SON OF GRIDKNOCKER

In the new ward of Dinedor Hill (formerly Hollington), there was a rum do concerning illegal advertising. This was to be a crucial seat, with IOC going mano-a-mano with the Tories. Four years ago they lost it, when the Greens' Gerald Dawe was ousted by Ledbury hatter Peter Sinclair Knight. For once, Bob 'Cloth Ears' Matthews had overlooked a city fight which could have been spoled by the Indies' intervention. IOC's David Summers eventually pulled off a memorable victory with a 42-vote majority. Mid-morning on polling day and a voter goes into the Rotherwas polling station, complaining that a car had been parked outside, festooned with Tory election propoganda. The car in question turns out to be owned by the Tory candidate, Peter Sinclair Knight, who had strategically positioned the vehicle - a large estate car - with its hatchback open, revealing a huge VOTE TORY placard propped up against the back seat. In double-quick time the ex-Guards officer was given his marching orders by the returning officer, who was unimpressed with his lame excuse: "I was only exercising the dog."!

Strange goings-on in local election polling stations (episode 94). I know I probably sound like George Galloway, but where I voted last week (Aylestone Hill Ward; Broadlands Primary School, Prospect Walk) the signposting to the actual station was simply abysmal. On my way home I had to direct several folk who were wandering around, seemingly lost. Two of them were on the point of packing it in and going home. One of the four candidates on the all-female slate was someone called Angie Tyler (who had had the bad taste to include with her election literature which came through our door, a flyer for a car book sale in memory of her dead daughter ffs!). When I stepped into the flimsy, un-curtained and hardly-private plywood polling booth, what should I find sellotaped to the counter but a 'Vote Angie Tyler' sticker. It didn't stay there very long! With all the patronising clap-trap we have to suffer from politicians every election night ("And I particularly want to express my heatfelt thanks to the returning officer..."), let's have a vote of no confidence for the election officials of Herefordshire, shall we, especially after the fiasco of Saxon Gate?

The case of the neglected Victoria House is an absolute disgrace (not least because the pathetic Hereford Civic Society, who should have lead the campaign, did nothing whatsoever to draw attention to its architectural importance). Sadly (and Dippy will know the individuals concerned) the two main campaigners for the retention of this handsome building, which was originally built as the private residence of the Chielf Eye Surgeon of the next-door eye hospital, were the late Dave Benjamin and the late Julie Woodward. They came up with a very realistic scheme in which the house would become a Community Centre for the people of the old St Nicholas Ward. The grounds were to become organic allotments (known in Havana, Cuba as organoponicos - Google it) of which our very own Monty Donn is the leading UK advocate. A sad story which looks destined to have an unhappy ending. @Ubique: TWG will no doubt enlighten us, but I think the building is 'on the cusp' between Victorian and Edwardian. A handsome structure, well wothy of retention. But try telling that to the the numpties who've just been re-elected for another 4 years!

@ Amanda: I did once - around the time you were chained to a bulldozer ! :-)

To my mind, quite the most unattractive aspect of the character of the new councillor for Newton Farm is that the man in garrulous. Some years back, a friend and I used to attend the full Council meetings at the Shire Hall - that is, until we both realised that they were turning us into masochists, such was the unbearable tedium of the majority of the contributions. The place only seemed to come to life when either Mark Hubbard or Liz Harvey were given the floor. The low points of the morning's oratory were either pompous outpourings by the rotund member for Kington, tedious contributions from the Pembridge pip-squeak (now representing Arrow), or long meandering cicumlocutions from Councillor Edwards. These would invariably end with the 4 words which were always magic to our ears: "In conclusion, Madame Chairman..." (though this was only a signal that he intended to talk for another 5 minutes!).

@ Aylestone Voice: 'Time to move on.' I wish you would!

