CLENT INDEPENDENT
Welcome to the web site of the Clent Independent:
And even more >here<
And how about the poisonous Fluoride the council's agree to..been asked?..No!>here<
Here in Worcs, we pay Three council's for services, who are The County, District and Parish, whilst in places like Dudley and Birmingham they pay just one...their tax increase this year was 1.9% whilst ours was 4.5% plus 1.6% green bin. They also get weekly household refuse collection service, they do not pay extra for green bin!
WHAT'S THE ANSWER?
Unitary council that will share all local councils services, this cuts down on duplicity of same public services...RESULT IS MASSIVE SAVINGS!
Recent door knocking shows people are fed up of Labour and also Tory!!
Latest from Gordon Brown's think tank is a...FOR THE HIGHER EARNER
increase to 45% tax suggested to ensure Brown continues the spend, spend Spend!
..for the lower paid an extra 10% upping it to 35% and all because he won't cut back on public services that are not necessary for every day living!
Here in Worcs: we pay 4.5+1.6%(bin tax)=6.1% Council tax where others pay 1.9%
And if Tory is voted back in, then THIS WILL CONTINUE!!
.....cuts could be made on secret establishments the gov't will not admit they have in Worcestershire that takes £Millions, further by Exiting the EU we would save £Milillions a day that could be spent on the British people, we could stop migrates from taking benefits from us all whilst in this recession, there's plenty we can do but they won't do it, easy way is TAX! TAX! TAX!..and on top of all this Bromsgrove and Worcs council's pay bonus's to their employees???
My name is.....
STAN FRANCIS-ROMSLEY VILLAGER
One man on his own asked about local services and in reply was enthused to stand!
I asked what the people 'wanted' and not what I feel you 'should' get!!
CLENT DIVISION
AREAS COVERED....
Romsley/Hunnington/Old Frankley/Clent/Hagley/Belbroughton
Who am I and who I am not is what you want to know, well after reading the whole of this web site it will be perfectly clear, I am not a party political animal that takes everything that's told him as being GOSPEL!
I was once a Tory activist, grass roots, committeee member, school governor, stood in for the now leader of the Birmingham City Council Leader on Police committee...I was also a SPECIAL CONSTABLE FOR 8 YEARS!
I own a small Dental equipment business, married with a dog called Toby, a mother in a nursing home in Clent that's 100 years this June 26th 2009!
WHAT DO I WANT?
I want truthfulness from the council for starters, I want the money paid in council tax spent on public services and not held back till the public have to collect signatures in petitions like we have of late with pot holes, floods etc
An increase in Council TAX twice the norm is what we now have in Clent Division, we now have to pay for our Garden refuse to be collected whilst not one Tory councillor got up and said no to it!!
An Independent CAN SAY NO, a Political PARTY COUNCILLOR can NOT!-IF HE DOES HE'S SUSPENDED FOR 6 MONTHS by his Leader....what use is that I ask you?..you paid your council tax and suddenly you/we are back at school again?
You have probably read in the local papers that I want to build an Allinace of wards/villages here in Clent Hills Division, this Alliance if formed, will mean that people will back each other on any issue that would normally be shelved by the council or councillor..I would ask for petitions throughout the division to support an issue in any of the wards that make up Clent Division....this petition would help me when I put it to the council?
Enough about me, what about you/us..read about the Clent Hills Div here..all true!!
BUT BEFORE WE DO YOU WANT AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT INDEPENDENTS CAN DO??
I will give you ONE!
A BIG ONE!!-Here in Clent Division, We all live in the area of the Kidderminster Hospital
for our health needs....If it had not been for Richard Taylor MP an Independent, the hpospital would have been closed, Tory, Labour and Lib Dem turned their backs on it..enough said??
So here we go...Brash but to the point!!
Worcestershire County Council paid out £300,000 paid for repairs to cars that have hit
pot holes in roads..and wait for it,
>> County Councillor Ed Moore<< is Highways
Chairman!>here<
166 COUNCIL TAX PAYMENTS STRAIGHT DOWN
THE DRAINS!
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IAN TOMLINSON DIED AT THE HANDS OF A
MASKED & HOODED EXECUTIONER!!>here<
NO 10 DOWNING STREET PETITION>SIGN IT?
AND DO YOU NEED A BRAIN TO HOLD A SPEED
GUN AND UNLAWFULLY KILL SOMEONE?
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COUNTY ELECTION 4TH JUNE 2009
THE 2009 APRIL BUDGET >here<
WHAT DO YOU WANT DIFFERENT, ASK YOUR LOCAL CANDIDATE..YOU CAN SEE WHAT THE INDEPENDENT STAN FRANCIS WANTS..FOR US ALL!
"How long before we get this G20 police style in our own backyard??"
IT HAS TO CHANGE???..WELL CHANGE IT??..BUT NOT WITH WHAT MADE IT THIS WAY??..NU LABOUR INTRODUCED IT AND TORY SAY NOTHING??..YEP!
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AND STAN SAYS IT AS IT IS!!
Two issues this week everyone! 10th April 2009.
Both in the Bromsgrove Standard..
As discussed at Romsley Parish Council meeting 6TH APRIL 2009:
Romsley speeding vehicles soon to see 40 tonners going to the new Landfill site in Newtown Lane.
(MORE CRAFTY DEALINGS FROM THE COUNCIL YOU ALL ELECTED!)
Landfill sites are termed barren, nothing can grow on them, just grass and methane!
Stan Francis says no to further Landfill sites and to build Modern-Day Incinerators.
We have to live in the 21st century and not in the past!!
and...
The truth on the bin system and the continued cock-ups and stupidity and why the council never EVER listens to advice even from The Audit Commission??
TWO LETTERS TO BE ADDED THIS WEEK FROM THE BROMSGROVE STANDARD
1st LETTER.
Green waste charge will cost us all 10 April 2009 The payment of £30 to collect our garden refuse is not termed a tax, it's a 'payment for a service'.
But we all argue that the council has dealt us a dirty deal in that the garden refuse was included in the bin system before the split up, the council say differently, the service was in fact free.
When it was conceived in 2002, the council were told by the auditors at the time, that it had not taken into account the extra cost of splitting up the collections and that in the first year of operation the green bin would cost an extra £50K and the following years £100K.
Well the system is obviously now making a hole in the finances, hence the present charge to empty the green bin.
So, in so-called streamlining the system, it cost us more and has also reduced yet another service we now pay extra for.
The council says 60 per cent took up the service and paid the £30, I say more like 30 per cent because if you pop around the sites as I have where you can take the refuse, they are in fact inundated with people taking their garden refuse there.
Extra trailers are now being brought in and that means extra cash to take them away full. The council then recycle the waste and sell it back to you at £2 a bag.
Here's my costing: collection vehicle per day, including three men, £950 per eight-hour day. To break even would mean collecting 380 bins.
Add cost of stickers, literature on how to apply them to the bin, set up of office staff and online payment, plus the normal half-a-day off a week for staff who would be working harder.
Result? This service is losing money and this lost money will be found next April 2010 in your council tax bill.
The council says the alternative is to take your garden rubbish to a tip - that's if you have a van or you could ruin your car, what of the people with no vehicle?
