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Updated 18 Jul Not before time, it has been decided to take some action regarding parking in the town. Has it suddenly been realised that the primary purpose of roads is to facilitate the passage of traffic and not to provide parking spaces when there are three car parks in the centre of the town. Some of the parking spaces that could be eliminated are those beside the town hall, the two outside Lloyds bank and the first four or five in Hermitage street, all of which can at times, impede traffic. What an outcry there would be! The road alongside Nationwide etc, should of course be double yellow lines with no parking of any vehicle permitted. Last week there were three cars parked there and being in the middle of the road I was met, head-on by a lorry coming out of South Street and I have seen this happen several times with vehicles travelling in opposite directions using the same road space. How long before a serious accident? Incidentally, It appears that a sandwich shop in the town feels it has been granted special dispensation to park their vehicles on double yellow lines at any time and for any period they feel like and not just for loading. Twice I have seen problems with large vehicles unable to pass each other because of the obstruction. The town green application decision is due on July 29th. Then it will be decided if the building of the pavilion can go ahead or whether that part of Henhayes is to remain green. I guess there will be a gnashing of teeth from whichever faction the decision goes against! The M & co building is still growing well and will certainly tidy up the area behind the shops which had become somewhat derelict. In my previous post, I mentioned the exorbitant cost charged by my dentist and I have now changed to the Crewkerne Dental Centre in North Street. Absolutely brilliant! No frills, excellent service and very reasonable charges. More commandos from Taunton being killed in Afghanistan in this never ending and futile war. What the hell are we doing in that god forsaken country. I hear we are now to give the Afghans more aid and I expect, that as usual, the money will end up in the hands of crooked politicians and tribal warlords. What a mess and all the time our young soldiers are dying in the pretext that they are preventing terrorism in this country! It seems that none of our politicians have the common sense or the inclination to withdraw our troops. The war is costing too much in lives and money. updated 6jul So, David laws is in trouble with some more expenses again! The following is a quote from his website which has now, obviously, been removed. David Laws MP said: What a sanctimonious and hypocritical prat this man is! Quite apart from the money paid for a room in his homosexual lover's home, the Daily Telegraph reports that he is now to be investigated by the police for other expenses irregularities. Is this the man we want as an MP? A local cycle race in the town seems like a good idea. As a teenager I was a keen cyclist and when I was 15, cycled 700 miles around England staying in youth hostels. Not to be recommended now with the amount of traffic on the roads. Had the good fortune to live near a shop run by a professional racing cyclist and he helped me build a lightweight bike on which I did road racing, time trials and hill climbs. My natural modesty would prevent me telling you that I actually won a few!! The Civic Society, notably Jean Pakes, refuse to back down in their views on the £6000 notice board monstrosity so I guess it's a fait accomplit but the CS certainly haven't done their image any good with a lot of people. The M & co. shop in the town is growing daily and looks like being a considerable size. If we go on like this the town will become pretty well self-contained without the need to travel to Yeovil for things. Already the supermarket choice is a good as anywhere and while Chard are complaining about loss of trade, Crewkerne seems to be improving. Would be nice to get the few remaining empty shops taken up. Went to my dentist in the town last week with whom I been for 13 years where I had a bridge fixed that had become unstuck. For a job that took less than ten minutes I was charged £100!! The same job two years ago cost £50. A 100% price increase does not seem to me to be at all reasonable in fact extortionate would appear to be a better term. The solution is obvious!! Geoff Cleal's funeral last friday, he was given a good send off by his old regiment and many other friends. Rest in peace Geoff. updated 28 Jun. Germany 4 England 1, what a dreadful result. The problem with our players is that they are overpaid, spoilt and think the world owes them a living, Our major football clubs all prefer to buy expensive foreign players instead of cultivating home grown players. There is no hunger in these men, the ridiculous wages they get only ensure that to watch a game these days, families must pay an inordinate amount to watch these prima donnas and even then the clubs are heavily in debt. I don't think there is any problem with Capello, its the players!! At least our Jenson managed a third in the Valencia GP. The Somerset cricket team also are doing pretty well this season. Sad news, a neighbour Geoff Cleal, a ww2 veteran and a lovely bloke has died. At least he had a good innings. A shock today, woke up at 7.15 to hear the dustmen collecting bins, they usually come about one o'clock so most people hadn't put their bins out including me and nearly broke my neck shooting downstairs to get it into the road. What others do with full bins and two more weeks to go is anybody's guess. I hear that the new government are in favour of weekly collections instead of fortnightly one which seems an excellent idea. updated 25 Jun So, England are through to the last sixteen. Our overpaid spoilt footballers actually managed to summon up enough energy to beat the team of a country with two million people by one goal. Once again the over-hyped Rooney was as dismal as he had been on previous occasions. Sunday's match should be "very interesting" More in the local newspaper this week about the enormous sign that the civic society intend to erect on the wall containing the memorial plaque. Here is the link to face-book with the protest outlined http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=129240860440186&v=wall. Does this wall belong to Pooles solicitors and if so have they given permission for this monstrosity or is the sign free standing. If the board is freestanding then I guess they will putting it near the foundations of a wall which apparently is out of true anyway. Jean Pakes and the civic society have a lot to answer for and they should be ashamed of themselves for what they are doing. What on earth are they advertising on a board of that size. £6000 ? That is absolutely ridiculous and the society are doing themselves what they would be up in arms about if anyone else had done it. This from my experience when I was a member. How can any civic society member apart from the motivators agree with this decision? What a weird story about the grant