "war chest" to help pay for "organisational change" (redundancies to you and me) It why a Liberal Democrat Council is defending against all common sense a ridiculous line which says that a return to resident wardens for our sheltered housing schemes for the elderly would not bring about any improvement to the service and cannot be achieved. Its why a Liberal Democrat Council has made us a laughing stock amongst our District and Borough Council friends. A population of over 200,000 citizens and we can't even afford to employ a rat catcher or keep our public toilets open?

And it is for all these reasons that backbench councillors across all party's including the Liberal Democrats have had enough of the excuses and weasel words coming from a powerless cabinet doing the bidding of an officer class which knows it will outlive and outhink any political administrations short life span.

To make matters worse this week in my email came an explanation of how the Councils new "Neighbourhood Management" arrangements recently introduced by the Lib Dem's will operate. You see they have split the town into four areas for the purposes of service delivery (One area stretches from Kings Heath in the North of the town round to Hardingstone in the South!) Area public  meeting will be held chaired by local councillors in rotation (one of the areas has 16 councillors meaning that ii meeting twice a year only half of them will ever chair a single meeting in any four year term!) However if there is a Parish Council in the area then the Parish Chair will chair the meetings. These meetings will take on board the publics view as to what services should be delivered in the area and what the local priorities should be, and then (and I promise you this is for real) the views from the meeting will be forwarded to a separate meeting of a Senior Officer Board who will determine what services can be delivered. So there you have it, we have closed the circle, Councillors are sent out to meet the public and manage down expectations and take the flak from an ever growing angry crowd fed up of paying more Council Tax for an ever decreasing level of service and then the unelected officer class will make all the decisions as to who gets what. And the Council and its Councillors are redundant. Another triumph for Liberal Democracy I hear you all cry.

So why bother electing any of us at all? If we are not included in the decision making and used only as cannon fodder for Joe Public who will give us both barrels over the Conservative/Lib Dem governments cuts led agenda?  The officers might as well do this for us whilst they are at it and save on paying Councillors expenses out? But no because most officers wouldn't have the first idea as to local need or community identity

So what price do we put on our democracy? and are the backbenchers at the Guildhall happy to continue to sit silent whilst our local governance is further dismantled? we already have an under funded and weak scrutiny process incapable of responding to the ever growing officer led decisions coming through cabinet. We have a cabinet unable to keep any of its promises on future consultation. Remember when they told us they would come back to Cabinet and to Councillors over their plans to outsource services such as Refuse Collection and deliver them in conjunction with Daventry District Council? We have heard nothing since and yet I understand the preferred bidder has already been selected?

The Independent group on the Council together with a growing public gallery attend all Cabinet meetings and we challenge the administrations/officers plans but far too often we are on our own (with very little support from either the Tory or Labour Party members) but it is clear to all those present that we may be the smallest of the opposition party's but we are certainly the most vocal.

For the past 3 years the Liberals have been trying to hide all of these problems behind a smoke screen of "Market Square" improvements and entertainment paid for out of separate grants and capital funding pots but like the infamous fountain, these are now drying up and like the Market Square at night the light is finally being shone on the truth and the Liberal Democrat Emperors clothes have been exposed as being nothing more than bare arsed naked ambition dressed up in a transparent haze of false economies and bad decision making.

So will the last Councillor to leave the Town Hall switch off the Market Square lights? or at least ask an officer for the permission to do so first.

WHAT SHARE PRICE DO WE PUT ON THE TRUTH?

The most valuable things in life are not to be measured or bought and sold as commodities or luxury goods, we all know this I thought? houses, stocks and shares, land, cars and pension funds can never replace love, friendship, trust, confidence, empathy or faith right?

Wrong I am afraid and BP's response to the oil spill and explosion off the coast of Louisiana on the 20th of April and the muted response of so called World Leaders to act collectively or even unilaterally against the Oil Magnates interests are proof positive if we ever needed any more that the world's capitalist masters have finally dismissed any final sense of doubt or shame  that they felt in treating the earth and all it's inhabitants human and animal as nothing more than collateral damage in their race for greed and avarice. They they should be feeling ashamed at the damage they have inflicted on our planet! they should be throwing whatever money they have at stopping the deadly flow of oil from Transocean's shattered pipeline, but instead they are dealing in spin, deceit and press and government management, before no doubt leaving the public to fund the clean up in higher oil prices at the pump.

"10,5000 barrels a day we are now stopping from leaking out of the pipeline" they told us today, but conveniently failed to mention that twice that amount is leaking out of the pipeline in the first place.

And if we are to believe David Usborne (Independent) and I am inclined to believe him a lot more than the ramblings of BP CEO Tony Hayward, then even the press are being played and lied to. 10 days ago he was at BP's Houston HQ to interview Mr Hayward on BP's "top kill" plan to force mud down into the leaked pipe to reverse the outward flow of black gold spewing from the ruptured pipeline.

Two BP representatives Bob Dudley (MD) and Andrew Gowers (Hayward's spokesman) told Usborne just before noon on the 27th May that "The top kill operation continues" "the fluid right now is going in two directions" In the control room he was told Hayward together with Stephen Chu (US sec of Energy) were personally monitoring progress. "They are both down there now tracking this minute by minute" Usborne bought the line given to him and so did the rest of the press and on American TV the "Top Kill" successes were being praised by none other than Admiral Thad Allen of the US Coast Guard!

Needless to say this good news went down well on Wall Street. In New York BP's shares went up by 6.25% in London the rise was 5.9% on the day.