Stan Francis
Romsley
Second letter on the way..patience please?
Bromsgrove Standard links are down this holiday....
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BE PATIENT..GETTING THERE..FEW HITCHES!!! Sunday 7.20am.
HAPPY EASTER SUNDAY BY THE WAY!!
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RATE CAPPING THREAT!!!..APRIL 2009
BROMSGROVE COUNCIL TAKES 8 YEARS TO GET FROM POOR TO FAIR..FOR THIS WE GET TWICE THE GOING RATE FOR COUNCIL TAX AND THEN ADDS BIN TAX??
BUT BROMSGROVE COUNCIL GOT AROUND THE CAP!--HOW??-EASY!!
YOU JUST CALL THE GREEN BIN A SERVICE AND NOT A TAX!!!
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott warned local authorities prior to this years council tax demands, that he would step in and cap their council tax if they tried to implement higher than inflation rises. Mr Prescott said there were no excuses for large tax hikes because every single authority - north, south, east or west - received a grant increase greater than inflation. "No-one was robbed. They all got more. Every single one of them." He added local government had received "more money, more jobs, more services, more powers, more freedoms, more flexibilities", but must act more responsibly in return.
Although across-the-board capping was abolished after Labour came to power, Mr Prescott said he retained powers to slash excessive rises by irresponsible authorities. Mr Prescott said, "It is only fair to warn those authorities proposing excessive council tax rises that I do not rule out, on a case by case basis, using reserve capping powers."
STAN FRANCIS HAS NOW CONTACTED THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ASKING IF THIS DUAL TAX HIKE IS IN FACT ILLEGAL...TAX OF 4.5% JOINED TO BIN TAX EQUALS=7.70%...2.70% ABOVE THE 5% SET..
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>>>1% inflation so Tories hit us with 770%???<<<
COUNCILLOR ROGER HOLLINGSWORTH SAYS THAT STAN FRANCIS IS MISGUIDED ON THE ISSUES I STATE HERE IN THIS WEB SITE..HOW YOU SAY EVERYONE?
Councillor Peter MacDonald sums up Councillor Hollingsworth rather well later on down this page?
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DID YOU AS A CONSERVATIVE VOTER!!!
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VOTE FOR 7.7% INCREASE IN COUNCIL TAX THIS YEAR??(inc bin tax!)
AND DID YOU VOTE FOR 100% INCREASE OVER THE LAST 6 YEARS??
(2002)£968-£1800.00(2009)
LETTERS FROM BROMSGROVIANS(started 24/3/09)>here<
IF YOU DIDN'T, THEN YOU WERE LIED TO..WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?
BOTH YOUR COUNCILS ARE TORY OPERATED..SO NO BLAME ON OTHERS!
DID YOU VOTE FOR POT HOLES GALOUR??
AND
FLOODS GALOUR??...AND NO SALT/GRIT GALOUR??
What if you were told that £250,000 was taken from the grit/salt service to provide £250,000 to Council profit sharing??-which had nothing to do with providing a better service?
What if you were told that 1450 complaints went into the council from just HAGLEY ward alone two months ago??
Check below ON THIS PAGE your Ward in the CLENT Division?
BUT!!!
Both Tory councils get awards for better services--BUT IN REALITY??
IT CONFOUNDS ME ON HOW THIS BROMSGROVE DISTRICT COUNCIL GOT FROM POOR TO FAIR CATEGORY LAST MONTH??-
COMPLAIN IN SILENCE AND IT CONTINUES-- AND TORY LOVE IT THAT WAY!
What happens if Tory get elected next General Election?..and what excuses do we get then about poor services when they THEN have a full HOUSE?
..you presently have Tory in Parish, District, County, EU, MP...and still the whole bunch blame the incompetence IS elsewhere!!!--other Tory council's have the same Labour central gov't, but they don't 'up' the council tax by 100% more and toboot charge you to empty your bins??
Each week we will select one letter from the Bromsgrove Standard to show the displeasure of The Bromsgrovians...
and....BROWN IS TWITCHING!!!!-AS HE HAS TO LISTEN TO THIS MAN!!
We aim to prove up to the Election in June this year that the LOUD and also SILENT majority are not happy with TORY Services>HERE<LABOURING BROWN TAKES IT SITTING DOWN, HE DAREN'T RISE TO HIS FEET!<
....and yes we know it's County ELECTION...but both Council's are responsible for the poor services we receive...there's a PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE COUNCILS, PROBLEM IS THE COUNCILS DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT when it comes to service provided- Party Politics??-Well that's a different partnership??
YOU CAN BE CLEVER-BUT HOW DO YOU MEASURE ACUMEN??
By watching the council's at work of course, they attend more party political meetings than public one's..and when they do they condescend!!
PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK-or admit you were WRONG?!
(I was once grass roots supporter of Tory-it had to change-SO CAN YOU!)
Tory supporters?....Well you gave us 7.7% tax increase??!!
HOW DID WE GET TO THIS POOR SHABBY STATE IN CLENT?
How did you do it?...WELL-You placed an 'X' in a box?..alongside Ed Mooore.
HARD TO SWALLOW?
SHORT CUT TO REALITY-SORRY YOU HAVE TO GROW UP?>HERE<
BROMSGROVE ROADS, SEND YOURS IN?.HERE<
FLOODS>SEND YOURS IN?..HERE<
So here's the heading and do you agree with it????
BROMSGROVE COUNCIL WASTES OUR MONEY?
BUT WHY DOES IT TAKE OPPOSITION TO POINT IT OUT?
WELL IT'S BECAUSE IF A TORY COUNCILLOR DID, HE WOULD GET SUSPENDED FOR 6 MONTHS..THAT'S THE WAY YOUR PUBLIC SERVICES ARE DElIVERED-MINDLESS & SHOOLBOYISH-But you vote them in every time??
BROMSGROVE COUNCIL WASTES OUR MONEY CONTINUALLY-Prove it?
HERE'S THE COMPLAINT......
AND STILL RINGING IN ROGER
HOLLINGSWORTH'S EARS NO DOUBT?
Below is a complaint from opposition labour MacDonald.
K.Dicks(Chief Executive & Election Officer)to consider the following motion submitted by Councillor P. M. McDonald:-
“Bromsgrove District Council has spent an unbelievable £681,459 on consultants, £641,505 on temporary/agency staff and £194,626 on casual payments. This was in spite of a scrutiny exercise carried out recently to control the expenditure on such items. The efforts of the scrutiny task group
failed with finances now getting out of control and residents not receiving value for money. Such expenditure has contributed to Bromsgrove increasing the council tax to the highest level permitted without being capped and services being cut.
The total figure of exceptional payments is now a staggering £1.517.590, this cannot continue and every effort must be made to restrict such expenditure and ensure residents of Bromsgrove receive value for money.
To ensure that the finances of the Council are kept under control and that residents do receive value for money: that in future all proposed expenditure on consultants, temporary/agency and casuals payments will be placed on the agenda of all Full council Meetings for Council approval. This will ensure that in future all councillors of Bromsgrove will not only know what is going on with the Council’s finances, but will have a direct say in such expenditure.”
