“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
Bradford’s City of Culture bid includes £10m of council cash to supplement another £20m it is claimed will come from external sources.
There are bold claims so far as the likely benefits of the whole year but also many cautionary tales from cities like Coventry and Hull, both previous winners.
Unsurprisingly, for those of us used to the clandestine tactics of our council, the local paper had to put in a Freedom of Information request to find this detail.
Given that the T&A is a corporate partner of the bid this is somewhat incredulous – see here.
So when the council claims that by 2030, the City of Culture title’s legacy is predicted to return on the council’s overall investment by £26 to every £1 how will we ever know so far down the line?
And how will they spend the £10m? Eyes wide shut springs to mind.
Hop Hop
Not far short of sixty I’ve decided to attempt dancing. Anyone who knows me will be suppressing a giggle or two at this news but an ad for a new local dance club convinced me that it was now or never.
I’ve never heard of Lindy Hop and confess the thought terrifies me. Videos of those nimble enough to make this look easy had me watching slack-jawed. It all starts in around a month and progress will be relayed back.
Bye Bye Lord Patel
After barely eighteen months at the helm of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Lord Patel is off and what a legacy he leaves. The first paid Chairman of YCCC he leaves a club relegated to the lower tiers of the county championship, shorn of numerous coaches and players.
Doubtless, the usual soundbites will flow but how he ever sleeps easily having been responsible for the destruction of numerous careers and the one-eyed, blind belief in one man’s flawed testimony I do not know.
As Years Roll By
Last November I became pointless – so far as my driving licence was concerned – and duly celebrated by pinging a Plod camera barely a month later. It was a fair cop – b*st*rds – with only me to blame, driving like James Hunt for the local dental tycoon.
So it is that next Monday morning I will sit an online speed awareness course, unlike last time when I was made to suffer four hours in a classroom. It was one of the longest nights of my life.
This week I was visited by my old pal JB, one of the scariest drivers I have even sat in a car with. His cherished Ford XR3 was his pride and joy and it went like the wind…which generally flowed through me too.
How lovely to see him roll up in a Peugeot 207 toy car enthusing that it only cost £47 to fill up.
It’s later than you think.
Clueless
In a Yorkshire Post article, our council was wailing that the government would/could not wade in to cure the city’s firework anarchy.
Cllr David Green – a former council leader – said “the reply from the minister is pathetic and insulting.”
The council’s powers to act are dependent on new legislation; but ask yourself why we have these issues in Bradford?
Namely because lawlessness rules in many parts of the city. Park where you want, drive like a retard and to hell with planning permissions.
You reap what you sow.
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