Chris Chappell

well I have now looked into this and my view is that we need more festivals, of different types. This was primarily a music festival with tribute bands. The fun fair and other bits and pieces were a side line to entertain children and adults waiting for their favourite band to come on. £8.00 was a good price if you were staying there for the music. You pay more to hear one tribute band at other venues. The Barrels charged £9.00 for entrance, well worth it but you would have to have spent lots more for beer or cider! I am not sure why there was only 4 local cider producers there but that was the producers decision. To hire the KGV meadows you have to go through property services who will decide on the provisions you need to provid for your festival. Balfour Beatty did the clearing up, safety etc and I have no problem with their work. Does seem that many people enjoyed the festival. When it was put on in Swansea it rain and the field looked like a mud bath but hey, that is what all festival are about. We need things like this to happen in Hereford. I am not sure how much it costs to get into the Bromyard Festival but I think it was a similar price, HAY festival costs a bomb and Brecon Jazz Festival can be expensive, Let's hope that other people want to provide entertainment for the masses, I do not want to have to keep going to the Cathedral or Shire Hall for my entertainment. In the 60s the City Council refused permission a for a band(pop group in those days) to perform in Hereford because of their long hair and permiscuous behaviour, which is why the Beatles and Stones never got to Herefordshire

Free School was debated at Council I think and all sides opposed. Council had to put GH on the board to look after its interests. Do not know why he is still listed as being a Trustee. It is standard practice on these occasions to ensure there is council representation. Courtyard, Halo, Hereford Housing, all had council representatives on board level at least in the beginning. No1 Ledbury Road comes under scrutiny on 10th September, that is when the legality of events will come under scrutiny. Parents have received very helpful information from the Council since their initial talks, and the future is beginning to look a little brighter. There is still a long way to go.

The Council was always opposed to this as were almost every Head Teacher in the county. Chris Morgan, who founded the Robert Owen Trust wanted this although he knew council and educationists in Herefordshire were against. If any criticism is necessary it should be directed at him. Geoff Hughes was only there to oversee Council's interests. He is not a governor/ trustee now, and he had a thankless task against the government and both MPs.

I discussed having a public meeting a couple of weeks after the murder with the police and small group of councillors for the area. We decided that there was not a lot to say then and that we would keep the situation under review. When I heard of the most recent incident I decided now was the time and spoke to Supt Thomas. She agreed now was the right time.

I have been having conversations with the police about CCTV and I am reasonably confident that some coverage can happen fairly quickly. I hope an announcement about this will be made Thursday evening. The important thing to remember is CCTV does not necessarily stop a crime being committed. City centre and market towns centres are covered by CCTV and most of the violent outdoor crime happens here.. What it does do is alert police to a crime happening and helps to secure a conviction. There has been a great deal of police activity going on concerning the murder but they have not made their activities public for obvious reasons. My discussions over the last few weeks, lead me to believe that all is being done that can be done to bring the offender to justice. I do think that some of the criticism of the police in recent weeks has been unnecessary.

I have arranged a public meeting, mainly for the residents of Hunderton but for anyone who is worried about using the Great Western Way at the moment, with the police, at the Kindle Centre on Thursday at 7pm. Officers investigating the recent murder, and related matters will be attending, along with the local police commander, Supt Sue Thomas and the local south wye police team. The police will give as much information as they can about this investigation, and will answer questions from the public. This is another opportunity for anyone who thinks they may have any information, however slight,to give to the police and also an opportunity to discuss latest plans for CCTV on the Great Western Way.

Just to bring you up to date. Have been working with parents of Autistic children and there has been some movement with officers of WVHT and Council. Still some way to go and work to do but these things always take time. Meanwhile your support is greatly appreciated.

The parents have been told No1 will definitely close but remain open until alternatives have been found. Foster parents for children with autism is a very different thing to providing respite at No1. They need to be trained to a high standard to deal with some very awkward and difficult children. Some who can be violent at times. Homes will need to be converted if child is also in wheel chair. Interior doors widened, ramps to front door, wet room built, ( £16k). Then there are the safeguarding issues. Foster parents children's friends visiting, for example. I have been talking to parents and advising where I can, I think that the parents must be very very concerned for the future.

Totally confused! The last time Labour held a leadership contest, we were all told not to go for the Blairite brother but go for the Left wing brother who had the support of the unions and the Left!! I know, I was there. Some of us, not gloating, said that when you try to sell a product you advertise its best points. The other one, slightly right of Ed, was better looking, had more government experience and was more intelligent. He could also speak well on the telly. So what did my comrades do? They all seem to have forgotten that now. Now if you really want a left wing leader you would find one who would build 100,000 social housing in five years, abolish the monarchy, disestablish the Church of England, confiscate and in prison corrupt bankers, nationalise agriculture, but not farm land, ( see Second World War policy,) nationalise railways, de regulate buses. I remember John Prescott, warning in the Railway Club what would happen with deregulation. Local government funding would be funded properly and councils given back to the people. All hospital consultants would have to work to a 38 hour pw NHS contract. Pensions would increase by 3% over life of Labour government, £10 ph would be minimum wage etc etc. None of this will happen unless there is a Labour government. These policies will have to sold by a leader who has the respect, and confidence of the electorate. So,Corbyn ain't going to get us there. Cooper will get savaged for having Balls!. Which leaves us with Burnham and Kendall. Andy is a good guy but may be tainted by past government posts. I am tempted to go with Kendall! Intelligent, no baggage, a woman, presentable on telly. Definitely a product worth selling to the public.

