OV9

At least Reform have saved a load of money in I think Kent and just stopped Farm sales in Stafford.

Whether that's all creative accounting remains to be seen

Dave!

V8Granite wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 12:38 pm At least Reform have saved a load of money in I think Kent and just stopped Farm sales in Stafford.

Whether that's all creative accounting remains to be seen

Dave!

Yep, all the councillors they’ve had to suspend so far presumably is a saving?

I’ll give them their credit on pothole and road repairs. And the stuff I’ve reported has all been fixed within 2 weeks. Maintenance in general is far better in terms of cutting grass, verges etc

Rich B wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 1:01 pm

V8Granite wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 12:38 pm At least Reform have saved a load of money in I think Kent and just stopped Farm sales in Stafford.

Whether that's all creative accounting remains to be seen

Dave!

Yep, all the councillors they’ve had to suspend so far presumably is a saving?

If they aren't of any value then why not ?

Dave!

V8Granite wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 4:14 pm

Rich B wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 1:01 pm

V8Granite wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 12:38 pm At least Reform have saved a load of money in I think Kent and just stopped Farm sales in Stafford.

Whether that's all creative accounting remains to be seen

Dave!

Yep, all the councillors they’ve had to suspend so far presumably is a saving?

If they aren't of any value then why not ?

Dave!

That’s proper Trump-style arguments! “We allowed a load of shit people to represent us because we don’t know what we’re doing, but don’t worry, we got rid of them when we found out. i know that means that we have less councillors and the voting was a waste of everyone’s time, but don’t worry, we know what we’re doing - cutting waste because we’re clever!”.

Mito Man wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 1:13 pm I’ll give them their credit on pothole and road repairs. And the stuff I’ve reported has all been fixed within 2 weeks. Maintenance in general is far better in terms of cutting grass, verges etc

I have mixed opinions. Repairing roads is good as long as the people doing it aren’t useless.

A road I drive every day was starting to break up / sink very slightly in a couple of places, only cracks, no actual holes, no issues driving over it as it was tbh. Then they spent a week or so of nights digging up and patching strips which have a horrendous washboard effect. Then painted the white lines, including trapping and dragging a dead rabbit in one.

Then tar and chipped the lot. Which started to fail approx 3 days later leaving deep gauges and a far worse surface than before they started any of it.

Then repainted all the white lines, and have now made it all a 40mph limit due to slippery surface.

It winds me up far more than it should, the incompetence is staggering.

They've all been proper repairs but that's going back maybe 2 years now. They used to just shovel tarmac in the hole but now they cut out a patch, then do a proper repair. I guess they finally realised it's cheaper to fix it properly. Really bad roads have had entire sections replaced. The council here send out an inspector to sign off each job once its completed so they can't get away with a cowboy repair.

It was something introduced by the current government anyway, so local highways authorities having the ability to patch up potholes via isn't due to some miracle of efficiency on any given councils part - they just have additional funding for it provided by central government.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/state- ... -potholes/

Rich B wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 5:36 pm

V8Granite wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 4:14 pm

Rich B wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 1:01 pm Yep, all the councillors they’ve had to suspend so far presumably is a saving?

If they aren't of any value then why not ?

Dave!

That’s proper Trump-style arguments! “We allowed a load of shit people to represent us because we don’t know what we’re doing, but don’t worry, we got rid of them when we found out. i know that means that we have less councillors and the voting was a waste of everyone’s time, but don’t worry, we know what we’re doing - cutting waste because we’re clever!”.

No it isnt, they recently did it at Bergen and now we are making money again.

Why would you pay people who aren't doing a good job if you don't have to ?

Not saying they've actually done that as it's only what they have said but removing un-needed expense is exactly what government needs.

Dave!

Beany wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 5:55 pm It was something introduced by the current government anyway, so local highways authorities having the ability to patch up potholes via isn't due to some miracle of efficiency on any given councils part - they just have additional funding for it provided by central government.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/state- ... -potholes/

They get that every few years anyway

V8Granite wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 7:25 pm

Rich B wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 5:36 pm

V8Granite wrote: Sat Nov 08, 2025 4:14 pm

If they aren't of any value then why not ?

Dave!