from sport England. Mrs nice says OK you can have the money then goes off to have a baby and Mr nasty takes over and says No, you can't have the money. Surely the decisions are made by a committee and not on the whim of single individuals and the reasons given for refusal appeared to be pretty valid. They are now after the £175.000 from Persimmon homes which may not be for some time and it would be interesting to see the conditions attached to the section 106 agreement. George Reynolds, an unelected person heavily involved in what is ostensibly a TC deal (or is it?) has said that the project may have to be downscaled. What a brilliant idea. Completely refurbish the existing pavilion, do the same for west one and there would still be money left over. More letters condemning David Laws in the local with statements that he should stand down as an MP as he was elected on a false manifesto in relation to his expenses. What do you think? So, the government has said that there should be no rise in council tax next year and possibly the next after that . I hope our District and Town councils have made note of this and will act accordingly. There appear to be quite a few non-jobs at the District that we could well do without. updated 14 jun Some time since my last entry but things have been pretty quiet and have been spending a lot of time in the garden. An English 1 2 in the Montreal GP and sloppy goalkeeping meant that England only drew with the USA. Let's hope for better things in future with the football. What on earth happened to the "community radio station"? Our county councillor donated £500 of our money for the purpose and other donations were made to fund the station together with provision for redecorating the premises of Singletons. Next thing we hear that only five weeks after the launch the whole thing has failed! What is the story behind this? Are the grant and donations to be returned, were the premises redecorated? Can somebody come up with a full explanation of what appears to be a complete shambles? Wouldn't it have better to have sorted out the true situation before this mess arose? I have just been told that SSDC have approved the enormous, 4m by 2.4m, notice board with advertising that the Civic Society applied for on the wall containing the remembrance plaque in Falkland Square. This is a disgrace and will dwarf the plaque and I find it hard to believe that the civic society are so lacking in sensitivity as to do such a thing. I am told that the veterans of the town are desperately disappointed and there is a quote from the British Legion "Those that do not pay due respect to the past, do not deserve a future." I just attended a council meeting regarding the implementation of a one way scheme in the town. Some people were for it, others against and it was agreed to undertake a trial at some stage in the future. Haven't any of our councillors learned to project their voices or talk at a level that the public can hear since there is no point in the public being there if they can not hear what is being said all the time. I have pretty good hearing and still had to strain at times and there were some of the public who had even greater difficulty. My personal opinion for what it's worth is that whatever scheme is adopted, the problems will just be moved somewhere else. There's just too much traffic and too many parked cars on the Crewkerne streets. Looks like there is a by-election in the offing for David Tozer's seat on the TC but no date fixed as yet. Updated 30may So, David Laws has resigned from the cabinet. What a waste of an undoubted talent thrown away by trying to keep his sexuality private when everyone knew he was gay anyway in spite of what has been said. I guess its the age old problem of men's brains sinking below their waistlines on certain matters! They are now having to find someone to take his place and the problem is that there doesn't appear to be anyone of the same ability to help us recover from the dreadful financial mess that this country is in courtesy of the last Labour government. None of Cameron's millionaire mates seem to have the capability and apparently the position has to go to a Libdem which makes it even less likely to produce a candidate. He has certainly made a full abject apology for his misdemeanour and although he made an error of judgment in this matter, it's a pity there isn't some way he could be penalized but restored to his previous position. Some will argue that he acted badly and should pay the full penalty as other miscreant MPs have done when misusing taxpayers money but maybe the circumstances are a little different here? Difficult decision! Family here for lunch so will have to wait till this evening for the repeat of the Turkish GP and in the meantime having to avoid hearing the result anywhere. Same for the England/Japan football match! updated 29may It is reported in the press that our MP has been caught with his trousers down to coin a phrase. He has been found out paying £40,000, possibly more, of taxpayers money in expenses to his male lover to rent rooms in his home! He stated that the reason was to keep the relationship private and not reveal his own sexuality! The fact that he batted for the other side has, in fact, been well known for a long time. One could feel a bit sorry for the bloke at being caught out if all along, he hadn't kept saying what a good boy he was in regard to his expenses and he certainly didn't put this on his website. He's proved himself to be a real politician. Be interesting to see what the standards commission comes up with. That's enough on this unwholesome subject. All the concrete lamp posts in this area are being replaced with metal ones, presumably at considerable expense. I imagine we will be told that the concrete ones are at the end of their life and might fall over and hurt someone. Elf and safety again no doubt. Is this expense justified in the present financial climate? Have you been hit on the head by a falling lamp post? If you had, I guess you wouldn't be reading this! Lousy weekend weather with the only redeeming feature being that the garden needed the rain and the F1 Turkish Grand Prix is on Sunday. I'll be rooting for Somerset lad Jensen Button. updated 28may In my last update I queried the cost of £6000 for the provision of a notice board by the Civic Society and asked if it were to be gold plated. No gold plate but it is gigantic! Apparently the proposal is for a board with advertisements which is 4m by 2m which in plain English is 13 feet by 6 feet 6 inches. What on earth is the reason for such a large board by a society whose stated aims are to preserve the look of the town and who have a perfectly adequate board for their notices in the same location. The new sign would dwarf the Roll of Honour on the same wall and in my opinion is totally inappropriate. £6000? you can not be serious. There is a letter in the WG from Gary Pennells of the British Legion regarding the matter and I guess that his letter is the first inkling that people have had of this proposal. I suggest you read the letter and make your protests as requested. On the