Tag: Monty

Is so nice to know that, when a group of local people — taxi drivers in this case — suggest brightening up Swindon by putting a Christmas tree in the centre of the Magic Roundabout, Swindon’s clown-councillor, Mr Montaut is ready with the baa-humbug spirit of Christmas.

I have been saying for years that something more needs to be done with the Magic Roundabout – it is a landmark for Swindon but people are disappointed when they see it. But this is not the right way to do it – a Christmas tree could be a danger to drivers.

Only if it’s illuminated like a Las Vegas casino, Mr Montaut.

If the Tories do manage to put it up it’ll be the only piece of cheer we’ll get from them this year.

And the red nest has done what for Swindon during the last year? Aah, I remember… nothing. If a tree is such a dangerous idea, what alternatives has Mr Montaut got to offer?

I have suggested some form of tower, or maybe a statue. Considering it is so close to the football club we could have something representing great players from the past – I think Don Rogers kicking a football would be a good symbol for the town.

And they’d be less distracting than a tree?

Let’s hope Mr Montaut never ventures in a car out to the country. With all those trees around to distract him, he’d find it hard to stay on the road.

I see that Ms Snelgrove has been assisting her red nest colleagues in tidying my local area. The reasons given are all very laudable. Ms Snelgrove:

The problem is that litter attracts more litter. We want to make sure the canal walk is free from litter and we think it is part of our civic duty. We want to set an example and help keep Swindon a lovely place to live.

Mr Montaut:

We want to make the public aware that communities need to work together to keep areas clean. The cost of cleaning waste is high and there needs to be a cycle of change to keep areas clean.

Mr Wright:

We can all do a small part to help put things right. It is as simple as that.

All good stuff and nothing anyone could disagree with… except I’m not sure it is quite so simple. Canal Walk is one of the better maintained parts of Westcott, with regular visits from the council’s cleaners. If their intention was to encourage the community to keep the area clean, why so little publicity in advance of Saturday’s outing? Were they frightened of being joined by members of the public other than party activists? And if she regards it as part of her ‘civic duty’, can we expect to see Ms Snelgrove back cleaning the streets when the cameras aren’t around?

If they really wanted to make an impression on the area, rather than seeking a photo opportunity, their time would have been much better spent encouraging those whose garages face onto Canal Walk to take up the council’s offer of cleaning off the graffiti that defaces Canal Walk to a much greater extent than litter ever does.

Central Swindon has a parking problem. The residents parking zones have insufficient space for the residents and it isn’t helped by non-residents parking where they shouldn’t. Since the council took over responsibility for enforcement of parking regulations from the police, the rules have been far more rigorously applied, far more wardens employed.

Surely a good thing for central Swindon then? Not according to Mr Montaut. Rather than representing his Central ward residents, he seems, once again, more interested in political point scoring, finding it objectionable for Swindon Borough Council to collect fines even though he is content when they go to central government.

It’s about time Mr Montaut remembered he was elected to represent this ward, not his party.

It seems odd to me that Thamesdown Transport’s latest fares rise has caused more fuss than their planned route changes, especially as it earlier plans for these route changes ran into so much political opposition. Leading the fuss, step forward Mr Montaut, continuing his approach of not allowing a lack of knowledge on an issue get in the way of him expressing an opinion.

This is deplorable. What the company needs to do is start focusing more on customers and getting people on their buses and less on their own income. The traditional return fare is offered all over the country, but now it is being axed in Swindon. I have the feeling that if Thamesdown continues to act in this fashion pressure groups are going to start popping up for the buses like they have on trains and planes. The thing is, though, if the company acted more responsibly it would not have to come to this.

Absense of return bus fares is actually not that uncommon. As an example Nottingham City Transport which, like Thamesdown Transport is council owned and also like Thamesdown Transport has a no-change-given exact fare only policy, does not offer return fares. And whilst nobody would disagree that Thamesdown Transport should try to get more passengers on its buses, if it ignores its income we, the council taxpayers of Swindon, will end up the owners of a loss-making company. Perhaps Mr Montaut has forgotten his earlier concerns about the level of subsidy paid to the bus company.