'your my world your everything to me', now how many times did I sing that to girlfriends in the sixties. Then there was,'any one who ever loved would know that I love you'. Cilla was just an ordinary kid a few years older than me but part of a generation that was still exploring the the new world of the sixties. What a star, what a legend. Some of us were Beatle fans, some Stones. I was Beatles, and Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Animals and 'Dusty'. But it was Cilla who captured the real feelings of those years. God Bless Cilla, and thanks for being ordinary.

Hi, The meeting agreed to set up a small group of members to investigate how all of this happened, who has been consulted, etc. at least one representative of the parents will be invited to sit on this group. Cllr. Lloyd Hayes and I, with many years experience between us, will be on this small group, which I hope will have its first meeting within two weeks. The problem is biblical. In the seven good years no one wants to think about what might happen in the seven years of famine! No thought of the future for these vulnerable children and when I did speak up I got told that I was wrong. We now need to look to the long term future for vulnerable people, of all ages. It is time for all of us to speak out, to understand the problems and to come up with solutions. Please sign the petition if you have not done so already and please keep speaking out publicly for the most vulnerable in our community.

Balfour Beatty were at the play area yesterday and today, cleaning up the area. When there is any play equipment that is brocken or suspect, Health & Safety require it to be removed until it can be repaired to a required standard as laid down by regulations. I am not sure in this instance what equipment has been removed and why, but will try to find out. The play area is regularly inspected for damage and is cleaned on regular basis. Regretfully, the play area is used by older teenagers and adults also and these tend to leave behind all their rubbish. BB can not be there 24/7. Last night there appears to have been a party on the 'mound' close to Hinton Road. They left a great deal of empty beer cans and bottles, cigarette ends and other rubbish. A twice weekly inspection is done on the life belts along the river bank by BB. These tend to go missing on Friday and Saturday nights. Often they are just thrown into the river and are picked up by BB or if they get that far, by Ross rowing club. BB keep spares ones at Rotherwas and you will often see them being carried on the back of the small lorry Balfour have to collect rubbish on a Monday morning. There is a huge problem at the moment with rubbish being left close to the benches along the river footpath in Hunderton. Although I have asked for more litter bins to be placed there, it does need responsible adults to use the bins and the contract for emptying them to be updated. Standards are never as high as they should be with regard to cleaning and maintaining equipment, footpaths, river banks etc, but it is the public who needed to be educated about their responsibility to keep our City clean.

Guys, I spent some time with Mrs Miles and her husband on Thursday and we are going to run a. Campaign with the HT and I hope with you! Blackmarston, Westfields, Barrs Court, stDavids Centre, No 1, they are all one when it comes to looking after the most vulnerable. Am sure most of us would pay little bit more in council tax to keep these places open. So let's run with it and give our support.

Bobby, afraid it is worse than you think! No1 Ledbury Road is to close in March! For those who do not know, this is a facility run by Wye Valley Health Trust but mainly financed by social services. The children with learning difficulties,( a phase I am getting very tired of hearing as it does not properly describe some of the worse case children), go to No1 for respite and can stay over night. Social care have decided this is now too expensive so will no longer finance kids to go there. Instead parents will have a choice; Send their autistic child to a foster parent. As yet not employed or trained and anyone who knows any thing about Autistic people knows they like uniformity. Have a Buddy! The less said the better. Or have some money to buy the services themselves from a provider, what provider? Bobby, I know you and I are not the only ones who care about the most vulnerable in our society, so we must hope that these children, who can not speak up for themselves, will have the full might of HV behind them to support them and their parents. Talked to HT and they will do article next week. Jesse is on to it too. I am intending to ask questions at Council next week. What HV bloggers can do is shout very loudly, write to MPs, local councillors, to the Hereford Times. Give as much support and TLC as you can to parents of these kids. Do not put all the blame on the Council! This Tory government is to blame. Ok, Herefordshire Council may need to look at alternative methods of delivering services to the most vulnerable, but it is the Tories to blame.