application made for the notice board, the Roll of Honour was faded out to lessen the impact of the board. He has my wholehearted support and also at some stage the present Roll of Honour must be replaced with an updated one that reflects the gratitude of our people that our language is not now German! I am ex RAF and members of my family died and were wounded in two wars. I consider the present Roll of Honour a disgrace. So, We have a new Mayor and deputy! Any hopes that the positions might pass to long serving councillors of a different political party were dashed and the posts have gone to comparatively recent members of the council. In view of the fact that we now have a conlibdem government it could have been hoped that in the "spirit of co-operation" the choice might have been different. The new mayor has the audacity to say that the TC is non-political when in fact it is political to the extreme but let us hope that his statement that he will be "non-political as every mayor should do" is encouraging. The headlines in the unofficial TC newspaper, View from Crewkerne, say "New mayor and deputy to rule". They do not "rule", they are elected to "serve"! Incidentally when the official TC newsletter was delivered to my house, also included was an invitation to an Ann Summers party! My wife said I couldn't go!! Did everyone get one also? The same pattern emerged in the appointment of chairmen of committees, every single one was given to the majority group with again, long serving councillors and their expertise ignored. No wonder they feel aggrieved. updated 20may I read in the local paper that councillors have said it would be difficult to find the £10,000 to £20,000 needed for a bus shelter. Mike Best said that the bus shelter would be a considerable cost! Waitrose gave money to the town for projects relating to the town but every single darn penny is being given to fund a sports pavilion costing around a million pounds and probably more by the time it is finished. Use some of that money to provide a bus shelter? you cannot be serious! They have their priorities you know. Serious consideration would be necessary as to the location of the shelter and the bus stop but saying that, the present location is nowhere near satisfactory. We also need a new town toilet but then that's not too glamorous is it and certainly doesn't have the prestige of a big shiny new building on Henhayes. A notice has been posted advising of the vacancy for a town councillor after the death of David Tozer and stating that someone will be co-opted unless a petition with 10 signatures is received. Wouldn't it be nice if they co-opted someone of the same political persuasion as David and who was elected accordingly but our lot don't work like that and you can be sure that one of their mates will be put forward. Come on TC, how about a decent gesture and ask the other lot if they will put someone forward. If not, you will certainly have a by-election because of a complete lack of fair play! I guess you would then blame others for the expense which you yourselves have been responsible for as you usually do! New mayor to be elected on Monday, will the Best/Leamon duo really relinquish the post they have held between them year after year after year or are they going to let someone else have a go? I'll believe it when it see it. In other councils that I have known the position of mayor has not been a political one but honorary and has rotated on a strict seniority basis but here it is regarded as a perk of political power and our people just love wearing that chain! Correct me if I am wrong but it seems that the Civic Society is touting for £6000 pounds for a notice board! How on earth can you spend that amount on a notice board? Is it gold plated? I would feel happier if some of that were to be spent on replacing the war memorial plaque in the square which is a disgrace, unreadable and with a separate bit tacked on the bottom looking as if it had been done in someone's garden shed. Isn't it time someone came up with a proposal to replace it. I would be willing to donate towards a replacement if someone could come up with some ideas? The British Legion perhaps. Is it intended to incorporate a new memorial with the notice board? Can someone enlighten me. updated 18 may Our wonderful council, in its wisdom has now decided to put all of the money, I believe around £175000, received from the developers of the Maiden Beech site towards the proposed sports centre! Notwithstanding that they haven't received their expected grant and that the town green decision is still awaited, their obsession with the sports centre continues. They are even considering employing an architect to re-design west one so that they can sell it with planning permission for residential development. What is it that drives this council to put every single amount of money they receive into the sports centre proposal to the complete and utter disregard of any other facility that the town might need? Once again I suppose it is the brainchild of the two or three leading lights on the TC plus a. n. other who isn't and some of their persuasive mates. It appears that they are not even sure if the price they have been quoted includes the fixtures and fittings! Every one else is having to tighten their belts and it will get even worse with the budget but nothing seems to get through to our TC that now is a time for austerity and not to spend seemingly unlimited amounts of money on their expensive project. Our MP is certainly making a name for himself and will not be the most popular of people when he advises the financial measures that need to be taken come into effect. I am surprised that Cameron has given way on so many issues to the Libdems but then again, the prospect of power, irrespective of how it is obtained is essential to these people. Apparently we are now going to have two weeks of hot weather so its not all bad! Updated 13 may Haven't been around for a while, decided to chill out and take a week on the Algarve. We managed to avoid the volcanic ash problem on the way back by flying above it and making a very steep descent into Exeter. Portugal is obviously feeling the pinch also. Everywhere there are incomplete hotels and housing developments where the money has run out and there are endless unfinished concrete structures. Managed to avoid the election and got back to find an unholy alliance of cons and libdems. At least we got rid of Gordon Brown. Doesn't seem to be going to badly at the moment but time will tell. At least they are going to scrap the extra Heathrow runway which meant demolishing some villages I know and the ID card scheme is to be scrapped plus they are going to build some nuclear power stations which are essential if we are to have viable power for the future. Big windmills don't work when there's no wind and in cold winters with high pressure over the UK there wouldn't be any wind!! What a lovely spring apart from the cold wind and if the blossom is anything to go by, the fruit trees will be cropping heavily this year. My neighbour David Tozer has died and his funeral was yesterday. More later.