Comment from Stan Francis:
Even if the Tory Councillors did know, they would be gagged by the leader, failure would be a 6 months suspension from office.....further I am still awaiting an answer as to if this was put into practice, but at present Roger Hollingsworth has decided to refuse all enquiries from me, so an LGO complaint has gone in and am awaiting their answer if he can shut down relevcant information appertaining to the illegal and incompetent use of public money!
SO HOW DO WE TACKLE THIS..WELL IT'S REALLY EASY??
WE FORM A CLENT ALLIANCE IF YOU WANT IT?
READ BELOW THAT OTHERS ARE DOING IT?
Is it a case of who shouts the loudest or who speaks the truth??
AND HERE?
PARISH COUNCILS ALSO BAND TOGETHER ON GREEN BIN(SEE GREEN BIN)
SO LET'S START HERE THEN?
AVERAGE COUNCIL TAX INCREASE IS 3%..SO BROMSGROVE GIVE US 7.7%
BIRMINGHAM WAS 2%...SANDWELL NEIGHBOURS 2%...CARRY ON VOTING FOR WASTEFUL TORY??-SERIOUS QUESTION!
4.45% PLUS BIN TAX =7.7% But you are a Tory supporter and this costs you more here in BROMSGROVE!-When will people realise that Party political incompetence only pushes tax up!!
In 2003 Tory councillors said we don't deserve being re-elected!
LET'S GET DOWN TO ADULT THINKING THEN???
??question now is why do we need a DISTRICT COUNCIL AT ALL?
A UNITARY COUNCIL IS NOW ON THE CARDS AND THE PEOPLE SHOULD VOTE OUTRIGHT FOR IT BUT THE COUNCIL HATE THE IDEA-BUT SHARING SERVICES between other councils in the area HAS TO BE THE WAY FORWARD WITH MASSIVE SAVINGS??-We do not get funding here because we are told that the council lives in the past??..Bromsgrove COUNCIL IS A DYNASAUR & Dynasaurs died out many years ago, but if you continue to feed them, they will stay alive here Bromsgrove?-YOUR CHOICE?..Meanwhile.....
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BROMSGROVE DISTRICT COUNCIL GET'S INCOMPETENCE BONUS'S?
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THEY SHARE IN £250,000 AS BONUS'S OUT OF YOUR TAX HIKES, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PRODUCTIVITY-PLUS THEY ALL TAKE AT LEAST 1/2DAY OFF PER WEEK FROM WORK??-this 'BONUS' money came from the reduction of £250K from the gritting services we- half got this winter??
WHAT'S 'FAIR' CATEGORY REALLY MEAN?-READ BELOW AND FIND OUT?
£3.8 MILLION INVESTMENT AND BROMSGROVE COUNCIL HAVEN'T EVEN LOOKED INTO WHAT IT'S ACHIEVING??-AUDIT INSPECTORS NOT AMUSED!
But let's cover a couple of issues before we get to the audit reports?
The above pic shows a beautiful scene of what could be WORCESTERSHIRE countryside, but we allow party political council's hell bent on spending money only to benefit themselves in ensuring they get elected every term of four years..but a closer look at the scenery only shows decay caused by no money being spent for many a decade!
YOU-CAN STOP THIS!!
Money is being spent over the next few weeks on drains and road repairs because the County Council Election looms June 2009..BUT!-This money is wasted because the contractors are told just to do cheap jobs, the good jobs demand money, but this money has already been spent on party political issues-they are in effect spending the money they are now collecting from you!!
TAKE A LOOK BELOW AT CHEAP
jOBS??
THIS IS POPLAR LANE-AND IT WAS REPAIRED JUST LAST WEEK, LESS THAN 6 DAYS AGO IN ROMSLEY VILLAGE..YOUR MONEY IS WASTED!
19TH MARCH 2009....THIS ROAD WAS REPAIRED, IT'S NOW 28TH MARCH 2009
TORY ADMINISTRATION YET AGAIN!!
FOR WELL OVER 7 YEARS, WE IN ROMSLEY VILLAGE HAD WAITED FOR A 'PROPER' REPAIR, WE'D HAD SHOVELS OF TARMAC THROWN IN HOLES FOR 7 YEARS THAT WEEKS LATER JUST DROPPED OUT AGAIN!-SO THE DAY ARRIVES AT LAST WHEN WE GET IT RIPPED UP AND DONE PROPERLY- OR SO WE THOUGHT?-BUT!-YOU CAN YET AGAIN SEE HOLES REAPPEARING AFTER LESS THAN 7 DAYS AND ALL DOWN TO NOT CURING WATER UNDERNEATH THE ROAD SURFACE THAT I TOLD THE COUNCIL MANY TIMES ON. I HAD TOLD THEM THAT YOU ARE WASTING OUR COUNCIL TAX MONEY, THIS IS LUDICROUS-
STAN YOU ARE MISGUIDED ON ALL THESE ISSUES, THEY DON'T EXIST SAYS COUNCILLOR AND LEADER ROGER HOLLINGSWORTH..AM I NOW??-TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE??-
AND NO, THEY ARE NOT OIL STAINS-THE COUNCILLORS SHOULD TRY VISITING THE WARDS THEY REPRESENT SOMETIME, THAT'S IF THEIR LEADER ALLOWS THEM TO??-BETTER STILL VOTE THEM OUT NEXT TIME, THIS SOON WILL BE AN INDEPENDENT VILLAGE AND HOPEFULLY INDEPENDENT CLENT DIVISION WHERE WE WILL GET ATTENTION!!-NOT JUST AT ELECTION TIMES EITHER??-PEOPLE HAVE PUT TRUST IN THE TORY PARTY FOR FAR TOO LONG, WE CANNOT 'AFFORD' THEM ANY LONGER, THEY HAVE TO GO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
This is SANDY LANE SATURDAY MORNING 11AM-28TH MARCH 2009...leading from Fairfield Island to junction 4 of the M5 Motorway island!-3 mile tailbacks!
Whenever a road contract is taken out, consultations with the council must occur so that traffic build up is at minimum!
AGREED?
The people in the picture are in a traffic jam tailing back to Fairfield island and even further on to Hagley island, A 4 MILE STRETCH OF BUMPER TO BUMPER TRAFFIC and this is courtesy of your local council and going home early on a Friday evening and also after collecting their bonus's(more about your council tax in bonus's later)! -All this traffic aims for junction 4 of the M5 motorway where it's the same on every road meeting at this one point of an island including the road that goes past the Marlbrook which tails off as it gets closer to the M42.....the traffic also continued right at the trraffic lights at the Marlbourough and was gridlocked throughout Catshill village.... the M5 traffic was also trying to get off at Junction 4 that caused a tailback for 3 miles. Are you telling me that Bromsgrove and Worcs Council's didn't know this would happen when you bring 3 lanes down to just one lane?-further, when you do finally approach the island you see only 8 people working or walking around that is?-why didn't they open the lanes if they weren't working?...it's not rocket science is it, or is IT PURE INCOMPETENCE from a council we are all fed up to the back teeth with?-not looking forward to Monday morning folks??
THE SHARE OUT AT THE COUNCIL WITH YOUR MONEY?
