Colin James

On 17/03/2019 at 23:11, Martin Cassini said:

With regard to a traffic lights-off trial - to show that congestion improves and courtesy thrives when people are free to use their inner lights - if things are organised properly, we won't need pedestrian lights, because pedestrians will enjoy equality with other road-users. 

Preparation for a citywide trial will communicate a shift in the balance of power: away from the motorist, and in favour of the vulnerable road-user (where power rightly belongs). If anything, pedestrians will be "more equal than others".

Vulnerable road-users include side-road drivers because, like pedestrians and children, they are demoted and neglected under the current anti-social system of priority. See my website, Equality Streets, for more on this.

Given equality, the only justification for lights is at multi-lane intersections at peak times. Otherwise, in the absence of a bridge or flyover, let all junctions - and streets for that matter - be all-way give-ways. Universal benefits include a transformation in road safety, air quality and quality of life. 

I'm looking for a city to go traffic light-free for a possible TV series. It will take care of the public engagement elements. 

Councillors: there are no liability issues. I have chapter and verse on that.

Given a willing city and a TV series, Hereford could pioneer a peaceful revolution and be an example to the world.

Sad note. Ben Hamilton-Baillie died recently of cancer.

In later years, Ben ditched his own term, "shared space", in favour of "low-speed environments", partly because shared space is often confused with shared surfaces. We agreed on most things to do with traffic, diverging only on one point: Ben thought street redesign on its own could bring about the desired behaviour change from aggression to cooperation. I always thought it should be combined with a change in the basic rule of the road - from priority to equality - along with a new driving test, legal reform, culture change and re-education.

Martin Cassini

Thank you Martin 

Good luck Tracy Bowes Belmont Rural, she is an excellent councillor.

2 hours ago, Tom Smith said:

You need to look at it this way.

If 100 people were in a room only 37 of them voted to leave.

That tells you why the Brexit situation has come about.

I don't respect the vote as both sides lied to the electorate.

I have to disagree, I knew exactly what I was voting for, LEAVE the EU!

I do not remember reading anything on the ballot paper about any deals etc.. I voted to leave the EU, that was to LEAVE the Custom Union, Leave the Single Market, LEAVE EVERYTHING! The Remoaners are adding their own complications to justify a second referendum.

On 15/11/2018 at 22:17, Roger said:

No Deal is on the table. That was always my choice. That might focus some minds' if we were serious about leaving. Which we never have been ~ as a Govt. As for Jesse Norman he has never engaged enough with the Brexit process for my liking. He seems to be backing May with that tweet but he has been too low profile on this important issue. Or rather no profile. 

I also think unless we get a better deal than the current terrible one that we should walk away with NO DEAL. 

On 15/11/2018 at 22:17, Roger said:

No Deal is on the table. That was always my choice. That might focus some minds' if we were serious about leaving. Which we never have been ~ as a Govt. As for Jesse Norman he has never engaged enough with the Brexit process for my liking. He seems to be backing May with that tweet but he has been too low profile on this important issue. Or rather no profile. 

I also think unless we get a better deal than the current terrible one that we should walk away with NO DEAL. 

Personally, I hate the roof, looks like the old market and I Neve liked that cattle shed design either, still better than the original option

On 16/02/2019 at 23:10, John Harrington said:

Oh dear oh dear, poor old Paul. The problem with adopting the confident "I'm a good old boy, I know everything, trust in me" casual posture whilst listening adoringly to the sound of one's own voice is you do need to at least know something. And to know something you need to do a little more than half skimming and misremembering your Google search - it will come to many Kiwis as somewhat of a shock that Invercargill lost 48000 odd residents overnight. God, Paul made Cllr Bruce Baker look intelligent with his idiotic ramblings on Shared Space and or variations of Shared Space, a term coined by Ben Hamilton-Baillie, which was meant to be descriptive of intent, not specific in description - ie/ you can adjust it to suit your town/city's circumstances. 