updated 1 may Haven't been on line for a while because nothing has really been happening It's all election now with promises of this and promises of that and no one has really said that the country is so far up the creek that enormous cuts will have to be made and taxes increased so that we don't follow Greece into bankruptcy! The only thing that has been happening locally is being approached by candidates and their followers who all insist that they are the best thing since sliced bread. There has been some movement on the M and co. front and it looks like their premises are being renovated and there has been a lot of demolition at the back. Is the shop going to take up all that space too? The traffic in the town seems to be building up for the summer and it's becoming quite common to have to wait for a parking space at times. Nothing further heard on town greens or pavilions but I guess that there will be news of some kind soon. Went to Hestercombe gardens at Taunton the other day and they really are worth a visit. Everything has changed at the M5 roundabout at Taunton with an enormous park and ride being built. Heaven knows what it cost. Back to normality after Thursday with a new government but of which inclination has yet to be seen. Hopefully the new bunch will be less crooked than the last lot but lets wait and see! updated 18apr I hear that there's been a bit of a problem in our area with conservative posters being defaced or being replaced with lib-dem posters! The latter deny any responsibility but someone must be providing the new posters. I understand that the posters were on private land. Could a dirty election campaign follow? Drove through East Chinnock yesterday and the busybody police informers in their yellow jackets were pointing their cameras at motorists. There were several cars and they were all observing the speed limit! What is it that makes people want to inform on their fellow citizens and do a job that should be done by the police. Only thing missing were the swastika armbands. I bet they're so proud of their little bit of power. Is this really going to stop the odd individual with no insurance or car tax who never observe speed limits and will act irresponsibly whatever the occasion and with no respect for the law? Funny thing about this chap who went missing in Crewkerne with a lot of consequent publicity and then it was stated that he had "been sighted" and the search obviously immediately ceased but no further information given. Would have been nice to know if he was OK or what the story was. I feel sorry for all those people stranded by the ash cloud and those who are having their holidays spoilt. First it was the Icelandic financial business and now the volcano. I visited the country several times when I was arranging Boeing delivery flights to Europe and the people are so hospitable. Most of them speak excellent English of course and they couldn't be more friendly to visitors. Fantastic landscapes as well and I saw several geysers but no volcanoes. They use the superheated hot water to provide free central heating and it is so hot they have to cool it down to use. Watched the party leaders programme on TV but 15 minutes was all I could take with them pushing their various agendas in a completely stage managed display with even the applause being controlled as usual and only at the start. We've heard all the arguments before and yet whatever happens we will still have incompetent government with the country slowly but surely going down the drain. I have been to some live TV programmes and out in the front, off camera, are TV people who clap and when they do so, the audience have been instructed to do the same. This is all explained to you before the programme starts and you are supposed to continue clapping until the people in front stop or start applause again when they do so. So much of television is one grand illusion made slick for the public. On the home front, the meeting with Sport England regarding a grant has been postponed while there is discussion about who should actually attend the meeting. It appears we've ended up with the usual suspects! All the Town Green submissions have been given to the County and now it's a waiting game. I had a phone call from Jeff Palmer who claims that he didn't send a second letter for publication in the local paper. I had previously checked with the WG and they told me that there were definitely two letters received so what am I to believe? Anyway Jeff, we've both had our say so unless you want to have another go, I guess that's the end of it. No hard feelings. updated 8apr Strewth, Jeff Palmer is having another go at me in the letters of the Western Gazette! The weird thing is that it's the same letter he wrote last time with a couple of extra lines! What is the matter with the bloke? Is one of his councillor friends egging him on to write the same letter every month or has he a tame parrot that keeps repeating things? Ah well Jeff, I suppose I'll have to pen another reply but you are a stickler for punishment aren't you. I may be quite a few years older than you but at least I know when I've written the same letter twice. Keep taking the pills! You really are bitter about things aren't you. Nothing written for the last few days because nothing's been happening. Even had time to count 6 potholes in North Street between the town hall and countrywide. Now we are going to have an election to get rid of a bunch of sleazy individuals and replace them with another bunch of hopefully unsleazy individuals. I'll believe it when I see it. What's the betting that the number of "fact finding" trips which usually end up in tropical holiday resorts increases in the next parliament. One perk that hasn't been curbed. Does my distrust of politicians show itself here? Lovely weather which is apparently going to last a few days. Isn't it amazing how a bit of sunshine makes people feel so much better (apart from the above mentioned individual). updated 27mar Just had the following posted in the guestbook
