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Thank you Wrexham.com for your election coverage and interviews with the local candidates.
Local Conservative candidate Sarah Atherton was discussed on BBC2 Politics Live during an interview with former Conservative candidate Andrew Atkinson.
A clip has been posted on here.ITV Wales debate was extremely poor because we learned next to nothing about the candidates.
Wrexham was visited by Channel 4 News today with their reporter Gary Gibbon finding some voters are minded to vote for the Conservatives, mainly to ‘Get Brexit Done’.
Having watched your interview with Sarah Atherton, a question was asked whether she believes she has the support of local Conservatives here in Wrexham. She replied she has. Yet Andrew Atkinson has ‘reservations’ ?
Can anybody ‘in the know’ share what, if any are the objections to Sarah Atherton being the Conservative candidate for Wrexham please ?
Is it anything substantial we should be made aware of ?
Congratulations to Mary Wimbury on being chosen to represent the Labour Party in Wrexham.
Is Mary Wimbury the best candidate or the best female candidate ?
Were other candidates excluded if not female ?
If so how does this ensure the best candidate is chosen irrespective of their sex ?Positively discriminating in favour of a particular group is something we should be working against if we are to achieve genuine equality of all. Of course, IF all the best candidates were women that’s perfectly acceptable. What does an ‘all women shortlist’ mean in this particular instance ?
Does Mary Wimbury come from Wrexham ?
How long has Mary Wimbury lived in Wrexham ?
Does Mary Wimbury come from Bournemouth ?Does Mary Wimbury support UK remaining in the EU or leaving the EU ?
Is Mary Wimbury a ‘Corbyn Sceptic’ ?
Why does one of Mary Wimbury’s profiles on social media state she is ‘only just’ in the Labour Party ?
Wrexham Labour Party
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Well done and commiserations to @helen4wrexhammp, #SharonMorris and #DanaDavies who were fierce + excellent candidates.To see 4 great Women candidates was fabulous to see. Wrexham Labour is on course to have Female MP,Female AM and a Female Leader of the council group.
#Girls
2:26 PM – 1 Nov 2019
https://labourlist.org/2019/11/progress-activist-mary-wimbury-wins-wrexham-selection/
[quote quote=121280]Looks like PWC use a basic template , and just put a different Council name on the front !!!
[/quote]This possibility was queried by a poster on here back in January 2015.
“Further point, LEAN has been around since the 1930s, The Machine That Changed The World, the book, the TV series, Henry Ford, Toyota, Kaizen etc etc.
Its all routine procedure throughout the world in many sectors of business and government.
There are some excellent detailed pdf files online, Harrow Council for example, have posted their review, so begs the question haven’t Wrexham Council any contacts in other councils that have already undergone a LEAN review so they share results and protocols etc.
Do we really need to pay PWC £1million+ to do this work on a consulting basis, have they no established template for LEAN implementation at local council. Is Wrexham Council so different it requires a bespoke solution ?”Thank you Wrexham.com for reporting the September FPN totals.
Credit where it is due, the totals are once again clearly showing the number of fines issued for each category, instead of everything being lumped together. This transparency is appreciated.
Well done to the enforcement team for increasing the total number of dog fouling penalties. I found zero dog fouling FPNs claimed to be issued during August. Good to note the number of dog fouling penalties for September has equalled the total achieved in July, with 3 FPNs issued.From the total 522, leaving aside the 3 dog fouling FPNs for a moment, of the remaining 519 FPNs, 246 were issued in Grosvenor, 90 issued in Smithfield.
Would it be reasonable to assume some litter offenders have been caught multiple times or should we chance it and add getting on for 336 new people to the total of freshly alienated Wrexham Town Centre visitors ?
All coming at a time when town centre footfall in Wrexham is so desperately needed.The question needs to be asked yet again, given the total volume of even 500 cigarette ends would fit inside a milk bottle – is it all worth it ?
I walk through town every day and have my view, but I will leave it up to others to make up their own minds, has there been any noticeable reduction in town centre litter generally, let alone fag ends ?
Eagles Meadow is always exceptionally clean and tidy, and apparently does not benefit from any enforcement, does Wrexham town centre benefit from enforcement ?Will Wrexham Council be undertaking any performance review such as in Maidstone during which the enforcement team were briefly taken off the streets ?
Will we be allowed to know if there is an extra cost to have out of hours enforcement collect 2 FPNs for dog fouling ? Why are the number of dog fouling FPNs so low in comparison to “litter” ?
