dippyhippy

Well there's no way I'm bored......I've been waiting a long time for these elections to come around, and I shall be banging on about them right up until polling day! Never has it been more important that folks get up off their sofas and go and use their vote! Think Edgar Street Trees. Think Incinerator Project. Think Hoople and Balfour Beatty and Hereford Futures and all the other companies that get such a huge slice of our money! Think about the deceit, the bare faced lies, the subterfuge.Think potholes, grass cutting and refuse. Think about the effect that this administration have had on the most vulnerable members of our society. Think you want things done differently???? Then make your feelings known at the ballot box! Yes....difficult decisions will still need to be made, everything is not going to be peachy just by seeing off this cabinet, things will still be tough.....but at least lets get some honesty, some integrity, hell a little bit of decency back into local politics. I might just go around knocking on doors, not as any representative, but just to urge folks to do just that....it's YOUR vote, YOUR choice, YOUR opportunity to effect change in Herefordshire....Please, don't anybody waste it!

Very interesting! It IS very important, in my humble opinion, that candidates make time to make themselves available to the electorate on a forum like this. You can very quickly form an opinion of somebody, as either being a go-getter, a fixer of issues, a hands-on sort it outer, or an all talk and no action! I really would like it to be clarified as to whether "The Rules" mean they are not allowed to post, and engage, with us the great unwashed!!

Hi Glenda! You are an absolute star! Thanks so much for providing this information.

You maybe right there, Roger....but it will be interesting to hear this perspective, regardless. At the very least, it should bring some clarity. Good luck with your mission, Ubique......if we haven't heard back from you within the week, I shall send out a search party!

Oooh! This makes me so cross! Have they no manners on Bulls Banter??? Send them an invite to join us over here....where for the most part, forum etiquette is of a very high standard!

Well done Ubique! We can rely on you to find out a bit more about this! I look forward to reading any information you can glean!

These pictures really are awful. I would hate to live next to that. If I lived next door, I think I would be sending photos to The Hereford Times. I know, Megilleland, that you go out litter picking. You have community spirit, and take pride in where you live. If only that could be instilled in others. As you say, clean up after clean up hasn't helped. Whether one family, or several families, their actions are impacting on other residents in a very visible and negative way. If their behaviour can't/won't change....then maybe a little tough love is necessary???

It says a lot when you have to compile a list like this to assist the growing number of folks who are going to need it. A sad sign of the times. Nobody ever holds up their hands, nobody is ever held to account, and nothing really ever changes.

I've seen those photos,Megilleland - not a pretty sight at all. With regard to getting the "basics" right, the only way it would seem to get any control back over the services, and regain a grip on the purse strings, would be to bring these services back in-house. I am guessing that with all these multi million pound contracts signed, that will be easier said than done....?? Unless of course, there is some "get out" clause...???

That's really interesting, Slim! It kind of comes back to my point before....when is a taxi not a taxi.......when it refuses a short distance fare? when it doesn't know how to get from A to B in a small geographical area? and as the item on last nights early evening news said, when they charge more for disabled customers, that's if they will accept these fares in the first place! An MP is now writing to the equalities minister, such is the problem in Nottingham and other areas. I would expect a plumber to fix my leaking tap, a hairdresser to cut my hair, and a taxi driver to accept my fare and know how to get me home! If they can't do that - there is a problem!

Hi Chris, thanks for replying so promptly! "There is a lot more to being a candidate than knocking on doors." I quite agree, which is why it would be so valuable to actually HEAR from them! What about if they each had their own thread????Would this be a way around it?? I understand the equal coverage, prior to an election, but am slightly perplexed as to why, if all candidates are given the opportunity to join, why posting on here could be an issue?? It seems that there are only a handful who choose to communicate with the good folks of Herefordshire at the best of times......now, in the run up to a very important election....they aren't allowed???? I can't quite believe this is right!

Welcome to Hereford Voice, SecretSquirrel,I am glad you have decided to take the bull by the horns(no pun intended!) and join us! I look forward to reading your views!

They certainly do, Cloudberry! Thanks very much for providing that information. Should be a very interesting and illuminating couple of weeks. Can you just turn up to this?? Or do you need to "book in advance"?

Hi Colin....yes I remember this! I wonder if the imminent elections would tempt any of them into a rethink??? This forum has really taken off - the amount of views and visits, not to mention comments stands as testament to that! As I said before, now that Hereford Voice has established itself as a medium for all of Herefordshire residents (as opposed to previously being Belmont Voice) ALL councillors should have an interest in putting forward their views. Hereford Voice has in many ways now, got to the stage of replacing the HT comments......where barely a regular poster is to be found. We are continually told they want to engage with the electorate.....well, we are here, and happily waiting for them to do just that!

With regard to travel....I had heard that "hubs" were being set up.....it was a while ago! If your hub base was say, Leominster, then you wouldn't be eligible to claim travel, only if you covered at another location, not named as your base! As I say, this was quite some time ago, and has probably been dropped.