"Wish I had a site
like yours. Then I too could moan, moan, moan, moan, moan, moan. Seeing as
you have all the answers I look forward to voting for you at the next town
elections. This Conservative website is brilliant, I love the way you have
no agenda. This person signs himself as "Victor Meldrew" so obviously doesn't want to be known but yes, that's the whole idea of the site. I can moan as much as I like and let other people have their moans too, What's wrong with that? I certainly don't have all the answers but that doesn't mean I can't comment when I see an awful lot wrong. You're right, I have no agenda except pointing out what's going wrong is this town which a lot of people already know. If I did stand at the next elections it would be on a independent platform of open honest discussion and not decisions made behind closed doors with my mates and hangers on and telling my fellow councillors how they must agree. I am not a Conservative. I do not believe in party politics in local government. The Conservative party I knew no longer exists and is changed beyond recognition and sidelines important issues like immigration and our continued blind obedience to a sleazy bunch of bureaucrats in Brussels. Yes, I believe in freedom of speech but that is something that is gradually being eroded in this country particularly in matters of opinion on religion or sexuality. OK "Victor", want any more? You wish you had a site like mine? That's easy. Let me know and I'll show you how to do it! Nice hearing from you anyway.
updated 26mar Town heaving this morning, all car parks full. Waitrose and Lidl certainly seem to be bringing a lot of people into Crewkerne and today it looks like they were visiting other shops too. Can't be bad. Is anything ever really going to happen at the shop bought by M and co? They certainly seem to be taking their time. Interesting to see that the District Council are reducing by 20% each year and eventually ceasing in or before 2014 the grants paid to the Aquacentre, West One and the Heritage centre. Looks like some belt tightening is going to be needed. The reason given is that those concerned had developed financial dependency on the grants and that other funding schemes had to be developed. Incomes had to be increased and costs reduced. If all else fails then there's always the possibility of another increase in the TC precept I suppose!! The broadcast by Somerset Sound relating to the town green application is apparently going to be on air on Monday the 29th where various local people have been interviewed and their views put forward. Could start around 7.30a.m. and go on throughout the morning. Isn't it time something happened to the old Bonsoir building. It's been empty for a long time now and surely there should be some sort of development. It could be converted to an apartment block on the lines of the old tannery in North street but on a larger scale. What a pain those speed humps on the approaches to the car parks are. I feel sorry for people with bad backs and the long term damage to car suspensions has to be considered. Are they really necessary? updated 25mar Every day our young men are being brought back from Afghanistan in union flag draped coffins. Why? Haven't our government read their history books and seen that time and time again, foreign troops have not succeeded militarily in that god forsaken country? The might of the Russian army and prior to that the soldiers of the imperial British empire both failed in their task. The reasons given are to prevent terrorism in the UK. Hasn't anyone told our incompetent leaders that the terrorists are already here and are often "British". The other reason given is that we should teach them "democracy", a subject so alien in that area that I wonder why we waste our time. Bribery, corruption and a cruel religion are a way of life that has been the norm for hundreds of years and still remains together with warlords and tribal infighting. Killing people is the national sport with children able to handle an ak47 from an early age. The only difference from the middle ages is that they now have better weapons! Isn't the real answer that teflon Tony wanted to show George Bush what a good poodle he was and committed us to this senseless and unnecessary war. Our continuance is yet another example of government incompetence. Let Afghanistan solve its own problems and if they can't then it's their own fault. Our intervention certainly is not going to succeed but still our soldiers die day after day. updated 22mar Found the following item which might be of interest. I couldn't possibly comment but perhaps others might like to do so. http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news updated 20mar I have been advised of a somewhat disturbing incident at the Aqua Centre last Wednesday. I am told that a long-serving volunteer was allegedly subjected to a period of verbal abuse by a person on the management board of the centre because he wrote to the local press giving his views on the massive increase in the TC precept and also the proposed sports pavilion. The recipient of the abuse apparently remained calm throughout although the abuse was hostile and intimidating. The whole incident was witnessed. A letter has been sent to the Chairman of the CLM drawing her attention to the incident, probably recorded on the centre CCTV which surely must be inspected to review the incident. The subject of the alleged abuse has been a respected volunteer for many years and there was no reason for this alleged tirade. When I last checked, we still had freedom of speech in this country albeit a rapidly diminishing fact and it is appalling that this type of incident should be reported. I have heard talk of other verbal abuse incidents by different people and one must surely ask if the working environment is all that it should be at the centre. I trust that there will be a full investigation into this matter.