With local print media having reported fine income is received by central government, whilst other councils have arrangements for a 50/50 share of FPNs – are we receiving value for money as Council Tax payers ?
Is anybody monitoring footfall from Eagles Meadow to the town to gauge whether there is a negative impact from fear of penalties ?At a time when Wrexham Council deserves high praise for the free parking in December it will be a shame if this benefit is cancelled out by shoppers being put off from walking around the town through fear of being fined, especially elderly and vulnerable visitors.
Kingdom Security Wardens Off Maidstone Streets After Fining Woman For Feeding Ducks
Maidstone’s entire litter enforcement service has been suspended – after a woman was fined for feeding the ducks.
The extraordinary move follows the latest action by an overzealous officer, and led to all wardens being taken off patrol while a review by Maidstone Borough Council was conducted.
An £80 fixed penalty notice was issued to a woman feeding the ducks in Tovil – because the warden insisted no birds were present at the time.
Alison Broom, chief executive of MBC, said: “Any service that the council provides to residents is continually reviewed to ensure it’s achieving its objectives.
It was decided at an operational level that the Litter Enforcement Service would be reassessed with the aim of ensuring that Kingdom Security is providing the best response to our priority of providing a clean and safe environment.”
Kingdom Security has a two year agreement worth £160,000 with the authority which also sees the company getting 50% of every fine issued.http://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/firm-suspended-after-fining-woman-103324/
Wrexham.com
” The ongoing campaign against littering and dog fouling across the County Borough resulted in a total of 522 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued throughout September by Kingdom Enforcement Officers.
During September a total of £39,150 was issued in fines. This is down slightly on the £40,350 issued throughout August.
A breakdown of September’s figures show that those caught dropping their cigarette butts remain the most fined, with 475 FPNs issued during the 30 days.
A further 17 were issued for food littering, 25 for other littering and two for ‘printed littering’.
Dog fouling is often a gripe many residents have about their estates and villages, with problems across Wrexham raised frequently over the past 12 months.During September three FPNs were issued for dog fouling.
Last month Wrexham.com reported that ‘identified dog fouling hotspots’ were being targeted as part of Kingdom’s ongoing work in the County Borough.
Enforcement officers have since increased patrols around country parks along with additional patrols from 6am and until 9pm. Two of the dog fouling FPNs issued in September were issued out of hours. ”Interesting unchallenged spin from Susan Elan Jones celebrating Owen Smith receiving more votes than won Ed Miliband the leadership in 2010 with 193,229. Expressed as a percentage of valid votes thats 38.20% for Smith compared to Miliband’s then 50.65% with 175,519. The numbers fairly meaningless given the surge in Labour Party membership, comparing share of vote more apt. By any measure Smith failed miserably against Corbyn’s 61.8% with 313,209.
Susan Elan Jones MP
“Speaking about Mr Corbyn’s re-election, Ms Jones said: “Like 193,000+ other Labour members and supporters, including many from our area, I voted for Owen Smith in the Labour Leadership election. Owen actually lost with more votes than Ed Miliband won the Labour Leadership in 2010 – and my strong message to all of the 193,229 people who voted for Owen Smith is to stay inside the Labour Party.”So everything hunky dory then ?
BBC Newsnight Political Editor Nick Watt reported “Many of the plotters are contrite and admit that their coup was a mistake of historic proportions, but when it comes to control of their party the battle is far from over.”
One for Ferret from Diane Abbott today at conference ?
“The people that complain about the freedom of movement will not be satisfied because what they really want is to see less foreign looking people on their streets.”
Any comments yet from Wrexham Constituency Labour Party and Mr Ian Lucas MP ?
Everywhere seems pretty quiet. Daily Politics interview maybe ?
Given both were reported by The Guardian and BBC to be amongst the first to express little confidence in Mr Corbyn what is their reaction to his successful re-election by an even larger majority ?
Seems quite a defeat after all the effort. Mr Lucas considered himself to have a local mandate, but possibly no more than 30 or so supporters ? To be fair, even Owen Smith’s campaign meeting in Wrexham was hardly rammed.Will the plotters now support Mr Corbyn, will they shrug and slink away, or is another leadership challenge already brewing ?
