THE LAST CHANCE SALOON..... JUST CLOSED

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, CCBC’s inept, amateurish and inward thinking will cause us to loose the main share of the Regeneration Grant. They, through Bethan Jones’s leadership, were so keen to house their new offices in Colwyn Bay that they hardly glanced at any other proposal put before them.
Where did Bethan Jones go? Director of Modernisation, Denbighshire County Council and what happens? A brand new £85m seafront development in Rhyl complete with private investors waiting in the wings....

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2009/12/29/buyer-revives-hope-for-rhyl-s-85m-ocean-plaza-seafront-scheme-55578-25483888/

It couldn’t have been more blatant; the person in charge of our pitiful regeneration proposals decides to jump ship and lands on her feet and suddenly, out of nowhere, the proposals that were shelved for Rhyl miraculously have a new private investor, you couldn’t make it up, I know it’s pantomime season but someone is having a laugh.
The moment CCBC knew that tear spilling Bethan was moving to Denbighshire, months ago, she should have been removed from the Regeneration Board and given some menial task to do that would not include knowing about our, rather lame, regeneration proposals.
Never mind, the good news is Councillor Chris Hughes is Chairman of the Regeneration Quality Assurance Team..................... tickets for the Titanic anyone.

2010 AWAITS

Just before we get to see the New Year in I thought I might throw-in a few predictions I have for the forthcoming year.
1. The vacancy we have on Colwyn Bay Town Council will not be decided by a co-option, it will be a by-election. This is because of the new voting system we have; a candidate has to have 51% of the vote to be elected, so the more mates you have on the Council the more chance you have of winning. Obviously no-one likes that so, instead, we will have the expense of a by-election for a Town Councillor.
2. CCBC will refuse to send a representative to the Public Meeting regarding the Pier stating they had been legally advised not to attend.
3. Councillor Booth-Taylor, Eglwysbach, will not resign from the Council even though she has moved 150 miles away.
4. Prior to the General Election we will see race riots in some of our major cities; prompted by immigration, asylum seekers and illegal workers being high on the agenda of all parties plus the rise of far-right groups such as the EDL.
5. CCBC will unveil plans to turn half of Eirias Park into a car-park for the Sports Stadium
6. The Conservatives will not get the landslide victory they were hoping for despite a failed attempt by Labour to depose Gordon Brown
7. And finally: We will see a rise in the use of “Public and Press exemptions” by CCBC, the verdict on the Officers involved in the Douglas Road fiasco will never be made public.

OOPS! ONE MORE......
Sometime in January UKIP North Wales will find someone capable of updating their web-site; the last entry being made on the 20th of November. Either that or nothing interesting has happened in the Church Hall Action Group.
http://www.ukipnorthwales.org/



HAVE A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR AND MAY THIS ONE BE BETTER THAN THE LAST ONE: GOD BLESS.

WHAT A PUT DOWN!

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of meeting up with an old Army mate, he, because of injuries sustained during tours in Northern Ireland and in the Falklands, has to use a crutch and wear a leg brace so I gave him my usual loud greeting of “Hello; you miserable old bastard, how are you, you old cripple” Knowing the man the way I do, and what we went through together, gives me the honour of being able to address him that way without it being insulting.
Anyway I was overheard by a young WPC and she turned to me and said, in a very officious manner, “Excuse me! I heard what you said to that gentleman, do you realise you are breaking the law and, if the gentleman wishes to make a complaint I could arrest you”. Before I could answer my mate chirped up “That man you are threatening with arresting and I served our Queen and Country together and he once carried me for two miles, he has earned the right to talk to me anyway he likes, unlike you, in your fancy dress. Now, may I suggest that you go and confer with someone much higher than your pay-grade to find out if you have enough coppers on duty to arrest the pair of us and if you have we’ll be in that pub over there; now be a good girl and leave us alone” Rather disgruntled and shame-faced she walked away, accompanied by a round of applause from those nearby who had overheard the exchange.
As we walked to the pub my mate turned to me and said “I’ve told you before, don’t call me old”

FILTHY SCUM

Call me a racist, a fascist even a Nazi but scum like this do not deserve to be in this Country....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1237988/Failed-asylum-seeker-killed-12-year-old-girl-wins-court-bid-stay-Britain.html

Regardless, of whatever awaits him if he is deported, he more than deserves it; and if his fictitious wife and family love him so much he can take them along with him.
This just emphasises what I wrote the other day about “Nanny State”. Deportation would infringe on his Human rights, what about the Human rights of the 12 year old girl he murdered or the Human rights of her grief stricken family.
It is incidents like this that turn people to vote for the BNP, we, as a Country, have got to be the laughing stock of the World. To allow this man to stay here, after what he has done, is an incitement to racial hatred and I fully understand the girl’s father when He says he will not rest until this piece of shite has gone.

SEASONAL GREETINGS AND........

SENT IN BY A READER

You're walking down a deserted street with your husband or wife and two small children.

Suddenly, a dangerous looking man with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, and raises the knife
and charges.

You are carrying a Glock .40, and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family.

What do you do?'


UK Police Officer's Answer:

1) Well, that's not enough information to answer the question!
2) Does the man look poor or oppressed?
3) Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?

4) Could we run away?

5) Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand?

6) What does the law say about this situation?

7) Does the Glock have appropriate safety built into it?

8) Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children?

9) Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me?

10) Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me?

11) If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?

12) Should I call 9-9-9?

13) Why is this street so deserted?

14) We need to raise taxes, have a paint-and-weed day and make this a happier, healthier street that would discourage such behaviour?

15) If I raise my gun and he turns and runs away; do I get blamed if then he falls over running away, knocks his head and kills himself?

16) If I shoot him, and lose the court case, does he have the opportunity to sue me, cost me my job, my credibility and I will lose my family home?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Australian Officer's Answer:


1) BANG!


----------------------------------------------------------------------

American Officer's Answer:



1) BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Click....(sounds of reloading)

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!!!!!!!!!!!

Click.

Daughter: Nice grouping, Dad! Were those the Winchester Silver Tips?''

NANNY STATE OF THE UK

It is no state secret that I am bitterly opposed to the totalitarian regime of the European Union; my main reason for the interest in UKIP, I believe we, as a nation, should be able to make our own laws, govern ourselves and be the ones to choose our own future instead of having it dictated to us.
Membership of The EU divides opinion across the UK but approx 40% of us would like to see a total withdrawal from this federal state. There are those that argue for it being a financial gain to us when, in actual fact, it is not; we import approx £230billion of trade each year but export only £178billion. Regardless of our membership status this amount of trade could not be ignored by the EU and, as none members, we would still be able to trade under the terms of the World Trade Organisations rules.
We, because of EU directives, are becoming a nanny state, how many of us are sick and tired of hearing terms such as Health and Safety, Risk Assessment, Political Correctness and, importantly, Human Rights violations. The rules and regulations being imposed upon us by this corrupt, unelected, faceless bureaucracy are turning us into a Big brother Police State where we are scared to say or do anything for fear of breaching some directive or another.
Control of our Armed Forces, our Fishing Right and our Farming produce are now in the hands of Brussels, how many Farmers and Fishermen are on the brink of or have already gone bankrupt because of their directives and it is now up to 26 argumentative heads of Governments what we can or cannot do with our Forces.
Properly Governed and freed from the chains that bind us we could, once again, stand tall and face the World, we could thrive and prosper as a Free Nation and not be part of the dictatorship we have so many times in the past fought to free others from.
I am now, and forever will be anti-EU.

REASON FOR RESIGNATION

Councillor Dave Maratos resigned from the Town Council on Tuesday, the 15th of this month, following a Special Meeting on the Monday; at this meeting Cllr Maratos felt he was castigated by Councillor Chris Perry for being a landlord of properties in Colwyn Bay, this followed a question I asked in relation to Landlords being offered free refurbishments if they then took-in people on the homeless list. Councillor Perry accused me of asking the question on behalf of Councillor Maratos, which was not the case, the question was actually given to me by a lady who was in the Chamber but, being a member of the public, could not ask the question herself. Cllr Perry was, in fact, making an unfounded allegation about my question and, surprisingly, was not pulled up by the Mayor for his actions.
The argument escalated after I had left the Town Hall and Cllr Perry further verbally accused Cllr Maratos of matters relating to properties in Colwyn Bay and Manchester, apparently Cllr Perry accused Cllr Maratos of being a trouble causer and argued with him in relation to Social Services in Manchester
Councillor Maratos HAS told people he believed some unnamed properties were to be demolished, he was merely repeating what County Councillor Bob Squires had said in the Weekly News. Councillor Maratos had already been contacted by County Councillor Chris Hughes who told him to stop relaying the story because it wasn’t true and that Bob Squires had never said such a thing to the Weekly News or the Pioneer and that he, (Bob Squires) had received an apology from the Weekly News over his comments (this isn’t exactly true Cllr Squires received an apology because he never used the term “Benefit Underclass” and not for his comments on demolition). Councillor Hughes then, according to Cllr Maratos, undermined his standing in the community by spreading rumours that he, Cllr Maratos, didn’t know what he was talking about and, to use Cllr Hughes’s words, was just scaremongering. These actions by Cllr Hughes turned public opinion against Cllr Maratos and he found himself and his family subject to harassment from local residents including eggs been thrown at his windows, dog dirt been thrown on his doorstep and malicious texts been sent. The Police were informed and have had to speak to people about their future behaviour.
Councillor Maratos feels he was victimised by Councillor Chris Hughes’s actions and that he has been forced to resign for his and his family’s safety.
Here is what Councillor Bob Squires said to the Weekly News....

“There is a master plan being discussed as part of the regeneration and it will be include major proposals for demolition for some of these properties. Conwy County Council will resist future bedsits, the policy will be dead against it. We will formally resist houses of multiple accommodation, and reduce them and therefore some of the undesirable types that live there.”

And here is the apology published by the Weekly News...

*ON the Letters Page of last week’s Weekly News we ran a headline saying "Councillor’s ‘underclass’ comments spur debate".
This implied Cllr Bob Squire had used the term in relation to people in Colwyn Bay.
This was not the case, and Mr Squire has not used this term in the past.
The term ‘benefits underclass’ was actually from a report from the Welsh Assembly.
We are happy to clear up any misunderstanding this may have caused.