"£250.000 given to council employees as a bonus that's in no way attached to productivity??"-This is the £250K they took out of the grit fund that we suffered over???-if it's truth you want you are reading the right web site here!
This is now a FAIR service to the people of Bromsgrove...
but check yourself as we copy the audits reports here for your inspection!-stick with it all and you will have your eyes well and truly opened!!
Authorities must demonstrate to local people that they are achieving continuous improvement in all of their services. The Government has decided that each authority should be scrutinised by an independent inspectorate, so that the public will know whether best value is being achieved.
This is how the council started......
It was agreed by Bromsgrove Council that gritting be reduced and make a saving £250,000
NOW YOU KNOW WHY THERE WASN'T ENOUGH GRIT PUT DOWN??
The Audit Commissions conclusion on the council was as follows:-
Many services are poor and some services were deteriorating: 1.The Council misses some dustbin collections, this has become worse over the last three years, and continues to deteriorate. 2.Employee productivity is low in a number of services, such as housing repairs and grounds maintenance. 3. Sickness rates are unacceptably high – an average of ½ day a week in some cases. 4. Customer services is poor and it is difficult to contact some services, such as cesspool emptying. 5. Existing contracts are poorly specified and do not give value for money. 6. Staff are not adequately managed resulting in a lack of performance management and poor productivity. 7. The targets the Council has set itself are unrealistic, not achieved and not monitored....and there's far more than that everyone, believe me or the audit, but both read from the same audit reports.
DECIDED TO ADD SOME MORE FOR BETTER MEASURE?
1. It has poor productivity, performance management and value for Money; 2. The new contract is not geared to delivering significant service improvement across all service areas; 3. There is no improvement or omprehensive contract implementation plan; and 4.The Council has not demonstrated in this review the vision, drive and capacity to deliver best value services...DID THE WORCS COUNTY COUNCIL ALSO ACHIEVE IN THE SAME MANNER ONE ASKS??-would brown paper envelopes be involved?-because after reading that lot, they would get less than poor?
So how after that lot, HOW did they achieve a 'fair' rating this year?
There are four ratings-poor-fair-good-excellent
Bromsgrove council have been 'Poor' categorised since 2001?
after 8 years in 2009 they get a FAIR category!!
So at that rate it will be 2025 to get to 'Excellent' everyone?
And after all that the council then gave everyone a bonus out of your council tax money??-Would Councillor Hollingsworth like to refute that at all??-in other words prove it to be true or false??..if he says it's false then why do we have an audit every year?-More on bonus's to come everyone!
Let's continue and see what else the audit inspectors had to say of this council that's just upped the tax by 7.7%??
1. The Council does not monitor the overall performance and value for money it gets from the service.
2. On balance, we found that value for money was poor. 2. Our inspection highlighted that the Council had been aware of many of the weaknesses with the service for over a year but had yet to tackle them properly. 3. It undertook a very limited options appraisal and decided to let a single contract for all of the services. 4. The council has not developed an improvement plan for the service that sets out how the service will be improved and what standards residents can expect. 5. The tender process was flawed and the end result did not deliver the envisaged better service at lower cost. 6. Councillors have been misled over the true cost of the new contract. 7. The Council has added £250,000 to the cost of the service with a new staff bonus (known locally as “profit share”), that is not linked to better services or productivity. The Council has no plan of how it will implement the new ‘contract’ or manage the service. 8 We lack confidence in the Council’s financial and performance management arrangements. 9. The external auditor has raised concerns about the financial statements. The new contract fails to significantly improve on the current levels of service. 10. The Council has not demonstrated in these services the vision, drive, and capacity to deliver best value for its residents. 11. Since our inspection, the Council has begun to tackle some of these problems, but it still has a great deal of work to do and has no firm written systematic plans to achieve this. This is a very serious situation. Given the importance of these issues, the Audit Commission intends to conduct a special inspection to consider the Council’s progress.
Scoring the service
We have judged Bromsgrove’s Depot Services as a 'fair' service that will not improve because: There has been no review of what Bromsgrove’s £3.8million investment is achieving;
Hope you all enjoyed the truth on your local council??
This is what the auditors has suggested??
1. Calculating the true cost of all services provided by the Depot. 2. Redefining the contract specification to require best value (top quartile) performance. 3. Informing the residents of the service standards they can expect to achieve. 4. Developing a procurement strategy and applying these to services. 5. Introducing an effective performance management and reporting regime. 6. Improve the corporate and financial management of the Council by: 7. Establishing service management accountability. 8. Improving financial procedures to ensure credible budget information . 9. Resolve the depot ‘Profit Share’ bonus issue. 10. Review and improve the Council’s arrangements to deliver best value in all services. 11 We believe that re-tendering the Council’s Depot Services is the best option available. Re-tendering will ensure that the Council properly specifies the service its wants, sets clear aims and top quartile targets to be achieved, exposes the service to competition and overcomes its serious weaknesses. 12. If the Council fails to complete an effective options appraisal we will recommend that the Council re-tender the service without further delay.
This report has been prepared by the Audit Commission “(the Commission”) following an inspection by the Commission under Section 10 of the Local Government Act 1999 (“the 1999 Act”). This report is issued by the Commission in accordance with its duty under Section 13 of the 1999 Act.
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>HERE>BROMSGROVE STANDARD NEWSPAPER<HERE<
Local newspapers are slowly fading away due to the recession, the above newspaper covers all issues that affect you and your CLENT AREA!
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We in Clent Divison 'even' get Support-from out of Bromsgrove?.here<
AND SO WE REPORT ON YOUR COUNCIL'S AND HOW THEY WASTE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY??
Campaigner urges action on issues-
Tristan Harris editor of The Bromsgrove Standard newspaper. 27 March 2009..
A CAMPAIGNER-- is urging his neighbours and other residents to join a group he is starting to tackle issues in the local area...here<
Leader and Councillor Roger Hollingsworth states in his reply through this newspaper that all my issues are fully attended to, well they are not for two months ago he refused to answer any more issues on the Clent Division, this was put in writing to me personally...Regarding your issues, THE COUNCIL TAX PAYER, yes report them to the council first and if you get no where contact the web site on our blogg page, tell us the issue and how long you have waited, it will go on a long list?-Councillor Hollingsworth does not want you to know how many complaints there are and asks you only to report to him-but by also reporting them on this web site, you can then check for yourself on if issues are attended to or plain IGNORED??>blogg here now<Further I have now reported his council's attitude to the public to the LGO for their answer on this JOKE of a council, run by party political ingrates.
THE SILENT MAJORITY OF BROMSGROVE ARE HAPPY WITH HIS EFFORTS-SAYS ROGER HOLLINGSWORTH!--so we take yet more letters from the people of Bromsgrove and show on this web site the silent majority are not happy bunnies one BIT!
From the letters page this week 28th March 2009 of The Bromsgrove Standard and is Hollingsworth attending to these other issues also, one writer feeels very different indeed and another says we can surely do better?..read below!
Roads are a disgrace Tristan Harris 27 March 2009 I would echo KJ Breillat's call for us to consider council services when we are given the chance to vote.
