“Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.”
George Carlin
Hard as I try, avoiding criticism of the inept numpties that run my hometown is an impossible task.
In 2017 the council bought the central NCP car park for £4.15m…to knock it down. At the time they claimed income from the carpark would provide a yield of 7.4% presumably net of any cost of capital. This calculation is what real-world investors do.
In Never Never Land, as they did not provide an indicative cost of capital let me enter their world and assume this is free money. Therefore, a 7.4% yield – also net of any maintenance costs not provided either – would suggest an annual income of £307,100.
A year later – see here – the NCP car park “will generate a minimum annual net surplus of circa £100,000 per annum.”
Now – see here – we have the council claiming that it’s value is minimal based on a very low usage…hang on a minute…where is the truth parked?
It gets better; the clowns will knock this down to spend £13m on a new entrance to the Interchange and £8m on the roof so Hapless Hinchcliffe can gaze out of her office and watch the flood of well-heeled punters.
Her ultimate aim is to persuade the government that Bradford is worth a new out-of-town railway station but guess what – they will then knock the Interchange down. A recent article provided a great insight into the economics of the local madhouse.
Councillor Debbie Davies (Cons, Baildon) asked: “How the demolition of the NCP site and the Kirkgate Centre, which combined will result in the loss of over 1,000 car parking spaces in the city centre, will attract inward investment opportunities and also visitor footfall for shopping and leisure purposes, particularly after the opening of Bradford Live which has a capacity of over 4,000 people?”
In response, the Council Executive pointed out that the 120-space Jacobs Well car park was soon to re-open.
It is almost as if they are desperate to prove their utter stupidity. Yes, there is capacity elsewhere but nowhere near enough should Bradford Live become the game-changer Bradfordians are desperate for.
I have said it before but I would not trust this lot to run a tombola stall.
Tales From The Allotment
Basking in the autumnal sunshine, Greenfingers, Bombastic and I watched as Gregarious George battled away at the consequences of three months in Greece. Wading through his Burmese-like jungle, he cut a determined figure as daylight eventually found the earth again.
I’d given him the remaining seeds from my eight-foot sunflower, those left after the daily feeding frenzy with birds and squirrels alike feasting. Gregarious had decided on the scattering technique aiming for a sunflower jungle next summer.
Meanwhile, whispers abound that the allotments are due new tenants – it rarely gets more exciting than this – as leases expire and dreams of self-sustenance fade with the late sunshine.
I’d failed to entice my old pal Molly who confessed that “Carol’s tracking device bleeps within half a mile of the Bear. She’d never swallow that one lad!”
The last of the tomatoes battled for a late tan and Gregarious danced on his patch scattering seeds after a late Ouzo or two. What a wonderful place to be.
A Valued Customer
We’re sorry, we paid your loyalty bonus into your account on 7 October twice by mistake – this was due to an error at our end. We’ve taken the duplicated payment out of your account today. Thanks for bearing with us. Your Barclays Business Team
The loyalty bonus in question was…8p.
Footnote
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