• Turning off traffic lights does not mean throwing the elderly, young and visually impaired into the road - crossings, even signal controlled, can and are often still used  
• Trials by micro-simulation would be done first before any live trials
• The Highways Agency, now Highways England,  offered to fund the micro-simulation
• Jesse Norman MP offered to help secure funding 
• Poynton, a Conservative controlled town in Cheshire has adopted a Shared space road redesign scheme with great success
• The heavily congested Cab Stands junction in Portishead has had it's lights removed with a reduction in congestion and accidents
• Accident rates always go down when traffic lights are removed
• Council or corporate liability is almost nil when lights are removed - ie/ 'accidents are up to you guv and your own actions'
• Cllr Rone is not an expert in road design nor do we seek or care for his open crisp packet, elbows on the edge of the bar opinions   
• Cllr Rone and the public do not care for my keyboard warrior opinions    
• If there is a political and public will it is the duty of Cllr Rone and myself and others to explore the possibility of experts giving us their expert opinion 
• Amey and or Balfour Beatty, will suffer a considerable reduction in budgetary income if lights are removed
• The Belmont (Asda) junction was a non traffic controlled roundabout years ago with more traffic using the road than there is now
• Likewise for the Steels Westgate (Tesco) roundabout
• This Conservative Cabinet has authorised the spending of over 5 million on trying to prove the case for a Western by Pass
• That's not provable because the Council officers can't actually produce documents to show if and how that overspend was authorised, I believe
• As a river crossing won't be completed for nearly a decade, let's crack on with easier and cheaper ways of getting the city moving 

I have always had respect for Cllr Edwards but I was very disappointed with Cllr Edwards because as you will remember John during our presentation about the traffic lights trial to the City Council when Phil Edwards was Mayor he promised a letter in support to our campaign from the Mayors office, which as you know, never came...

I have just been listening to the live stream from Full Council held yesterday at the Shire Hall in particular, the reactions from various Councillors about the alternative budget proposed by IOC.

Live Stream can be found here

At around 228 of the live stream Cllr Paul Rone speaks, during his brief response I notice that he says that if turning off the traffic lights is such a good revolutionary idea, then why has nobody else done it? Well actually Paul, quoting you using your own words from yesterdays meeting, "Seek Before You Speak"

Turning off traffic lights has been successful in several towns and cities, one that comes to mind is Portishead, check out the video below:

Portishead Traffic Lights

Furthermore, you suggest that nobody has done this other than Invercargill in New Zealand, you also suggest that this place has a mere population of 7,500 people, well actually you are wrong sir, it is almost as big as Hereford! 

Education Lesson below:

Quote

Invercargill is the 13th-most-populous city in New Zealand by population (50,800). The top 10 cities in New Zealand are: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, Tauranga, Napier-Hastings, Dunedin, Palmerston North, Nelson, Rotorua.

Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region.

You also say that it would be dangerous for pedestrians?? I am confused as there is no suggestion that any of the pedestrian traffic lights would be turned off at all, they would still be working, if this was given a trail and yes that is all we have ever asked for, a trial. Cllr. Rone also suggest that it would work for maybe 12 hours and then there would be mayhem? Again, we have video evidence much of which you will find on our youtube channel where the traffic lights have been out of order for several days and it is common knowledge that when these lights are out of service and using our words, the 'traffic just flows' in Hereford.

To suggest that the members commenting on here are irresponsible keyboard warriors is totally unfair, there has been a lot of research over the past 20 years including that of one of our members Martin Cassini, you can check out his credentials here

Martin Cassini on the One Show

Finally, you also ask why is nobody else doing this? Because people like you are all too quick to reject these proposals. Well as you can see above other towns and cities are doing this successfully or is your dismissal just down to the fact that this is not your or Cllr Edwards idea?

Cllr. Rone and Cllr. Edwards, I am passionate about our city and keen to explore all ideas that may eliminate the terrible daily congestion in Hereford, I just wish others would look and explore some of these ideas. 

13 hours ago, ragwert said:

I don't think you can walk in with rubbish Frank.