Councillor Maratos, in my opinion, was only saying what he had read a County Councillor say in the papers, the fact that the Council and Councillor Chris Hughes did not want it further publicised is a different matter entirely, if what Councillor Maratos alleges is true, and I have no reason to doubt him as I am in receipt of some emails sent out by Cllr Hughes, then there is certainly a case for the Standards Board to investigate the actions perpetrated by Councillor Hughes who, for too long now, seems to be getting away with some very strange behavior.

EX-SERVICES AND CHARITIES

An article from My Thoughts My Country about Tax and Charities got me thinking......

http://mythoughtsmycountry.blogspot.com/2009/12/lets-tax-charities-instead.html

I remember some time ago there was an investigation into donations given to Oxfam and it was calculated that for every £100.00 only £1.00 of it reached the people it was intended for; I do not know if that is still the case but I am sure someone will be able to inform us.
Charities are full of people with good intentions who work tirelessly in their belief that they are helping others, these people, rightly, deserve every credit due to them; most of them giving their time and effort free of charge.... but not all.
Chairmen, Boards and Officers of Charities are sometimes on huge salaries for their meagre input into these organisations and that is why I have become so suspicious of charities.
Ex-Servicemen charities are now springing up all over the place and are taking advantage of our emotional attachment to our serving Soldiers involved in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, some of whom have died, sustained life changing injuries or have developed mental problems. A good friend of mine and an ex- Warrant Officer in the SAS gives his time freely to help ex-service men, and woman, who are suffering from PTSD, they receive no Government or WAG funding, although I believe this is being addressed, they rely on donations from the Services and the public, they are a long standing organisation whose reputation is beyond reproach and they deserve every penny they get.
What worry me are those organisations that set themselves up purporting to be a “Charity”. I do know one organisation that has set-up SOTS (Soldiers Off The Streets), it was started by Bill Murray and his wife, Bill was the Welsh Regional Secretary for the BNP and one of those I argued with whilst being a member myself. SOTS was set-up like so many other “Charities” on a whim, it is not registered with the Charities Commission and, apart from his wife, I do not know who the Officers are. We do not know what salaries Bill, his wife or the Officers are on and we have no idea of what percentage of our donation eventually reaches the person it was meant for.
SOTS is not the only organisation that has sprung up to play on our emotions, there are many others and they all need to be regulated and, if necessary, investigated. Being an ex-serviceman I am the last person to tell people not to donate to organisations that are genuinely for ex-service personnel, every penny you give to reputable charities helps. If in doubt check these charities are registered before handing over your well meaning donation.

FESTIVE SPIRIT

What Festive Spirit? Having just given up the rigours of an attempted shopping expedition into the war-zone that Colwyn Bay has become, I can certainly tell you there is no “Festive Spirit” whatsoever. It is sheer lunacy to venture anywhere near the shopping centre, the market or, indeed, any premise that may be offering for sale anything that may have the slightest hint of having anything to do with Christmas.
The worst offenders being women, the moment you put one of them behind a shopping trolley, the whole world is at risk, they do not push them, they aim them; and I pity any poor sod’s ankles that stands in their way. Should you, God forbid, complain you are met with a glare that would put Medusa to shame and a retort of “Well; move out of the bloody way then” followed by a snarl of “Pillock” as they continue lumbering down the cat-food lane with a very apologetic looking husband trotting behind them trying to keep up.
Trying to look into a shop window is akin to being part of the scrum in a Ladies Rugby club and, had I not moved, I am sure my genitals would have ended up as a war trophy nailed to a dressing room door somewhere.
Arguments rained thick and fast all over town, one poor bloke being publically humiliated by his over-weight wife for his choice of baubles; holding them up for her friend to see she shouted “Have you seen these **cking baubles he chose, they’ll look **cking stupid on my tree”, poor bloke. Another hapless individual was laden with about 27 bulging carrier-bags whilst his wife flickered from place to place making more purchases to add to his load, “Remind me to get four loafs of bread as well” she told the poor sod. As I nipped outside to have a cig and calm my shattered nerves another woman was screaming at her husband “Now look what you’ve done, you’ve made me forget the cream” ????. A well used phrase was also heard “I don’t know why I bothered bringing you with me........ give me some money”.
Returning home I was greeted with “Hi Love, did you get what you wanted?” Looking at her now, in a totally different light after seeing what I had, I decided against telling the truth and sidled up into the office for a bit of quiet reflection.

DESPICABLE BEHAVIOUR

I have re-printed a copy of an email sent to me today from a gentleman called Matt Hall, I have never met the person and can only vouch for the validity of his claim on his say so, I have no reason to doubt that the email is the genuine article as it appears to ask reasonable questions of the Chairman (Councillor Chris Hughes) of the Friends of the Pier Society. To this date Councillor Hughes has not had the common courtesy to reply to the gentleman’s enquiry.
One has to wonder if this is the way one person has been treated, how many others are there out there who have also been treated in a similar, despicable, fashion. The problems surrounding Councillor Hughes’s prolonged Chairmanship must now, surely, becoming an embarrassment to the County Council and for the sake of their own integrity they must take action against him and force him to resign from the Society or, alternatively, step-down as a Councillor.

From: woulddo@hotmail.co.uk
To: cllr.chris.hughes@conwy.gov.uk
Subject: Friends Of The Pier Enquiry
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:58:03 +0000

Hi Chris,


I have been informed that you are Chairman of 'The Friends Of Victoria Pier' in Colwyn Bay, Which I am interested in joining having recently moved to the area and having a lons standing interest in Piers and their history ,Firstly I am after some information on the group- Is there a membership/joining fee? If so what do I get for this fee? eg. Newsletters, Chance to attend Meetings etc? I have noticed/been told the Pier is closed and heard many different stories in a short time as to how/why, What are the Friends actually doing towards saving the Pier? Any Fundraising/Meetings I could get involved In to help? I would also be willing to make a donation towards any fund etc that is in place for the Piers future.

Many Thanks

Matt Hall

THE PIER, THE PUBLIC AND THE MP.

Now that the proposal, by the Council, to house their offices in Colwyn Bay has hopefully been shelved let us now turn our attention to other pressing matters....... the Pier.
Victoria Pier here in Colwyn Bay has, for some time now, been the subject of many conversations, those who want it demolished and those that want to see it restored have all voiced their opinions independently, some are worried others are shocked at the Pier’s decline and there are those, like me, who are extremely concerned at the Council’s refusal to negotiate with the owner or, indeed, refuse to even discuss the Pier publically.
I raised the issue at a Town Council meeting and all the County Councillors stood up and left the chamber, I got the Council to invite Steve Hunt, the owner, to address a meeting to inform us of his position in respect of the Pier, no County Councillors attended it; had they done so they would have heard Steve Hunt tell us that he is prepared to enter into ANY deal that will save the Pier.
Here, on this blog, and on most of the other local blogs you will have read of Chris Hughes, a County Councillor, refusing to call meetings or sign cheques for the Friends of the Pier Society of which he is the CHAIRMAN, of all County Councillors one would have thought he would have shown an interest but he has not, and yet still refuses to stand down as it’s chairman; CAN HE NOT SEE WHAT A HUGE CONFLICT OF INTEREST ARISES FROM HIM BEING CHAIRMAN or is there a secret agenda that by remaining there and stifling democracy he is acting as an agent for the Council?
Public opinion is highly against the Council and Councillor Hughes and concerns are such that our local MP, David Jones, is now calling a Public Meeting to discuss the Pier. This meeting will be held in the main chamber of the Town Hall at 6pm on Friday the 22nd of January. David, himself will, hopefully, chair the meeting and we can, at last, have a full and open debate about the Pier’s future.
It is uncertain whether there will be a CCBC representative present but, if there is not, then that will speak volumes for the Council’s feelings towards the people of Colwyn Bay. I would also like to see Councillor Chris Hughes attend the meeting to defend his despicable actions towards the Pier Society but, once again, I doubt he has the integrity to do the right thing and be open and honest.
I would like to urge all of you to attend this meeting and show your support for the Pier, it shows the level of concern when your local MP has to do all the work, well done David.

REMEMBER; 6PM ON THE 22ND JANUARY AT THE TOWN HALL........... BE THERE!

ATTACK ON UKIP?.... NO; A KICK UP THE ARSE

I have been asked if I am attacking UKIP over sour grapes in that they refused to let me attend one of their meetings.
That is not the case at all and I do not consider what I have said as an “Attack” it was meant to be a kick up the arse so they would extract the digit and get on with doing what they should be doing.
I still believe that Nationally UKIP can be a great challenge to the mainstream Parties; they could be here too but they need to brighten their ideas up, let me refresh your memories...
You will all be aware that I had an interest in the UKIP Party; I wanted to attend a meeting to find out more about them and get to know the local members, a dip of the toe in the proverbial waters, so to speak. This sent their Political Advisor, Kevin Mahoney into orbit, making false claims and assumptions about me, he even told the membership, WRONGLY, that an NEC directive forbids ex-BNP members from attending their meetings. You are all aware of the farcical episode that followed and the indecision of the local leadership, truly amazing really that they get anywhere.
(I have been asked to point-out that the paranoid Kevin Mahoney is not the North Wales UKIP Political Advisor he is John Bufton, the MEPs, Political Advisor..... Poor John.)
These are not attacks they are observations and I certainly believe that locally they are poorly led (my observation) and badly advised by a man who seems paranoid about BNP infiltrators (my observation). To any of those in UKIP who, like the MEP Political Advisor, suffer from paranoia in regards to infiltrators may I make this observation; who would you be more suspicious of? A Councillor who serves his community and gives his time freely to help others OR Kevin Mahoney, who within two to three years of joining your party has climbed his way up the ladder to become an advisor to one of your MEPs and a PPC, gives false and misleading information to party members about an ex-BNP Councillor who shows an interest in the party and is, I believe, the brother of Brian Mahoney; leader of the entire BNP in Wales. Your choice!
Start looking on your own doorstep before knocking on my door; neither I nor my observations are your problem; the fact that I point them out to you is a bit like shooting the messenger.
UKIP are capable of so much more, get out there, meet the people, be decisive and bold and show people you are a party with enthusiasm not, as I have likened you to, a church hall action group. You have the capability of so much more, I honestly believe you yourselves do not realise your potential and that is half the problem. WAKE-UP! Before it is too late.

