komadori’s green corner

It’s nice to see that Mr Montaut hasn’t lost the ability to grab every photo opportunity that presents itself. Admittedly, it’s also nice that he actually makes his presence known within the ward, which is more than can be said for some of our representatives, who seem to be following an established tradition of showing more interest in places elsewhere. It’s just a pity that whenever he chooses to talk, so much hypocritical garbage pours out.

Central ward councillor Derique Montaut said that the clean-up was a step closer to a happier community. He said: “This kind of activity is essential to promote good feeling in the community and the work that’s been done over the recent months in other parts of the town has been superb.”

Hmm… I could have sworn he put a leaflet through my door when campaigning for election just six months ago claiming

But we need an active Council that will use its anti social behaviour powers to curb yobbish behaviour, vandalism and graffiti. The Tories have failed to do this…. Since taking control of Swindon the Tories have regularly cut and under invested in the important issue of street cleaning.

I wonder how long it will be before his party is suggesting that this was all down to his personal effort and money from central government, and nothing to do with the current council administration. Nor the local community.

Jean, the director of children and families at Swindon Council, said: “I am not denying there has been any litter but it’s been a lot lower than we had expected, which is great news…. It’s something that residents should take real pride in and if they have helped clear the streets themselves, they have made an investment in the community.”

I’ve no idea who Ms Laura Pulham of St Leonards on Sea is. I very much doubt that she reads this website. However, I do know that she has at some point bought from Hughes Direct (who also trade as HomeCinemaTV) a pink Sony MP3 player. I also know that she recently returned said item to the suppliers for repair. Unfortunately, someone at Hughes Direct appears to have mistaken her name with mine and to have misread ‘St Leonards on Sea’ as ‘Swindon’, not to mention confusing a rather small package that could contain a portable MP3 player with a more bulky one that could contain a hifi tuner. I Hope Ms Pulham finds a bulky tuner a convenient item to strap around her waist for a seafront stroll, as an alternative to a small, light MP3 player. However, I suspect she may not find it to be the fashion accessory that she wished for. Alas, until Messrs Hughes Direct return my call and correct their erroneous delivery, the little pink MP3 player will remain in my possession and not hers.

How nice it is to see a good old fashioned claim-and-counter-claim argument between the developers of Swindon’s front garden on the one hand and the protesters on the other. From the developers there’s a new report from their consultants that’s being presented with an everything’s fine, don’t worry mate tone (though as the report’s not yet available to the public there’s no way of knowing if this is an accurate interpretation).

Research suggests the worst flooding for 1,000 years could see flood levels reach 39.5cm, but Taylor Wimpey said an extra 20cm safety margin had been included to make sure water does not enter houses, even taking unpredictable climate change into account. Wichelstowe project director David Evans said: “We were always confident that Wichelstowe had been designed to provide a robust protection against flooding and hope the result of this latest study will allay any concerns local people may have had about new homes being flooded in the future.”

From the protesters there’s a repeat of their it were all underwater, gov claim.

Frag chairman Terry King said his trip to the Front Garden site during the July floods proved otherwise. “I went down there and saw lakes where houses are to be built and roads already have been under half a metre of water, so I just don’t believe them…. To start with the developers said there was no risk of flooding. Then they decided to raise the ground, so they have already gone back on their word. I would be interested to see whether, when the houses have been built, owners will be able to insure them.”

As I’ve previously noted, I don’t believe either grouping. Like Mr King, I also went for a walk around after the heavy rain in July and the evidence I saw lies somewhere between the claims of the two sides: the houses may well be dry, but I very much doubt that the access roads will be.

The news that Thames Water Utilities is to be fined £12.5M has produced varying responses. What hasn’t been disputed (except by Thames Water) is that the company deserves a thoroughly good kicking for the abysmal service it provides. It’s the fact that the penalty is a fine that is the problem. As stated in Ofwat’s press notice and in Thames Water’s retaliation, the fine goes to the Treasury’s ‘Consolidated Fund’, not to the customers. So think of the fine as a bit of additional taxation shared between Thames Water’s customers and shareholders. It would surely be far more effective if the regulator could impose penalties in the form of forcing the company to do additional enhancements on its water system, or in the form of a cap on the dividend it could pay it’s shareholders.