I walked my bed into Ross tip, I just had to ring the bell on the entrance, this sets of a mini siren to warn people of pedestrians, not sure about Hereford tip.

My son recently moved out and I decided to redecorate his old room. I will purchase a double bed and keep it as a guest room. I removed his old tiny 2.6 small single divan and thought I would take it to the tip yesterday (Sunday 27th January). If only I know what a palaver I was in for I would not have bothered! 

I drive a people carrier (Mercedes Vito), like the one below complete with rear seat and glass rear doors as per the photograph. We arrived at the tip at Rotherwas and I was asked by a chap who's name was Tim, what I had to tip, I replied just my sons single bed, he told me it would need to go into land fill and showed me where to park. As I parked up he then seamed to change his mind and asked me if I had a permit? A permit? I have not been to the tip in years so I was not sure what permit he was referring too, I explained that I was driving a people carrier and I was tipping just a bed, he then went to his little office and came out with a lithograph and pointed to a commercial van, I again explained that I have glass panels and seats in the back, he said you cannot tip here without a permit, I asked where do obtain a permit? Because I had the bed loaded already. He explained that it takes a few weeks and that I need to apply online but basically I could not tip this bed, I was frustrated and told him I would dump it on the side of the road (clearly I was not going to do that but I was angry). 

I telephoned a friend and he told me to take it to Ross on Wye, yes Ross on Wye! So I drove to Ross and I was told I could park outside and carry the bed onto the site, which is exactly what I did, how pathetic is this?? 

It is no wonder we so much fly tipping when they make it so difficult to take our old items. 

I am also confused as to how they expect anyone to drop off a bed in the absence of a larger vehicle of a van, you could not get it into a average car anyway, so had I not have the vehicle I would of borrowed my mates van anyway...

18 minutes ago, megilleland said:

From The Guardian today:

How will your MP vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal?

Between the opposition, the DUP and rebels from the pro and anti-EU wings of her party, May faces an uphill battle getting her deal through parliament

MPs may support or oppose the bill for a number of reasons: those on the government payroll, including cabinet ministers, must support the bill or resign. Those who have already resigned from government on this issue can be expected to vote against, as can those who have already submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister. Those of all parties who are campaigning for a “people’s vote” are also expected to vote against.

Looks like Jesse will be supporting Theresa May - can't see him resigning.
Bill Wigging is also down for supporting Theresa May.

Not much patriotism here.

I am keen to leave the EU and I supported the Tories however, this deal is not good at all, I would rather no deal at all than accept this.

Planning approved for this application with conditions  

The EU is right – 2018 should be the last time the clocks go back

EU plans look likely to end daylight savings times in 2019. This means that Sunday's clock change could be the last and the science and economics of the proposed change make complete sense.

Fall back, spring forward. Or is it spring back, fall forward? Does that mean we have longer, or shorter, in bed? Will I be more or less tired? Everything could be about to change. 

The clocks go back on Sunday, October 28, bringing an end to British Summertime and ushering in longer nights – as well as an extra hour of sleep. However, if EU plans are accepted, the bi-annual confusion of daylight saving times will soon be a thing of the past.

In September, the European Commission published a proposalto end seasonal time changes across the continent. If it becomes law, it means clock-tweaking will be stopped as soon as 2019. Clocks would go forward again on the last Sunday in March, and countries would have the option to turn them back in October. After that, there’d be no more changes. 

The move has a great deal of support across Europe. A public consultation found 84 per cent of citizens across all 28 member states were in favour of putting an end to bi-annual time change. The consultation had the highest number of responses ever received in any European Commission public consultation: 4.6 million people. 

“Millions responded and [they] believe that in future, summer time should be year-round, and that's what will happen,” said the commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker at the time. The proposals say EU member states will have the freedom to decide their own standard time – so could opt for either year-long summer or winter time. All this relies on a pretty ambitious schedule of support from national governments and MEPs, with adoption needing to be decided by March 2019 at the latest. 