MEETING..... REGENERATION

Last nights meeting, in my opinion, was full of what I call “Managerial spiel”; they talked a lot but in essence said very little.
The Centre for Sporting Excellence was glorified and hailed as the best thing since sliced bread but everything else was glossed over and any difficult questions such as “Ultimate plans for Douglas Road” were responded to with “Refer to the Master plan”. This was the first I’d heard of a “Master plan” (outside of spoof spy film), apparently the Council will be employing a firm of Consultants, costing around £100,000, who will draw up this “Master plan”. Why, after all this time, are we only now employing consultants? I’m not against spending £100,000 if they are successful in bringing home the bacon but it seems a little late in the day to be calling them in, they should have been employed at the very beginning instead of amateurish hopefulness.
I asked about plans for a multi-storey car park in Ivy Street the answer was “As of today, there are no plans for that” I pursued it further “ Are there plans for a multi-storey car park anywhere in Colwyn Bay” the answer again was “As of today, no”. As of today could mean a multitude of things, we may change our minds as of tomorrow or we were but only up until yesterday!.
There is a Quality Assurance Team (QAT) set-up (full of County Councillors or Council employees) to oversee the regeneration and I groaned inwardly when Councillor Chris Hughes piped-up and informed us, gleefully, that he had been voted Chairman of the team, if it’s anything like his chairmanship of the Pier Society or his vice-chair of the Daniel Cleverly Trust (Dan’s den) then we are doomed to disaster.
Arguments followed the meeting and I received a phone call or two from other worried Councillors, one, who’s name I wont mention, said that they felt it was time to call it a day; he/she is sick of the back-biting and name-calling and feels that we are banging our heads against a brick wall and has had enough of it, despite my call for a cooling-off I think he/she may carry out the threat of resigning and I cannot blame them really; if you are not used to threats and intimidation it can be very disheartening and I will admit to having, fleetly, considered it myself.
Good intentions are all very well but I believe Samuel Johnson once said “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” I only hope this time he is proved wrong.

BAH HUMBUG

I’m sorry but I can no longer get into, understand, the Joys of the Christmas feel good factor. To me the innocence and anticipation of Christmas has been dragged into the commercial arena where it isn’t the thought behind the gift that counts but how much of your hard earned cash you spent on it.
Kids no longer rush off to bed early on Christmas Eve, hoping it will make Santa come quicker, they no longer eagerly await the surprises wrapped up in paper under the Christmas tree; the fact that they chose it from the Argos catalogue may have something to do with that. Kid’s noses are not pressed against cold windows hoping to get a glimpse of Santa and his reindeers flying past, they know that once Dad has snaffled the mince pie and drunk the sherry, which they blatantly left for Santa, then he’ll sneak up the stairs in his drunken stupor and dump the prezzies at the bottom of the bed.
Carol singers banging on your door and asking for dosh during the last week of November is another sign that things are no longer taken in the festive spirit, they’re just taken. Christmas Fayres now being called “Seasonal” just in case we upset some other religion, if it upsets you then sod-off we are a Christian Country that used to celebrate Christmas long before you came here.
Weeks before Christmas you could walk into your local and the atmosphere was thick of anticipation towards the coming event; now it’s just anticipation. The local butcher would have been taking orders weeks ago for the Christmas turkey; now you’ll probably see him in Tescos, like you, buying a turkey crown.
She who should be obeyed has already put up the Christmas tree, or should I say, taken it out of the box and assembled it, strung some new lights on it, the old ones having refused to work, thrown some tinsel at it and shoved a few crackers under it’s artificial branches. Standing back and admiring her work with a tear in her eye and a lump in her throat; get over it woman it’s artificial and the lights cost twice as much as they did eight years ago.
It’s all gone to pot; agreed there are still some who cling to the last vestiges of Christmas, hoping beyond hope that they can rescue the remnants of long lost sentiments but even they realise that it’s nothing like it was and that maybe next year they’ll bugger off to Spain until it’s all over.

Merry bloody Christmas everybody.

THE GOOD NEWS IS..........

Some good news for a change; John Dew the person sent by WAG to advise CCBC on their Office Accommodation has recommended that the Council extend their offices at Bodlondeb and the Civic Centre and DO NOT build their new offices in the centre of Colwyn Bay.
This is great news in respect of the town but also slightly worrying; Councillors are now concerned that due to the single sightedness of the Regeneration Board towards these offices other proposals for the town had not even been considered.
Bethan Jones, Director of Regeneration and Improvement, is now moving to Denbighshire, following the money, they have a host of proposals being put forward and concerns are that with her knowledge of our limited proposals Denbighshire will get the lions share of the Regeneration Grant. Her role there, Director of Modernisation, puts her in an ideal position to take advantage of our Council’s (Her) relaxed attitude towards the grant.
Trouble is; time is fast running out, proposals have to be put forward now otherwise we will loose the grant entirely and, with Bethan Jones knowing all of our plans, she will be able to advise her new bosses of how precarious our position is, allowing them to take full advantage.
This should put an altogether different aspect on Monday nights meeting, one of the questions sent to me was “If public opinion is against the Council Offices what other plans have the Council got?” this is no longer just a question but reality and I, along with many others, will be anxious to know the answer!


Denbighshire Council seem interested in what I have said about the Regeneration Grant and Bethan Jones; they have already viewed this comment 8 times to-day. Conwy CBC has also viewed it 4 times, good job they revoked their “No viewing blogs “policy.
I can only hope that by making public this information, which by rights we should be informed about, that it spurs the Council into action and that they treat this Grant with the urgency that is needed. This is the towns last chance please do not waste it.

IT'S ABOUT YOUR FUTURE

On Monday 14th December (this coming Monday) at 6pm Colwyn Bay Town Council has a Special Meeting. There is only one item on the Agenda; to receive an address from Bethan Jones, Corporate Director Improvement and Development CCBC, in regards to the SRA Regeneration.
This is, basically, an update on what the Council’s intentions are in regards to spending the Regeneration Grant. No doubt it will include spending the money on the Council’s new offices and not necessary on what is good for the town. We will hear about the good work being done already and that that is yet to commence but, what this really means is; these are the scraps thrown to the peasants whilst the Council sits at the top table and gorges itself. The biggest proportion of the Grant will be spent on their offices and car parks to facilitate their staff and any remaining money used to placate the public. We will hear about the centre for Sporting Excellence and an integrated transport system (new footpaths and cycle routes) and we will even hear about “Public Consultation” not that I have been consulted about my feelings of having a block of offices for 600 Council staff in the middle of town.......... have you?
I would suggest that anyone interested in the future of Colwyn Bay attends this meeting and hears for themselves the proposals being put forward by the Council. You will not be allowed to speak or ask questions at this meeting, unless invited to do so, but I am more than willing to put forward any questions you may have for Bethan Jones in respect of the regeneration, email them to me at...

cllr.johnoddy@yahoo.co.uk

BOND; JAMES BOND OF BODLONDEB

I don’t know if CCBC is full of wannabe James Bonds or thinks of itself as an off-shoot of MI5 but they appear to use the LGA Schedule 12a (public and press exempt) rule so often that it does make one wonder.
Yesterday’s Cabinet meeting had no less than three exempt items; one, the award of the Waste Transport Contract, I can understand as being “Commercially sensitive” but the other two, The Chief Executives Annual Report and Job Evaluation/Modernising Employment are a different kettle of fish and certainly smell like it too.
The latter two are issues that affect us as tax payers, the CEO’s annual report will, undoubtedly, give us all a clear picture of the Council’s successes and failings over the last 12 months; why should we not be allowed to know that?, after all, are these services not what we pay them for?, it may well be that it is too embarrassing for them to want us know but that is no reason for not informing us. It may even tell us what services and works have been put on hold to pay for the massive cock-up on the costing of the Maesdu bridge repairs. Why do they want to treat us like mushrooms?
Job Evaluation/Modernising Employment; If someone is not doing their job correctly we have a right to know that too because, when all is said and done, we pay their wages. We also need to know if employment is being “created” for non-job personnel earning huge salaries. Perhaps, if we shed enough tears, we can all get a £10,000 wage rise for doing nothing.
Openness and transparency is not this Council’s forte, this may come from its Labour Party influence, I’m sure, but the one thing I do know is that it is about time we were treated with respect and honesty by our Council and Councillors; hiding behind rules and regulations is, at the very least, contemptible.

COUNCILLORS OPPOSE CUTS

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2009/12/04/conwy-county-opposes-cut-in-councillors-55578-25318479/


I DON’T!
I believe we are over represented by, in some cases, those on the gravy-train. If County Councillors were honest with themselves they too would be able to see it from the public’s point of view. There are Councillors who have told me other Councillors have said “I’m only here for the money” Well name and bloody shame them! Get rid of the useless pieces of shite and replace them with people who have an ounce of decency and care about their community; don’t go along with the old-boy network just because it’s the “done thing”... name them!
Hardly anyone has a good word to say about our Councillors probably because we don’t believe a word they say when they complain that they do a worthwhile job. They surround themselves in secrecy and a “need to know” policy in which, to some of them, knowledge is power. Get off your high horses, stop being full of piss and your own self-importance and start representing what the people want and not what Council Officers say they can have.
If we had less “yes-men” and more people prepared to argue for the rights of the public then I could understand their whinging, but we haven’t, they go along with a minority of Councillors who are “Council brained” and influence them with their leftie rhetoric. It is this minority that give all Councillors the reputations they have.
We actually do have some very good Councillors but they are bogged-down in the mire caused by these few bureaucratic career Councillors who believe “Democracy” is something that only they can decide upon.

GOOD DECISION.... ON MY PART.

I think my decision to look at UKIP before joining it was a good move; whilst I agree with what they stand for nationally, locally they appear to be a damp squid.
The fact that their new party leader, Lord Pearson, was prepared to do a deal with the Tories, denied by some members, is also very off-putting, imagine being told you cannot stand in this election because the Conservatives are standing, not what you paid you’re party fees for, is it?
UKIP, locally, which is what I would have been involved in, appears stagnant and without enthusiasm, something I know the members feel, and in a letter from their Chairman, Warwick Nicholson, confirmed it “ The membership showed no enthusiasm for a December meeting”. There is an election looming, they have 6 months to get ready for it and they cannot be bothered to hold a monthly meeting!
You cannot blame the members if they are poorly led and ill advised for their apathy. It is up to the local leaders to lead by example, if you look at their North Wales web-site there as only been 5 entries since the beginning of November....
http://www.ukipnorthwales.org/
Not, exactly, encouraging, is it?
Holding their meetings in a draughty Church Hall is not my idea of a party going anywhere any time soon; they need to brighten-up their image, get out and meet the people and be bold and decisive. Their reliance on poor local leadership, bad advice from under qualified and over titled political advisors and their inability to climb above their local action group status is going to cost them dearly in the forthcoming election.
I can only wish the local membership well, but I fear it may already be too late for them; unless there is a monumental transformation soon; then they will be in the same position after the election only a lot more deflated than they already are.