I am appalled at the state of our roads and Worcestershire's County Council's amateur attempts to eliminate pot-holes.
When I was in the motor industry, it was Belgian pave that was the 'challenge' to vehicle handling and noise. Now I read that the Kia Soul has had its suspension adjusted for UK roads!
When will the county council wake up and realise it should spend more on our road repairs, less on compensation for damaged vehicles, and make our highways safe for cyclists and motorists alike.
We do have the right to vote this summer, so let's vote for those who can or will deliver local services - not simply for those who fail, but wear national party badges.
Anthony Moxon
Bromsgrove
Let's give someone else a go Tristan Harris 27 March 2009 I for one can not wait for a general election!
The great Labour experiment has failed!
The country has the worse debt in history.
The Labour Government's sleaze is far greater than that ever experienced under the Tory party, and the country has become a laughing stock under Gordon Brown.
The former so-called 'prudent' chancellor, spent years distributing the hard-earned wealth of other (namely of the taxpayer) and now we have a country that is in massive financial problems that my 14-month-old grandsons will be paying in to old age.
Neither the Prime Minister nor the current chancellor have a clue about running a business or creating wealth.
How on earth then will they be able to turn the country around?
The fiddling around with the VAT has just caused problems for every business and has not changed anything with regard to the customer spending.
The sooner this Government is voted out the better!
They are just blind leaders of the blind!
The only other thing to say is, I never voted for them.
Grahame Bennett
Rubery
Rating is nothing to shout about Tristan Harris 27 March 2009 I was touched, but not in a good way, to learn of Coun Hollingworth's delight that Bromsgrove District Council had 'catapulted from a Poor to a Fair CPA rating'.
Apparently, this trajectory allowed the council to leapfrog a 'weak' rating along the way.
It is a sad indictment of our glorious local government leadership that it has become a matter of some significant pride, not just in the local press, but also in the 'your services' booklet included in the recent council tax bills, that Bromsgrove
council has ceased to be totally inadequate and is now merely mediocre.
Dr P A Blackmore
Bromsgrove
Tax rise is ludicrous Tristan Harris 27 March 2009 We knew the increase in tax was on its way, but surely they must have an idea as to what is going on at the moment over the world.
Majority of people are either on a short day week if they are lucky, or already have been made redundant.
So the council must of thought long and hard about it - OK, two seconds, thought over. We will remove everyone's green bin, unless they cough up more money and we will increase the cost of everyone's council tax to pay for the service we have taken off everyone!
You got it? It doesn't make sense to me either. So how does the council put two and two together and get a tax increase? Not only have people been cut of there jobs, there is more to pay.
I knew we should of sat on our back sides and sponged off the state. We would probably be better off that way as well.
Enough said, as the council will not take any notice, like normal.
Not happy Bromsgrove Resident
(Must be mad when there is nothing in the town)
Don't knock down all of our heritage 27 March 2009
Ron Kimberley from Rubery is dead right to say that the Old Meadows School Building still has '50, 60 or even 100 years' life left in it.
There are too many greedy contractors, too eager to take the easier route of demolition and new build, taking millions of pounds of public money to destroy our heritage.
Wouldn't it be simpler, easier and better to renovate, convert, restore and refurbish the Meadows. Surely, it would be cheaper?
I support the idea of providing residential accommodation for 'looked after' teenagers making the transition to adulthood in a caring community. I support converting the Meadows building into such a facility for young people and know many local people will make new residents welcome whatever 'label' is attached to them.
In a time of deepening crisis, let's conserve and protect what we have and, in the process, rebuild a deeper sense of place, belonging and community.
This is the way to promote cohesion, togetherness and peace.
Mark Anthony France
Sidemoor
ANAYSES FOR THIS WEEK IS THAT WE ARE THE SILENT MISGUIDED MAJORITY?
So after reading the letters from just one week, how do you now feel about Roger Hollingswoth attending to all issues and are we all now UNJUSTIFIED, UNREASONABLE AND MISGUIDED ???
------------------------------------REGISTER YOUR ISSUES HERE AFTER DOING SAME WITH COUNCIL, THEN WE COMPARE AFTER ONE MONTH?-------------------------------------
WE CONTINUE....
So are all issues attended to?..let us know through this web site, just take a look at the letters page this week of the BROMSGROVE STANDARD NEWSAPER!..take a lok at the isssues in your area as you go further down this web site page, almost 1500 issues reported in one week from just Hagley alone, not my figures by the way, if they were Hollingsworth would say I made them up?..if you live in Clent division, then your ward is mentioned below on all issues reported.
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NOW fast forward TAKE A LOOK BELOW OF ALL ISSUES REPORTED-ALL IN CLENT DIVISION!>below!
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BUT FIRST TO OUR FIRST GREAT QUOTE?
Who is deputy council leader???-joke and laugh everyone!!!
"The only people with money to spend are the Council's", said by Councillor Rita Dent of Bromsgrove District Council-so they increase the council tax to a hike this year of 7.7%(inc bin tax!)-SHE ALSO SAID THAT THE PEOPLE HAVE STOPPED MONEY FROM BEING SPENT IN THE TOWN DUE TO THEM PETITIONING FOR A SCHOOL TO STAND AND NOT BE DEMOLISHED!-A PLAIN CASE OF DO AS WE TELL YOU AND NOT WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT???
THE VILLAGES AROUND BROMSGROVE>HERE<UNBIASED STORIES.
The above country scene at the top of this page you could say can be seen from any of the Wards here in The Clent Division, but as we look closer, you in fact see villages in decay and all due to party political interferance in our paid up services...THE SYSTEM MUST CHANGE!
WE BRING YOU THE TRUTH ON THE AREA WHERE YOU LIVE, FORGET THE COUNCILLORS AND CANDIDATES AT THE NEXT ELECTION, IT'S WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET?
STOP PRESS!
March 2009
"Hagley reports 1250 issues to the council in
....JUST one month?"
and even more defiant..only 43 people paid for their
GREEN BIN TO BE EMPTIED IN ROMSLEY!!
SO PEOPLE POWER WANT...
LET US KNOW IF YOU PAID YOURS ON THE BLOGG SITE?.here<
(no one will be contacted)-(JUST SUPPORT COMMON SENSE?)
>WE NEED<
Freedom from Control of Party Political Councils and Party Councilors.
TORY-TORY-TORY-TORY and what is it about this party that people keep on voting for even though they ignore your issues, push up taxes in a recession??
AND USE YOUR COUNCIL TAX FOR PERSONAL TAXI JOURNEYS!
FREE TAXI TO AND FROM WORK--NICE ONE??
Councillor & Leader of Worcestershire County Council George Lord uses your council tax money for his personal taxi rides to and from work and everywhere on official business!!-what's a bus or train he says!
HE CONTINUES TO USE OUR MONEY..
HE CONTINUES TO USE COUNCIL MONEY FOR HIS OWN TORY PARTY GAINS>>>
EVERY TIME AN ELECTION DRAWS NEAR YOU SEE ROAD WORKS??_______________________________________________________
DON'T YOU WANT YOUR MONEY COLLECTED AND USED FOR PUBLIC SERVICES?