Someone posted yesterday (I expect it was Greenknight, as he seems to have been talking a lot of common sense here lately), that the Independents and It's Our County really need to sort out their act over this business of not both fighting every ward together, but divi-ing out the winnable contests evenly and fairly. When he was IOC Leader, Mark Hubbard tried unsuccessfully to get Bob Matthews to play ball. Last Thursday, in 19 of the 51 contested wards across Herefordshire, Independents and IOC were on the same ballot paper, yet only managed to see off the Tory candidate in three cases (Aylestone Ward, Belmont and Greyfriars). Even more extraordinary is the fact that in 9 of these 19 contests, the combined Indie/IOC vote exceeded the Tory take, College being a classic example: Con 539, Indie/IOC 817! In other words (and get your hankies out for a good blub, folks), if either Paul Andrews or Roger Goodwin had graciously agreed to step aside, we wouldn't be stuck with the appaling Brian Wilcox for another four years! At national level, 'deals' between politicl parties are struck all the time. Why can't Herefordshire wake up and smell the coffee? I suspect that if an accommodation between Matthews and Powers had been struck before 7th May, we'd be looking at a very different set of results. And probably a very different administraion.

Thanks for the rallying cry, Dippy. I think an IOC / Herefordshire Indies coalition would be the best way to sort out the mess the (hopefully) outgoing administration has left us as its legacy. With Glenda playing pink-jacketed Nicola's king-maker role and perhaps Jim Kenyon as Red Ed? @ TWG: you mention a political party called the LibDems. Must be before my time: when exactly did they exist? Was it the Ice Age?

@ AV: 'narky' response as predicted! Though it is technically correct that the Boundary Commissioners proposed the geographic changes to the wards, you omit to observe that Herefordshire Council was given adequate time to consider and comment on these proposals. One IOC councillor spotted the Newton Farm anomaly (two sitting Indies would have to go head-to-head, fighting for a single seat) and pointed it out to Cllr Bob Matthews, observing "Whichever way you look at it, you're going to lose a councllor!" It seems the warning fell on deaf (or should that be cloth?) ears!

@ Mike Fitz. Welcome. I can confirm that this Hereford Voice website is not financed by 'It's Our County (I think poor old Colin's carpet fitter brother, has to stump up most of the cost!). As to the site's political leanings (if we could go nautical now), I'd say the majority of the passengers are standing on the port (left) side of the vessel, as it steams into Hereford City Harbour on 7th May, hoping to see the captain and his crew, wearing purple and green uniforms, step down onto the quay, to be greeted by the port's a-political Harbour Master, Dippy Hippy.

Welcome Jean to the county's liveliest political forum. Many of us here on The Voice believe that the topic which you have touched on - the fatuous £25-million City Link Road (an urban motorway just 800 metres long with, as TWG has pointed out, will have five set of traffic lights) will prove to be the final nail in the last administration's coffin. It's time for a change, but whatever your views folks, make sure you vote on 7th May.

Can I just ask a technical question of all you political pundits? I think it is grossly unfair that in the rearrangement of ward boundaries, the powers-that-be saw fit to put two existing councillors up head-to-head to contest a single seat. And what reallyt baffles me (this is the question bit coming up now) is why the council's Election Officer chose to label former-Councillor Edwards as an indie and poor old Glenda as 'unattached'? 'Unattached' implies homeless and without direction, which, in GVP's circumstances, is far from the case! On the other hand, I suppose being labelled a Herefordshire Independent is a bit of a back-handed compliment, since it says in brackets: "Willing to do the bidding of Bob Matthews and His Eminence Pope Sebastian Bowen". GVP on 7 May!

@ Megilleland: Faultless typography, mate. Observations: I agree with TWG about Aylestone's Amazonian struggle: feathers could fly! I also feel desperately sorry for the folk over the river that they're being asked to choose between Phil Edwards and Glenda Vaughan-Powell. Two more dedicated community councillors you won't find anywhere in this county.

With less than four weeks to Polling Day, Council Leader Tony Johnson has come out fighting, announcing that he has personally vetoed the recruitement - at a cost to the taxpayer of over £36,000 - of three new Shire Hall bosses, due to head up the Directorates of Adult & Wellbeing and Resources. On the eve of a knife-edge poll, Cllr Johnson's bold initiative is to appoint legendary Voice poster Bobby47 to all three key positions, at a combined annual salary of circa £300,000. In an exclusive interview, Bobby47 told The Voice: "I ain't planning to spend much time at Shire Hall - what with the fishing being good down on the Wye, and my dear friend Sally promising me unfold delights in the brambles. But yes, 300K will certainly help with the baccy and booze."

@ Cambo. You and me both, mate! Get yourself a copy of Jonathan Meades' excellent collection of essays entitled 'Museum Without Walls', in which he lays in mercilessly to the Blairs (describing Cherie as 'that gurning hag') and predicting that they will one day 'meet their Ceausescu moment' in the cellar of their house in Connaught Square!