COMMUNITY COUNCILLORS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Before I start I am not insinuating that there is any link between Colwyn Bay’s Communities First and the one in the news item. What I am trying to get across is that Town and Community Councillors can, if they are persistent, make a difference.
The Community Councillor who instigated this investigation was ridiculed and, no doubt, criticised for what was called “Unsubstantiated claims”, nevertheless her persistence paid off and two officers, the Co-ordinator Miriam Beard and Monitoring Officer Andy Bunning, have both been suspended following initial investigations by WAG and the Welsh Audit Office.
“Minor” Councillors can, if they are open, honest and vocal enough, get things done; they may have to put up with harassment, political and personal verbal attacks and false accusations but, at the end of the day, if they feel morally right then they can succeed. My admiration goes out to the Community Councillor involved in this; Mandy Bostwick.

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2009/12/01/north-wales-community-bosses-suspended-55578-25291628/

BY ALL MEANS.....REPORT ME!

I have been sent copies of emails sent between Councillor Hughes and Pat Jackson, they include personal details of Councillor Hughes so I will not publish them, and in them Councillor Hughes gives “personal problems” as an excuse for not calling a meeting.
I have also received numerous phone calls; one informed me that despite being sent cheques to countersign Councillor Hughes refused to sign them, rendering the Society unable to spend any money. The Society’s bank account only holds between £5-600, not a lot but they are still unable to put it to use and because of that members have ceased donating to the Society.
Once again I have been asked to publish the address of the Pier’s petition site which I have signed along with Councillor Maratos....

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/colwynpier/

Amongst the phone calls I received was one saying that Councillor Hughes is out and about telling people I am telling mistruths about him, you, the readers, can decide that for yourselves; but if that is the case then I am prepared to answer for my actions to any Standards Committee that he wishes to complain to. I stand by EVERYTHING I have written and am in possession of documentary proof to support it.

THE SHAME CONTINUES

Councillor Chris Hughes once branded me short sighted over my proposals to regenerate the Town centre and claimed that the Council had “An exciting development planned for the old indoor market” when questioned about it he told us he would not tell us because it was “Commercially sensitive”. It was his smug, superior attitude in the way he delivered that comment that made me want to find out more, so, basically, I have him to thank for leading me on to the road of discovery over Council misdemeanours. The latest post on him brought a good response, a lot of which even I didn’t dare publish! It also brought to me a copy of a letter sent to him by Pat Jackson, Secretary of Friends of the Pier Society (copy below). In it she asks Councillor Hughes to confirm his position in regards to his Chairmanship of the Society, note the date, 7th October, she has still not received a reply.
The Pier is in dispute with the Council; Chris Hughes is a prominent member of that Council and yet still refuses to resign as Chairman of the Friends Society. If Chris Hughes himself cannot see the CONFLICT OF INTEREST is there anyone else on the Council who can? Surely if the Council wish to retain any credibility at all over the sorrowful issue of the Pier then someone on it must pull Councillor Hughes to one side and say “Okay Chris, you’ve damaged them enough, people are now starting to notice we are playing dirty, time to call it a day”
The more I look at this case the more I believe Steve Hunt’s claims that he was “fit-up” and the more the Council allow Councillor Hughes to “blunder” around the more people that will agree with me, it is no longer disgraceful; it is shamefully disgraceful.


Cllr Chris Hughes
Conwy County Borough Council
Bodlondeb
CONWAY
LL32 8DU 7th October 2009

Dear Councillor Hughes

Re Friends of Victoria Pier, Colwyn Bay

I refer to your e-mail of the 7th May 2009 when you stated, as Chairman of the Friends of the Pier, that you would arrange something i.e an AGM of the Friends within the next two weeks. There has not been an AGM for the past three years.

Previous to that when a meeting of the Friends was called by others you attended and branded the meeting as unconstitutional and refused to stand down as Chairman. You then informed me that it was the Chairman’s duty to call AGMs.

The point of this letter is that it appears from your Register of Members Interests at the Council, that you do not list any interest in ‘Friends of the Pier’. I do not appear to have had any official resignation letter from you.

Please, therefore, would you please explain by return of post your position with regard to the ‘Friends of the Pier.’

Yours sincerely


Pat Jackson
Secretary and Treasurer
Friends of the Pier.

OSCAR'S IDENTITY FINALLY REVEALED

http://llandudno-and-colwyn-local.blogspot.com/2009/11/twinkle-twinkle.html

OSCAR, CLLR HUGHES AND THE CONSERVATIVES

After an article appeared on Thoughts of Oscar today...
http://thoughtsofoscar.blogspot.com/search/label/Cllr%20Chris%20Hughes

... in which he criticises Councillor Chris Hughes for his comments one has to wonder if Councillor Hughes will actually name the Council Officer who made the comment he referred to, or is it, once again, more Labour spin and deceit? The local Conservatives have remained remarkably quiet about it, perhaps, like me they missed the original article..... http://www.northwalesweeklynews.co.uk/conwy-county-news/local-conwy-news/2009/11/19/huge-cuts-planned-at-conwy-council-55243-25200572/

When Councillors make such claims they should, at least, be able to substantiate them; which, once again, begs the question why haven’t the Conservatives been demanding answers from Councillor Hughes, are they scared of taking on the might of Councillor Hughes or was he speaking the truth? If the Conservatives wish to hide behind a wall of silence then so be it but if Councillor Hughes was using deceit then, surely, this would be the ideal opportunity for the Conservatives to gain Brownie points with the electorate, they must question his comments or appear weak and powerless.
If they need ammunition to fire at Councillor Hughes they could also ask him why he remains as Chairman of The Friends of the Pier Society; having not called a meeting in over three and a half years and closed down the meeting called by the membership to remove him. Even I can give them that information and the society’s Secretary’s details for confirmation.

Not long ago Oscar was thinking of calling it a day and packing-in blogging, what I think he failed to realise was just how much information he puts into the public domain that would otherwise remain unheard of or commented on. His blog is a mine of information that anyone of us can tap into; his decision to continue, undoubtedly, caused a few Councillors to groan out aloud, after this I think Councillor Hughes might be one of them.

TAKE AWAYS

There is something fundamentally wrong with the mindset of our County Council when it comes to what is good and what is bad for Colwyn Bay.
A recent decision was made to allow a change of use at 19, Abergele Road, from a retail outlet to a Kebab and Pizza take away; this is despite there being two other Kebab and Pizza take away premises within 100 yards of it. We have, I am reliably informed, already got 19 take away establishments between East and West End, nearly double what Llandudno has. By allowing such an application not only are the Council putting extra strain on existing take away businesses but they are turning us into the “Take away Capital” of North Wales.
Take away owners are, obviously, up in arms about this decision; they were advised to form a petition when news of the application reached them, which they did, stating that a new take away would be bad for their business, this alone is not a legitimate reason for complaint, they, along with every other member of the public, would have been far better writing individual letters of objection to the Case Officer, they were badly advised.
Once the decision is reached by the Case Officer there are no grounds for appeal, their only option is to take it to the High Court and who, in these economic times, can afford to do that.
Here, in Colwyn Bay, we are fast becoming a collection of Charity Shops, get rich quick seasonal shops, £ shops and now take aways; there appears to be no thought, on the part of the Council, for other businesses or the people who live here. This all falls nicely into place when you consider the Council would like to see the town become an Administration Centre, the less attractive it becomes as a tourist or shopping destination, the less complaints the Council will have to their proposals.
I have to question myself and wonder if I am the only one who sees it this way, am I, perhaps, paranoid, or would the Council stoop to such levels to achieve their goals; I think we may only have to wait a short time to find out the answer.

OMBUDSMAN COMPLAINT RE: DOUGLAS ROAD

Below is a copy of the covering letter I have sent, along with my complaint to the Ombudsman for Wales, I honestly believe that the Council should not investigate its own misdemeanours, that is akin to you or I appearing in Court and finding ourselves innocent!



On the 12th of October 2009 Mr A. Jones, a local buyer, put in an offer to Stirling Estate Agents, of £65,000 to purchase 10, Douglas Road Colwyn Bay.
On the 13th of October 2009 Rob Dix a CCBC Officer and member of the Regeneration Board working under Bethan Jones Deputy CE of CCBC, submitted, under a schedule 12a LGA (attached) a proposal to the Council Cabinet to purchase 10, Douglas Road, stating there was a “tight timetable”.
On or around the 15th October 2009 Gareth Peters, Principle Property Manager CCBC, put in an offer of £119,000 to Stirling Estate agents to buy 10 Douglas Road.
Mr Jones was informed of this offer and contacted CCBC to tell them that he had had a valuation done on the property and it had been £70,000. After negotiations Mr Jones upped his offer, he was then told that if he withdrew from the negotiations and remained silent about the deal and CCBC were successful in their purchase he would receive £1,000 as a “consultant’s fee” Mr Jones had already employed a solicitor and surveyor and was already out of pocket so refused to withdraw. Offers went to sealed bids and Mr Jones was informed his offer of £82,001 had no been successful. (Email attached)
I draw the Ombudsman’s attention to the fact that Rob Dix would have had to have permission from Bethan Jones, his superior, to make such a proposal to the Cabinet, I suggest the Cabinet, because of the Schedule 12a, were informed a private buyer had already made an offer on the property and so were party to what was to follow. Gareth Peters was the negotiator and was the one who made the offer to Mr Jones but I surmise he colluded with his superiors before doing so.
I wrote to Byron Davies CE CCBC urging for an Independent Enquiry as this incident was all over the local papers and that in the interests of the public and the Councils credibility this should be as open and transparent as possible. On the 21st of October 2009 I received a reply from Mr Davies stating that the Enquiry was to be an internal one. My fear of this is that those truly responsible for this appalling incident will not be investigated and, if they are, the results will not be published. This enquiry is about CCBC investigating itself, there can be no justification in this as they will, undoubtedly, find themselves innocent or use Mr Peters as a scapegoat. For that reason alone I believe the Ombudsman should investigate this case.

