Rock and Fountain

I have been reading a story in the Shrewsbury Chronicle about the Rock and fountain pub in Shrewsbury which the police want the Licensing committee to review the premises license.

I think that the pub should stay open and I will be sending a letter of support to the council.  My reason for this is a simple one, with  a lot of pubs closing down in Shrewsbury and with the Rock and fountain being successful and employing staff so the last thing we want is to raise the unemployment in our Town and as someone at work said, closing the pub is not going to remove the trouble makers, just force them into another pub so nothing will really be solved.

Homelessness in Shrewsbury

Today the press have been phoning me about the shortage of housing in Shrewsbury for homeless people. The way single people are told by the council to go away you don’t need housing because your not a vulnerable person. IE been in prison have kids or been in the forces. It should be the right of all people to have a roof over there head!.

This is something that really needs to be recognised as a problem and discussed because I think that the current situation is totally appalling.

Darwin sculpture on Smithfield road

I am getting a lot of people asking me why I allowed the Shrewsbury Borough council to spend over 400,000 pounds on a sculpture on Smithfield road the answer is I did not nor did any other Cllr’s other than Judith Williams and Cllr Charles Armstrong

You see Cllr Armstrong came to council and asked the council for 750,000 for the Darwin celebrations as this was his birth place.  All labour and Lib dems voted against this motion.

But as always all the torys voted like sheep and passed the motion. Then some time later on in the year dont know the date Judith Williams asked we could have a sculpture to celebrate Charles Darwin and if a art foundation chaired by Graham Gallier (the HQ is at Galliers Yard in Longden Road) could pick the art and where it was going to be placed

No Cllrs other than Judith had anything to do with picking the art peice nor where it is going to be placed I hear that they wanted it in the quarry but the Horticultural society would not allow it so they found this little peice of land on Smithfield road which is far to small for this.

COLLEGE FUNDING-SHREWSBURY LOSES £70m

COLLEGE FUNDING-SHREWSBURY LOSES £70m

 

I cannot agree with Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski’s version of events in the Chronicle on February 26^th 2009, concerning the decision to review further education capital spending by the Learning and Skills Council. I was closely involved in the co-location debate and the real facts are as follows.

 

The Government had agreed that some £70m would be spent on building the proposed new college at London Road. That money was allocated for Shrewsbury, all we had to do was agree to that spending. The colleges, after spending several £m on a feasibility study, had recognised that the outdated current buildings had to replaced to provide a facility fit for the 21^st Century.

 

Where are we now? Young people at both colleges are dropping out at an alarming rate at the beginning of courses due to the lack of modern facilities, cramped accommodation and outdated equipment. In a recession education is absolutely vital, yet what options are we giving these young people, except leave our town to seek more modern education.

 

What impression does this outdated education offer give to businesses seeking to re-locate to Shrewsbury? How will local residents currently looking for work feel when they realise we have turned down £70m of investment in Shrewsbury with all the employment that could have generated? How many hundreds of jobs would the building work alone have created?

 

I was bitterly disappointed when our MP, Daniel Kawczynski appeared to just listen to a relatively narrow section of the community when he so stridently opposed the co-location proposals. The result is a disaster for the people of Shrewsbury. His actions directly contributed to the loss of £70m of investment, jobs and educational opportunity.

 

Cllr Jon Tandy

Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Shrewsbury & Atcham

3 Snowdrop Close

Shrewsbury

SY3 7TU

End of an Era

Like most residents, present and former employees and Councillors, I shall be sad to see the end of Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council. The Council had a long and proud history, and I would like to pay tribute to all those who served the public either as staff of, or Councillors on, our Borough Council.

 

Whilst I have certainly not agreed with the politics of every member of the Borough, I have always been most impressed with their dedication in volunteering their own time to serve the public.

 

However, I am certain the decision to move forward to the new unitary authority is the right one. The savings made by combining the administrative functions of the former districts are already bearing fruit. The 0% Council Tax rise is clear proof of that.

 

May I finish by wishing all those who worked for the Borough Council all the very best for the future, and thank you for all your hard work over the last year to make the transition to the new council such a success.

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