@Amanda: Sincere condolences to both you and Julian over this utterly disgraceful series of events. At this particular time (only 4 weeks to polling day), you can certainly do without this sort of vile intimidation and bullying. I'm with Mystery: a strongly-worded letter to Mercia's Police Commissioner Bill Longmore, with a request for his personal investigation into the incident (and copy the letter to Teresa May and Jesse Norman).

Yet ANOTHER another miserable carping post from Aylestone Voice (sic). Is there any truth in the rumour that this 'person' has formed a new local political party (naturally he/she is its Leader) to be called 'The Thoroughly Negative Kill Joys'?

@ John Harrington: Leaving it a tad late to add it to IOC's Manifesto, aren't you, mate? There's only 34 days left to polling day. I'd seriously suggest that prospective IOC councillors for the wards affected should be campaigning for this emminently-sensible alternative transport proposal out their on the doorsteps!

How can they justify spending - or borrowing - £25-million on our behalf (without asking us if we thought it was a good idea), to construct an 800-metre road that goes nowhere!

With less than five weeks to polling day, there have been some remarkable changes across the city, doubtless to demonstrate what a fine administration is running this city and county - and deserves being returned on 7th May. Residents along Bodenham Road (now part of the hotly-contested Aylestone Hill Ward) awoke last week to discover that its entire length (and adjoining roads) had been yellow-lined, outlawing Tech College student parking. This week, a team of Balfour Beatty sign erectors put up a huge hoarding at the end of Commercial Road, announcing: 'Hereford City Link Road. Delivering jobs and housing.' What actual jobs the council will deliver with this pointless £25-million farce (apart from more jobs for the boys inside the cosy Plough Lane Lubyanka) is difficult to discern. But the housing claim is downright spurious. Of the 6000 units promised by porcine Jonathan Bretherton, precisely eight are now being completed in Conningsby Street.

Brilliant idea! Well done Colin (some of the European models are very sexy!). Why not get It's Our County to include your idea in their manifesto? Anybody know who the IOC candidate standing in that Ward is?

@Aylestone Voice: Plough Lane-inspired tosh! The very-active pressure group Hereford Library Users Group (which has been campaigning for a decent city library for more than a decade) tugged the council's sleeve as soon as it was known that TK Max was moving. But, as we all know, Herefordshire Council's senior suits don't exactly move at the speed of light. And so when they finally contacted the letting agents they were told: "Sorry mate, you're too late!" Checking the potential floor-loading of the unit's first floor is just a neat explanation that masks incompetence (or should that be incontinence?).

Once again, Herefordshire Council are caught napping. Two years ago (perhaps it's longer, I'm sure TWG will refresh our memories), when TK Max announced that they were leaving Maylords, several people pointed out that the vacated two-storey unit would make an ideal city library. By the time council official moved into action, the unit had already been snapped up. Now we have a repeat with Mothercare. Surely to goodness some highly-paid suit in Plough Lane would have been tipped off that yet another (though not as large, I grant you) potential new home for the city's poor old neglected building in Broad Street was about to come on the market? And what are we getting yet another flaming coffee bar. When the publishers of that excellent guide 'Crap Towns' get around to a revised reprint, I suggest they add this about Hereford: "Empty shop uniits, interspersed with coffee bars, charity shops and mobile phone showrooms.

Given his obviously exemplary knowledge of the vicissitudes of Herefordshire Council's planning regulations, it would seem that Cllr Greenow will be an attractive candidate for locals to vote for on 7th May. I'm sure they'll all endorse his resourcefullness and enterprise!

@Ragwert: I couldn't agree more. I recently spoke to an experienced transportation specialist based in Worcestershire, who has played a key role in setting up efficiently-opertated transport hubs, both in the midlands and Wales. I promise you, the guy knows what he's talking about. I put to him this hypothetical question. Given the need to establish a Transport Hub in the vicinity of Hereford Railway Station, combined with the fact that seed-funding IS available (from both central government and regional development agencies) for forward planning such enterprises, if I was a fly on the wall of Geof Hughes' office (and could work his computer), what amount of forward planning for a Hereford Transport Hub d'you suppose, Mr Transportation Specialist, I'd find? In percentage terms please? He laughed; "O%!"