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Stephen

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Everything posted by Stephen

  1. Stephen
    Should we also boycott any Chemist selling condoms if the owner is a Catholic? I would rather that people wouldn't try to force their own religious views on their customers. Also I've legally bought and drunk alcohol in many Muslim countries.
  2. Stephen
    Tomtom, Keith, there were 4 seats up for election in the ward so although the Labour candidate came first, Malcolm and Adam were both elected. Mods, you need to move the West Bedlington Town Council badges!
  3. Stephen
    Congratulations Malcolm and Adam, well done and good luck.
  4. Stephen
    Sounds to me like only one person is trolling Since I'm not standing in these elections or involved in anyone else's campaign I don't think it appropriate for me to debate with anyone. To any candidates reading this I wish you luck, especially if you get elected. The Town Council can make a difference, especially in the next four years now that it isn't being set up from scratch. My guess is that there will be no single party running it and all new councillors, regardless of party or independence, will have a role.
  5. Stephen
    According to the Land Registry, the site is owned by B W ELLIOTT LIMITED (Co. Regn. No. 7150325) - company director Tracey Elliott. The lender was David Mutch. So legally it isn't Barry Elliott and the lender wasn't RBS, which may be why it didn't show up in the auction?
  6. Stephen
    if you pay tax then of course you have paid for the facilities being vandalised - I think that must make a difference to someone's attitude, though as you say basic respect for those who have paid for them should still be expected.
  7. Stephen
    There was no change to the NCC council tax for 2012/13.
  8. Stephen
    We turned it down last year when NCC were offering 3 extra cuts for £12000 but accepted the reduced price offered for extra cuts this year. There was some discussion about this and I'll admit that I was sceptical about the need, but I've been proved wrong after all the rain we've had. I know people will complain about me saying this but Bedlington Station has a different council and they chose to freeze their council tax instead of paying more money to NCC for flower beds and extra grass cutting. So the grass isn't cut as often but the council tax in East Bedlington is lower.
  9. Stephen
    Are you asking me? I think Malcolm knows far more about that than I do (which is nothing, except what I heard from Malcolm)
  10. Stephen
    The existing parish councils don't have to agree to it, if NCC is persuaded that there is enough public support then they can 'impose' it on the parishes. Also, all the parishes come up for re-election next year and if enough people were elected as a local party called 'United Bedlingtonshire' or something then they could ask the County themselves to do this, using their election as evidence of public support for the idea. You do need to persuade a few thousand people to support this though, whether that is by petition or by getting them to vote for the candidates. One question you probably need to answer early on is where the single office will be - Bedlington Community Centre, Bedlington Station Residents Association or Choppington Welfare (are those office costs just waste, or are they helping to keep community buildings open?) My personal view is that East and West Bedlington should be united, but growing up in West Sleekburn and Stakeford we always did feel even more of a forgotten area than Bedlington. Choppington Parish is a distinct community within Bedlingtonshire and if I still lived there and was given a vote on it, I think I'd vote to keep it separate.
  11. Stephen
    The law changed in 2008 - http://www.lgbce.org.uk/about-us/about-community-governance-reviews
  12. Stephen
    I believe that if a petition signed by 10% of electors within each parish is submitted to NCC asking for a Community Governance Review to merge the parishes, then the County have to consider it (and it is the County who have the power to set the boundaries)
  13. Stephen
    No, grass cutting is still the responsibility of NCC but some town/parish councils do pay for up to 3 extra cuts per year above the NCC basic service. The area mentioned is in East Bedlington Parish, I don't know if they paid for extra cuts or if they decided not to?
  14. Stephen

