Friday 31 October 2008

the cyber mob rules

has anyone been to the 'reading' room in the llandrindod branch of powys library services lately?
over the last couple of weeks the pc terminals within the 'reading' room have increased to a total of eight and now occupy the central round table and the long table next to the photocopier,which used to be the designated study area that must of been supported as part of powys' commitment to lifelong learning and education.
it seems the mob rule as the library service has catered for the internet surfers needs but in doing so have marginalised the readers of the dailys,weeklys and the periodicals as well as the students.
howfar are pcc library service going to go?
if the demand is great enough and we all know that IT is where we have all been forced to go to recieve welfare benefits and to pay our direct debits,will they eventually get rid of all the books and turn the branch into a cyber cafe.

Thursday 30 October 2008

out of sight out of our minds

last weeks mid wales journal reported the last town council meeting at which concern at the failure of the police to execute their duty with regard to the drinking ban in the town gardens.
Cllr eddie williams accused the pcso's of not doing their job as they ride around in a panda car instead of on foot.
well everyone has to work to a budget and as we know dyfed powys police have maybe lost 2 million quid in icelandic banks.
Cllr sheila richards was quoted as saying that she fears the drink problem has and may spread to other areas of the town including the lake and the rock park and was concerned about the amount of litter and damage in these areas.
WELL DONT SAY WE DIDNT WARN YOU!!!
alcoholism is a psychologically addictive illness that cannot be cured by moving addicts from one place to another or implementing a policy of out of sight out of mind.
indeed we have witnessed police officers interacting with members of the crew on several occasions but not executing the banning orders or taking alcohol off the drinkers.
Good for them.
they are obviously more in touch with the human condition then the mealy mouth town council who think llandod can be and should be immune to social ills.
the only way to truly solve this problem is to persuade the drinkers that admittance to a rehab programme is the way forward utilising behaviour and rehab professionals.

Tuesday 21 October 2008

markkerr of authority or no mark

Im sure everyone has been following the continuing story of the lost millions of local authorities that have dissappeared in the thermal springs of iceland.
thats the country not the frozen food company btw.
what staggers me is the explanations eminating from powys hq and especially those attributed to chief exec mark kerr.
first after the fall out of the lights out situation he states in print that a immediate u turn by switching the lights back on would make the council look indecisive and weak.
Why not try bumbling and untrustworthy mark.
Then he tries to explain the loss of the icelandic investments as part of the day to day 'managing' of finances.
If they knew that the credit crunch was biting and lets face it most of us have known the economy was in trouble for over a year with house prices falling alongside their sales as well as standard and poors rating of icelandic offshore investments as high risk then why were they not withdrawing the maximum amount each day!!!
Ok so their might have been risk in investing the withdrawn sums in uk banks and institutions but at least if they were managing daily they could of moved the sums around in a diversified portfolio like most private investors do.
Both kerr and michael evans seem to think that as since its only a 'reserve' fund that is kept for emergancies then it is no great loss but then they turn round and state the annual budget recieved from cardiff bay is again inadequate to run all services.
surely this 'reserve' could of been withdrawn and used to cover the short fall in the street lighting budget.I would say that is sufficent enough of an emergancy.
All this on top of mark kerrs arrogance when he stood in front of protesting bus companies drivers and prevented them from demonstrating the potential loss of their livelihoods when the contract was 'awarded' to veoila is a step too far and like all fair minded citizens of powys demand that mark kerr does the decent thing and resigns with immediate affect and without a compensation package offered to him.

Wednesday 1 October 2008

small victory for some greater loss for others.

So the result is in.
The gwynfa hostel has been approved, although in reality it was never going to be prevented as powys are committed to these ventures by their paymasters in cardiff and to money saving by offloading properties they no longer utilise.
David Peters on his blog heralds it as a victory against harold nichols tories and their xenophobia but also then points out that a similar venture in llandod failed due in large to its mis management.
well this is exactly what some of the local residents who are long term powys tax payers have been concerned about.
do mid wales haousing association have authority to turf people out if they are unruly,if this scenario happens where will they then go,will they be intergrated into the community by taking accomadation with local landlords such as harold nichols.
we all know that more will be known in time but as large numbers of local residents areelderly and infirm will it affect their immediate quality of life.