John Oddy



Within the comments are emails sent to me from and reply to the Ombudsman in which they say my name will be passed to those concerned. Unlike the Council I am open about what I do and am not scared of them knowing their accuser.

YOU HAVE TO LAUGH

DOES THE BOX CARRY THE FOLLOWING WARNING....


"Barbie in a Burkha must not come into contact with Action Man due to possibility of stoning!"


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1229760/Its-Barbie-burka-World-famous-doll-gets-makeover-hammer-50th-anniversary.html

AT LAST........... A DECISION.........NO!

North Wales UKIP has finally responded to my request to attend one of their meetings with a refusal.
Here is a section of that response...



Mr Oddy
There was little enthusiasm for a December meeting at our last meeting, the next will be in January 2010.
You request to attend the next monthly meeting of the North Wales branch was put to the UKIP Wales commitee at its meeting in November.
The unanimous decision was that as a former prominent member of the BNP you should not be allowed to attend.
Your request was further discussed at the North Wales branch meeting three days later with the decision being reached that you should not be invited to attend our meetings and that the result of any application that you may make to join UKIP be awaited. I am therefor unable to extend an invitation to you for you to attend.
Several members made the point that most if not all of us had joined UKIP without ever having attended a branch meeting.


I am not angry at their refusal, slightly bemused and bewildered but not angry. They are worried that I may be a BNP infiltrator, but I could only be that after joining the Party and not by attending one meeting. I could understand close scrutiny if I joined them but what harm could be done at a branch meeting?
I am now left to decide whether to join them or not; it has given me a reminder of how petty political parties can be, we only have to look at our local Conservatives to see that. As an Independent I can do and vote as I please, in a Party I have to toe a line and I don’t know if I could do that.
I do feel sorry for the local members of UKIP if this type of dallying is common practice, good leadership and decision making is crucial to the success of any branch and I don’t think we’ve seen either in this decision.
I have stated I believe UKIP can be a good challenger to the mainstream parties but I think I have gained more information about them through this episode than I would have through attending a meeting; They are weak on decisiveness, still at the Church Hall level in regards to meetings and not pushing themselves on publicity. When it comes to politics you have to be decisive, members and votes can be lost if you are not. Credibility as a Party is fundamental and by meeting in church halls you give the impression more of a local action group rather than that of a political party, the Town Hall hires out the Committee Room and the main Chamber, get in there and show people you have arrived. By now every home in the area should have had a UKIP leaflet, every Saturday the market should be full of activist handing out leaflets and talking to the people and instead of me going to UKIP to find out about them they should be coming to us, you cannot win votes by sitting on your arse and talking about it to the already converted. Perhaps, in a funny way, they may have done me a favour in their refusal.

WHY ARE THEY SCARED OF TRANSPARENCY

To-day (Saturday) I received a reply to my letter sent to the Chief Executive, Byron Davies, in it he has confirmed that the Enquiry into the gazumping of 10, Douglas Road and the subsequent “Hush money” (Consultants fee) offered to Mr Jones, the original buyer, is being dealt with in the form of an Internal Enquiry.
This means that whatever the outcome of such an Enquiry you, the public, will never be informed of it, the Council can deliberate on it, discuss the details of it and come to a conclusion on it and we will not be told any of it. This, to me, is totally wrong; we have a right to know what the people, whose wages we pay, are doing.
Let me remind you of one section of my letter to Mr Davies....
“In the interests of the public and the Council’s integrity this enquiry should be totally open and transparent without the stigma of any cover-up being attached to it.”
This Enquiry now calls into question the Council’s integrity, what is it that they are scared of us knowing and how far up the Council tree does this climb, remember I called into question the actions of the Cabinet in all of this; are they going to enquire into their own actions and find themselves innocent? What is it about Openness and Transparency that our Council fear? There are so many question and not enough answers.
I’m afraid I, for one, cannot accept this, I have spoken to Mr Jones about the letter, he is the ultimate loser along with his disabled son who the house was being bought for, he is in agreement with me and I shall now be forwarding this complaint about CCBC staff and Cabinet members to the Local Authority Ombudsman, if nothing else we will then see the results of the Enquiry.

FERTILE UKIP?

I have been corresponding with some UKIP members and am quite surprised at how inactive they are in this area, which really is fertile ground for them.
Labour have shown themselves to be the traitors we always knew they were, they have ruined whatever they have touched, just like our Labour led Council, they have lied to and deceived the working classes and sold us all down the river. Their chances of re-election, like their candidates, are a non-starter.
Cameron’s u turn on the EU has shown us what to expect from the Conservatives; broken promises and another Labour Government but dressed in blue.
The Lib/Dems themselves do not even know what they want so the rest of us have no chance of knowing, they are weak and leaderless, pro political correctness and a bunch of socialist do-gooders to all the wrong people.
So, out of all the minority parties, there is not much other choice. UKIP have strengthened up their policies, they are now much tougher on immigration and, of course, they want out of the EU. I realise that is not good for you poor misguided pro EUers but even you must now be wondering what the hell we have let ourselves into.
With some real effort UKIP could collect all those disenchanted Labour and Conservative voters, the Lib/Dem voters will remain confused until polling day and still be confused after that, the mainstream parties have shown themselves to be the liars, cheats and thieves that they really are so it is now time for something different, the only real option is UKIP.

A MINUTE OF YOUR TIME

As you will know and as the Weekly News reported I get a lot of information from the Council’s own web-site, dates and agenda of meetings, what is to be exempt and usually why. One also gets a lot of information from the minutes of a meeting, which is why I trawl through them; I have now noticed that the minutes of meetings are now extremely slow in being published. Such things as the Cabinet and the Planning Committee are on the ball; they have to be because they contain things that the public will be looking for. If we start to search further we find it is completely different; there are two Cabinet Sub Committees; Anti Social Behaviour and Council Tax Hardship Relief; according to the agendas and minutes these Committees have never met, they have a full compliment of Councillors who, I presume, are being paid extra for being on these Committees (I’m sure someone will correct me if I am wrong) yet they have done nothing.
Back to the minutes of meetings;
The Constitution and Maladministration Review Committee last printed its minutes on the 11th May
The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Office Accommodation, last printed its minutes on 25th August
The Cabinet Sub-Committee Personnel, last printed its minutes on 29th June
The Standards Committee, last printed its minutes on7th September
The Audit Committee, last printed its minutes on 28th September

These are just a few, but by no means exceptions, to the many committees and sub-committees that our Council has.
One has to wonder why our Council find it so hard to publish the minutes of its meetings, 5 months in one case, do they not want us to know what’s going on?, do they have anything to hide? Or could it simply be that the secretary forgot to put them up?; will we ever know?

BRAVE? NO, CONCERNED: YES.

Today, on “Thoughts of Oscar”, Oscar highlights three Councillors as being brave, Jason Weyman, Bob Squires and me, an accolade in itself coming from Oscar. The real truth, however, is that there are a lot of good and, indeed, brave Councillors it is only a minority who are not, it is this minority who, for whatever reason, bring down the others. There are those on the Council who influence other Councillors for different reasons be it political, private or an unknown agenda.
The vast difference between a Town or Community Council and those on the County Council is, of course, the pay; Town and Community Councillors are unpaid and most of them do what they do because they actually care about the people and area in which they live. County Councillors, on the other hand, are well paid for what they do, or, in some cases, do not do.
We are very often critical of our Council and I admit to being one of the worst offenders when it comes to that and I shall continue to be so as long as the County Council remains as secretive and deceitful as it is being.
I believe it is part of the duties of a Town or Community Councillor to challenge the actions and decisions of the County Council if they are detrimental to the people and communities. This is extremely difficult to do when you have County Councillors sitting on these lower Councils, they can influence the debate or outcome of a vote. This dual representation is very dangerous as it stifles the democratic process; the County Councillors may well have voted in favour of the very proposal we are arguing about, for example the pier, offices or regeneration projects. At County level they have already made their decisions so by influencing members of the lower councils their proposals are pushed through unquestioned. To me this is totally wrong and I think dual representation should be ended, this would allow the lower councils to argue with the County unimpeded.
Without the input of the County Councillors I’m sure that more arguments would be raised from the lower councils and that more Councillors would be vocal; it is not a question therefore of being brave it is more a point of being heard, so many Councillors do good things quietly yet other Councillors use the same stealth to hide their secret agenda.

OFFICES OR TRAM SYSTEM

Conwy County Borough Council and some of it’s more clever Councillors believe that Colwyn Bay is finished as a tourist town; in their eyes they see fit to take advantage of the downturn by turning the Town into an Administration Centre. Using the Regeneration Grant to feather the Council’s nest is such an easy way out; but what about the people of Colwyn Bay?, what about the businesses and what about the future?.
With a little bit of thought and some practical ideas Colwyn Bay can be put back on the map. If we used the Regeneration Grant, in association with other grants and private funding that is available and waiting, we could implement the proposal to run a Tram System from Old Colwyn all the way through to Llandudno and beyond. There are now enough influential parties who agree with me and have expressed their interest in the project that it concerns me why the Regeneration Board are not amongst them. If people like David Jones MP, Arriva Buses and Trains, Mostyn Estates, Colwyn Bay Civic Society and a host of other individuals are keen on this idea why, in heavens name, aren’t the Council and the Regeneration Board?.
Of course we would have to regenerate the Town itself, I put that in under a different proposal, the Town would need an attraction such as a week-end market and we have all the activities with watersports and jet-skiers, join them all together and we will have a thriving town again. The Tram System will not only be a Tourist Magnet in itself it will ferry them up and down between here and Llandudno, a saviour for both places.
We have to stop CCBC and it’s inept County Councillors from selling Colwyn Bay down the river, they need to look at this Tram System with new eyes, their old and antiquated ways of doing things are in the past, we have to look to the future and that includes sustainable modes of transport that are emission free, cheap to run and environmentally friendly.
The Council and Councillors, for once, need to look at what is best for the people and not for themselves.