    Summer events in Bedlington

    Stephen posted a news article in News

    The Town Council, Leading Link, Salvation Army and Bedlington Community Centre have come together to put on events and activities in Bedlington this summer, celebrating the Jubilee and Olympics and making sure that there is something on every week throughout the summer and beyond. Please check with the contacts shown for details of specific events or look on the Town Council website for general updates. Sunday 2 June - 10:30am to 3:30pm The Lodge (near St Benet Biscops) THE BIG LUNCH ENTERTAINMENT FUN FAIR BBQ & MORE 50p ENTRY see http://www.leadinglink.co.uk Friday 8 June "“ 8:30pm Bedlington Community Centre STAND-UP COMEDY see Comedy and Crime at the Community Centre Every Thursday starting 14 June 3:30-4:30pm Dr Pit Park. PLAY RANGER Afterschool Club The Play Ranger activities will be to encourage active play, this might be from a mini beast hunt, to building dens in the park, or your favourite sports or obstacle courses and traditional playground games, even face painting or outdoor crafts! We have both accessible indoor and outdoor facilities at Dr. Pit park offering inclusive activities for all. The afterschool club will be on every Thursday starting the 14th June 2012 at Dr. Pit park. The cost will be £1 per child. Come and join in with the fun and games! Children under 5 must be accompanied by an adult. For more enquiries contact: Heather Ashburner on 07879874168 or heather.ashburner@northumberland.gov.uk or Play Rangers on 07855819256 Friday 15 June "“ 10:30am Bedlington Front Street OLYMPIC PARADE & TORCH RELAY. Parade, brass band, cheerleaders & more, followed by the Olympic Torch at 11:26. See http://www.leadinglink.co.uk Tuesday 18 June "“ 7pm Bedlington Community Centre DEAD MEN TELL TALES. Another workshop in murder with forensic artist Norman Kirtlan see Comedy and Crime at the Community Centre Every Thursday starting 5th July 5-6pm Bedlington Community Centre. Skillz (ages 8-16) "“ including dodgeball, skipping, benchball, boxercise, dance and athletics ( £1 per person, no need to book) 6-7pm Bedlington Community Centre. Circuit Training (adults) "“ body conditioning class combining resistance training with high-intensity aerobic exercises (£3 per person, please book at Community Centre 01670 824141) or see http://www.bval.co.uk for more details. Kids Club (ages 6-­12) Mon-Fri 9-­12am 23rd July "“3rd August at Bedlington Salvation Army call 01670 829356 for details. Friday 27 July Salvation Army 6-­9pm. FREE Olympic Opening Ceremony family event: digital screening on large screens, BBQ, crazy golf, skate ramp (bring your boards and scooters), table tennis, penalty shootout, basketball and more. Tickets needed for food, kids to be accompanied by an adult. Call 01670 829356 for details. More to come, especially for the school summer holidays "“ stay tuned!
  15. Stephen
    I can confirm that this wasn't me, and the town council doesn't pay expenses to councillors. I did however get a free coffee and biscuit at a meeting with Leading Link recently.
  16. Stephen
    The Community Centre has a Facebook page if you want to keep up to date with upcoming events - if you're on Facebook then find the page here. If you aren't on Facebook then we are trying to keep the Town Council website up to date with coming events at the Community Centre.
  17. Stephen
    Well... we don't already have one of those in town
  18. Stephen
    Cyril, these events are all taking place on 3rd June, and there are lots of outdoor activities planned e.g. fun fair, rides, races etc so I think they need the extra space. The Town Council have commissioned BVAL to put on weekly sport/fitness activities at the Community Centre and a 5 day per week programme in the school holidays. When the details are available I'll post them here. The Salvation Army are also putting on a free event for the Olympic Opening Ceremony, again more details later.
  19. Stephen
    I've updated the page at the link above, you can now download room booking forms for the Community Centre. Prices start at £10 an hour.
  20. Stephen
    15 March, it was definitely after the story in the Journal - I certainly wasn't trying to imply otherwise, the first line did apologise for what had already happened. If the rest of the letter had gone out in advance, especially the part about the measures being temporary, then it would have avoided a lot of distress.
  21. Stephen
    NCC sent this to the Town Council and Friends of Bedlington Cemetery. As you will be aware, we have a major health and safety issue with the memorials in Bedlington Cemetery and we apologise for any distress caused as a result of the measures taken to date. As an Authority, we have a duty to keep the public safe when they visit our cemeteries and routine safety testing of the memorials forms part of this duty. Very little testing has been carried out in recent years and we are in the process of visiting all of cemeteries to ensure that we are meeting our obligations. On visiting Bedlington Cemetery, we found a high number of the monuments failed the safety test and, as a temporary measure, these monuments were made safe by the use of wooden stakes and banding tape. I must stress that this is purely a temporary arrangement and we will be working with local stonemasons over the coming weeks to return the monuments to a safe condition. To expand slightly on some of the points raised:- 1. Over 800no monuments in Bedlington Cemetery have been tested and found to be in an unsafe condition; this we feel is partly due to an on-going vandalism problem. 2. As a matter of urgency we will be contacting local stonemasons to see how they can help by revisiting some of the monuments they have erected over the past five years and returning them to a safe state of repair. 3. With older monuments, we will be engaging with a stonemasonry company who will return these monuments to a safe state of repair on our behalf. It is hoped that this company will be on site next week to start this process although you will be aware that it will be a number of weeks before all the monuments which have been identified as unsafe can be returned to an acceptable condition.Arthur did agree with you Malcolm, that this should have been better handled and suggested that a notice should have been displayed at the cemetery in advance, and WBTC did agree to pass on your complaint.
  22. Stephen
    For those who didn't make it to the open day, you can see the refurbishment plans via http://www.westbedlington.org.uk/?page_id=127
  23. Stephen
    It would be a waste of public money for the Inspectorate to even consider this, when the developer withdrew their own planning application.
  24. Stephen
    Bedlington Community Centre will open its doors between 10am and 4pm on Saturday 17th March so that members of the community can see the work that has been going on so far, and meet with people who have shown an interest in providing classes and other activities in the centre. There will also be an opportunity to view the refurbishment plans. Please make the effort to attend. You will be able to talk to volunteers about our ideas for a Parent and Toddler Group. The Pre-School Alliance will have a display of craft materials for sale. We will welcome your thoughts on what you would like to see happening in your Centre. There will also be a mini craft fair and a stand offering home cooked produce. Other displays will include information about ‘Doorstep Pictures’ and ‘Highlights’ Rural Touring Scheme. Upstairs in the function room there will be demonstrations of Line Dancing, Chi Kung and other keep fit activities. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Northumbria Police for their generous donation of soft play mats and Tallantyre Bedlington for their generous donation of paint.
  25. Stephen
    Diane, you might also be able to apply for a grant from the Town Council's Community Chest to help pay for venue hire, equipment, ingredients, publicity etc
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