Despite public protests and an initial refusal by Bradford planners, a convicted former operator of an indoor market looks about to open a new Asian bazaar on a “trial” six-month basis.
Convicted of contravening a Stop Notice issued by the Council, Mohammed Saeed was fined almost £90,000.
Now though, all’s well in the eyes of the Council as they prepare to grant his company DP Franchising Ltd – of which I can find no record – permission to open despite protests from residents about the parking problems and disruption it might…sorry…will cause.
The licence will be reviewed in six months’ time…pull the other one…before the Council elect to collect another stash of wonga.
Our local Council is staggeringly stupid and inept – we all know that – but just consider the approval comprising 35 stalls with a maximum of 28 traders opening 11am to 7pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The building was a Morrisons supermarket some 30 years ago and the main car-park has since been built on. There is also a roof-top car park which you always felt was about to collapse.
The hair-pin bend on exit certainly livened up the weekly family shop to Morrisons as my Dad’s Ford Capri never seemed to have any brakes that worked all at the same time; most weeks it was like a trip on the Wild Mouse at Blackpool.
Now they want to plonk 36 cars for customers atop while traders – suitably helmeted indoors no doubt – will have to use 27 spaces behind the building. Unless the traders are turning up in Sinclair C5s this looks disingenuous to say the least.
Then again lets not expect a council to be anything but economical with the truth.
The really “good news” is that a parking steward – doubtless a numerical dyslexic halfwit in a yellow jacket – will “manage” the flow of cars. Could you really make this up?
When the car park is full customers will be directed to on-street parking. Have the Council not noticed that there is none of this? Pity the local residents who will suffer a market nobody locally wants and will bring no economic benefit other than to Mr Saeed.
Inevitably, speaking out against this idiotic proposal can get you the convenient tag of “racist”. However, put simply there is as much demand for an Asian bazaar in this area of Bradford as a bier keller across town where Mr Saeed hacked everybody off in the first place.
Ironically, there are several empty and refurbished retail units on the site of the Morrisons that replaced the original with ample parking – front and back – for customers and traders alike.
Would it be churlish to to suggest that Mr Saeed has negotiated a “trouser it fast and leg it” lease, one that he may not have been able to secure on the more suitable retail park?
Sport For All?
Who is Liz Nicholl OBE you might well ask? As the Chief Executive of UK Sport, according to a puff piece on their website, she is accredited as having “played a pioneering role in the development of the elite sport system in the UK.”
Having led UK Sport’s Performance Directorate – only Quangos can create such pompous titles – through the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympic and Paralympics, she became the Chief Operating Officer in 2009 and CEO in 2010 just in time for the taxpayer funded London party in 2012.
“Responsibilities focus on accountability for the National Lottery and Exchequer investment of around £125m per annum which supports UK Sport’s three key objectives: World Class Success, Major Event bidding and hosting, and International Relations and Development.”
Lots of overseas jollies in that one then.
UK Sport’s stated aim is unashamedly medals based and to “…be the first nation to win more medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games immediately after hosting a home Games.”
Can anyone honestly say that this is a laudable aspiration especially as it ignores the vast majority of those that simply enjoy playing recreational sport and fund the likes of Nicholl with their weekly Lottery tickets?
In the recent round of funding announcements made a few weeks ago, Nicholl and her cronies slashed the funding for basketball from £8.5m to zero overnight simply because we have little chance of winning a gong or two in the near future.
As David Walsh of the Sunday Times writes it “…is a scandal that should not be allowed to happen.” He goes on to state that more under-25s in Britain play basketball than rugby union or cricket; both these are propped up by huge television deals.
It’s almost two years since I wrote a piece published in the Yorkshire Post where I argued that the Olympics would not produce any legacy of any note – Walsh also states that “…fewer young people play sport now than before…”
Remember this is your money – well at least those of you daft enough to still believe that the Lottery is a force for good and not for lining the pockets of the likes of Nicholl.
So comfort yourselves with the knowledge that the following sums are going to support inner-city kids bereft of sporting facilities to pursue their ambitions in sailing (£25.5m), canoeing (£20m), equestrian (£18m) and shooting – gang-land hits do not count – (£3m).
Here’s the full list for Rio 2016 just so you can see where your money goes.
Olympic Sport Funding award
Archery £2,952,237
Athletics £26,824,206
Badminton £5,662,754
Boxing (Amateur) £13,764,437
Canoeing £20,043,618
Cycling £30,565,816
Diving £7,467,860
Equestrian £17,992,600
Fencing £3,976,819
Gymnastics £14,615,428
Hockey £16,141,393
Judo £7,366,200
Modern Pentathlon £6,972,174
Rowing £32,622,862
Sailing £25,504,055
Shooting £3,190,854
Swimming £20,795,828
Taekwondo £8,053,837
Triathlon £7,457,977
Lonely Deputy PM Clegg Seeks New Understanding Partner
Proving once again that politics is the art of the desperate, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is now seeking to jump into bed with New/Old/Same-Disaster-Again Labour.
Claiming – like a wronged wife – that Labour had “changed” he also said the Conservatives needed to “re-engage with “mainstream” voters.”
As the Lib Dems appear to have no voters at all – mainstream or other – this looks a bit rich.
Labour’s Ed Miliband has dismissed this but come the final count and, with Cameron jumping into bed with the swivel eyed loons of UKIP, get your bed socks ready Nick.
This really does look like it will be the most depressing campaign for many years and that Clegg has shown how desperate he is so early proves only…well…how desperate he really is.
CBeebies in Sochi
Let me briefly join the debate around the quality of commentating screeching across our television sets from Sochi where, incidentally UK Sport are spending over £14m (including the Paralympics).
I want measured and informed comment from my licence fee not hysterical shrieking that covers up the reality that the contributors have nothing valuable to say nor are able to express this.
Okay…dude?
A Different Age
The main reason I stopped watching football many years ago is that the deluge of cash, to my mind, had severed its connections with the real grass roots of its core supporters and players.
It was always a game tinged with the darker side but whereas in the olden days the odd bag of cash was exchanged now you would most likely need a Securicor van to complete a bit of dirty dealing.
In a week when the legendary Sir Tom Finney passed away, a player who should never be afforded anything like such a status, Wayne Rooney, looks like securing a mind-boggling £300k per week four-year deal from Manchester United.
Sir Tom was a one-club man, never received a booking and retained his links with Preston North End to the end of his life. There are many contrasts with yesteryear which suggest things are not what they should be; this is yet another.
We Count Butterflies?
A survey this week concluded that butterflies enjoyed last summer and there were lots of them now; and still people still complain about the cuts?
And Finally
I try to get as many as my facts right as possible having a legal defence team of nil which is the same as my research team.
The other day I was trying to discover more about some of my least favourite people – local councillors – and realised how difficult this was.
How about then that each current and prospective expense grabber – sorry councillor – publish a CV? It may make horrifying viewing given the amount of public money they influence but surely we deserve to know?
Just a thought dear Leader.
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