CONSERVATIVE SHAME

I believe what happened to Councillor Hazel Meredith was an absolute mockery; suspended from the local Conservative Party because she wouldn’t vote for their candidate in a Town Council co-option. The Conservative Party, by their actions, are trying to force the opinions of the “elite” few onto the majority and this is their way of saying “Do as we say or else!” The fact that the person she voted for was another Conservative seems to be irrelevant, her choice of the two candidates has been in the Conservative Party for over 30 years and had previously been a Councillor, and the Party’s choice was an unknown entity apart from the fact that she was Margaret Lyons daughter in-law and Colin Lyons wife. IT STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN.
The shameful thing is I do not think the Conservatives have finished yet; they desperately need to get Margaret Lyons out of Llandudno, she stands no chance of re-election there and, as I said previously in another post, she will stand in the safe seat of Rhos; unless Merfyn Thomas retires then the Conservatives have only two choices; They can stand four candidates and hope to oust Phi Edwards or de-select a candidate. The two that could be in line for this is Dave Roberts or Roger Parry. Both are long term Party members so who is it going to be, my money would be on Dave Roberts, he’s the type that would stand-up to the “elite” so they will want rid of him, it lowers the argument against them.
Unfortunately this is the level the local Conservatives have stooped to; it is gutter politics and has no right, at any level, never mind Local Government level, the interests of Councillors should be on the people, not playing politics with their interests.


TUESDAY 17th
This morning I received a phone call informing me of a few inaccuracies in regards to this post; Merfyn Thomas called to correct my mistakes and told me that Hazel was not suspended she was expelled from the Party, she was not expelled for not voting for Lyn Lyon but because she exceeded her authority in that she informed people she had the authority to select candidates.
Cllr Thomas also said that he would probably be retiring at the next election, he is unaware of where Margaret Lyon will be standing but other than a few personal comments I made about him this post is factually correct. Those personal comments I have removed at his request.
The fact that Cllr Thomas phoned me speaks volumes for his integrity, he accepts criticism when it is due but wants the facts to be correct, I hope, in adding this, I have complied with his wishes.

INDEPENDENT ENQUIRY OR NOT?

Having had little or no response from my complaint regarding the Council’s actions and involvement in the property in Douglas Road, I have sent the following letter to the Chief Executive, who cannot talk to me about the incident because an enquiry is ongoing, I believe this to be an Internal Enquiry of which the public will not be privy to the outcome of.
You will see I have urged for an Independent Enquiry; I believe the public have a right to know who was behind this incident and the lead-up to it.


Cllr John Oddy,
4, Dundonald Road,
Colwyn Bay,
Conwy LL29 7RW
01492 531511
12.11.09.

RE: 10, DOUGLAS ROAD
Dear Mr Davies,
I was informed by your secretary that you would contact me on your return from leave; I have serious concerns regarding the Council’s involvement in the above named property.
When it was brought to my attention by the original buyer, Mr Jones, I referred the matter to Cllr G. Jones, Chairman of the Council, he has since written to me informing me that an enquiry has been started.
My questions to you are;
1. Is this an Internal Enquiry
2. Is it an Independent Enquiry
My belief is that this matter includes Bethan Jones, Rob Dix, the Cabinet and Gareth Peters; in light of that I strongly urge that an Independent Enquiry is held.
In the interests of the public and the Council’s integrity this enquiry should be totally open and transparent without the stigma of any cover-up being attached to it.
I am withholding my complaint to the Local Authority Ombudsman until I receive your assurances in regards to this Enquiry.
Yours Sincerely.


JOHN ODDY

HAD ANY GOOD IDEAS RECENTLY

The ideas to regenerate Old Colwyn are great, so too is the proposal to involve the people it will affect, Councillor Brian Cossey is excited about it and so he should be, it is only a shame then that when the exact same regeneration was proposed for Colwyn Bay the Town Council rejected it......
http://voicesofcolwynbay.blogspot.com/2009/04/regeneration-not-political-gain.html

HOW CAN WE GET RID OF COLWYN BAY'S SHOPPERS

With everything that is happening in Colwyn Bay it makes one wonder what the next great Council backed scheme will be to attract shoppers into the Town. A good idea is the free parking leading up to Christmas but surely with the good must come some bad; how can you stop Colwyn Bay from being prosperous?
Someone, somewhere will come-up with a harebrained idea, you never know, the Council may even decide to sell back their concessionary car parking spaces at the Bay View Shopping Centre which would then allow the Centre owners to start charging shoppers to park their cars whilst using their facilities..........No?............nobody is that stupid............are they?

THE DANGER WITHIN (NOT GORDON BROWN)

I was against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, I believe we only entered because we were the lap-dog of the Americans, now we are there I have to agree with Gordon Brown that we should stay BUT there should be equal input from our allies. Apart from us and the Americans every other nation has a date for withdrawal, you cannot put a date on a state of safety, you have to continue until the enemy is dead or captured. When we eventually do pull-out we must leave behind us a safer, more stable Country, free from terror and corruption.
Continued training and mentoring of the Afghan Army and Police is, obviously, dangerous but necessary; we must ensure that once we do leave they are capable of defending themselves and policing the country, allowing the Taliban to take control is not an option.
The sad recent events of the Policeman murdering our troops and today, in America, the Army Major who killed 13 and wounded many more is a stark reminder of the enemy we are fighting. To quote a relative of the Army Major; “He was a devout Muslim but not an extremist”. The terrorists we are defending against are not from the foothills of Afghanistan or the valleys of Pakistan they are home-grown, from within our own borders or being trained and taught by us. The tube and bus bombers, the attack on Glasgow Airport and the conspiracy to blow our airliners out of the skies were all English Muslims.
I realise I run the risk of being called a racist for raising these points but, eventually, someone has to, I have never denied my dislike of Islam, an archaic and dangerous religion, but we have to raise ourselves above the smokescreen of political correctness and face the facts, the tighter we embrace this religion the more damage it does to us. The incident of the Army Major proves that it is only a short step from being “devout” to “extremist” we, as a nation, have to learn this and be as wary of the way we appease the Islamic religion, especially, within our own shores.

THE FACTS DO NOT ALWAYS MATTER

Last nights Policy and Finance meeting was the busiest I have know since joining the Council; I believe most of them (non-members of the P&F Committee) were there to witness or take part in the public flogging that was to follow.
I had raised the issue that the County Council had made moves to purchase properties in Colwyn Bay prior to the promised Public Consultation given to the Town Council by Bethan Jones and I wanted an explanation as to why that promise had been broken.
Getting information out of the County Council or its Councillors is akin to getting blood out of a stone, so with no information forthcoming I publicised the FACTS that I had, the County Council were making moves to secretly buy properties in the Town. Consequently, it turned out, they also gazumped and tried to silence a local buyer, Mr Arthur Jones, these FACTS were also published. Nothing I have published or made available is not already in the public domain, one only as to search the Council’s own web-site to find the information. In the case of Mr Jones he approached me after getting no satisfaction from his County Councillor in relation to what had happened to him.
At last nights meeting I was accused of stating falsehoods because some of my claims have not yet been agreed by the Cabinet, they have not yet decided (the Cabinet) that they will build their offices on the old indoor market or that there will be accommodation for 600 staff, these are just suggestions that the Council have spent thousands of pounds on researching but, when I asked for guarantees that this wouldn’t happen, none could be given. An accusation that I was still a BNP member was hurled at me, my previous political affiliations has got nothing to do with this issue and should never have been raised. I will accept one remark that was made about me; yes I am a “Maverick” but rather that than a sheep. The suggestion that I was wrong for going outside of the Council with my revelations was the main theme of the debate but if the County Council were open and honest with the public then I wouldn’t have to.
The FACT that a full enquiry as been started into the actions of the County Council because of what I published seemed to be of little consequence. The FACT that the County Council had entered into secretly purchasing properties was of no concern. The FACT that Mr Jones had been gazumped and offered money was of no importance. The only real concern was that I had behaved inappropriately in getting the truth out, it was no more than I had I had expected, as a very good Councillor said to me the other day “Whistle-blowing and telling the truth, you will never prosper”.

BOTTLED IT.

Now that David Cameron has lost his bottle on an EU Referendum one has to wonder how that will affect his chances of winning the next election. Thousands of voters, me included, were looking at the Conservatives as the only real hope of voicing our concerns regarding our continued membership of the hateful EU. It would have been the only reason I would have voted for them, other than that they are the same as Labour or the Lib/dems. The only real alternative now is the protest vote and that must surely go to either the BNP or UKIP, the only two anti-EU parties, but this split may well damage the Conservative vote sufficiently enough to give Labour a fighting chance.
I do not hide the fact that I am anti-EU, there are thousands like me and they are growing daily. Europe’s intrusion into our daily lives is, without doubt, costing us millions of pounds, £46 million a day to be exact, and the enforced restrictions put upon us is killing our farming and fishing industries. I only hope this Conservative U turn does not allow this Country to be driven back into a new term of Labour lies and sleaze.

WASTE OF TIME.

I know I am not the only Blogger experiencing it, just recently there as been more unwanted and unwarranted comments that I have had to “reject” than usual. I still have my Jewish Conspiracy theorist who haunts the comments board but now there appears to be unsubstantiated attacks on past and present Bloggers and people from the area. Apparently, although I have not seen it, a new blog was set-up purely for that purpose, it as now been removed, I think. I have made a comment on the Council Chamber.....
http://www.thecouncilchamber.blogspot.com/
... in regards to these personal attacks, which I regard as puerile. Even Oscar....
http://thoughtsofoscar.blogspot.com/
.... has had to remove comments sent into him.
All I can say to whoever it is that is sending in these comments is; Don’t bother, I do not believe them and, even if I did, I would not post them. If this is some sort of attempt to set one blog off against another then you have failed miserably and comments in regards to Craig Ollerton will not be published either.

BIRTHDAYS

Birthdays are greatly over-rated and once past 21 should be banned; imagine not having to remember everyone’s birthday or the feeling of guilt when you realise you forgot someone’s or that frantic, frail excuse you give when you have to phone to apologise for your forgetfulness.
Banning them would give us all the excuse for not knowing how old we are or whether we are wearing well or not, a state of agelessness; how tranquil. Instead we are reminded yearly that we are yet another year closer to the knacker’s yard, the mantelpiece strewn with cards, some, even, attempting to inject humour into the occasion, rather sad really.
The only people to benefit from birthdays are the shops that sell cards and those that sell socks and slippers, complete waste of time, banning them is not quite strong enough; they should be dragged out, kicking and screaming, and put on the bonfire. I’m sure there are those that disagree with the idea but we live in a democracy and I am entitled to my opinion.

