komadori’s green corner

It’s strange the approach Swindon Borough Council is taking to regeneration of the town centre. Its latest proposal seems aimed at closing all town centre public toilets that it maintains and paying retailers, pubs and restaurants a £500 subsidy per year to open their customer toilets to the general public. The idea is to be trialled in Old Town, where the council also propose to close the public toilets. Now, I haven’t done an in-depth study, but as far as I am aware, very few of the shops in Old Town have customer toilets. Which means that outside of the times that the local pubs and restaurants are open, there would be no facilities available. And with a subsidy of just £500 per year for allowing anyone to wander through their premises, I can’t see many retailers or restaurants taking up the offer. If this inconvenient approach spreads, shopping for the weak bladdered could be limited to afternoons and evenings only.

Another grand plan and yet another fantastic artist’s impression to go with it. This time for the Dyson Foundation’s School Of Design Innovation, which the council are trying to attract to a mystery location in Swindon with ‘good transport links.’ It sounds like a good idea, but will it really be occupied by ghostly grey people and have assorted aircraft parts levitating in the centre of the building? Take away the overly optimistic gleam and what it will really be is just another concrete and glass block.

Komadori has just sampled the offerings of the new restaurant on Westcott Place, La Carbonara. Thoroughly enjoyable it was too. The starter of Zuppa Di Minestrone was a subtantial and tasty soup, with the vegetable definitely outweighing the liquid. The butter for the bread was rather too cold, but then it is early days for them yet and komadori was the only customer for them this lunchtime. For the main course, their Vitelo Romano was substantial and nicely seasoned, and accompanied with lightly cooked vegetables and potatoes. All this washed down with draft Peroni Nastro Azzurro beer followed by a fine coffee. The total cost came in at just £22 for one person (komadori is a lonely soul).
La Carbonara does not have a website yet but, whilst komadori was there, a web designer was visiting and photographing the restaurant and staff (all of whom have, to some extent, Italian accents, with the exception of the chef’s partner who is clearly the local influence). As there is no website yet, I have put a copy of the menu here. In addition to the food on the menu, there are also blackboards with daily specials (including some English fare), desserts and the eponymous house speciality.

It’s difficult to believe the excuses that are given sometimes for the problems with the new waste and recycling collections in Swindon. This quote comes from one of the council’s recycling officers.

Collection is difficult in some areas because of the layout of streets, but we are trying to sort it out

Except, perhaps, for a few streets in North Swindon which have only just been built, the council were collecting rubbish without problems before the recycling service started, so why the problems now? The vehicles used are no bigger than those used before.

Having recently changed from doing a job with frequent hotel stays to one with no travel at all, I have had to resort to making my own cooked breakfasts, when time allows… which isn’t very often. This morning’s effort was very enjoyable except in one respect. I had made the mistake of buying some reduced fat sausages. Very silly of me. Like ‘non-alcoholic beer’ and decaffeinated coffee, it is seriously lacking. If you want a non-alcoholic drink, have a soft drink; if you want a caffeine free hot drink, try a malted drink or hot chocolate; and if you want a healthy breakfast, have a bowl of cereals. And as I didn’t want a healthy breakfast (I do that 359 other days of the year, thank you) I’m even more mystified as to why I bought low-fat sausages.

It’s nice to see that the self-styled world’s local bank puts the security of its customers’ money below above increasing opportunities for it to flog them more debt. It has redesigned its internet banking. It has such improved security that even their online demo of the new system and FAQs have to remind customers not to forget they are logged, should they take advantage of the new feature of browsing the rest of HSBC’s website without logging out.

Is there anything important I need to remember when using the new-look service?
Remember that, whilst you are viewing other areas of the site, if you are logged on Internet Banking will remain active in the background. It is important that you remember this and don’t leave your PC unattended.

There is a brief explanation of why they have changed their internet banking service: the ‘increased’ security (nothing more than changing one of the on-screen prompts during login) is not part of that.

It’s difficult to believe how quickly the local red nest manage to contradict themselves when talking about bus services in Swindon. Step forward once again Mr Montaut to maintain his impressive record of twaddle.

There is a big issue about cutting down on the amount of subsided funds to Thamesdown Transport and other bus companies. People should also be encouraged to use bus services, but it is not helping that elderly people cannot use the bus with their passes before 9am.

Wow! In the space of just two sentences, he’s criticised the level of subsidy as being too high, and then asked for something to be done that would put the subsidies up. Don’t forget either that it’s only a month since his colleague Mr Wills was accusing the council of taking too much money out of the bus companies rather than putting too much in.

I have been the ‘lucky’ recipient of the local blue nest’s Special Residents’ Survey. In practice, it’s nothing special at all —political point scoring masquerading as a questionnaire. If the statement on the first page of this little rag is to be believed they

firmly believe in positive campaigning, which is the best way to encourage people to get involved.

Really? Lets turn to page two.

Gordon Brown is part of the past not the future.

My, what a positive statement that was! Lets move on to the survey itself, question two for example.

Following a 42% hike in Council Tax in just 3 years under a Labour Council

Nice to see them choosing such positive words as ‘hike’ to get their message across.

It seems that the ability to think logically departs councillors whenever they have to talk about recycling. This time, it is the turn of Mr Barnett to join the stiff competition for the recycled wooden spoon.

We have had problems with the bins overflowing as the company who collect the rubbish are in Gloucester.

Well, if that’s a problem, it doesn’t bode well for the citizens of North Wiltshire, now that the county council has won its bid for unitary status: Wiltshire County Council is based in Trowbridge, which is just as far from parts of North Wilts as Gloucester is from Swindon. And by Mr Barnett’s logic, waste collection in the Scottish Highlands must be virtually impossible.

What extremely generous actions some parents take for the benefit of their children. Take the example of one quoted in the Adver.

The only reason adults go to McDonald’s is for the children.

And as is evident from the photograph in the article, in future years they’ll be grateful for those generous actions with every ounce of their overweight bodies.