A gentle reminder of the wealth of the CoE and the hold they have over the congregations. Tithes paid in certain villages which go back years even if the house owners never go into church. The Church Commisoners, one of the wealthiest organisations in the country are selling the much disputed land for housing at Three Elms. Not taking a great deal of notice of the humble man in the street who does not want 1000 homes built there. The Queen whether or not a believer is head of CoE! Then there are the RCs who are by far the largest congregation in Herefordshire. The unwritten British constitution says that no Catholic priest can wear a cassock in the street and until recently no member of the Royal Family could marry one and inherit the throne. Chris Bryant, avLabour MP, had to give up being an ordained priest because you can not be a CoE priest and an MP! Because as a CoE priest, you swear alligence to God and the Monarch!! MPs are commoneners and are 'Subjects' like the rest of us only I refuse to be anyone's subject which is why I never sing the national anthem in Church as the bible says 'thou shalt not bow down to any graven image' Nothing wrong with God, I am a practicing Christian myself, it is the religions that are at fault. Freedom Church sometimes go over the top, but so are all the recognised religions. Most 'Faiths' in this country do fantastic work for charity, the poor, homeless and vulnerable. In Herefordshire the churches run the Food Bank, and Freedom Church members along with those of other 'faiths' run Street Pastors. There are Tory priests and church members in the CoE, RCs, and non conformist churches, as there are socialists and even a few UKIPers I expect. I think all demomominations and churches have some faults.

All candidates can put down on the nomination form how they wish to be recognised on the ballot paper. Political party candidates, Labour, LD, Tories UKIP have to have permission from their parties to call themselves their candidate. Independents, need not put any description. I suspect, but do not know, that Glendale did not fill in that part of the nomination form! Occasionally the polling officers mark on ballot papers does not show up, this happens quiet often but seldom makes a difference as it is same for all candidates. In this country there is no limit to when you can stop canvassing or leafleting. Often goes on all day on Election Day. Hope this helps

One of my proudest claims is that having worked in Chile when I was younger and because a girlfriend and her policeman brother were left wing activists, I was not acceptable to the Pinochet fascists. Never did find out what happened to girlfriend but she and her brother were in the national football stadium for some time! The national stadium was used as a concentration camp, and yes, there were certain British ex forces personnel working as mercenaries there! Long time ago, no point on dwelling on these things, but I will never forget that the Tories and Thatcher worshipped Pinochet.

Imagine my anger when I discovered that neither the Leader of Council or Leader of the Independents knew who 2together NHS Foundation Trust are! I am only just calming down now. The Council works closely with its NHS partners yet the key providers of care for those with mental health were unknown to some of our leading councillors. It's a disgrace, deplorable and the health and social care professionals I have spoken to since Thursday when I discovered these people did not know of this, are equally surprised and annoyed! I talked to one or two senior councillors after the meeting of Council on Friday who also seemed unaware! God help us that we have some ignorant people running the Council. Dazza I am going to need your advise now I am on the Health Scrutiny Committee. We may need to meet for a drink some time. Thinking about I do't think I have calmed down yet, better get a whiskey!

Mike I will be telling Bob but I think it will need you and others to come to a meeting of the Independents to say it too. I want what is best for Herefordshire and that is not fighting between the opposition groups! Incidentally, Amy gutted you did't win.

The Independents and IOC owe it to the people of Herefordshire to put aside animosity and when possible support each other in their endeavours. In Europe, where politics is much more serious than UK, political parties get into Blocks and fight the Governing party together. Left wing parties form one block, Right wing parties another, this way you achieve far more than you do fighting each other, and the more experienced and respected politicians from all the parties in a block, lend their weight to achieve the similar aims of their Block. There will be no excuse now if the Independents, IOC, LD's and Green, do not put aside their personal dislikes and together put Herefordshire first. The county must be our Alpha and our Omega, our beginning and our end, our today and tomorrow, we therefore have a duty to challenge the Conservatives where challenge is necessary and where we agree or can make constructive criticism, to do that with dignity and unity.

My Partner said she had great difficulty getting me to bed last night as I kept on about how all this could have happened. She thought I was going to the Barrels but as Peter had been one of the nominations for Jesse, I could not face going there last night. Ok I was tired and full of drink, but am still muttering about it now! She has gone home to thinking I might never get back to be how I was! Spoken to the IOC and have at least expressed my support for help for by-election. If fewer than 30, including posters, come to offer their support for by-election, I guess we have to accept that most people are all gass and no balls. Someone must have voted Tory, if it was't me and it was't you, it must have been them!

I am very tired and need to rest and chill. But come Monday will be back to my self again. Saxon Gate was a scandal, but as it was part of my former Ward, I will be doing what I can to ensure that a non Tory wins the by- election. I will leaflet, canvass and as a former councillor and Agent for elections, am prepared to act as Agent for the non Tory candidate!! But posters need to help! It is now important that all of us, what ever our political leanings, dislikes, etc should be as one on this. I will give my forty years experience of elections to ensure that David is elected to the Saxon Gate Ward . So are you with me, and will you help with leafleting, canvassing and getting out there to ensure that a non Tory is elected?

Hi Dippy Independents want to show the leadership that I believe Herefordshire expects from the council for the next four years. It is showing contempt for public opinion that the stance we Independents take on this is not being echoed by other groups. It's not a question of being 'holier than thou', but a matter of fact that the people of Herefordshire want know what their Councillors are doing. After all, it's their county too!

It is a shame that neither the Tories, LDs or IOC see fit to alay the publics concerns that Councillors may take the back dated allowance. But that is for the public to judge!

I too will not be accepting the back dated allowance rise. Jim Knipe, Independent, was the first to contact me about this and both he and Adrian are setting an example which I hope the other Councillors will follow.