The fares increases proposed range from zero (for a single zone single) through 5% for a single zone return journey and 7% for a two zone single, to 11% for a two zone return journey. Day tickets and season tickets are increasing by between 7% and 12%. Fares increases that are so high that passenger numbers by so much that the bus company ends up worse off are not clever. But with motorists costs rising steeply too, I’d describe these fares increases as predictable, rather than deplorable.

From the latest comments from Mr Wren, it would seem that the most significant factor in increasing the level of recycling in Swindon is nothing to do with the frequency with which ‘non-recyclable’ rubbish is collected, nor is it related to the introduction of wheelie bins. What matters is the council making it easy to recycle what wasn’t recycled before.

Since introducing the new plastic bottle recycling scheme we have experienced a surge in the amount of waste being recycled rather than just sent to landfill.

Lets hope that the success of this ‘carrot’ influences future policy in this area, so that their is rather less emphasis on the ‘stick’. It’s nice too to see that Mr Montaut has finally finally caught-up on the primary issue of concern to his electorate in relation to the new waste collections.

However, the biggest concern is the blanket view taken over which residents will be required to have wheelie bins.

I see that wheelie bins have even arrived in the back-alleys of the railway village now.

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.”

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.

It’s so nice to see that Councillor Montaut retains his ability to make stupid statements. This time, commenting on the Streets for Living project in the Broadgreen area of Central Ward which he represents.

It is a positive initiative that we welcome, because the area is in need of support. There has been massive investment in the town centre and it is crucial that attention is paid to the wards further afield.

Err… what was the name of the ward again?

I see that whilst I have been away, quite a fight has broken out over waste and recycling collections in central Swindon.

Now that a quango has changed its guidance on alternate weekly collections, particularly in relation to food waste, Councillor Montaut has written an open letter to Mr Wren, the councillor in charge of waste and recycling, questioning the decision to collect ‘non-recyclable’ waste once per fortnight, and has then gone on to play petty politics with the issue. It is also worth noting that Mr Montaut is rather selecive in which parts of said quango’s guidance he chooses to take note of, with some of his points (e.g. about the effect of fortnightly collections on recycling rates) totally contradicting the same guidance document that he quotes elsewhere.

What Mr Montaut hasn’t questioned are the rules about who does and who does not get a wheelie bin, which seem to have been applied differently in the vicinity of the council leader’s home than the rest of central Swindon. But then, frequency of collection is, to some extent, an issue for all of Swindon, whereas the problem of where to put a wheelie bin is only an issue in the cramped terraces of central Swindon, so, as he lives in Moredon (oddly enough the ward of Councillor Wren), Mr Montaut is not personally affected.

(I note in passing that, according to the August edition of Swindon News, the start date for fortnightly wheelie bin collections has been put back from September to November, though they will be introduced over just two weeks from 5th November rather than over six months as originally advertised.)

I find the response from a local bed-and-breakfast hotel to a planning application for a new Jurys Inn in central Swindon a little strange.

Mark Gregson, owner of the Royston Hotel in Victoria Road, said the bigger chains could afford to squeeze local businesses out of the area. He said: “When the Travelodge opened for business I think we reached the limit of beds to customers, and if another comes along I think it will have a negative impact. The big companies have an advantage because they can afford to cut their prices by half for six months. They can run at a loss due to their financial backing and that’s something we just can’t do.”

Well… yes… that’s all true. But Jurys Inn is not really in the same market as The Royston Hotel, in which I stayed for almost a month when I first came to Swindon. Even at half-price, a room in a Jurys Inn would still be more expensive than the equivalent in The Royston. This is a little like M&S complaining of competition from Woollies — there’s a little overlap in what they offer, but not much.

Nice to see that our recently elected councillor has a good grasp of the matter.

Central ward councillor Derique Montaut said the problem was similar to the dominance of big supermarkets. “While we recognise the positive side of this for Swindon, attention has to be given to the local traders who could be forced out of existence.”

No Derique, not at the prices Jurys Inn charge. And whilst there has been a recent local casualty to increased hotel competition, that one was part of a national chain.

Oh, one other thing. The Royston Hotel does a very nice full english breakfast. I strongly recommend it.