In complaining about the level of the fine, Thames Water are being, to put it mildly, rather economical with the facts.

We can see no justification for the level of the fines proposed. They are totally disproportionate to any sensible measure of the harm the original GSS payment irregularities may have caused and disregard the steps we have taken to reimburse our customers…. The reporting errors for which we are being penalised took place over a 12-month period from 2005 to 2006, and represent missed payments to our customers of under £500,000.

Whilst that is true, it is apparent from Ofwat’s two notices that Thames Water was claiming, at the highest levels, that there was nothing wrong with compensation payments for missed appointments, when they knew full well that there was.

To put the penalty in perspective, it is less than 2.4% of the amount that Thames Water Utilities paid its shareholders in dividends during the last financial year. The idea that the fine might thus impair Thames Water’s ability to improve its services is, quickly frankly, risible.

I have previously commented on some of the trees being cut down in Wharf Green. The felled trees are now to be put to use, as art. Mr Bluh thinks this is recycling.

These artists have come up with a really imaginative way to use wood – they are leading the recycling agenda in the area and supporting regeneration at the same time. It’s great to see.

Allow me to quote from the Compact Oxford English Dictionary.

recycle
• verb 1 convert (waste) into reusable material. 2 use again.

Whilst it is certainly better than just burning the logs, if an item hasn’t been used before, then it isn’t recycling as most would perceive it. As to whether it’s great to see, I’ll reserve judgement on that until I have seen the products of the artists’ work.

You’d think that, if you were writing an article about an error in an earlier report, you would be very careful about proof reading it. At the Adver, apparently not. Was it volcanoes on Tuesday or tornadoes on Wednesday?

It would be easy to dismiss the protests of residents in the Tennyson Street area of central Swindon against a possible new drug user’s drop-in centre as NIMBYism. It is after all logical that the centre be located close to an area with a large number of drug addicts. However the proposed site is, as the residents say, close to a children’s play area which already has a reputation for being a location for drug deals and placing it quite so close to that play area is unlikely to improve the situation. It’s also not as though there aren’t a large number of vacant units nearby (and indeed closer to the centre of the drugs problem), many of them having been empty ever since they were built over a year ago.

Excuse me for being slightly underwhelmed by the new name for the unitary authority that will replace the existing district and county councils in Wiltshire. The new name? Wiltshire Council. Wow! How original and distinctive.

Initially it had been recommended that the new council should retain the name of Wiltshire County Council but members were concerned the new authority needed a new identity. They agreed the name of Wiltshire Council

The newness and difference in identity is… stunning.

I find the level of enthusiasm exhibited by Swindon Borough Council’s leader Mr Bluh and the New Swindon Company’s chief executive Mr James in their video interview with SwindonWeb quite remarkable, commendable… and cringe-inducing.

The big screen will be a major attraction for Swindon, the only one in the south of England…. You get that feeling when things are right, and this feels right for this location.

Hmm… Mr Bluh may have that feeling but the feeling I get is distinctly different. I just cannot believe that a big BBC screen in Wharf Green will be a popular meeting point for visitors to Swindon, as Mr James seems to think. An attraction maybe, but a meeting point?

[We’ve got to] make a place that people can meet and sit down and say, well lets meet at Wharf Green, by the big screen, because we understand there’s something going on there.

One other thought. Is SwindonWeb’s Ms Heber-Smith not subject to health and safety laws? I see that she alone is not wearing a high-visibility jacket in the interview on what is a construction site.

I’m not sure whether being described as ‘an enjoyable though at times a arsely read’ by the current deputy mayor is a compliment. Quite a unique accolade though.

Update: Apparently, he meant ‘prickly’ but a quirk of internet forum programming converted it to ‘arsely’.