DO YOU YOU LIKE PEOPLE FEATHERING THEIR OWN PARTY FURTHERENCE WITH YOUR MONEY?
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR MONEY HELD BACK FOR ROAD WORKS AND CLEANING OUT DRAINS UNTIL WE ARE ON THE EVE OF AN ELECTION??
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We need to come together to beat this system which is outdated??
SO HERE GOES WITH THIS ALLIANCE AND LET'S ALL BE HONEST??
We have thought deep and hard about this web site and whether we should do it or not-But how do you set out a web site effectively and honestly that will show no bias, that shows only true issues that we all go through every day-with only one cause to get our voices heard and create-CHANGE????
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WHAT'S WRONG WITH LABOUR-TORY-LIB DEM POLITICAL PARTIES???
They act for their party and not you, they ignore pot holes and floods till it comes near to an election, they spend money that should go on roads elsewhere and when it has to be spent in the right areas, you then get a tax increase to pay for it, just like the one you've had now, but should not have especially during a recession, THEY EVEN SPLIT A TAX DEMAND WITH THE GREEN BIN SYSTEM AND YOU END UP PAYING 7.7%???- A caring and interested council would hold back on all public service new ideas until we see the ecconomy pick up and people get back to work?-I call that a FINGERS UP to you all?
A 2002 Council idea is hatched? I know what we'll do?..what's that everyone said!-
WE'LL HAVE A TWO BIN SYSTEM!!
After the idea was hatched in 2002 the council was told by the AUDIT COMMISSION that they had made no provision for collecting the green bin when they were planning to split the two services-They were told consequently, the system would cost them/the public an extra £50K in the first year of it being rolled out and every year after that £100K ! So, they cannot afford to take this on this burden any longer so they said the garden refuse was always free so we now charge you for it-BUT IT WASN'T FREE AT ALL?-It was all inclusive!!-So you are in effect paying for incompetence yet again?
7.7% EFFECTIVE COUNCIL TAX INCREASE!!
'AND THIS IS WHY WE NEED NON-PARTY POLITICAL INERVENTION'
I REMIND YOU AGAIN HERE???
Who's responsible locally for floods and road repairs?-your very own Clent Councillor ED MOORE WHO IS ALSO CHAIRMAN OF THE HIGHWAYS...You voted him in last 2005??
HOW WE ARE DUPED?
So now you can see why we have horendous conditions on our roads and is due to the same bunch(Tory) being voted in every time?..And as I said previously, come an election and they will do these things for you?...but only in a fashion that weeks after the Election we see the tarmac come up yet again??-
SORRY TRUTH ONLY ON THIS SITE!
We saw the same thing in Romsley in 2005, was it the same in your ward?...holes were filled in weeks before the County Election and weeks later the tarmac fell out again. Another wayt to get votes was to renovate a few council houses in the estate..another was to set up speed signs.
And four years later in 2009 in just one ward only we see below the complaints that continue to come in from just Hagley alone, that's part of the Clent division...look at the other areas also!
BELOW SHOWS WHERE THE POT HOLES ARE IN ROMSLEY VILLAGE ONLY?
Potholes in road (0.4km) (fixed) Potholes, poor repairs (1.8km) (fixed) Wooden Bench Snapped in Half... (2.9km) Settee (3.2km) (fixed) Potholes (3.5km) N259KMW - Hyundai Accent Coupe (4.4km) (fixed) Litter everywhere constantly (4.4km) Graffiti everywhere (4.4km) Heaps of Rubbish (4.4km) Faulty street lamp (4.4km) Is it possible to have this removed? (4.5km) Litter everywhere constantly (4.5km) Grit Box (4.6km) Trench across road (4.7km) (fixed) Multiple potholes (4.7km) Litter everywhere constantly (4.7km) Street Ballads (4.8km) Accident waiting to happen (4.9km) Grit bins (4.9km) (fixed) Large pothole (4.9km)
BELOW SHOWS THE POT HOLES IN CLENT ONLY?
Dumped vehicle on private property (2.4km) Potholes when exiting station car park (2.4km) Graffiti (2.6km) Street Cleaning (2.8km) Pavement is uneven (2.9km) Is it possible to have this removed? (3.2km) Wooden Bench Snapped in Half... (3.2km) Settee (3.2km) (fixed) Junction warning (3.3km) Holly Grove Road Repairs (3.8km) Flooding (3.8km) Accident waiting to happen (3.9km) Grit bins (3.9km) (fixed) General junk and rubbish (3.9km) Litter/two fly tips (4km) Potholes in road (4.1km) (fixed) Recurring potholes in Stakenbridge (4.1km) (fixed) Potholes in Stakenbridge, Churchill (4.1km) (fixed) Enormous potholes (4.2km) (fixed) Litter,grafitti & dog mess on walkway (4.4km) (fixed)
NEXT IS BELBROUGHTON POT HOLES ONLY!
Litter/two fly tips (3.5km) Pavement is uneven (3.5km) Recurring potholes in Stakenbridge (3.8km) (fixed) Potholes in Stakenbridge, Churchill (3.8km) (fixed) Potholes, poor repairs (3.8km) (fixed) Enormous potholes (3.9km) (fixed) Red paint on sign (4.6km) In sanders park by Kids play area (5km) Potholes in road (5.1km) (fixed) Spenser Walk Sign missing (5.6km) Sign disappeared (5.7km) Graffiti (6.3km) Potholes when exiting station car park (6.4km) Dogs Fouling On My Garden! (6.6km) (fixed) Multiple potholes (6.7km) Wooden Bench Snapped in Half... (6.7km) Settee (6.9km) (fixed) Dumped vehicle on private property (6.9km) Street Cleaning (7.2km)Faulty street lamp (7.3km)
Hagley area have had so many like 1250 reported in one month, we show a few?
Seagulls Light out Dog fouling Failed street lamp Pothole
Hunnington, down the road from Romsley in case you don't live in the area?
Potholes in road (1.6km) (fixed) Wooden Bench Snapped in Half... (1.8km) Potholes (1.9km) Settee (2.1km) (fixed) Trench across road (3.1km) (fixed) Potholes, poor repairs (3.4km) (fixed) Is it possible to have this removed? (3.5km) Massive Deep Pothole (3.6km) Large pothole (3.7km) Accident waiting to happen (3.7km) Grit bins (3.8km) (fixed) General junk and rubbish (3.9km) Fragile Lamp Posts (4km) Barking dogs (4km) Junction warning (4.3km) Litter everywhere constantly (4.4km) Dangerous driving conditions (4.4km) Graffiti everywhere (4.4km) Litter everywhere constantly (4.5km) Litter everywhere constantly (4.5km)
Last but not least is Old Frankley
Two abandoned vehicles (0.7km) WHere I have marked is now a home for blind/visually impaired people - Pocklington Place (1km) No light (1.1km) Dog s*it (1.1km) Vehical parked on pavement (1.2km) (fixed) [edited] White Renault (1.2km) (fixed) Car & trailer using footpath as driveway (1.2km) Street Lighting (1.3km) Traffic Lights - crossing (1.5km) Parking on double yellow lines (1.6km) Pothole (1.7km) (fixed) Parking outside my own house (1.7km) Potholes in Abbeydale Road (1.8km) Road safety (2.1km) Dangerous potholes (2.1km) Dog fouling (2.2km) Dangerous pothole (2.3km) (fixed) Anti Social Behaviour (2.3km) (fixed) Litter everywhere constantly (2.4km) Extensive Graffiti (2.5km)
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We continue.......
