“For a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”
Sir Winston Churchill
From a bar flyer barely three years ago, this week The Trumpit went online – www.thetrumpit.com. Genuine community magazines are rare as hen’s teeth these days, largely because those who try quickly realise hopes of earning a living here are delusional.
Magazines out there tend to be down-market phone books full of adverts with token filler content such as look what I have done pieces from dopey local councillors.
The Trumpit has always been different from when it started back in 1990. Even The Guardian commented as much; now, it moves on again.
Whilst remaining true to our core readers and a content dominated magazine, going online allows us to reach a new audience. It also, crucially, broadens our appeal to advertisers which we need to cover the not insignificant costs of producing 1,000 copies a month. This will not change.
Spread the word if you can please and if you can like our new Facebook page – here – this stuff really does help.
Almost 58 and wading ever deeper into the murky waters of social media…who would have thought?
Imagination
Last week I wrote about the mish-mash approach of Bradford Council so far as their plans for the city centre. More often than not, the Council works in tandem with quango, The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA). But why the need for another level of bureaucracy other than to keep the jobless figures down?
It is a big beast with income of almost £400m. Naturally enough, it is a major advocate of devolution simply because it’s already sizeable budget will doubtless increase.
Have a look here at some projects it has committed funding to.
Bradford has £5.2m allocated for One City Park, an office block already named One White Elephant. Across the road, The Odeon, the most significant regeneration project in Bradford has received a paltry £357k.
Curiously, One White Elephant is approved under Clean Energy & Economic Resilience. How confusing as only recently Bradford Council were insistent that this should be approved as a regeneration project. Whatever cap fits?
A Tale of Two Cities
In last weekend’s The Yorkshire Post, there was news of WYCA approval for various schemes included the lame-brained City Village aka inner-city slum.
Across in Leeds proposals to deliver 6,700 square metres of “new green public spaces” were approved in direct contrast.
Given that the Chair of WYCA is Hapless Hinchcliffe who insists Bradford must have a “green recovery”, what chance a lightbulb moment across the table?
Why are we building a series of speculative, low-rent and disjointed projects that nobody really believes are warranted?
A Quick One
My thoughts on how money for sport is distributed in Bradford remain unchanged. After the latest announcement for a £1.8m urban cricket centre as part of the English Cricket Board’s South Asian Strategy – surely not racist – guess where?
With almost £8m of new sports facilities announced in Bowling and Wyke, by sheer coincidence, all six local councillors are from the ruling party. Additionally, each ward contains a member of the Executive. Not only Boris does cronyism it seems.
As someone who has filled in enough grant applications to write a “How To” guide, the “rationale” behind this part-funded project was predictable as explained by another curious public sector set-up, Bradford Trident.
“The need for the project is in part Bradford’s rising crisis with obesity and being overweight.” Tick! Lob in the right postcode and off you go…except.
The project has only secured approximately 50% funding – the ECB are skint so sod the grand plan; here’s what happens next.
They will find the money, like a bankrupt maxing out the plastic but what do we know about the management skills to manage a project of this size. Cue…we’ve run out of money!
In steps Bradford Council – who supposedly are skint too – on a White Horse (can I say white?) to rescue the day…so long as we get plenty of pictures in the T&A.
As for the effect of obesity levels…don’t tell me you fell for that one?
One For A Quiet Weekend
This week Bradford Council published the Draft Bradford District Local Plan – Preferred Options (Regulation 18) February 2021. It is a monster of a document and further proof that local authorities are a consultant’s wet dream.
Hot on the heels of strategies published in 2015 and 2019, the public now have 42 days to offer their views; to say this is underhand is mild. And yet it purports to govern where new housing will be built from 2020-38.
I have a confession! Having actually ploughed through the document up to and including the bit that concerns me most, I suggest you try the same.
That bit aside, I leave you with one thought; how on Earth will they delivery 7,000 new “dwellings” in and around Bradford centre? The only way is up?
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