Modern summertime changes were introduced in Europe during the 20th century, first by Germany and France during the first World War to conserve energy by burning less coal. Britain, along with other countries, followed suit, and in the following decades a variety of nations flipped in and out of seasonal changes. For example, the UK and Ireland kept British Summer Time (BST) going all-year in 1968 but then switched back again in 1972. The EU introduced legislation in 1996 to unify the practice across the continent: bi-annual clock changes, one on the last Sunday of March and one on the the last Sunday of October.

So why are things planned to change again? Those that want to abolish daylight savings say the energy-saving benefits of maximising hours of sunlight, a crucial driver in the 20th century, are no longer as important. “Newer studies confirm that the energy savings are nowadays marginal,” said commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic as he presented the EU’s report. “We are clearly heading toward smart cities, smart buildings and smart solutions which will bring much more savings than changes of the clock.”

There are also reasons around health and wellbeing. “It’s a fantastic idea,” says Joseph Gannon, clinical lead at the Sleep Disorders Clinic in London. “Anecdotally, when the clocks change I have an influx of patients coming in reporting some kind of insomnia.” 

“The key thing to remember here is that when it comes to sleep, we’re all built as basically as cavemen. They had no concept of time other than when the sun was in the sky. We get very used to certain cycles of sleep and if we change the time by an hour, the body struggle to compute.”

At the heart of this problem are the body’s circadian rhythms. These are the 24-hour patterns of activity that we go through everyday, influenced by light and controlled by a master clock in the brain, housed in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the hypothalamus. “It sends signals throughout the body, to smaller clocks that tell you when to sleep, to eat, to go to the toilet,” says Kyle Osbrink, curator of The Sun: Living With Our Star at the Science Museum.

“When you change the clocks you get a mini version of jetlag. If you’ve ever experience jetlag, you’ll know it’s when your internal clock isn’t synced to external time. Basically, when we lose an hour in the summer, it is hard for the body to adjust. One 2007 study suggests we never fully adjust”

Jolting circadian rhythms creates stress on the body, and this can ripple into all sorts of areas. A 2012 study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, for example, found evidence for a 10 per cent increase in heart attacks on the days following the change to daylight savings in March. There have been other studies that suggest daylight savings can lead to an increased risk of stroke, as well as workplace injuries.

Then there’s the economic argument for abolishing daylight savings. The EU is currently spread across three time zones. The UK, Ireland and Portugal use GMT, 17 states in central Europe use GMT+1, and eight states to the East use GMT+2. Depending on whether individual nations decide to adopt summer or standard “winter” time, the changes could see the UK and Ireland sharing the same timezone as much of mainland Europe. That could be an improvement for trade and communications. 

Of course, there’s also scope for neighbouring countries to decide on different standard times. “We ask the states to do it in a coordinated way,” says Enrico Brivio, spokesperson for the European Commission. “In principle we can live with two different time zones. What we don’t accept is that some keep the change of time and others do not, as that would have a disruptive effect on the single market.”

The UK has previously looked at synchronising its clocks with others. Matching France and Germany’s time chimes with the failed Daylight Savings Bill to move UK clocks forward an hour, synchronising the country with much of Europe. Part of the reason that proposed trial fell through in 2012 was because of concerns over traffic accidents. Critics argued darker mornings would mean more road accidents, whereas proponents argued brighter evenings would mean fewer accidents. A 2017 report in the British Journal of Medicine was inconclusive on the effects of daylight savings on road collisions. 

The failed bill also faced strong resistance from the Scottish National Party. Indeed, keeping BST would mean some areas of northern Scotland wouldn’t see sunlight until 10am in the depths of winter and this, some argue, could be dangerous for children travelling to school. It shows how a question about time can quickly become political. Unity of time can support internal trade and communications, but whose time is being kept? 

China, for example, geographically straddles five different time zones, but the People's Republic of China keeps only one time zone. That means the time of day is the same in Beijing, as it is the Western region of Xinjiang, 3,292km away. The time zone is optimised for the capital, where the sun rises around 7am – but won’t surface until close to midday in Xinjiang. 

