WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Cathy]

Have just watched the Fireworks display of The International Fleet Review Spectacular for 100yrs of service and courage. Fireworks were great and lots of dramatic search lights coming from the warships and bridge. They used the Sydney Opera House as a backdrop to show the history of wars over the last 100yrs thru newspaper clippings etc., and you could hear audio recordings in the background. That was the best part. A lone bugler (?) performed The Last Stand and the words We Salute You were shown on the 'House'. I can only imagine how proud the Navy as a whole must feel, and so they should. If there is a video of the event out there, check it out.
Spectacular.

[Stanley]

The Sony wonder bedside radio and clock said it was 06:00 so I got up. I was surprised I'd slept so long but assumed it was the flu jab. Came down and brewed up and it wasn't till I looked at the FM3 I realised it was 01:00! Went back up, tuned to DABS and display re-established itself to correct time. I shall drink the tea and go back to bed.....

04:15. Went back to bed and had another 3 hours.....

[Cathy]

Don't you just hate that, when for some reason you get up earlier than you had to?

Am I right in thinking that men find it harder to sleep in than women? I think it is all those decades of 'having to' get up as soon as when the alarm goes off.

[Tripps]

Is that the one with the large green numbers? Mine seems to have a mind of its own regarding when British Summer Time ends. I've been forced to consult the instruction book twice now. Easy to read though when you're half asleep.

[David Whipp]

The number of people (and dogs) enjoying a walk on the canal bank this morning.

I went out with camera to get some pics for the Visit Barnoldswick site. Here's one of the Bankfield Shed boiler house from Skipton Road canal bridge. (Others from my walk can be seen at http://www.visitbarnoldswick.co.uk/expl ... ploreid=60 )

[Thomo]

External side of hedge trimmed, mainbrace spliced, kittens exercised, turkey joint cooked, vegetables prepared, Thomo knackered!!

[Stanley]

Don't know Cathy. Never bothered me, I just go back to sleep again. But I've been in training for years and have a clear conscience!
Left eye has stopped occasionally feeling itchy after the drops. Only a fortnight of them left now!
No, the clock has white display. The instruction book is useless for clock setting. I just switch it to DABS even though there is no programme signal but after a few seconds the time sets itself....

[hartley353]

Checked my e/mails this morning and was surprised to find seventeen of them were from companies I deal with wishing me Happy birthday, I will presume this is just automated generation rather than the company directors having good memories. They will be accepted in good grace, though I did think to reply stating the gift had not arrived.

[Tardis]

Nice evening in the CellarBar with Gizbyrne

[Tardis]

Another 40' truck stuck on Newtown

[Stanley]

My appointment with the eye surgeon at 14:15 today..... Roll on the right eye!!! ( And thank God for a caring and qualified daughter...)

[David Whipp]

Eric Pickles guide on community rights:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ity-rights

For when traditional local government is shut down?

[Tardis]

Eric Pickles guide on community rights:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ity-rights

For when traditional local government is shut down?

This document provides a simple step-by-step overview of the rights which have been introduced to give people more power over what happens in their neighbourhood. The policies covered include:

Neighbourhood planning
Community Right to Build
Community Right to Bid
Community Shares
Our Place!
Community Right to Challenge
Town and parish councils
Right to Manage and community cashback
Right to Reclaim Land
The document also points people in the right direction for advice, support and funding.

You can always outline which 'rights' are being reduced, and why you think Local Government should shut down when they are given such powers of accountability and transparency. Of course, the community doesn't have to take them up, but that is democracy.

[Tardis]

I was told that there is a petition with regard to the presence of the Local Authority traffic Warden who only appears to be in the town on market days.

2 disabled people got tickets on Saturday and Andrew Stephenson was in the square and has said on twitter that he will voice his concerns about the activity

[David Whipp]

You can always outline which 'rights' are being reduced, and why you think Local Government should shut down

Well, I don't think local government should shut down. (And that's not what I said.)

However, with Eric Pickles cutting the income of Pendle Council by almost two thirds (63%) there is no way that much appreciated local services will be able to survive. (Pendle is one of a handful of areas so badly affected.)

