twowheelsgood

The concrete roof to the porch is alleged to be in danger of collapse as the metal reinforcing has rusted. The council gave themselves listed building consent on 2 November last year to repair it. Since then, nothing. Clearly not a priority. Presumably the cheap repaint is to appease the couples who are to be married there and whose wedding photos will be framed by scaffolding. It's an eyesore and building works will no doubt take a year or more. Sadly, no one in charge gives a damn about the 'old' City.

This should be good news, but given their proven chronic inability to manage costs on any project*, it will end up costing us yet more millions. *see £1m overspend on Blueschool House, £100k over budget on fees so far on farms disposal, rumoured £10m over budget on link road etc etc.

Not even been there 4 months and he's up to his neck in it! Extraordinary! Did no one from the Staffing Committee, the Cabinet or the Group Leaders think to do a quick search on BN's history?

For the first time in 40+ years I am wondering what is the point of voting. I did have hopes for Jesse at one time but his commitment to the County appears to have waned in his second term. IOC are in terminal decline - unable to get their act together for the last election, which they knew was coming, they blew it big time, leaving us with the ongoing mess of Tory majority rule. The idea of them nominating a prospective candidate would fall squarely into the raving loony party section.

Labour will lose catastrophically at which point Corbyn will go. Hard to see how they will ever recover, or if indeed they deserve to.

Please, no, no, no!

I was in there on Saturday (and there was hardly any stock on show) and the guy behind the till was telling a customer they were doing well but the landlord wanted the premises back.

Actually, I would say poor detail design - it can be perfectly built but if the basic design is wrong, this is what you get. A lack of understanding or consideration of detailing of how rain impacts on buildings. I doubt it will be rectified.

What's happened to the much touted canal basin then? Seems to have been air brushed out of things.

Me too. London was third at 14.59mph! Two words define the cause of Hereford's problem - traffic lights.

I get this all the time - NOT just at weekends (and hey council bods, some of us work at weekends and need access). Really, +£300k for something that is no better than than the site it replaced, and in the same breath they close No 1 Ledbury Road because they claim they have no money (and despite putting up the Council Tax by 1.9% for the very thing they say they have no money for). Is it any wonder we don't believe a word they say?

Perhaps both the IOC and the Independents could update their websites to present the facts - oh wait, this is politics ...

Image production outsourced to a Latvian hipster and his girlfriend I believe ( which presumably is why all the vehicles are left hand drive).

It is a great shame Graham is stepping down - he is a genuine bloke and probably one of the very few that could have pulled the County out of its terminal tailspin. I wish him and his raincoat all the very best. Charles Nicholls has left It’s Our County and continues as an unattached parish councillor - he hasn't joined the Independents as far as I am aware. I once had great hopes for IOC but, following their completely shambolic approach to the last elections, which resulted in yet another term of Tory asset stripping, I don't see them as a credible alternative. Likewise the Independents (who are from far independent when it suits them).

All the vehicles are left hand drive - hence the erratic driving - and all the hundreds of traffic lights are the new style 'half height' so that drivers can't can see them.

Love it! All the traffic lights are green, not a cyclist in sight and a classic idiot driver at 1:55. I don't give much hope for the health of people living in the 'Urban Village' that close to what will be heavy diesel fumes. The much vaunted canal basin appears to have been completely abandoned. There's another one of these promos showing Commercial Road as well. Still, as they admit, it's not reality.

I don't agree either. Simply not necessary - far better to spend the money on intelligence gathering.

The minutes of the last full council meeting are now published - here is who voted for and against or not at all; Eight members present at the meeting demanded a recorded vote. The motion was lost with 11 votes in favour, 34 against and 1 abstention. For (11) Councillors TL Bowes, PE Crockett, PJ Edwards, EPJ Harvey, JLV Kenyon, MD Lloyd-Hayes, MN Mansell, SM Michael, AJW Powers, D Summers, A Warmington. Against (34) Councillors PA Andrews, BA Baker, JM Bartlett, WLS Bowen, H Bramer, CR Butler, ACR Chappell, PGH Cutter, BA Durkin, CA Gandy, KS Guthrie, DG Harlow, EL Holton, JA Hyde, TM James, AW Johnson, JF Johnson, JG Lester, RL Mayo, MT McEvilly, PM Morgan, PD Newman, FM Norman, CA North, RJ Phillips, GJ Powell, PD Price, P Rone, NE Shaw, WC Skelton, J Stone, EJ Swinglehurst, DB Wilcox, SD Williams. Abstentions (1) Councillor A Seldon Councillor RI Matthews left the meeting prior to the voting.

Actually it's even worse than reported above - here is a written question put to full Council on 3 March, and Cllr Johnson's less than reassuring response. How can this business already be in £3.3m of debt? Potential risk to the council. Herefordshire Council is a joint owner of Hoople Ltd with Wye Valley NHS Trust. The latest published accounts for the two years to 31st March 2016 state that this company: 1. has accumulated losses of £1.369million; 2. the amount of its pension deficit has gone from £101,000 to £2.097million; 3. it’s turnover year on year has decreased by 8%. During the 2015/16 financial year five of the six non-executive directors resigned in just one month and none of them signed their emolument certificates. Would the cabinet member with responsibility for the company please confirm that Hoople Ltd's financial situation poses no risk to the council's current budget or the medium term financial strategy? Answer from Cllr Tony Johnson, cabinet member corporate strategy and finance Yes. The council's budget and its medium term financial strategy appropriately reflect the obligations of the operating agreement between the council and Hoople, and the trading relationship is fully disclosed in the council's own financial statements as a related party. The council has, and will continue to work with Hoople to reduce operating costs and improve profitability.

Very interesting programme on Radio 4 at the moment - File on 4 - Councils in Crisis. Looking at Councils setting up arms length companies which go bad and end up costing the rate payers £millions. This is the way Hoople is going with losses of £1m+ and mounting and a massive pension deficit as well. It'll all come good says Cllr Johnson - which is exactly the same approach of some other Councils in the programme. It won't of course. Available on Listen Again shortly. There's a quiet revolution going on in our Town Halls. With funding slashed, Local Government is tasked with finding new ways to raise money and deliver services, or face failing to comply with its legal obligations. As councils in England are tasked with becoming more self sufficient, File on 4 examines the different approaches councils are taking in an effort to balance the books. As some invest in commercial property others are spinning off traditional council departments into new companies with commercial divisions. The aim is to plough profits back into services. But as the programme discovers these plans don't always work out. What happens when there is no profit? As the pressure on adult social care grows, some councils now face the twin struggles of meeting demand, with the need to turn a profit. Is this too much of a gamble in services which can mean the difference between life and death? Allan Urry investigates the scale of the challenge as local authorities grapple with rising demand, falling income, and new ways of doing business.

Did no one tell the BBLP hole filling operatives to uphold the company values - build to last ...

AGAIN!!! Front pages are accessible but trying to go delve further I am constantly met with this. What did Councillor David Harlow say about the £350k spend allowing 24 hour access????? Not even an apology any more!

No doubt the Contractor's claims and legal team are on stand by - the only losers will be us.

Hereford City Council are nothing to do with the Herefordshire Council - they are a Parish Council with delusions of grandeur - Mayor Kenyon's bridge proposal for instance. The District Council by and large ignore them. That said, they do good work at Parish Level.