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Posted on: Dec 17 2011, 08:09 AM |
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From: Newbury
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QUOTE (FactFile @ Dec 16 2011, 08:11 AM) Yes. Get over it. Move on. I have. I'm talking incinerators, and the refreshing juxtaposition of a company that wants to cut my tax bill and ones like Kennet Shopping which like to subsidise developments with my taxes. If energy projects are financially beneficial in lean times, surely WBC should be encouraging more of them, instead of trying to blow them out of the water before an application is lodged. |
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Forum: Newbury News
· Post Preview: #51944
· Replies: 73
· Views: 252,490
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Posted on: Dec 15 2011, 10:34 AM |
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Group: Members
Posts: 485
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From: Newbury
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QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Dec 14 2011, 07:48 PM) Perhaps it is about time Drummond and Swift-Hook upped their game! Sat on a cushy number it seems. Or are they spreading themselves a bit thin? I think it's a bit harsh on Left-Hook. He's doing well on the Sandleford campaign. What's more strange about this is that Northcroft councillor Tony Vickers is also providing free professional planning advice. Especially as the northern half of his ward abuts the alternative to the Sandleford site, I would have thought these people should be serving their own nimbies before helping out on the other side of town. |
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Forum: Newbury News
· Post Preview: #51922
· Replies: 72
· Views: 79,492
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Posted on: Dec 8 2011, 06:53 PM |
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Group: Members
Posts: 485
Joined: 28-May 10
From: Newbury
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QUOTE (Roost @ Dec 8 2011, 04:02 PM) I think that a lot of crimes have [u]never[/u] been reported!
There use to be very much of a 'sort it out ourselves' attitude without involving the police.
I think that these days, a lot more of certain types of incident get reported to the police in the hope that the police can sort peoples issues out for them, without them having to take any personal responsibility. But that would suggest that crime is going up. It's not. And if you remember that Labour passed more than 500 laws since 1997....plus police now dealing with domestic violence etc, and it's getting better. Mind you....one of Newbury's crims has just got out of prison on early release. |
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Forum: Newbury News
· Post Preview: #51723
· Replies: 12
· Views: 15,801
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Posted on: Dec 8 2011, 06:53 PM |
Advanced Member
Group: Members
Posts: 485
Joined: 28-May 10
From: Newbury
Member No.: 924
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QUOTE (Roost @ Dec 8 2011, 04:02 PM) I think that a lot of crimes have [u]never[/u] been reported!
There use to be very much of a 'sort it out ourselves' attitude without involving the police.
I think that these days, a lot more of certain types of incident get reported to the police in the hope that the police can sort peoples issues out for them, without them having to take any personal responsibility. But that would suggest that crime is going up. It's not. And if you remember that Labour passed more than 500 laws since 1997....plus police now dealing with domestic violence etc, and it's getting better. Mind you....one of Newbury's crims has just got out of prison on early release. |
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Forum: Newbury News
· Post Preview: #51722
· Replies: 12
· Views: 15,801
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Posted on: Dec 8 2011, 11:12 AM |
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Group: Members
Posts: 485
Joined: 28-May 10
From: Newbury
Member No.: 924
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QUOTE (Jack @ Dec 8 2011, 10:04 AM) The local authority has now asked them to explore a range of charging options for the daily service that would be affordable and sustainable. Volunteers at Shopmobility gave 936 hours of time assisting the 2 part time staff. The service is operated 6 days per week from 9.30 to 4 pm. Thanks for that Jack..but I wouldn't feel "responsible" for my comments....I (and everyone else who lives here) have been asked by WBC whether I agree with their proposal to cut the grant by 30%. WBC wants to cut the grant AND has already asked the bureau to charge for it. If there's around 5500 provided a year, and an £8000 shortfall, that suggests £1.50 a day on average (say £1 for wheelchairs and £2 for motorised scooters). So should the disabled pay for this? Thanks again Jack, I can now answer the consultation with a better understanding. It's now clear that WBC have failed TWO government rules in this case. Best value - Eric Pickles has decreed that the burden of funding cuts to the voluntary sector should be in proportion to the cuts WBC have to deliver (ie 8% a year for 3 years). A 30% cut is therefore contrary to this guidance. Transparency - WBC has a duty to clearly publish individual grants to voluntary groups and social enterprises. I cannot find this list anywhere...and when we had a similar discussion on funding the TCP, I had to find the payment details in the spreadsheet by checking every invoice paid by WBC (month by month) to find the amount paid. I feel cheated. Shall we ask Mr Pickles to come to Newbury and see how his political chums at WBC are managing the cuts? How do we get WBC to play by the rules? |
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Forum: Newbury News
· Post Preview: #51706
· Replies: 73
· Views: 92,259
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Posted on: Dec 5 2011, 01:02 PM |
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Posts: 485
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From: Newbury
Member No.: 924
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A good news story. Crime in Newbury town centre has fallen 25% since the summer. Yep, while other places are rioting, here in Newbury we've had four straight months of crime going DOWN. The drop in burglaries is particularly impressive (although I hear the Hogshead was burgled at the weekend so there's more than enough going on), as is the fall in shoplifting the month Parkway opened. So what's going on? Are our criminals not very good? Are our new CCTV cameras doing a great job? Is the arrival of routinely armed police in Newbury keeping everyone indoors? |