Only later, much later, did the world learn that "Top Kill" had been stopped the night before Usborne's (and others) visit. No mud was being pumped into the pipeline whatsoever when all the "monitoring" and "right now" action was being reported to the press.

When Usborne challenged Andrew Gowers as to the line he been given and to his statements being wrong and factually incorrect Mr Gowers simple response was "We cannot offer blow by blow commentary on something as difficult and delicate and market sensitive as this"

So there you have it folks in their own words BP's duty to it's investors to protect market value and its overriding concern about cash and stock and paying out dividends are all a higher priority than their commitment to our planet and to the damage caused to the environment off of the Louisiana coastline. And of course all those with investments and pensions invested in BP will be equally torn between what is morally right and what is being done in all our names.

But just where is the International leadership coming from to take on the oil giants? Obama? not so far. Who is going to be the first to challenge BP by asking them how it is they have the technology and investment cash available to drill for oil in such places but seemingly have no cash or technologically advanced system for stopping it? Shouldn't we at least this side of the water join Obama in calling a halt to all deep sea drilling until a solution is available?

The Transocean pipeline is drilling at around 5,000ft below sea level The US Navy has just three subs which can operate at 2,000ft It's nuclear fleet can only operate safely at 950ft without risking its hulls imploding (at 1,450ft) So how are we to stop leaks at 5,000ft below sea level!!

When prices at the pump rise as a result of all this international spin doctoring and press manipulation and over protection of the stock market price in "British Petroleum" (remember when we were proud to use their full title?) Then I wonder what the Cameron/Clegg angle will be?

Will the Tories remind us that market forces must be allowed to find their own levels? Or will the Liberal line be more environmentally tempered? I wonder if the Welsh Farmers and Lorry drivers will be so keen to blockade the oil terminals? and I wonder if by then there will be any Brown Pelicans left in the Gulf of Mexico?

Having been saved once from the brink of extinction I wonder now if they will simply be a casualty of political mud slinging and oil pumping?

THE ART OF POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY

Ol'a,

I have this morning taken up the paintbrush and canvas after years of separation between my mind and artistic soul. The peace and tranquility of my surroundings and the need to do nothing other than relax and reflect, led me to want to record the colours and sounds and images that pass peacefully across my vision. can  you paint a sound? I will try..........

But the peace and painting are rudely interrupted by way of the international press bringing me depressive missives from Blighty and beyond. The stories are somewhat predictable but the repetitious nature repetitiously disturbing.

First off, the Spanish version of the Times reminds us that all politicians are liars. Yes, even here in Spain David Laws and his ridiculous excuses for his own excesses - it was about my privacy and my sexuality not my greed he bleats, yeah right David and being a millionaire a few times over meant you had to claim the £40,000 right? His time at the Treasury must be amongst the shortest on record!  To think this bloke was going to be the one to tell local government and other Public Service workers on the 22nd June in the emergency budget that their jobs would have to go in order to balance the public finances, whilst at the same trousering wads full of cash for himself, knowingly against the Parliamentary rules. What a hypocrite of the first order, and what an exposure if ever one was needed of the Liberal Democrats false "Holier than though" attitude to the expenses scandal; remember Nick Cleggs comments during the televised TV debates?

"There are MPs who flipped one property to the next, buying property, paid by you, the taxpayer, and then they would do the properties up, paid for by you, and pocket the difference in personal profit. They got away scot-free. There are MPs who avoided paying Capital Gains Tax. Of course, you remember, what was it, the duck houses and all the rest of it. But actually, it's the people, the MPs who made these big abuses, some of them profiting hundreds of thousands of pounds. I have to stress, not a single Liberal Democrat MP did either of those things, but they still haven't been dealt with. We can only turn round the corner on this until we're honest about what went wrong in the first place"

Now not only has David Laws fell foul of his leaders false claims but his replacement Danny Alexander it has been revealed didn't pay Capital Gains Tax on the sale of his second home! Whose next in the Telegraphs sights I wonder?

Furthermore, why did they wait to expose this hypocrisy until after the election? OK, I guess they wanted a ministerial scalp or two rather than a story about a then backbench Liberal MP, but what a difference it might have made to the "Clegg bounce" if only we knew the truth earlier?

The second even more depressing international news was Israels illegal murder of  between 9 to 19 aid workers at sea  in "international waters" off the coast of Gaza in a bungled raid on aid ships which has left 42 Britons in detention.. The UN called an emergency session. Turkey was understandably outraged and Tony Blair got to remind us all that he is the Middle East Quartets representitive (well a lot of good that has done us) TB told the press

"We need a different and better way of helping the people of Gaza and avoiding the hardship and tragedy that is inherent in the present situation"

Well, No sh*t Sherlock! but what about a word or two of condemnation against an ever more uncontrolable Israeli state? Palestine was one of many stories not covered during the general election campaign, surprising really given its impact on the Muslim Worlds anger with the West. The paid silence of world wide  politics at its very worst But you don't have to look far for a local angle. I get on well with Brian Binley as an individual, but you would expect us to differ politicaly and his membership of the Conservative Friends of Israel, and his earlier trip to Israel to be brain washed by the regime and Northampton South Constituency having according to their minutes benefited greatly from Brian's "helpful" friendship with Stafford Fertleman (long time funder of Israeli projects) all means we are most unlikely to get any words of condemnation of this attrocious act from our local MP.

So nothing changes, politicians lie, Israel butchers innocents and the world looks the other way and in the UK people forget that they had a general election a few weeks ago when real change could have been attained if we only stopped to question more deeply if any of the three party's had really changed their spots?

I think I am better off concentrating on the paintbrush and pallette for a few days!

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