In this web site we show only true issues that can be checked on copuncil web sites, audit sites and newspapers, many party political grass rootes operators will try to put this effort to form this ALLIANCE down, but if they did, ask yourself why?...will they say it's all untrue-'but you know different' or say we will do better and change and that's the bit that makes you say, well maybe, just maybe I will vote for them again-that's the bit that gets them elected and you GET the same next year and for another 4 years!!!
So, whether we will succeed in doing good in the Clent Division without 'PARTY' political intervention is in your hands and you being honest with yourselves will go a long way in getting that answer?
I want money spoent here that we pay the council every year, we are in a rural community and top of the list is roads and then dealing with floods!!
LIE TO YOURSELF WHEN YOU REALLY KNOW DIFFERENT-THEN YOU LIE DOWN WITH THE DEVIL YOU KNOW-WHICH IS WHAT YOU NOW HAVE!
WHICH IS IGNORANCE, LIES, TWO FACEDNESS-INCOMPETENCE!!
SO TO START WITH...
We all live together in what is now known as The CLENT DIVISION!
We all pay council tax for public services AND WITH that relevance is why we have set up this web site. Many are saying we are getting council services that are far from effective-Many say we pay 100% council tax and get a very small percentage back-how do you feel about that statement?
2002 AND NOW IN 2009
WE NOW PAY DOUBLE???-YES DOUBLE!!
WE DON'T ASK FOR A LOT?-BUT PAY A LOT AND ALSO THE SAME COUNCIL TAX AS OTHERS IN TOWNS THAT GET BETTER SERVICES THAN WE DO?
The CLENT DIVISION consists of villages that are interconnected by small roads and lanes, a few shops- When we get heavy rain we expect not to be flooded out,- When it snows we don't expect to have to stay at home TILL THE SUN HAS DONE THE COUNCIL'S WORK. When everything is dry and a bright sunny day, we don't expect to be confronted with a pot hole, that can break a wheel, tyre, suspension or worse?-some holes we know-due to them being there for many years??
One Romsley villager said, pulling over to the left of the road to let someone pass now in my car, means you can drop into a hole and consequence is the steering can get misalligned, this then cause undue tyre wear!
ARE 'WE' EXPECTING TOO MUCH?
AND JUST WHO ARE THE SILENT MAJORITY THAT COUNCILLOR/LEADER ROGER HOLLINGSWORTH OF BROMSGROVE COUNCIL TALKS ABOUT?
He feels that if you don't complain, then you are the silent majority that's happy with what he doesn't deliver..this is some guy that needs psycho-therapy to make statements like that one?-and he made that in the Bromsgrove Standard in February 2009.
Are we complaining for nothing, the council's feel that we are, many people complaining to the council's now go on a Persistent Complainers REGISTER AND ARE THEREFORE IGNORED IN THE FUTURE COMPLAINTS THAT THEY MAKE-How do you all feel about that?-They now have the right to ignore your complaints?
Why do we expect better services, WHY is because we pay the same amount of tax than someone in a town where a pot hole in a High Street is almost immediately repaired, so why can't we have the same services?
NOT SAME SERVICES AS A TOWN!
Villages don't have libraries, swimming pools, police stations, fire stations, council buildings that soak up council tax-so we are not at all demanding on the public purse, but we are treated like poor cousins of the towns?
WHAT USE OUR COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCILLOR'S?
People generally vote in party political figures because of various reasons, one is that they have always voted in that party in the past and can't see why it shouldn't continue?
-But if you are paying say £1900.00 this year in an E Banded house and you live in a part of Clent Division where all you see is deprivation of drains, roads etc, doesn't that make you feel you are consistently voting for that JUST to continue??-if you wanted change you would go elsewhere wouldn't you?
TRY A DIFFERENT WAY?-FOUR YEARS ISN'T A LIFE TIME?
This is not meant to come across as political to you all, but we are let's face it administered by political animals and these people say where your money is spent, if any at all?-We have had Conservative Councillors in Clent Division for many a year and let's face it, regular maintenance of our servcices has just not happened has it?-it's now more than ERODED??
THE WELCOMING PART....
Hoping you are still reading, if you re not interested in what we are trying to achieve, just say you don't on our Blogg site and why, please be constructive, hold your breath and be constructive, so many people are ready to be objectional in an unsavioury manner these days. Whatever your views, one, must be that you pay money for a public service and if you don't get it, what do you do about it? -that's the attitude we want from you, then we go forward, not backward or stand still?
YOUR CHOICE IS HERE!
You now have a choice, carry on festering and upsetting yourself further, or come together with other people that's plainly fed up with continued tax hikes and public services eroding to the extent that many car drivers now use a different route?
STAY WITH US?
We now welcome you as a hopeful participant to the web site that will get us somewhere in seeing our services attended to in the future, how we do this, is now explained in full and what the people of Romsley have done and are doing, the main part is, they have COME TOGETHER, under a common theme/bond, which is.....
"WE MUST GET EFFECTIVE PUBLIC SERVICES IN OUR VILLAGES!"
(The Blog page-TELL US- is unregulated-WE TRUST YOU?)
>>>THE CAMPAIGN STARTS HERE<<<
We have started off with a leaflet being posted in Clent, Belbroughton, Romsley and Hagley...sorry we cannot get around to individual houses, we just hope you've read the leaflet in a Post Office, Garage etc and now come to this web site to either agree or pull us to pieces, we expect the latter quite a bit as to get us future truthful independent administration other than by a political party that lies and ignores us all- will cause eruptions?--WE ARE READY THOUGH-IF YOU BACK US?!
WE CAN GET TOUGH WITH COUNCIL'S IF YOU ALL COME TOGETHER, APART, THEN WE ARE CONTINUED SITTING DUCKS?
SO TAKE NOTE EVERYONE???
WE SAID>NO GREEN BIN TAX HERE IN ROMSLEY VILLAGE!
91% OF THE ROMSLEY VILLAGE SAID NO!
ROMSLEY ARE NOW VERY MUCH TOGETHER WITH VOTING THAT OUT OF 480 HOUSES IN THE VILLAGE, ONLY 43 PAID FOR THEIR GREEN BIN TO BE EMPTIED?
AND IT'S OFFICIAL AND ALSO DOCUMENTED HERE...
From THE BROMSGROVE STANDARD NEWSPAPER
Romsley villagers won't pay for green bin collection 9:17am Wednesday 11th March 2009
Comments (0) Have your say »
Dear Editor,
Today being Wednesday the 11th March 2009, here in Romsley we get the first green bin collection service that the council are charging us extra for.
After walking around the estate this morning, I counted just 43 orange stickers on green bins showing these people are willing to pay the extra tax for a service that was once included with our collection of refuse before the bin system was rolled out to us.
The residue of people in the village have signed my petition saying that they will not pay and these amount to hundreds shown in the picture taken.
