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> Newbury Court Closure, Might actually be good news!
On the edge
post Aug 3 2015, 05:59 PM
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http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/news/15...s-underway.html


I must admit, I was totally anti, but thinking long and hard, I can't see shutting Newbury Court is such a big deal. After all, we have to travel to Reading or Basingstoke for A&E and myriad other medical situations. So, for the rare opportunities most of us get to go to Court, is this really a problem? No, I can't see that witnesses etc. will refuse to travel either; if they do, is their evidence that worthwhile?

Actually, this might also herald other things. It seems the powers that be feel that 'unitary' West Berkshire is too small an administrative area to have its own Courts; for both economic and efficiency reasons. I wouldn't argue with that, but if it's truly the case, then let's do the job properly and merge West Berkshire Council with its sister mini councils as well.

I've never been convinced that Berkshire as a real County had been expunged. Why go to the bother of having a 'let's pretend' County set up if there was never any intention to resurrect it when the time was ripe. No one could pretend that Unitary authorities, like WBC, of such a small size work particularly well.

So, let's go for it, shut the Court. Then see how quickly the rest can follow! After all, it's only our money we want to save.


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blackdog
post Aug 4 2015, 08:34 AM
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Interesting argument - we already have the massive inconvenience of having to travel miles for medical treatment, so it's okay to do the same to give evidence in court.
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Andy Capp
post Aug 4 2015, 11:22 AM
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24.4% of the public eligible to vote, supposedly voted for this, so that's democracy for you.
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blackdog
post Aug 4 2015, 03:59 PM
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Democracy is a constraint on the free market - it can't be allowed to continue!
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The Hatter
post Aug 4 2015, 04:46 PM
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The Newbury Court has been running down for ages; no one had noticed until the MP mentioned it, so it's hardly going to be missed. What has voting go to do with it? It's just for cost saving. The original post is right the council could do the same.
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blackdog
post Aug 4 2015, 06:03 PM
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Yes, Newbury has had a court for hundreds of years, but won't, it seems, in the future. Plenty of people had noticed this, enough to prevent the last attempt to close it a couple of years ago.

Yes, the excuse is cost cutting - but will it save costs? Or is it about flogging the site for development while increasing the day to day costs? Local magistrates will have to be paid more in expenses to get to Reading or Slough to hear cases, witnesses will get more expenses to attend court . The only saving in expenses are for a clerk or two who will no longer have to spend a day or two a week working in Newbury.

The big saving, probably the only saving, is in the cost of maintaining the building, which isn't really needed anyway - the under-used council chamber in the Town Hall is already used for Coroner's Courts, why not have the local magistrates sit there a couple of days a week?

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Andy Capp
post Aug 4 2015, 06:32 PM
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QUOTE (The Hatter @ Aug 4 2015, 05:46 PM) *
The Newbury Court has been running down for ages; no one had noticed until the MP mentioned it, so it's hardly going to be missed. What has voting go to do with it? It's just for cost saving. The original post is right the council could do the same.

Because 24.4% of the public eligible to vote, voted for a (more) austere government.
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Andy Capp
post Aug 4 2015, 06:40 PM
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QUOTE (blackdog @ Aug 4 2015, 07:03 PM) *
The big saving, probably the only saving, is in the cost of maintaining the building, which isn't really needed anyway - the under-used council chamber in the Town Hall is already used for Coroner's Courts, why not have the local magistrates sit there a couple of days a week?


I sure on paper it will make a saving. What I am not sure about are the indirect 'costs'.
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blackdog
post Aug 4 2015, 06:56 PM
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QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Aug 4 2015, 07:40 PM) *
I sure on paper it will make a saving. What I am not sure about are the indirect 'costs'.


Surely the big 'saving' is the money they will get for flogging the site to a developer? A much improved site since the area behind was landscaped recently.
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The Hatter
post Aug 4 2015, 07:38 PM
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This plan would have gone ahead even if the LibDems had gained more votes. I've yet to meet anyone who thinks this is a big issue. Having no A&E in Newbury is though.
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On the edge
post Aug 4 2015, 09:15 PM
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In reality, the only people who did notice were local,solicitors and politicians. I don't recall any letters of protest from The everyday punter littering NWNs letters page. In fact, there had been more noise about cycling on pavements or the parking of Vodafone employees, even green energy has had more of an outing!

Holding the court itself in another building in Newbury is viable but assumes that you are happy that the administration should stay in Reading. However, the justices would then complain, as they do right now, that they haven't got the back up. A good few magistrates live in the rural areas anyway and the difference in the expenses they'd claim are really fairly minimal. Sure, the site is the biggest value, but so was the maintenance and admin/support overheads, which can in future be costed on a marginal basis. Sure, Newbury has had a Court for hundreds of years, but then again we also had a County. Perhaps a 'ceremonial' court would keep everyone happy.

This is actually one way of alleviating the pain of austerity; one way of paying for feeding our kids, or rescuing derelict buildings!


