The site of the public house formerly known as the Clicker which received planning permission for change of use to a Muslim community centre and prayer room, i.e., Mosque, appears to be looking a bit sorry for itself. As you can see from the pictures below the windows are now boarded up, which they were not before, there is fencing up around the site, encroaching on to the pavement. Many of us will remember that assurances were given that the car park would remain open to members of the public and for parents to use to drop children off on the school run. As one can see, any car trying to enter the car park may encounter a bit of difficulty. If there was a need to fence off the building this could have been done without encroaching on the public highway and without blocking either entrance to the car park. Neighbours have complained about the bushes being overgrown and not attended to. As of the end of May the Muslim group that submitted the proposals for change of use had not purchased the property, whether that has changed since we do not know. No information can be obtained from the Gulzar E madina website as it is not working, however, we will be keeping a close eye on this ever increasing eyesore to ensure no work is done to the outside of the building without proper planning consent.
Awash with Dosh
The Chronicle & Echo reports that surplus cash sitting in bank accounts of Northamptonshire schools has reduced by nearly £5 million over the past year. Figures released by the County Council show that capital balances of schools have reduced from £49.7 million in 2009/10 to £43.3 million in 2010/11. Despite the decrease the total amount of uncommitted revenue has more than doubled from £4.2 million to £9.4 million. What sort of loony society are we living in when schools in just one county can sit on a £9.4m nest egg while the rest of society suffers swingeing cuts, Fuel prices rocket and the elderly are dying because they cannot afford to eat or keep themselves warm?
Mortgaged to the Hilt
The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme (or in laymans terms, mortgage) for new street lights in Northamptonshire will cost NCC (or us the tax payer) 3.69m a year for 25 years – a total of £92.25m. These new lights according to Cllr Andres Gonzalez de Savage will be a ‘hi-thech white light’. Now, I do not know about Cllr de Savage, but I would prefer a mellow orangey yellow light outside my bedroom window to being bathed in hi-tech white light while I’m trying to get to sleep. If turning half the current number of lights off will save £2m, from electric and upkeep costs, then the other half must also cost £2m to keep going. It therefore makes no sense to spend £3.69m a year for the next 25 years when you could turn on half the lights that have been turned off and still save over £17m over the 25 year period. Without seeing the exact PFI bid, the cost may well be more that £3.69m a year as I do not know if this takes into account the cost of actually powering them. Serious questions need to be asked of these fools spending our money.
Asylum Figures for March
The amount spend by Northamptonshire County Council on feeding and housing Asylum seekers for March alone was £255,866.35. It appears these monthly bills are getting bigger and bigger, so much for Camoron saying he was going to get to grips with immigration. Another Tory lie.
