Good Riddance John Prescot, you certainly wont be missed.

Try as i might, i find it impossible to come up with anything remotely complimentary about the former Deputy PM. When New Labour came to power, Blair rewarded the buffoon with a vast Whitehall Department. Environment, Transport and the Regions. any of those would have taxed the abilities of the most able of politicians but Prescot was certainly not one of those so he chose the path of least resistence. ie; he did bugger all.

NATIVES OF WINEWALL ARE RESTLESS AGAIN.

NEW THREATS FROM THE COUNTY HIGHWAYS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN SAY VILLAGERS.

　Its nearly 20 years since the residents of Winewall together with many others from Colne succeeded after many years of struggle and much expense, in ending the threat of the M65 which would have rampaged through the South Valley of Colne and the villages of Winewall, Cotton Tree and Laneshawbridge. As soon as the Motorway threat ended, it took another struggle to also end the blighted line of the motorway and best of all to introduce Conservation Area Status to first Winewall and Cottone Tree and then later, the whole of Trawden.

The main motorway threat was believed for many years to be the work of the Government which had long favoured major road building and cars over Rail travel since the era of the late unlamented Doctor Beeching who trashed the Rail system in the UK and made motorways and car transport inevitable. It turned out that the real threat to Winewall was actually from Lancashire County Council which had plans for the extension of the M65 in its bottom drawer and all it ever needed was a government which was gullible enough to fall for it AND FUND IT. Fortunately for all of us and our environment, time and money ran out before this nightmare could be made a reality.

Now a new threat has appeared and of course as usual, its the Highways Department in County Hall, and the Planning Department in Pendle Council, or at the very least their contractors. The expectation in the village was for some re surfacing work but what we actually got was the worst excesses of heavy handed local and regional Government. large cobblestones dating back at least a couple of hundred years were dug up using machines, cobblestones which were not just part of Winewalls Heritage for 2 or three hundred years but which also helped stabilise the road its self and the footpaths. The deep drain at the field boundary on Winewall lane was not so much improved as destroyed and replaced by a large plastic drain and horrible plastic bollards.

The current arrangement would look horrible and out of place in most locations even in an Urban area, but here we must remember that this is a Conservation area and theoretically at least, building and renovation work within and adjacent to the conservation area should use traditional materials and styles. Replacing ancient cobblestones with concrete slabs and plastic bollards which serve no useful purpose whatever and only make the steep and narrow lane even more dangerous. Incidentally much of this work will be designated as work to improve Health and Safety. Even doors and windows, slates, extensions etc should all be built in keeping and replaced like for like. Sadly it seems that the Highways department are unaware of this and as usual are literally steamrolling the environment to fit their plans, and plans I should add which the previous government secured as unreachable by the public who are paying for it all.

　

　

We wish to know how much is budgeted for the work in Winewall and Cottontree.

Who drew up the current proposals and who granted permission.

Who in their right minds would be prepared to spend tens of thousands on doing unnecessary road works, clearly altering the look of the Conservation area when what was needed was merely a re setting of some cobblestones and relaying a few paving slabs. The lane itself needed only a layer of tar and gravel and repainting of white lines and warnings. TBC

ARE THE TIMES REALLY CHANGING ?

So Rupert "Dirty Digger" Murdoch is putting his online papers behind a "Paywall" is he? Well tough titty Rupie, I have never yet seen any of your news paper or publishing acquisitions actually improve although they do dive downmarket and swing to the right with great zeal. I have never actually bought a copy of The Bum although her indoors once bought one at Christmas to find out what was on the Telly over the holidays. It did have the TV schedules in it so all was not lost.

The Times was once the worlds premier and most reveered Newspaper but now its not so much The Thunderer as the Grumbler. and as for the Sun, how much cheap cheese can one really swallow without having nightmarees. I remember one commentator describing the Digger not as a publisher but as a Right Wing politician with interests in publishing. and though he would no doubt deny interfering in the editorial independence of his various organs his intentions are clearly known by his editors and staff who dont even need to be told but willingly apply self censorship to echo His Masters Voice.

MY WISH FOR A HUNG PARLIAMENT COULD SOON BE GRANTED

Since my last posting, aided by the TV debate it would appear that my wish for a Hung or Balanced Parliament has caught on with the electorate. They are tired of being lied too or being kept in the dark and fed on crap like mushrooms. They also appear to be tired of the consensus of silence about the true scale of the economic crisis which many think we are only just entering. The politicians however are afraid of straight talking because they probably realise that whoever wins, will probably be held responsible by the electorate, the press and of course History.

Like it or not, the truth will of course eventually out so someone has to be blamed. A Hung Parliament with a tiny majority that only a feeler gauge can fit between is probably the best we can hope for. In this way we can all share the blame and all share in the cost when the economy comes back from the repair shop. It lays open the option for either the best bit of political co-operation we have seen since World War 2 or the worst riots since 1982 as the extremist literally go head to head to apportion blame.

I woulds suggest that the former is the best course of action. Just as politicians will be blamed for the current cock up. (After all it was Thatcher and her Stock Exchange Big Bang back in the early eighties who freed up the banking and exchange profiteering and removed many of the checks and balances which let the banks off the lead). So it will be politicians who will also be blamed if they cock up the repair job. If they fight and argue, the ones that fight the most will probably be blamed the most, the ones who co-operate will not give the various pundits.

So with all of the above in mind lets now assume that there will be no outright majority for any of the main parties, and they will have to co-operate, and instead of arguing the toss about whose fault the credit crunch is, why not agree genuine political reform and initiate Proportional Representation as soon as poss. Who cares that it might slow down debate a bit, there will be no quick fix for the predicament we are now in so better arrive at a sensible decision than a hurried credit crunch dangerous dogs act which will only further delay the inevitable. It works OK in most of Europe and it can work OK here too. Don't be afraid of minorities. welcome them, they deserve to be represented as much as does any other political colour. Lets say good bye to massive majorities of power maniacs elected by a minority of voters and replace it with lots of minorities which genuinely represent people rather than just themselves or a Party Hierarchy. As a Sage once said, "In the work of a Master, no material is too poor. !