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Forum: Newbury News
· Post Preview: #51536
· Replies: 12
· Views: 15,801
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Posted on: Dec 5 2011, 12:21 PM |
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Group: Members
Posts: 485
Joined: 28-May 10
From: Newbury
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QUOTE (Jack @ Nov 29 2011, 12:11 PM) In my estimation the council seem to be behaving in a fast and loose way with the local organisations which only leads to a deflection from the real matters of substance. Standards in society have reached another low and it is sad that local government can not uphold decent standards. What is disappointing is that one would expect a conservative administration that claim to uphold old-fashioned family values to have rather better standards of behaviour. I don't normally jump to the defence of WBC, but I think they're right to look into this. Take the shopmobility scooters. WBC give the Volunteer Bureau £24k p.a of our money to fund this (or £500 a week if you prefer), and want to cut this by £8k a year. Now, the Volunteer Bureau does a great job, especially with only 4 staff on the books (incidentally, they pay WBC £10k a year in rent). But they are sat on £130k of reserves. It doesn't look likely that either the service or the organisation will be jeopardised by these cuts. I know there will be other areas of waste or perceived lesser causes that are not being cut by 33% in one go, but does there really need to be a fall in standards? What do others think? |
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Forum: Newbury News
· Post Preview: #51532
· Replies: 73
· Views: 92,259
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Posted on: Dec 2 2011, 02:36 PM |
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Group: Members
Posts: 485
Joined: 28-May 10
From: Newbury
Member No.: 924
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QUOTE (Richard Garvie @ Dec 2 2011, 10:04 AM) Cllr Stansfield needs to cough up on this one I'm afraid. Will WBC really let £1.2m of Government cash go elsewhere? @RG. West Berks businesses pay much more in than we get back, which is then diverted to the north. Although this was shameless gerrymandering in the dark days of Labour, the Coalition had promised that councils would be able to keep all they raised. (Sadly this policy is just hot air). So Simon is right. We've already paid for it, and if the Government would stop thieving this local tax (or better still, we do away with it), then there will be plenty to sort out flooding/funding BIDs etc etc. Complex problems like flooding need to be tackled by everyone involved. We're all responsible, not just the EA. |
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Forum: Newbury News
· Post Preview: #51423
· Replies: 44
· Views: 65,823
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Posted on: Dec 1 2011, 09:37 PM |
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Group: Members
Posts: 485
Joined: 28-May 10
From: Newbury
Member No.: 924
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Hmmm... this might have something to do with it.There's enough water for all of us on the planet, it's just in the wrong place and too heavy to transport around. When the water industry was privatised, they gave each of these companies a regional monopoly, instead of creating a market where we pay for what we use. |
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Forum: Random Rants
· Post Preview: #51411
· Replies: 35
· Views: 41,310
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Posted on: Nov 30 2011, 07:58 AM |
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Group: Members
Posts: 485
Joined: 28-May 10
From: Newbury
Member No.: 924
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QUOTE (Mark NWN @ Nov 29 2011, 09:14 AM) If you ever have any tip offs or leads you think it is worth investigating you can email me on mark.taylor@newburynews.co.uk or PM me on here any time, always willing to have a look. I'll certainly bear it in mind. However, I prefer to post them directly to the forum so EVERYONE can see where it's come from. I have lots of interesting documents which I'm sure you'd like to see. But the problem is the file size limit is too small (500kb). Any chance you can increase it....I'm sure you won't be disappointed. |
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Forum: Newbury News
· Post Preview: #51254
· Replies: 23
· Views: 27,827
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Posted on: Nov 28 2011, 01:40 PM |
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Group: Members
Posts: 485
Joined: 28-May 10
From: Newbury
Member No.: 924
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QUOTE (Mark NWN @ Nov 28 2011, 12:43 PM) They have all appeared in the paper in recent weeks, I know because I worked on three of them myself. Not everything that appears in the paper goes online. Sorry about that. Like many, I don't buy the paper version. |
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Forum: Newbury News
· Post Preview: #51178
· Replies: 23
· Views: 27,827
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Posted on: Nov 27 2011, 10:32 AM |
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Group: Members
Posts: 485
Joined: 28-May 10
From: Newbury
Member No.: 924
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QUOTE (NWNREADER @ Nov 27 2011, 10:03 AM) Are you saying SLI are to blame for the Euro problems? Or that the EU bigwigs can't construct a deal that benefits their organisation any more than WBC (perhaps)? No. Just trying to think of reasons why they STILL need all this extra money? In reality, they have £10.5bn turnover, so even a bit of bad Euro debt shouldn't make a difference. I was just trying to rack my brains thinking of a reason why SLI need this extra money. I don't accept that "we'll never know". RG has done well lifting the lid, it's now up to others to continue. A small group of us could use Community right to buy to take the car parks off WBC and run them in the local interest (perhaps on a not-for-profit basis). It's difficult as I am interested in the transfer of assets rather than leasing the car parks from WBC. This way, the remaining car parks can be saved from the Vision. |
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Forum: Newbury News
· Post Preview: #51121
· Replies: 13
· Views: 15,297
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