updated 19mar This weeks mail brought two items of interest. Firstly a letter from the DHSS to say that my state pension had increased by the princely sum of £2.40 a week! After a working lifetime of payment of national insurance, that is the total miserly sum that this incompetent government decides to pay. Wouldn't even pay for an MP's duck house let alone a fraction of their second home allowance. The second letter was from SSDC with a rate demand for the year as follows Somerset county council nil increase (well done) The police increase 4.2% Fire and rescue increase 3.7% SSDC increase 2.0% Crewkerne town council increase 29.6% repeat 29.6% !! Don't these TC people realise that we are still in a recession, that people are struggling to make ends meet and yet the only way this impacts on the TC is for them to continue to spend our money on an over ambitious project, which in spite of the refusal of the Sport England grant, they still intend to pursue. In the last ten years our rates have virtually doubled and for what? Refuse collection once a fortnight instead of once a week, potholes in many of our streets and empire building in local government with a profusion of non-jobs in virtually every area. Hey ho! sounds like grumpy old man talk! I gave an interview on Somerset Sound yesterday and was told that I would be advised when it would be broadcast. So far nothing heard from them so it may have fallen by the wayside but I heard that someone else and the town clerk also had done the same so maybe it will happen sometime. I won't hold my breath and does anyone listen to Somerset Sound anyway? Enormous hold up in the town yesterday again due to the bus blocking traffic next to the town hall. Several large lorries involved and Market street became gridlocked with cars unable to manoeuvre round them to take the alternative route. Car parks full again. Did you know that Crewkerne is now on Google and you can take a tour around the town on your computer. Follow this LINK to take you to the town centre and then use your mouse to follow the arrows or move the picture around and click on the rectangles or ovals to go to a different point. Incredible isn't it! updated 16mar There was some discussion at the TC meeting last night about the pavilion saga. It was announced that a grant of £50,000 had been made by SSDC to the town council towards the construction of the pavilion so already more of our money is being spent but through our district council tax rather than the the Crewkerne TC precept. Whatever way they arrange it, our money is still being spent. No doubt this was at the instigation of our district councillors two of whom are involved in the project. Their political colleagues in the SSDC were probably happy to oblige their pals, after all it's not their money is it so why worry? There is now a move to try to reduce the costs of the project which will continue to the end of April when an assessment will be made and a decision to be taken re putting the project into hibernation. No contract can be signed until all the funding is in place whenever that may be. There is to be another meeting with the sport England fund manager in a couple of weeks to see the "road ahead" and a need has been stated to look for other funding opportunities. Watch your pockets! Apparently West One are also looking for a grant which can only be used for specific items in the pavilion when it is erected. Reception area?? Someone in SSDC is doing some designs for West One that could be used as examples of what would get planning permission without too much objection. I guess this means that the sale would be made with the benefit of planning consent for redevelopment (unspecified). updated 11mar My entry on 7 mar appears to be somewhat prophetic and I did indicate in a previous entry that providing the grant was uncertain due to the Sport England finances. The TC application for a grant from Sport England has been turned down. I sincerely hope that the TC is not now going to try to obtain a loan which will fall on the council tax payer. I cannot believe that they would be so foolish to try to do this but their financial expertise is such that nothing could be ruled out. This will now set back the project for the foreseeable future as will the proceedings relating to the town green application. Was listening to a programme on the radio regarding a town green application in Redcar that appeared to have failed but the decision was overturned by the Supreme Court in favour of the applicants. I hear that the solicitors employed by the TC using our money have asked for an extension to present their case. I hope they did not use the Redcar case as an example where Town Green status was refused. Worth checking when the documents become available.
updated 8mar Further to my piece about police informants, check the following link http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/7378224/Hundreds-more-town-hall-staff-to-get-police-style-powers.html No comment.
updated 7mar Not one but two photos of a bunch of Lib dems outside the station in the local this week ! What on earth are they doing there? From the glum looks on their faces it looks like they have just missed the last train or have been told the end of the world is nigh! I liked the bling though. Do they really need to congregate outside the station to make the point about the proposal to reduce the opening hours of the ticket office? Great photo-shoot but local elections are next year chaps, not this year! Well that is apart from Mr Laws. I read that a bunch of East Chinnock residents are going to act as police informers in monitoring traffic passing through the village. Upholding the law is not the job of the public but of the police and as we all know there aren't too many of them around these days but that does not justify people taking other peoples registrations to report them to the police if necessary. This practice savours of the Stasi in East Germany or Soviet Russia where people were encouraged to spy on their neighbours. Not quite in the same league maybe but with the way individual freedoms in this country are being curtailed it could be the thin end of the wedge and its seems there would be volunteers to do just this. Every time I pass through East Chinnock, I am impressed by the way all the traffic, quite rightly, slows down to observe the 30mph limit and have never yet come across anybody doing other than that. There may be the odd tearaway but is this sufficient reason to permit these people, at times, to point their devices at every single motorist who passes them? I think not and find it offensive. Also, what guarantee is there of their impartiality? Lunch with friends at the White Horse at Haselbury where mine host Patrick provided his usual ministrations and served, as usual, excellent meals. Such a nice atmosphere there and the log fire is always welcome in this weather. Patrick had awful problems with the District council when he made a planning application for changes and additions to his premises and one district