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Andy Capp
post Aug 4 2015, 09:51 PM
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QUOTE (blackdog @ Aug 4 2015, 07:56 PM) *
Surely the big 'saving' is the money they will get for flogging the site to a developer? A much improved site since the area behind was landscaped recently.

Like the 'fortune' received from the other plots around the town?
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Andy Capp
post Aug 4 2015, 09:59 PM
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QUOTE (The Hatter @ Aug 4 2015, 08:38 PM) *
This plan would have gone ahead even if the LibDems had gained more votes. I've yet to meet anyone who thinks this is a big issue. Having no A&E in Newbury is though.

I quite agree, but we won't be getting any of them soon either.

QUOTE (On the edge @ Aug 4 2015, 10:15 PM) *
In reality, the only people who did notice were local,solicitors and politicians. I don't recall any letters of protest from The everyday punter littering NWNs letters page. In fact, there had been more noise about cycling on pavements or the parking of Vodafone employees, even green energy has had more of an outing!

I guess most people don't need a magistrates court.

I think the simple question is: can justice be served as well for less under the new proposals as compared to just before it was deliberately run down; rather like our famous CCTV system.

Having these issues and wondering if merit should be determined by popularity is a flawed principle in my view: "you don't know what you got, 'till it's gone."
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blackdog
post Aug 4 2015, 11:24 PM
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QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Aug 4 2015, 10:51 PM) *
Like the 'fortune' received from the other plots around the town?

I don't think HM Courts Service will be giving the site away for peanuts - they aren't WBC.
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blackdog
post Aug 4 2015, 11:32 PM
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QUOTE (On the edge @ Aug 4 2015, 10:15 PM) *
This is actually one way of alleviating the pain of austerity; one way of paying for feeding our kids, or rescuing derelict buildings!


It's a way of spending assets to pay for the court service to maintain its spending on solicitors and barristers for a few weeks longer. Kids and derelict buildings won't see a penny of it.
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On the edge
post Aug 5 2015, 09:33 AM
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QUOTE (blackdog @ Aug 5 2015, 12:32 AM) *
It's a way of spending assets to pay for the court service to maintain its spending on solicitors and barristers for a few weeks longer. Kids and derelict buildings won't see a penny of it.


But at least the duplicated administrative overhead and the endless maintenance costs will cease. In a way, it's perhaps a good thing any lump sum gain doesn't come to our local politicians. Can you imagine what they'd spend it on? Paving over Victoria Park? Free mopeds for 16 year olds?


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Andy Capp
post Aug 5 2015, 01:33 PM
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QUOTE (On the edge @ Aug 5 2015, 10:33 AM) *
But at least the duplicated administrative overhead and the endless maintenance costs will cease. In a way, it's perhaps a good thing any lump sum gain doesn't come to our local politicians. Can you imagine what they'd spend it on? Paving over Victoria Park? Free mopeds for 16 year olds?

Ecologically friendly water spouts in the park (every town needs one of them).
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motormad
post Aug 5 2015, 04:26 PM
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QUOTE (On the edge @ Aug 4 2015, 10:15 PM) *
In reality, the only people who did notice were local,solicitors and politicians. I don't recall any letters of protest from The everyday punter littering NWNs letters page. In fact, there had been more noise about cycling on pavements or the parking of Vodafone employees, even green energy has had more of an outing!

Holding the court itself in another building in Newbury is viable but assumes that you are happy that the administration should stay in Reading. However, the justices would then complain, as they do right now, that they haven't got the back up. A good few magistrates live in the rural areas anyway and the difference in the expenses they'd claim are really fairly minimal. Sure, the site is the biggest value, but so was the maintenance and admin/support overheads, which can in future be costed on a marginal basis. Sure, Newbury has had a Court for hundreds of years, but then again we also had a County. Perhaps a 'ceremonial' court would keep everyone happy.

This is actually one way of alleviating the pain of austerity; one way of paying for feeding our kids, or rescuing derelict buildings!



People only really talk about things which bother them.

I guess as most people aren't criminals, the court issue doesn't matter much lol


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Simon Kirby
post Aug 5 2015, 07:45 PM
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QUOTE (blackdog @ Aug 4 2015, 07:03 PM) *
The big saving, probably the only saving, is in the cost of maintaining the building, which isn't really needed anyway - the under-used council chamber in the Town Hall is already used for Coroner's Courts, why not have the local magistrates sit there a couple of days a week?

Fair point, but I have a better one. The Gothic Town Hall ill-serves the people of Newbury and all that pomp just helps to bolster our town councillors' ridiculous egos. Sell the Town Hall for development, strip the town council of its flummery and run the useful services with a part-time clerk and a couple of park keepers, house the Council in a local community centre, and then as you suggest, let them host the magistrates court as it does its circuit - that's how it used to work.


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nerc
post Aug 8 2015, 04:55 AM
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Amalgamate the Town Council and the Courts at the Court house and sell the Town Hall. Job done.
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