I spend a lot of my time (scores of hours a week) doing much of the community based activity which this guidance seeks to stimulate. Myself and others choose to do so to enhance our communities over and above what's provided by 'the council'.

I'm not sure that everyone will have the appetite for such activities if that's the only way services and facilities can survive.

Nor did I say that 'rights are being reduced'; Eric Pickles 'champions' improving 'rights' as he simultaneously slashes resources and centralises decision taking (eg planning).

[David Whipp]

I was told that there is a petition with regard to the presence of the Local Authority traffic Warden who only appears to be in the town on market days.

Wouldn't you know all about the party political petition as the Tory 'team leader' in Barnoldswick?

Frankly, frightening folk away from Barlick by creating a hoo haa about parking enforcement in the town is foolish in the extreme.

Parking provision in Barlick is far superior to Skipton or Burnley etc (both on street and off). And any enforcement is considerably less onerous than such towns.

Stop running the town down and putting folk off coming here.

(By the by, one group that's been complaining about people parked across dropped kerbs in Barlick is the one chaired by Tardis or the Tory councillor named on the petition. You couldn't make it up!)

[Stanley]

The Tories appear to be schizophrenic, they advocate more local control while cutting the resources needed to do it. If Pickles wants to put more control in the hands of 'the community' (one wonders what there definition of that is...) they should abolish the LCC and give the powers to either specialised bodies (like fire, police and major roads) or to Local Councils like Pendle who could devolve more power to town councils. The current policies are trojan horses designed to look democratic but in fact eventually ensure more central control or privatisation.
What grabbed my attention was my eye surgeon, Mr Abdul Nabi, at Gisburne Park not letting me read the bottom line on the test chart, he said there was no need as I now have pilot grade vision in my left eye. Yippee! I am in the pipeline for the op on the right eye, Roll On!
The continuing vigilance of Wendy and Ian who work constantly below the radar to boor spammers off the site before they get going. Never forget that we are under constant attack and it is down to our web-tenters to keep the site clean. They don't advertise so I will.....

[Tardis]

they advocate more local control while cutting the resources needed to do it

Cutting the support grant is removing a simple gerrymandering political tool which allows politicians in Westminster to control where money flows. That is not necessarily beneficial at a local level.

At a local level, the people can decide what they wish from their services and those bodies do have the facilities to raise their own revenues.

I would expect all local levels to govern for all the local people (code of conduct) and use all the tools available to ensure that people are properly represented and given an opportunity to be heard. Without the ability to influence or proper transparent communication the people are hardly likely to engage in a process which they believe to be flawed (wrongly in my opinion)

[David Whipp]

At a local level, the people can decide what they wish from their services and those bodies do have the facilities to raise their own revenues.

Do you suggest flogging off the odd park? Or do you advocate introducing car park charges? Or a bin tax? Or some other charge?

A recent review of income generation at Pendle Council has resulted in an ill thought out charge for using parks (which could scupper the recently revived fireworks event at Victory Park) and a charge for street naming and numbering which will bring in two and tuppence ha'penny. A Conservative proposal to charge for garden waste collection (and proposed charges for lost/stolen bins & bulky waste collection) was thrown out.

Apart from Government grant, the main source of funding for local councils is council tax. No one has any appetite for putting it up; and the major preceptors are limited to an increase under 2% without a referendum which in some cases would cost more than the sum raised.

Only town and parish councils are exempt from the 2% limit. There's going to be a lot of pressure for such bodies to pick up some of the services and facilities becoming unaffordable by the borough council. This process has already started with public conveniences and community halls (the Civic Hall in Barnoldswick) and will continue as an increasing number of services get increasingly close to closure.

Anyone fancy running a swimming pool - or will us volunteer Barlick Beach 'Lifeguards' have to perform real life rescues at West Craven Sports Centre?

[Thomo]

The sudden lack of activity in the house without the Kittens, all four are away to the Vets to be spayed. And oh yes, the fact that the Vet had been ticketed last time she made an emergency call, whereas the recently arrived immigrant from Asia has been getting away with it for months!! The untouchables springs to mind.