FULL ENQUIRY

I have been informed, by Byron Davies’s office, that a Full Enquiry as now been started; I would like it to be an Independent Enquiry as I believe this incident has far reaching implications. It was started by an application by Rob Dix, of the Regeneration Panel, his boss, Bethan Jones must have okayed the application; it went in front of the Cabinet under the Local Authority Act Schedule 12a, public and press exempt, they must have been informed that there was an offer on the property due to the urgency and the “Tight timetable”, they approved the application. It then befell on Gareth Peters, Principle Property Manager to make the offer and enter in to negotiations. So, as far as I am concerned, this reaches to the very top of the tree.
I believe the Mayor of Colwyn Bay has sent out an email accusing me of “Self promoting”, I, myself have not seen the email yet but I wait in anticipation for its arrival. My answer to the Mayor will be quite simple; “If CCBC kept their house in order and were not so secretive and deceitful then there would be no need for me to go public with such information, if this is just one incident that I have uncovered, Mr Mayor, how many other incidents have gone undisclosed?”.

ANYTHING ABOVE £65,000 IS A WASTE OF TAXPAYERS MONEY

Fw: RE: 10 Douglas Road
RE: 10 Douglas Road
21 October 2009 09:14:28
From:
"Gareth Peters"
To: ********** *****************
Dear Mr J****
The £70,000 offer was our offer on the table when we spoke on the phone and when I emailed you last week.

Our increased offer was made after you countered ours.

Yours sincerely
Gareth Peters DipSurv MRICS
Pen Reolwr Eiddo / Principal Property Manager
Gwasanathau Peirianneg a Dylunio / Engineering and Design Services
Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol CONWY County Borough Council
E-Bost / E-mail: gareth.peters@conwy.gov.uk
01492 574218

-----Original Message-----
From: ************ ****************
Sent: 20 October 2009 16:26
To: Gareth Peters
Subject: 10 Douglas Road

Dear Mr Peters
I didn`t increase my offer of £60,000. until I was informed by Mr
Crabtree that you had offered £70,0000. and I then counter offered .
If Mr Crabtree has told you that I have offered anything more before you
offered the £70,000. then it is a lie. He has also told me that you have
put an offer in of more than £75,000.
Yours sincerely
****** *****
-----------------------------------------
"Mae'r neges e-bost hon ac unrhyw ymgysylltiadau yn gyfrinachol, ac
wedi eu bwriadu ar gyfer yr un sy'n cael ei h/enwi yn unig.
Gallent gynnwys gwybodaeth freintiedig. Os yw'r neges hon wedi
eich cyrraedd ar gam, ni ddylech ei chopio, ei rhannu na dangos ei
chynnwys i unrhyw un. Cysylltwch efo Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol
Conwy ar unwaith. Nid yw'r Cyngor na'r un sydd wedi anfon y neges
yn derbyn unrhyw gyfrifoldeb am feirysau, a'ch cyfrifoldeb chi yw
sganio unrhyw ymgysylltiadau. Mae’r Awdurdod yn monitro’r defnydd o
e-bost/rhyngrwyd a chynnwys y rhain i ddibenion busnes. "

"This email and any attachments are confidential and intended for
the named recipient only. The content may contain privileged
information. If it has reached you by mistake, you should not copy,
distribute or show the content to anyone but should contact Conwy
County Borough Council at once. Neither the Council nor the sender
accepts any responsibility for viruses,
and it is your responsibility to scan any attachments. The
Authority monitors e-mail/internet usage and content for business
purposes"
Fw: RE: 10 Douglas Road
RE: 10 Douglas Road
20 October 2009 15:47:18
From:
"Gareth Peters"
To:
Dear Mr J****

I have been fully open and prepared to discuss the matter with you.

Regrettably we established that rather than discussing the matter further you in fact increased your offer over our offer and emailed me stating that my offer and conditions was not acceptable. I was left with no option other than to try and acquire the property through the normal channels.

You stated that we could have acquired the property for £65,000. But before that was ever discussed you upped your bid over ours.

I was more than willing to enter into a legal binding contract that your fee would be paid once CCBC exchanged contracts. I felt it was in both our interests to work together and that is why I was more than willing to discuss the arrangement.


Gareth Peters DipSurv MRICS
Pen Reolwr Eiddo / Principal Property Manager
Gwasanathau Peirianneg a Dylunio / Engineering and Design Services
Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol CONWY County Borough Council
E-Bost / E-mail: gareth.peters@conwy.gov.uk
01492 574218


-----Original Message-----
From: ******** **********
Sent: 20 October 2009 15:07
To: Gareth Peters
Subject: 10 Douglas Road

Dear Mr Peters
If you had been completely honest with me you could of had the property
for £65,000.00,
£60,000. for the property and £5,000. for my consultation fee. You are
now in excess of the valuation and we haven`t finished yet.As it is the
cost to both of us is rising.
No consultation fee will be accepted after completion as the trust has
gone, any fee would have to be deposited with my solicitor before I
withdraw my interest.
Yours sincerely
***** *****
-----------------------------------------
"Mae'r neges e-bost hon ac unrhyw ymgysylltiadau yn gyfrinachol, ac
wedi eu bwriadu ar gyfer yr un sy'n cael ei h/enwi yn unig.
Gallent gynnwys gwybodaeth freintiedig. Os yw'r neges hon wedi
eich cyrraedd ar gam, ni ddylech ei chopio, ei rhannu na dangos ei
chynnwys i unrhyw un. Cysylltwch efo Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol
Conwy ar unwaith. Nid yw'r Cyngor na'r un sydd wedi anfon y neges
yn derbyn unrhyw gyfrifoldeb am feirysau, a'ch cyfrifoldeb chi yw
sganio unrhyw ymgysylltiadau. Mae’r Awdurdod yn monitro’r defnydd o
e-bost/rhyngrwyd a chynnwys y rhain i ddibenion busnes. "

"This email and any attachments are confidential and intended for
the named recipient only. The content may contain privileged
information. If it has reached you by mistake, you should not copy,
distribute or show the content to anyone but should contact Conwy
County Borough Council at once. Neither the Council nor the sender
accepts any responsibility for viruses,
and it is your responsibility to scan any attachments. The
Authority monitors e-mail/internet usage and content for business
purposes"
Fw: RE: 10 douglas road.
RE: 10 douglas road.
19 October 2009 13:11:31
From:
"Gareth Peters"
To:
"********* ********
Dear Mr *****
Thank you for your email.

Naturally I am disappointed that you were not able to agree the terms of
my offer.

In the circumstances the offer is withdrawn.

Yours sincerely

Gareth Peters DipSurv MRICS
Pen Reolwr Eiddo / Principal Property Manager
Gwasanathau Peirianneg a Dylunio / Engineering and Design Services
Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol CONWY County Borough Council
E-Bost / E-mail: gareth.peters@conwy.gov.uk
01492 574218



-----Original Message-----
From******** ********
Sent: 19 October 2009 10:22
To: Gareth Peters
Subject: 10 douglas road.

Dear Mr Peters
I have spoken to my solicitor and I cannot agree to the conditions
you`ve set out. My solicitor is holding on to the contracts for the time

being and myself and my son wish to arrange a meeting with yourself and
all relevant parties asap.
Yours sincerely
****** *****
-----------------------------------------
"Mae'r neges e-bost hon ac unrhyw ymgysylltiadau yn gyfrinachol, ac
wedi eu bwriadu ar gyfer yr un sy'n cael ei h/enwi yn unig.
Gallent gynnwys gwybodaeth freintiedig. Os yw'r neges hon wedi
eich cyrraedd ar gam, ni ddylech ei chopio, ei rhannu na dangos ei
chynnwys i unrhyw un. Cysylltwch efo Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol
Conwy ar unwaith. Nid yw'r Cyngor na'r un sydd wedi anfon y neges
yn derbyn unrhyw gyfrifoldeb am feirysau, a'ch cyfrifoldeb chi yw
sganio unrhyw ymgysylltiadau. Mae’r Awdurdod yn monitro’r defnydd o
e-bost/rhyngrwyd a chynnwys y rhain i ddibenion busnes. "

"This email and any attachments are confidential and intended for
the named recipient only. The content may contain privileged
information. If it has reached you by mistake, you should not copy,
distribute or show the content to anyone but should contact Conwy
County Borough Council at once. Neither the Council nor the sender
accepts any responsibility for viruses,
and it is your responsibility to scan any attachments. The
Authority monitors e-mail/internet usage and content for business
purposes"
Fw: 10 Douglas Road, Colwyn Bay
10 Douglas Road, Colwyn Bay
16 October 2009 16:10:11
From:
"Gareth Peters"
Dear Mr J****

Re: 10 Douglas Road, Colwyn Bay

Thank you for your valued input and help in us trying to secure the above property.

As discussed if Conwy County Borough Council were to secure the property then your Consultant Fee of £1,000 will be paid to you.

As you will appreciate the above offer is of a commercial sensitivity and is subject to the following conditions:

* that no offer is made by you, or your family, for the property and that any previous offer is withdrawn
* that Conwy County Borough Council exchange contracts with the Vendor of the property
* that neither you or your family release any detail of our discussions between us or the sums being offered by any party to any third party

Again thank you for your attention to this matter to date and I look forward to your acceptance of these terms.

Yours sincerely

Gareth Peters DipSurv MRICS
Pen Reolwr Eiddo / Principal Property Manager
Gwasanathau Peirianneg a Dylunio / Engineering and Design Services
Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol CONWY County Borough Council
E-Bost / E-mail: gareth.peters@conwy.gov.uk
01492 574218


-----------------------------------------
"Mae'r neges e-bost hon ac unrhyw ymgysylltiadau yn gyfrinachol, ac
wedi eu bwriadu ar gyfer yr un sy'n cael ei h/enwi yn unig.
Gallent gynnwys gwybodaeth freintiedig. Os yw'r neges hon wedi
eich cyrraedd ar gam, ni ddylech ei chopio, ei rhannu na dangos ei
chynnwys i unrhyw un. Cysylltwch efo Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol
Conwy ar unwaith. Nid yw'r Cyngor na'r un sydd wedi anfon y neges
yn derbyn unrhyw gyfrifoldeb am feirysau, a'ch cyfrifoldeb chi yw
sganio unrhyw ymgysylltiadau. Mae’r Awdurdod yn monitro’r defnydd o
e-bost/rhyngrwyd a chynnwys y rhain i ddibenion busnes. "

"This email and any attachments are confidential and intended for
the named recipient only. The content may contain privileged
information. If it has reached you by mistake, you should not copy,
distribute or show the content to anyone but should contact Conwy
County Borough Council at once. Neither the Council nor the sender
accepts any responsibility for viruses,
and it is your responsibility to scan any attachments. The
Authority monitors e-mail/internet usage and content for business
purposes"

THE EMAIL

Dear Mr J****

Re: 10 Douglas Road, Colwyn Bay

Thank you for your =alued input and help in us trying to secure the above property.

