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? 

Jim will be getting my vote, so who do you suggest then?

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.

The one that seems most likely to give it a go is Jim Kenyon I can't see anybody else really up for it or up to it 

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.

Cheap materials or shoddy workmanship, take your pick

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 ...

Sly Spirit....Based in Hereford

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.

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.

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.

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.

It is high time that Hereford City Council, Herefordshire County Council, or any other trading name that they may use, are rejuvenated with new fresh blood, a sense of purpose and common sense. The best joke I've heard from them of late is that Hereford will be city of culture 2021. Good luck!

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.