It's assessed that at least £10,500 that the council expected to collect will not now be collected.
For we in Romsley will not pay or ever pay.
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THAT'S HOW WE FEEL IN ROMSLEY VILLAGE
SO NOW HOW DO YOU FEEL?...LET US KNOW >HERE<
So hopefully you have by now read in our leaflet IN SOME SHOP, POST OFFICE OR PUBLIC HOUSE on what we hope to achieve within our villages, without the continued Party Politics, in saying that we mean any political party, be it Labour, Tory, Lib Dem-These organisations give you a candidate to vote for, that candidate when elected then has to conform to what his/her leader feels is right for your Ward or Division-you may inform these elected councillors at meetings that roads need repairing, but unless his/her leader says yes, then you don't get the road repaired!-
So now you say why vote them in?....Exactly, party politics is primarally there for a party of people all vying for important positions in POLITICAL life, you come somewhere down the pecking order and to keep you on board, money is always spent a few months just before an Election!
Here in Romsley we are no longer looking for political parties to Voice the villagers needs or requests, we've tried it and it doesn't work-we get much further with our issues by offering up petitions and through these petitions being signed shows what the people really want and not what a party political councillor or leader of that party feels we want?
And what the people really want is, recognition that we no longer pay a council tax and receive nothing in return.
The villagers of Romsley have come to the end of their tether in asking for issues to be attended to by Councillors who attend our Parish Council meetings and from feedback it seems pretty general in the whole of the Clent DIVISION.
Issues we wanted attended to like when we started off with out very first petition asking for an after 7pm bus service in and out of the village in 2004.
The petition was ignored by the council, we were told it wasn't required even though hundreds in the village said it was, many were the young people wanting to get out the village to enjoy themselves rather than being kept in the two pubs every night, which is not healthy!!-not all the young in the village drink, many like to go swimming, play football etc outside of the village and an after 7pm bus service would serve these people admirably.
We continued on with a CCTV camera petition in 2003, again we were told it wasn't necessary and since then we have had a raid on the post office twice and once on the General stores.
In JANUARY 2009 the village again signed petitions for cctv, we are waiting for the answer on that one also?
Last year 2008 we signed petitions for repairing our roads, we got some recognition there, but more of an insult as they were only patched up and much of that just 2 weeks later has already fell out(see our pics)
Again last year 2008 we were mostly flooded out due to drains not being cleaned out- the County Council admitted that the contractors were not doing the job and were sacked off the job, but we had to tell them first? A council spokesman said the floods were also down to the farmers creating furrows in the wrong direction-this answer was given at the Romsley Parish COUNCIL MEETING IN DECEMEBER 2008.
Last Wednesday 4th March 2009 was our first day of the year for Green Bin collection, but the villagers again had come together and said no we will not pay the extra, approxiamately 43 bins were seen to be put out, meaning they had paid the £30.00 requested by the council to have the bin emptied, the remaining 437 houses had said no to it!!
So we are very determined as you can see for our future- we want no more ignorance from the two council's that supply us with public services, they are The Bromsgrove District Council and The Worcestershire County Council, both are wholly administrated by the CONSERVATIVE PARTY....our MP is also Tory.
THE COUNTY COUNCIL HAVE RECEIVED A TRIBUTE TO THEIR SERVICES THEY SUPPLY US WITH, BUT IN REALITY THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN SO POOR WITH ROADS AND DRAINS NOT BEING ATTENDED TO....WE ALL KNOW THAT?
AND NOW TO OUR PETITION IN YOUR WARD:
We are asking that you join us along with other wards and by doing this, we gain muscle to fight the council's in the future, it's a plain fact that elected County and District Councillors ignore our requests on our issues that are important to us, or they are told to be quiet or ELSE, the or ELSE is a 6months suspension for that councillor, which is rediculous and is more adaptable to a school boy being told off!!
Getting together throughout the Clent Division will be the formidable strength that we need when for example one or all of the villages is not getting an issue or issues attended to by the council concerned?... It works like this, if you first sign this petition, we will then know if there's an interest, if there is then we start it off. If an issue appears in say Clent and it's being ignored, then you come through this wb site and state the issue, we then make out a petition on that issue and it will go to each ward in the division, here it will atract thousands of signatures, this is the muscle we need?...relying on a COUNTY or DISTRICT Councillor is getting us no where?
JUST WRITE BACK ON THE 'FEEDBACK' above and support us to start off with, tell us your issues.
If sufficient respond, we will ask you to set up a committee in each ward bringing together the outstanding issues that Parish COUNCIL'S are not getting any where with.
We are in a recession, soon a depression, we can no longer see council's ignore the plight of the countries finances and spend money like Water and also up our council tax in CRAFTY two stages...NOW AT 7.7% THIS YEAR- THAT'S THE BIN TAX AND COUNCIL TAX COMBINED!
THE VILLAGERS OF ROMSLEY ARE MAKING A STAND AND WE ASK YOU TO JOIN US- IF WE DON'T COME TOGETHER NOW IN A RECESSION AND SOON DEPRESSION.....
WHEN WILL PEOPLE COME TOGETHER AND SAY NO MORE??
SINCERELY AND....
THANKYOU,
THE CLENT ALLIANCE IS AS STRONG AS YOU MAKE IT.
The country has never been as bad as this in many people's lifetime, it's that way becuase we ignored the signs of what your elected people were actually doing and that was fiddling us all...Brown visits Brazil and is told, it's the white blue eyed people that's brought this upon the whole world!!
STAN FRANCIS (ROMSLEY VILLAGER)
I am Standing up for The Working classes who will get us out of this recession by paying more taxes, but in return the same people that caused the recession will still be administrating you and taking massive amounts of money out of the poublic purse, plus gold plated pensions and pay-offs!--thats if you vote for them again?-How we all vote these coming elections will in effect control your life for the next 20 years to come!
Forget what you've done in the past, snobbery will give us the same and what is snobbery?...The trait of condescending to those of lower social status-it's higher social status that's got us where we are--DO YOU SUPPORT THAT??
SO ON BEHALF OF THE HUNDREDS HERE IN ROMSLEY VILLAGE WE ASK THE REST OF YOU IN THE VILLAGES MAKING UP THE CLENT DIVISION TO JOIN US?
HEADLINES AS A REMINDER??
1. NO MAINTENANCE ON DRAINS HAS CAUSED £THOUSANDS IN DAMAGE TO HOMES THROUGHOUT THE CLENT DIVISION IN SEPTEMBER 2008!!
2. POT HOLES HAVE CAUSED £THOUSANDS IN DAMAGE TO VEHICLES WHEREBY COUNCIL'S HAVE PAID THEM OUT OF OUR COUNCIL TAX, RATHER THAN REPAIR THE ROAD!
Your Worcestershire County Council was wholly responsible for those two services alone...and your elected Councillor Ed Moore was the man that Chaired the committee's on bother public services!!
PAY YOUR COUNCIL TAX AND GET IN REURN A PUBLIC SERVICE
not..
PAY YOUR COUNCIL TAX AND GET YOUR MONEY SPENT ON A POLITICAL PARTY!!
? X ?