As =iscussed if Conwy County Borough Council were to secure the property then =our Consultant Fee of £1,000 will be paid to you.

As you will =ppreciate the above offer is of a commercial sensitivity and is subject to=the following conditions:

* that no offer is made by you, or your fam=ly, for the property and that any previous offer is withdrawn
* that Con=y County Borough Council exchange contracts with the Vendor of the propert=
* that neither you or your family release any detail of our discussions=between us or the sums being offered by any party to any third party

=gain thank you for your attention to this matter to date and I look forwar= to your acceptance of these terms.

Yours sincerely

Gareth Pet=rs DipSurv MRICS
Pen Reolwr Eiddo / Principal Property Manager
Gwasana=hau Peirianneg a Dylunio / Engineering and Design Services
Cyngor Bwrdei=tref Sirol CONWY County Borough Council
E-Bost / E-mail: gareth.peter=@conwy.gov.uk
01492 574218

GAZUMPED BY THE COUNCIL

Once again the Council have shown their contempt for the people in Colwyn Bay. I informed you, the readers, of CCBC intentions to secretly buy properties in Colwyn Bay, namely the old indoor market and a property in Douglas Road; what I didn’t know at the time was that an offered had already been made by a local buyer (I will not print his name as I feel that would be unfair) on the house in Douglas Road, his offer of £60,000 had been accepted by the vendor and the sale was proceeding. The estate agents were Stirlings of Colwyn Bay but, somehow, CCBC must have got to hear of the offer because at the Cabinet meeting the reason for a Schedule 12 was.... “NONE DISCLOSURE- Disclosure could prejudice the negotiations between the Council and the Owners and potentially delay the acquisition of the properties for which there is a tight timetable for purchase.” NOTE: tight timetable”
Gareth Peters, CCBC Principal Property Services approached the buyer and offered him £1,000 as a “Consultation fee” to pull out of the deal, as the buyer pointed out, his expenses and solicitor’s fees came to considerably more than that and to accept that would leave him out of pocket. CCBC then put in an offer of £70,000 thereby gazumping the local buyer who immediately upped his offer. This resulted in the vendor asking for sealed bids, the local buyer took his bid into the solicitor’s office where it was immediately opened, why? The information inside was commercially sensitive as the amount of the offer could be passed-on to interested parties and thereby negating the reason for a sealed bid.
From day one I have said this entire issue stinks, it is full of secrecy, lies and deceit now, if I am correct in my assumptions, a breach of the Council’s own Code of Conduct. It appears there is no depth to which the Council will not stoop to push through their inward looking proposals in using the Regeneration Grant, all to their own ends.
I am in receipt of all the documentation that backs-up my allegations and I have forwarded copies to the Chairman of the Council demanding a full explanation into the, at least morally corrupt, conduct of the Council and its Officers. The least the Council can do is compensate the local buyer or pull-out of the deal and allow him to continue with his original purchase.

WOMAN POWER

Political Correctness gone barmy; Labour have decided on this Women Only Shortlist for some of its Parliamentary Candidates. Reading between the lines this comes out as “You will probably be totally crap as a politician but at least you’re a woman”. Good old Labour; stupid as buggery. Does it not occur to them that, regardless of sex, we want the best person for the job, if one looks at Betty Williams, a woman MP, she is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard, I cannot remember when she last got involved in local issues or spoke out for Wales, she is totally, totally useless.
Next thing you know Labour will wheel-out Donna Hutton and ask us to vote for her because she is also a woman, not the best person for the job but by voting for her you, at least, will be politically correct; what a load of tosh. Labour lost the plot a long time ago, they turned their back on the working class and pampered to the immigrants instead, once again being politically correct; now this slimy attempt to woe the female vote with “Sister Power, vote for Donna, she’s a shite politician but she is all woman”
Labour have lied to us, cheated us, led us into illegal wars, failed to deliver the basic needs of the people and run this Country into the ground; BUT, given the chance, they will do it all over again only this time they’ll be able to blame the women.

BETTY WILLIAMS AND UAF

Having seen Betty Williams was on the list of supporters of the previous post I thought I would ask her outright if she supported the use of violence. Below is a copy of the email I sent to her via the HOP, she has taken her personal email off of her web-site.
Are any of you prepared to offer odds that I do not get a reply to the questions?...


Full Message View
UAF
From: John Oddy
Add
To: bettywilliamsmp@parliament.uk
________________________________________
Dear Mrs Williams,
Having looked on the Unite Against Fascism web-site I see you are on the list of their supporters; in light of that may I then ask you if you condone the use of violence, civil unrest and assaults on our police?.
In recent days and weeks members of the UAF have been involved in many cases of civil unrest in which a significant number of their members have assaulted the police (6 officers injured at the riot outside the BBC), 30 of them arrested for public disorder in Birmingham, Manchester and London in which members of the public had to take shelter from them.
I realise you are not particularly liked by your constituents due to your lack of care on local issues spanning many years but I do believe you owe it to them to explain your support of such a criminal organisation such as the UAF.
I understand you will be extremely busy compiling your report on climate change that you studied so well out in Fiji, a report many of us look forward to reading, but, if at all possible, (I know your aversion to doing it) I would much appreciate an answer to the question.

Cllr John Oddy

QUESTION TIME

Question Time itself was, for me, a bit of an anti-climax, it didn’t conform to the normal format of the show and appeared to be aimed purely at Nick Griffin’s past comments or at him personally, there was none of the usual questions on current affairs.
What I did find interesting was the demonstrations outside the studio. These members of the left-wing groups, such as Unite Against Fascism and Searchlight, call the BNP violent and dangerous yet, whenever they turn-up, they are the ones that turn violent, policemen were injured, demonstrators arrested and members of the public scared out of their wits.
The founder of Searchlight is Gerry Gable, a convicted burglar with a long history in Communism, he once fabricated a story about the Conservative Party that landed his employer, the BBC, in court for libel, they eventually settled out of court. Both Searchlight and the UAF are allegedly funded by the Labour Party . Here is a list of their supporters, who by supporting them are condoning the use of violence against our police, rioting on the streets and open hostility towards people who do not share their views.....
UAF supporters include:
Ken Livingstone
Tony Benn
Peter Hain MP
David Hanson MP
Adam Price MP
Barbara Follett MP
Diane Abbott MP
John Cryer MP
John Trickett MP
Keith Vaz MP
Peter Bottomley MP
Alice Mahon MP
Alan Meale MP
Ian Gibson MP
Sir Teddy Taylor MP
Harry Cohen MP
Betty Williams MP
Ken Purchase MP
Alistair Carmichael MP
Laura Moffatt MP
Peter Bradley MP
Vera Baird MP
Bill Etherington MP
Edward Garnier MP
Roger Berry MP
Angela Smith MP
Brian Iddon MP
Anthony Steen MP
Mike Hancock MP
Colin Pickthall MP
Clive Betts MP
Janet Anderson MP
Neil Gerrard MP
Jane Griffiths MP
Brian Donohue MP
Helen Clark MP
Terry Davis MP
Janet Dean MP
Adrian Bailey MP
David Cameron MP
Louise Ellman MP
Eric Illsley MP
Kelvin Hopkins MP
Ernie Ross MP
Rob Marris MP
Martin Caton MP
Jim Sheridan MP
Martin Jones MP
Paul Tyler MP
Colin Challen MP
David Wright MP
Rudi Vis MP
Tony Worthington MP
Derek Watts MP
Julie Morgan MP
Rev W Martin Smyth MP
Diana Organ MP
Doug Henderson MP
Barry Gardiner MP Brendan Barber
TUC General Secretary
Roger Lyons
TUC President and
AMICUS Joint Gen Sec
Dave Prentis
UNISON Gen Sec
Tony Woodley
TGWU Gen Sec
Billy Hayes
CWU Gen Sec
Sir Bill Connor
Gen Sec USDAW
Andy Gilchrest
FBU Gen Sec
Gordon Taylor
Chief Exec PFA
Adrian Askew
CONNECT Gen Sec
Bob Crow
RMT Gen Sec
Doug Nichols
CYWU Gen Sec
Ed Sweeney
UNIFI Gen Sec
Janice Godrich
PCS President
Jeremy Dear
NUJ Gen Sec
Judy McKnight
NAPO Gen Sec
Kevin Curran
GMB Gen Sec
Mark Serwotka
PCS Gen Sec
Paul Mackney
NATHFHE Gen Sec
Peter Pendle
ACM Gen Sec
Rosie Eagleson
AMO Gen Sec
Steve Kemp
NUM Gen sec
Sally Hunt
AUT Gen Sec
Glenys Kinnock MEP
Gary Titley MEP
Linda McAvan MEP
Glyn Ford MEP
Chris Davies MEP
Chris Heaton-Harris MEP
Claude Moraes MEP
Phillip Whitehead MEP
Stephen Hughes MEP David Seymour
Political Editor,
Daily Mirror
Mark Seddon
Tribune Editor Afzal Khan
North West rep Muslim Council of Britain
Dr. Richard Stone
Lawrie & Ruby Nerva
Poale Zion
Kashmir Singh
General Sec British Sikh Federation
Benjamin Zephaniah
Poet
Beresford Mack
Choice FM
Bobbie Miles
The 1990 Trust,
Asst. Director
Carolyn Jones
Director, Institute of Employment Rights
Clive Mardner
Director Essex REC
Dr. Siddiqui
Muslim Parliament
George Anthony-Maggie Bowden
Liberation
Hilary Wainwright
Editor, Red Pepper
John Haylett
Editor, Morning Star
Leroy Logan
Metrpolitan Black Police Association Chair
Louise Christian
Human Rights Lawyer
Louise Hutchins
NUS/SAAR,
Luciana Burger
NUS
Paul Foot
Journalist
Mark Steele
Journalist
Roni Size
Musician
Michael Rosen
writer
Laurie Heselden
Acting Regional Secretary SERTUC
Essex Racial Equality Council
Liberal democrats North west Region
Mohammed Azam
Coalition Against Racism – Unite to Stop the BNP
Jason Fraser