Hi Chris! Happy New Year to you too! Just a quick question....what do you mean when you say nobody standing will come on Hereford Voice? Why would they be fined, and possibly face disqualification?? I don't understand this at all...if you could enlighten me with more of an explanation I would be most grateful! It seems very late - the beginning of April - for candidates to be announced.....it doesn't give them much time to convince us they are the best placed person to represent an area!

I'm feeling a little fragile this morning.....! Absolutely NO loud noise allowed in our house today! I did mention on another thread whether posters thought it might be worth Colin emailing an invite to councillors to sign up?? What do others think? Worth a go??

Morning Aylestone Voice! Yes, I share those concerns. We need real, open dialogue, and for the parties to set out their stalls so that the electorate can make an informed choice. Turnout for local elections has often been disappointingly low - but so much has happened both locally and nationally, I am thinking that possibly the tide may have turned, and folks will get up off their backsides and use their vote. (If you think Dexys is bad...you will be appalled to hear that this was shortly followed by a stomping performance of Ant Music.....I know,I know... the shame, the shame of it! I am suffering the consequences this morning.....!)

Evening Glenda! As usual, I must thank you for your contributions! I know IOC are against the Southern Link Road....so am I! It was the possibility of an Eastern route that I was referring to! I am shocked that all cabinet members are standing again....I had heard that two of them were not. I would be most surprised if you were not re elected - you're constituents must know they could not have a harder working councillor representing them. Do you know when the "list " of who is standing where will be made public knowledge?? With such a short time between now and May, I would have thought decisions need to be made sooner rather than later??

I must make a correction.....the post I referred to above, re IOC and a bypass....I have just found it, and it is the members view and not yet official IOC policy. It does say they are prepared to have discussions if this proves viable. Just wanted to make that clear! (Now listening to Cat Stevens and feeling a tad more mellow, and have taken the time to find the post in question, which is what I should have done in the first place!!)

Evening Aylestone Voice! Hope all is well with you - I have just got in, flicked on the TV, to be greeted by Dexys Midnight Runners performing Geno, in all their eighties glory! Obviously I had to whirl around the front room like a thing possessed, and have now collapsed on the sofa, with a large glass of red - for medicinal purposes only! Not sure admitting to doing that on a public forum is a good thing, but hey ho! (Not sure you wanted to know that information either....!!!) The questions I posed were straightforward ones, starters if you like to try to tempt some of our less communicative councillors into replying! (Top marks to you though, Glenda....you have jumped straight in to answer them, and I will be very interested to hear the answer to the Hoople one in particular!) I thought if I wrote a list of probing questions about the funding for social care, or the onward march towards regionalism, I might frighten them off!! With only four months to go until polling day, we all need to be asking questions...and expecting to get replies! If councillors won't come on here, let's email them, and publish replies....this is such an important time for Herefordshire. I would very much like to know who is/isn't standing again....they must have some idea by now! With regard to a bypass, a member on here has stated that IOC are prepared to have discussions about the possibility of an Eastern road and river crossing, and this will be in their manifesto....this is great news! Let's hope that many more councillors follow Glendas' example, and start communicating with us on a regular basis! Now.....where did I put that Deep Heat??? I think I may have pulled a muscle...!!!!

Well gang, it's 2015, and elections are looming ever closer! There have been plenty of discussions over the past few years....plenty of questions asked, and some replies given.....but not always! My New Years Resolution is, to keep asking the awkward questions,to keep reminding folks of what has been happening in this county, and to hope and pray that come May...things will change for the better! This thread is specifically to ask councillors for the answers to those sticky questions, that just didn't get a reply.....!!! For example..... When will council meetings be streamed / filmed?? When will the burnt out River Island building be restored?? How much does Hoople pay to use the top floor at Plough Lane?? There are plenty more....but feel free to add you own, then they will all be easily accessed on the same thread!! Simples! Happy New Year to you, and let's hope the results of this years election sees a positive turn for both Herefordshire, and Britain!

Me neither, Flam...but I think I may draw those questions to their attention once more....!!!!

An interesting, and slightly depressing read. I am just wondering when our local politicians are going to wake up to the fact that the local elections are also imminent?? I would hope that with the exception of our few regular councillor contributors, we will hear a fair bit more from others who have signed up on here.(and would hope a few more would join!) Colin....I think you may have done this before, but is it worth emailing all councillors, and our MP's, an invite to sign up??If they really want to engage with the electorate, this would be a great start! There are members on Hereford Voice from right across the county, and many other residents read it regularly. Isn't it about time our local representatives started embracing this medium of communicating with the good folks of Herefordshire??

Well done Ubique! I agree with Colin's stance.....they should be named and shamed. How would they feel if their wife, daughter, or indeed anyone they knew, was refused a fare to take them safely home? Common decency should mean that these fares should not be refused. It also begs the question "When is a taxi, not a taxi?" Perhaps trading standards might have a take on this??