[Whyperion]

Fire at Bangladesh Textile Shed (9 Confirmed Dead)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24455196

BBC not quite reporting correctly , many will have seen ITV news report. Building appears to be being used for the production of finished cloth , which is then shipped out to the cutting and finishing factories such as those that had fire and other problems over the last couple of years reported, so best described as a weaving shed ?)
I guess the looms were substantially electrically powered and without a reported cause for the incident it is difficult to attribute blame , as a section of the economic process the weaving factories are not part of the UK retailer directly monitored system that cover the cutting and stitching operators. Incidents like this show how the UK developed its Factory Inspectorate rules and operations (including 'health and safety - eg usable emergency exit routes ) and that lessons have not been wholly applied in the light of past events.

[Stanley]

My eldest daughter and her husband are climbing on the plane that will bring them from Oz for a there week visit. Yippee!

[David Whipp]

At the town council meeting last night, the proposal by Conservative councillors to do away with parking restrictions in Barnoldswick on some days of the week.

There may be a populist allure to returning to a 'golden age' of motoring (when a small proportion of the population owned cars).

There may be benefit in experimenting with 'rules free' spaces, where motorists can leave their cars wherever they want.

But do we really want such a free for all in the centre of Barnoldswick?

For my part, I think it is utter foolishness.

We have the benefit of (free) kerbside parking on as much of the town centre roads as can take it. By and large, this is limited to a couple of hours (2 hours, rather than 1/2 an hour to allow enough time for a hair do...). Limiting the length of time for kerbside parking means that these spaces turn over many times a day. For most of the time, it's possible to drive into the town centre and pull into a kerbside space to pop into a shop for a few minutes, or get close to a shop for loading. Without restrictions, increasing numbers of these spaces would be taken up by people parking for longer periods (all day?), leading to a drastic reduction in the number of available kerbside spaces for shoppers.

Over the years, we have fought to keep double yellow lines to an absolute minimum. Where they have been put down are the locations necessary to give traffic enough space to move and essential sight lines for safety. Some of these double lined stretches are used daily for trucks to pull up who are delivering to local shops. If these lengths of street are taken up by people leaving their cars there (because restrictions would be removed under the Conservative proposal) where would the trucks unload? Stop in the middle of the street (blocking everything up for 20 minutes or more?); Pull up hundreds of yards away and carry tonnes of stuff to their destination? Do their deliveries in the middle of the night? (I guess shopkeepers would welcome the extra hours?)

We have a reasonable number of spaces in Barnoldswick for disabled drivers. Take away the restrictions, and there'd no doubt be enough selfish able-bodied motorists to fill the spaces.

And what about the pedestrians, or those in wheelchairs, or mobility scooters or pushing prams who depend on dropped kerbs to get around town? Take away the restrictions, would even more of these crossing points be indiscriminately parked across by unthinking motorists?

Barnoldswick should be singing from the rooftops about the availability of free parking in the town - plenty of spaces in off street car parks located right next to the town centre and kerbside spaces other towns would kill for.

Instead, we've got some councillors (including one who represents Colne) broadcasting to the world that there are BIG problems with parking in Barnoldswick. What an utterly false picture of the town. Why are they running the town down like this? What do they think they are doing putting folk off visiting in this way?

(When I began saying some of this at the council meeting last night, the Conservative councillors trounced out without hearing all my reasoning about why their actions were foolish. What's the point of being a councillor if you're not prepared to debate issues?)

[hartley353]

Just returned from the newsagents. When I went to pay for my paper and weekly magazine I noted my mushroom knife was still in my trouser pocket, how easy it is to step outside the law in this country. Would forgetfulness excuse me from a prison sentence.

[Tardis]

At a local level, the people can decide what they wish from their services and those bodies do have the facilities to raise their own revenues.

A recent review of income generation at Pendle Council has resulted in an ill thought out charge for using parks (which could scupper the recently revived fireworks event at Victory Park) and a charge for street naming and numbering which will bring in two and tuppence ha'penny. A Conservative proposal to charge for garden waste collection (and proposed charges for lost/stolen bins & bulky waste collection) was thrown out.

As I understand Lord Greaves gave a much longer sentence than that

After the elections in May the budget will already be set by the incumbents. That means you're allowed to put forward your own ideas.

I also think that any political debating should be restricted to the appropriate topics, rather than spreading over into other people's enjoyment of the site.