The EU isn’t saying all its states should adopt the same time zone, but it nevertheless shows how time can be a political tool, particularly when it comes to instilling a sense of collective identity. The planned schedule for the proposal coincidentally coincides with the March 2019 Brexit deadline, although it’s unclear how the UK’s departure from the EU would affect any potential time zone alterations. (BuzzFeed has reported the UK is lobbying other EU countries to stop them changing the clocks). What happens, for example, if the UK ends up with one time and the Republic of Ireland ends up with another? 

“That’s a hypothetical situation and we couldn’t comment,” says Brivio, although another spokesman previously told the BBC he couldn’t see the suggestion causing particular difficulties across the Irish border. 

Time will tell. An informal meeting on the proposal is slated for October 29. For now, remember to enjoy the extra hour on Sunday, it could be the last.

Source

I thought that this had been put to bed once and for all sometime ago..

Thanks guys really appreciated.

Corden just sent me these too

I am not sure what happened today guys, I am a little disappointed. I left it with Keith and Jim to sort a few weeks ago because I am recovering from being in hospital for 8 days and waiting for an operation, so I was unable to attend.

Andrew (Ragwert) and his mrs were there at 9am with the replacement signs etc but he texted me to say nobody else was there. 

Jim called at my place at 10.15am to collect the paint but he has also just called me (10.50am) to say nobody was there, I appreciate JK was an hour later than scheduled but to be fair he thought others would be already there etc...

I am not sure what happened to Keith Marston

It is now late in the year and the weather is now unpredictable, so I will re-arrange now for the Spring.

Hi mate, Jim called here at 10.20am and was coming down with paint. He has literally just called me to say nobody was there. I will have to re-organise mate for in the Spring now as there was supposed to be a few people there. I will put something on the Duck Pond thread too because I left it with Keith Marston and he was not there either.

18 hours ago, bobby47 said:

Whilst your Gallstone has been a constant source of pain to you dear Colin, take comfort in the fact that it's a British Gallstone and British Gallstones are widely renowned as the best, the biggest and the most painful in Europe. The EU Gallstones are nothing in comparison to ours and it's yet another reason why we've gotta get out of this unholy Union. Speak to your young much loved young lady and she'll confirm to you that the Polish Gallstone is nothing compared to the British Gallstone and rather than wince in agony whenever it plays you up, think to yourself, 'thank God I'm British' and fully embrace the agony the British Gallstone is capable of delivering to you whilst your laid in bed recovering from this debilitating British condition.

Get well lad. My warmest regards to you and yours.

lol I knew you would cheer me up, thanks Bobby 

I am feeling the love ha ha thanks guys appreciated. 

Hi guy's

Just to give you the heads up.

You may have noticed a reduced amount of new topics from me recently. I was on holiday from the 9th - 16th, we were back for just a day before I was admitted to hospital for over a week. 

After various scans etc they found a rather large gallstone 15-16mm. I was in severe pain and had a bad infection with a lot of abdominal swelling. The good news is that I am now recovering at home waiting for my operation scheduled for week commencing the 15th to remove my gallbladder.

I am feeling a lot better than I was a week or so ago, so you will see more activity on the forum because as you can imagine I am getting bored. 

UPDATE: This is nothing to do with nesting birds because the good news is that this section of the Belmont Road has now been cut back since we published this topic a few days ago as you will see from the photographs that we have added however, the other side of the road is still to be done

Open Day - Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum

I took a walk into town and back this evening and I struggled to walk on some sections of the footpath because of overgrown bushes and trees. Have a look for yourselves;

Overgrown and unkept trees;

I have mentioned this several times in the past but I still have big concerns over about these few trees here on the Belmont Road, just the other side of the iron bridge heading into the city. A good storm and these trees will be down onto the main road. The roots are that big that they have dislodged the bricks from the wall.   

No forward thinking here and I agree an opportunity missed indeed.

Juncker is a complete knob and drunk

http://www.youtu.be/XPgiI46FCDU