councillor in particular was all in favour of having the pub shut down. Fortunately reason prevailed. No news on the sports pavilion front but what surprises me is that the TC has gone so far in the proceedings without confirmation that the requested grants will be forthcoming. I have always understood that getting all ones finances in place is the usual order of things before making commitments to the extent that they have. At all levels of government whether it be Whitehall, County and District Councils or town councils, there are two distinct factions, the elected representatives and the administrators. There should always be distance between the two but unfortunately this is not always the case and it can happen that, for various political or personal reasons or the plain fact that if they don't toe the line they can be sacked, the administrators throw in their lot with the controlling political party. This means that the public then have no recourse to an independent opinion from the administration which is, at best undesirable and at worst a complete distortion of how the system should work. updated 28feb So the cost of the sports pavilion has risen to £950,000 and not a brick has been laid! Looks like the cost is eventually going to be over a million pounds! Does this council really know what it's doing because if not it's going to result in a pretty serious situation. Everyone is in agreement that a new pavilion was needed but with differences as to cost and location. We are now in the realms of property development and way above financial matters that relate to a small town. The town council seem determined to continue on their path and I just hope that it doesn't turn sour because the public will eventually have to pay. On the other hand if it falls through then more modest plans could be made and some of the money diverted to other projects in the town. A new toilet perhaps? Comments on the matter seem to have died down somewhat, probably because everything that needed to be said has been said and we're now waiting for events to unfold one way or another. Paid a visit to the new Bengal Fusion restaurant this week. I can thoroughly recommend it. Excellent food, a high standard of decor and good attentive service. There is a problem however, the menu has so many dishes that making a choice can take a very long time! The approach to the town from the north is not particularly pretty after Broadshard with a derelict garage and advertising signs but isn't time that that the mini-tower with "petrol" on the top was removed? For heaven's sake, the garage has been closed for over ten years but still this sign remains, gradually deteriorating with the years and creating an awful eyesore. One facility that never seems to get much publicity is our library. What a wonderful job those friendly people do there. Nothing is too much trouble and although it may not have the choice of Yeovil library, anyone who wants a particular book will soon have it obtained for them. Thanks you ladies for a job well done. Week after week, traffic is held up because buses pulling into the bus stop alongside the town hall are unable to park without jutting out and preventing following traffic to pass. This is due to the allowed parking which doesn't permit the bus a run in to be able to park parallel to the kerb. How about reducing the parking by a couple of spaces or is this too simple a solution? Has anyone heard about problems with contaminated fuel recently? Heard a rumour that people had broken down for this reason. Please let me know of any matters that concern you that can be aired on this site. Can anyone put me in the picture regarding the situation of the Henhayes Centre. I hear they have some difficulties but what is the story is as such an excellent venue should be well supported. updated 24feb For those of you interested, the last financial accounts of Crewkerne Leisure Management are freely available from the Charity Commission. A copy is available HERE The commission advise there is no copyright requirement. updated 20feb The town was seething this morning and in spite of what has been said below, every car park was full to the gills with cars cruising around looking for spaces. Looks like another car park is going to be required in the near future. The town shops, three supermarkets, Henhayes, sports and aquacentre all need parking provision and on days like today it was not adequate especially with the farmers market as well. Problems getting up North Street with traffic lights in operation and due volume of traffic, cars unable to clear lights since opposite flow impeded them. Nobody working where the scaffolding was erected!! In the days before 'elf and safety' a couple of ladders would have done the job. Whilst on the subject of North Street, what happened to the 20mph limit proposal or has that conveniently been forgotten by our elected representatives? Picked up a copy of the "View from Crewkerne" and saw the mayor between two coppers and I thought they had her bang to rights but apparently she was visiting the scene of a drugs raid. Why is it that now, every time a thief or a druggie is arrested, it necessitates several columns in the newspapers to explain what a wonderful job the police are doing? Surely this what our police are paid for? They also spend a lot of time telling us how to hide our belongings so that the baddies can't get at them. I guess this is because every time one of them comes up before the beak, they are given a slap on the wrist and told its not their fault but due to an unhappy childhood. They then go back to re-offend. I once had an allotment and one day some "community service" youths were sent to clear some unused allotments nearby. They arrived at 10 o'clock and scratched around a bit and at mid-day their supervisor decided to take them off to the local pub at which they stayed until 2pm. After another couple of hours of scratching around, during which a couple of them lay down for a nap, it was time to finish and at 4pm they left having "served" 8 hours of community service. What a joke. There is now such a touchy-feely attitude to all these matters now that when I hear the words "partnership" and "community" I wonder what on earth is coming next. Now I have to pen a reply to a letter to the proprietor of a local eating establishment who had had a go at me in the gazette! He actually called me arrogant! Self-opinionated and cocky maybe but arrogant is a bit harsh. Just as well I have a thick skin. Live long and prosper! updated 17feb The town council TC news has devoted its front page to the building of the sports pavilion. The friends of Henhayes have put their argument in the following document. I'm keeping out of this one! updated 15feb The following has been received- SSDC area west planning
committee meets on Wednesday night in Chard to discuss the planning
application for Henhayes 'temporary' car-park. This was submitted by SSDC
in January 2009, asking for a two year extension to the previous