That’s proper Trump-style arguments! “We allowed a load of shit people to represent us because we don’t know what we’re doing, but don’t worry, we got rid of them when we found out. i know that means that we have less councillors and the voting was a waste of everyone’s time, but don’t worry, we know what we’re doing - cutting waste because we’re clever!”.

No it isnt, they recently did it at Bergen and now we are making money again.

Why would you pay people who aren't doing a good job if you don't have to ?

Not saying they've actually done that as it's only what they have said but removing un-needed expense is exactly what government needs.

Dave!

That’s hilarious - they’ve not made redundancies for roles they don’t feel are required, they’ve had to suspend people for wrong doing and being shit! That’s no reflection on if the role needs doing or not!

Honestly they can sack all the councillors. Reading their monthly minutes is cringeworthy and reminds me of when I was a 6 year old and had to write down a diary…
On Monday I chased down 2 fly tipping reports.
On Tuesday I joined the community speed watch program
On Wednesday I objected to 20 new build houses due to traffic concerns.
On Thursday I discussed reopening the seafront toilets.

Just a bunch of miserable nimbys.

Not central government but Labour nonetheless - TfL just announcing the central London congestion charge will now increase from 15 to 18 pounds a day. That's starting to get penal rather than the level of a "charge".

GG. wrote: Wed Nov 19, 2025 6:49 pm Not central government but Labour nonetheless - TfL just announcing the central London congestion charge will now increase from 15 to 18 pounds a day. That's starting to get penal rather than the level of a "charge".

That was shared last week. It’s a pretty clear statement, along with the ULEZ: We don’t want cars and polluters in London unless they are rich enough to give us money - then it’s fair enough.

Rich B wrote: Wed Nov 19, 2025 6:53 pm

GG. wrote: Wed Nov 19, 2025 6:49 pm Not central government but Labour nonetheless - TfL just announcing the central London congestion charge will now increase from 15 to 18 pounds a day. That's starting to get penal rather than the level of a "charge".

That was shared last week. It’s a pretty clear statement, along with the ULEZ: We don’t want cars and polluters in London unless they are rich enough to give us money - then it’s fair enough.

Yes I just got an email from them as I'm signed up to autopay. As you say - for the few times a year I drive in I will continue to do it as I can afford to pay for it. Why a Labour mayor thinks regressive taxes like this are sensible I don't know.

Helping the working class

GG. wrote: Wed Nov 19, 2025 6:56 pm

Rich B wrote: Wed Nov 19, 2025 6:53 pm

GG. wrote: Wed Nov 19, 2025 6:49 pm Not central government but Labour nonetheless - TfL just announcing the central London congestion charge will now increase from 15 to 18 pounds a day. That's starting to get penal rather than the level of a "charge".

That was shared last week. It’s a pretty clear statement, along with the ULEZ: We don’t want cars and polluters in London unless they are rich enough to give us money - then it’s fair enough.

Yes I just got an email from them as I'm signed up to autopay. As you say - for the few times a year I drive in I will continue to do it as I can afford to pay for it. Why a Labour mayor thinks regressive taxes like this are sensible I don't know.

Congestion charge was originally a livingstone scheme, ULEZ was Boris’s plan. The cost of both will never go down no matter what colour is in charge

And all these schemes have resulted in a massive drop in air pollution which also results in less illness and better health. It’s not like an indiscriminate tax, it’s actually having a massive benefit for everyone who lives in London.

https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-lo ... 584488.amp

Gavster wrote: Wed Nov 19, 2025 9:06 pm And all these schemes have resulted in a massive drop in air pollution which also results in less illness and better health. It’s not like an indiscriminate tax, it’s actually having a massive benefit for everyone who lives in London.

https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-lo ... 584488.amp

until they go down and use the tube!

Rich B wrote: Wed Nov 19, 2025 9:25 pm

Gavster wrote: Wed Nov 19, 2025 9:06 pm And all these schemes have resulted in a massive drop in air pollution which also results in less illness and better health. It’s not like an indiscriminate tax, it’s actually having a massive benefit for everyone who lives in London.

https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-lo ... 584488.amp

until they go down and use the tube!

Pollution is only bad when the public create it.