komadori’s green corner

In a break from some gardening, whilst searching to find what the candidates in the local election might have in their manifestos (because, with one exception, none of them have communicated with me), I came across a sitting councillor’s plans for saving the planet. Now I appreciate that, to borrow a phrase, ‘every little helps’ and that without the flashy headline nobody might have noticed it at all, but replacing paper copies of the local council newspaper with email, but only if everyone in a street agrees to do the same, is probably only going to save a few twigs, not the planet.

Anyway, the distributors are already being quite effective in saving the planet… I haven’t received a copy of Swindon News since August. I hope the council has spent wisely the 24 p it saved by not sending me the last three editions.

It looks as though the first demolition in preparation for the Swindon Front Garden development is about to take place. What looks like the beginnings of a road now cuts across either side of Westlecott Farm and a brick wall has been converted to a pile of rubble.The first houses are due soon.

There are six petitions referring to Swindon on the Downing Street petitions website. Ignoring the obsession with trains (three of the six are about train services, real and fanciful), one of the open petitions is to transfer ownership of the derelict Mechanics’ Institute. The petitioners seem to have a novel understanding of the word ‘return’

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to save the Grade II* listed Swindon “Mechanics’ Institution” building, and return it to the people, by helping The New Mechanics’ Institution Preservation Trust to acquire it, by initiating a process of Repairs Notices, with a view to Compulsory Purchase if necessary.

This is a once glorious building and its decline is pitiful — it would be a great asset to the town if it were put to a use. But, except for a short period after closure when owned by the local council, it was privately owned and supported as a member society, though open to others. It never belonged to the people, but to its members and the railway company. To suggest it ever was is to have as nostalgic a view as those petitioning to re-open a local branch line.

Yet another missive from he who does not know his name. This time it’s a letter from Derique in which he tells us Derique said “I’ve been extremely busy meeting and talking to local people”. Just like last time, I presume. Strange too that he writes about himself as if he was another person. Derique wants to know what local people think about these issues, and said that “I hope that people will take just a few short minutes of their time to complete my survey… and I look forward to hearing your views”. Well, if he actually bothered to knock on my door, rather than just shoving bits of paper through my letterbox, I’d take just a few short minutes and tell him.

Still, at least he is communicating. I’ve yet to hear or see anything from either of the other two main political parties.

Swindon Borough Council has big plans for improved public transport in the town.

A series of ring roads, a giant car park north of the railway and a new bus exchange form part of Swindon Council’s battle plan to tackle gridlock.
As the town prepares to accommodate 35,000 more homes over the next 20 years, the authority is seeking support for its Vision for Transport plan….
Among the suggestions are proposals for extended pedestrian and cycling areas in the town centre.
There are also designs to provide a transport corridor for buses if the canal is given the go-ahead in Faringdon Road….
The [Council] spokesman said: “There is a perception that taking the bus is not a desirable way to get around, whereas trams are nicer.
“These buses ride like a tram, which fits in with our aim of making public transport more popular.”

The local bus company seems to be trying to add to that perception that ‘the bus is not a desirable way to get around’. One of their drivers refused to allow a pensioner onto one of their buses because he was carrying a pot of paint.

“I struggled on to the bus and the driver said you can’t come on with that, it’s highly explosive, you will have to get off”….
Grandfather Mr Stratford, of Wheedon Road, bought the 750ml tin of Buckingham green paint on Thursday morning to coat his garage doors.

Driver stupidity? In part… but also company policy.

Thamesdown’s managing director Paul Jenkins apologised for the inconvenience caused. He admitted the driver was wrong to say he couldn’t carry the paint for fear of an explosion but said it was “discouraged” from buses for fear of spillage….
“It is company policy not to carry tins of paint because of the risk of spillage but the driver was incorrect to suggest it was due to a potential explosion.

When has a pot of green paint ever harmed anyone? More seriously, how often does a brand new pot of paint readily part with its lid, even when dropped?

Thamesdown Transport’s majority shareholder is Swindon Borough Council.

A very poor offering in the work canteen at lunchtime today. Very nice battered fish, but no gravy available to put on the chips, and no ketchup available either. Fish & chips without some adulteration with gravy and ketchup is just not right!

There has been a lot of talk from the leader of Swindon council about re-opening the Wilts & Berks Canal through Swindon. What seems strange is the choice of route. Rather than going along the old route (Canal Walk) straight into the town centre (most of which is intact as pedestrian routes), the proposal is to run the canal from its current end, along roads parallel to Canal Walk (Westcott Place, Faringdon Road and Fleet Street) and then rejoin the route of the North Wilts Canal. This route may well be more picturesque (passing the Park and the Railway Village), but is much more disruptive. It’s also lower than the line of the old canal, so new locks will, presumably, need to be built. Very pretty. The leader of the canal trust says nobody he has spoken to is against the idea, ignoring the comments of some of his local members. Selective hearing, methinks.

Amongst the things announced in yesterday’s budget was a £100 million competition for collaborative R&D

And the Secretary for Industry is also today announcing a £100 million competition for Britain to lead in high tech innovation – challenging universities and businesses to come together, from medical research to environmental transport, to convert British scientific breakthroughs into British commercial success and jobs.

That DTI announcement is somewhat more circumspect. Look on the website of the government programme running this exercise and you might notice that some of the topics highlighted in the government press release (such as low-carbon energy and plastic electronics) are already targeted. In practice, this is an expansion of on-going activity rather than a new competition in the sense that most people would understand ‘new competition’.

I spent most of this morning in a meeting discussing a new scheme aimed at people at the start of their careers. We can ask many questions about what they have done and their career history, but the one question we will not be allowed to ask is ‘How many years of relevant experience do you have?’ Why not? Because a union that monitors what we do regards it as a breach of our positive duty not to discriminate on grounds of age. Everyone in the room was agreed this was not very sensible (someone who started a new career late is just as likely to have only a few years of relevant experience as a younger person) but, apparently, we don’t wish to upset the union.

The union represents employees in our suppliers. My employer has a very strange approach to doing business.

I find my response to this story strangely ambivalent.

A TEAM of volunteers have been giving their time to save lives in Swindon for the last two years….
Whenever the Great Western Ambulance Service receive a category A emergency call, first responders in the neighbourhood are sent out at the same time.

There are twelve of these volunteers in Swindon and according to the article they have saved the lives of three people during the last two years.

On the one hand it is good that extra lives are being saved. On the other, although I wouldn’t want the operation to be subsumed into a state-run bureaucracy, with all the money now being poured into the NHS it is strange that small but significant activities like this depend on unpaid volunteers.