permission. It's taken 13 months to get to committee! Any comments? updated 10feb This country is in a critical financial position, people are finding it hard to make ends meet with higher power bills and petrol prices going through the roof. Somerset County Council has recognised this and pegged their precept at zero percent. The District council rise is expected to be around 3%. What is Crewkerne's answer to this? A rise in the precept of 29%!! Even before they upped the amount to that required to employ lawyers it was planned for 18% which was eventually talked down to 7% due to opposition. What is it that compels this council to spend, spend, spend? The town green people and the TC both feel that they have good arguments and these will no doubt be considered by the County Council but the difference is that the town green people will argue for themselves whilst the TC, apparently unable to provide anybody who can give a decent argument by mail or at inquiry are now asking the council tax payers of Crewkerne for an additional £50,000 to line the pockets of lawyers. What a farce. If this money is not used, I wonder what will happen to it? No prizes for the answer. I have received some disturbing emails that say that some signatories of the town green application have been approached in an intimidating manner. The following is a quote from one of the emails " people have been visited and intimidated by a supporter of The Sports Club. This is a fact but sadly, this person so upset and frightened the people visited by threats of costs they might have to meet as a result of filling in the Witness Form for submission to the County Council with the Application for Registration of a Town Green that I am unable to identify anyone." Apparently two or more individuals are involved and they are known. This is deplorable behaviour and must cease immediately. It may well be that their names will be disclosed if not. I received confirmation from my hosts today that there was a deliberate attempt to disrupt this site which was offline for a couple of hours. Additional security is now in place. Seems like the dirty tricks brigade is alive and well in all respects. Please let me know if you are affected by any of this behaviour. I have received an email from a Chard resident which says "Our problem is that the TC is being controlled by the Mayor and Town Clerk. I think the councillors have had a gagging order placed on them." A smaller group than ours then! On a brighter note, Lidl opens on the 18th and we will then have a choice of three supermarkets. I have always found Lidl a little weird compared to the other supermarkets but they certainly have some items not found elsewhere and they are usually cheaper than the others. ---------------------------------------------------------------- updated Feb4 Well! headlines in the Western Gazette. Lousy photo though. Contrary to what is said there and due to popular demand, I have been persuaded to keep the site open and I will continue to monitor events in the town and comment accordingly. The guest book is now being re-instated but will be moderated to prevent the obscene rubbish that was received previously. Contrary to what has been said by the quoted councillors, I have, regretfully, no inside information apart from what has been e-mailed to me by people involved in the present controversy regarding Henhayes, both for and against the present plans. Any whistleblowers like to come forward? The rest are my own observations and material which is available in the public domain anyway. I can see both sides of the argument and my concern is with the financial burdens involved in over-ambitious projects which will always eventually fall on the Council Tax payer especially if there is further recession. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have decided to temporarily suspend updates to this site in view of the unpleasantness by opponents of my views shared by others that I have received on the guestbook and I feel that all the issues raised have been discussed at length. My name has been released to the Western Gazette. The site will updated when further developments appear and need comment. My first experience with Crewkerne Town council was when they were asked to provide two street lights on a very well used footpath from Wadham park to the Town. This was turned down out of hand and as a result I went directly to the District Council, obtained a grant and John Bishop kindly agreed to do the groundwork and as a result the two lights were provided which means the footpath can now be used safely at night and which cuts out a long detour. This apparently upset the council and two town councillors were overheard saying "that man has to be watched" It gave me an insight into what sort of council we had. Other matters that followed confirmed my view. I chose Crewkerne as my home for retirement in 1997 after 40 years working at Heathrow and have been very involved since that time in town matters. I was chairman of Crewkerne Gardening Club for 8 years and oversaw the provision of the Crewkerne flower show annually. Chairman of Wadham park residents association for the same length of time and did a stint with the Civic Society. I bailed out the Carnival financially one year when otherwise it would not have gone ahead and provided shrubs for the garden at the South Street car park. I have also been involved in other matters including a website for Crewkerne U3a and helping with their newsletter. I also work for a local animal charity and donated to Wadham School some electronic music keyboards and equipment. No one can say that I have not had the benefit of Crewkerne at heart which is why I started this site to hopefully try to change the way things are run. All the points I have made are still valid and I can only hope that change will come and the town will, at some time, cease to be controlled by a clique of a very small group of people and that they will stop acting as property developers financed by the people of Crewkerne with anyone who dares to voice dissent treated with disrespect. It appears that they think they have a divine right to decide, by themselves, any matter relating to the town. Their hangers-on can be unpleasant and a couple of names in particular spring to mind. The behaviour of individuals in the group has not always been what is expected of them or their position. The relationship between the town council and CLM also needs further inspection. Heaven knows what the outcome of the Town Green application will be but the course is now set and will obviously be resolved one way or another. From the views that I received, it is obvious that a lot of people think the same way and I feel that my efforts have been justified. Anyway, spring is hopefully, only a couple of months away and there's work to do in the garden! My name is David Stansfield. Feel free to mail any comments to me but I will have no hesitation in deleting abusive ones immediately!! MAIL PS thanks for the emails of support which keep coming in
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