BBC2 Newsnight 27 June 2016
Newsnight understands that a group of former Labour front benchers have been preparing the operation to unseat Jeremy Corbyn for months. They had expected to wait another year but decided to move after Corbyn’s lacklustre performance in the referendum campaign, a view highlighted by one of the departing front benchers.Ian Lucas MP
“In his performance both during the months leading up to the European Referendum and also during the campaign itself his very lack of understanding of the fundamental issues linked to migration and the economy that were crucial, needed to be communicated and simply weren’t. I think we are now in a crisis situation for the country.
We have to have an effective opposition and I knew that Jeremy simply couldn’t provide that.”Senior Labour figures say there is one simple reason above all else for the coup, they fear that a General Election could be held within months and that Corbyn’s failure to connect with traditional Labour supporters during the referendum could lead to an electoral wipe-out.
Thank you Wrexham.com for reporting the August FPN total figure.
Previously we were given a breakdown of the figures for improperly disposed cigarettes , dropping food, litter, breaking dog exclusion orders, people failing to pick up after their dogs, however for August only the total number of FPNs are stated. Everything is lumped together.
” The total of 538 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued by Kingdom Enforcement Offices to those found littering and irresponsible dog owners in August. This figure is down on the 619 FPNs issued throughout July. ”Having admitted they struggled to issue many fixed penalty notices for dog fouling during July ( …just 3), and given ‘Identified dog fouling hotspots’ have been targeted as part of an ongoing clampdown on irresponsible dog owners and litterers across the county borough. “, we may reasonably expect they have good news to share on the number of dog fouling FPNs during August ?
It is good to know dog fouling is being taken seriously and that those expressing the cynical view that the whole exercise is about targeting fag throwers outside town centre pubs, cafes, bookies and shops are being proved wrong.
So can we all celebrate the successful targeting of dog fouling offenders by letting us know the figures please ?
Enforcement Officers Increase Patrols at ‘Identified Dog Fouling Hotspots’
[quote quote=118060] In this I agree with what Mr Lucas said recently in trying to encourage landlords to rethink there properties in the town I believe this is nothing to do with rents or rates but somehow getting the council to fund the regeneration of residential life in this central area.
[/quote]Swan, it is EVERYTHING to do with rents or rates.
Consider for one moment if in a parallel universe there were neither rents or rates to pay.
Instead have business owners being paid to open up shops, bars, cafes etc.
Imagine how busy the town would be !
If that sounds ridiculous – research how large out of town developments are incentivised all over the world.Disregarding rents, reflect on the posted annual rateable values of the Henblas Street units (inc. TJs) £935,000 plus the posted service charges £70,440 – thats a lot of Council Tax to find from town centre dwellers.
Factor in also that with a reduced retail offer council car parking income will be greatly diminished.So replacing retail with residential would not be feasible.
I’m not against encouraging people to live in Wrexham town centre.
There are plenty of suitable locations above existing retail units that could be converted to appealing apartments. These could be added to the existing residential opportunities, such as the flats in Chester Street opposite the old KwikSave, the flats in King Street, the flats at the old Border Brewery, the flats at Eagles Meadow, and lots of others already available above various shops, offices and food outlets.
In fact it could be argued that anybody wishing to live in the town centre has plenty of choice already.Given the restrictions of living in the centre of town it may be a reasonable idea to quantify exactly how many would aspire to do so, and exactly what their lifestyles would likely offer as a boost to the local shops and businesses ?
If they are impoverished students, or twenty somethings glued to their X-Boxes 24/7 probably not much !Large Town Centre Site Up To Let – Will New ‘Heart Of Town Centre’ Be Delivered?
I like the idea of Denbighshire’s #LoveLiveLocal #CaruBusnesauLleol campaign.
Maybe our Town Centre Manager could come up with something similar.
Over to you Amanda !
HSBC should be congratulated for helping customers move to phone banking, then online banking and now of course we can use a mobile phone app.
One day we can all just use digital money so everything will be run by an artificial intelligence bot in downtown Hong Kong then we will all be properly Shanghai’d.For anybody that believes they can shout Boo! then run away.
Looks not to be the case Joan The Hog. :)
Question has to be asked is there a contribution to the administrative cost of issuing the fines from the enforcement company or is the cost borne fully by WMBC ?
There has yet to be any comment regarding the commercial basis of operation ie is the method that Wrexham Council pays between £42 to £55 (-ish) for each successfully issued ticket then looks to seek payment from succesfully paid fines ? If so, with a supposedly reported success ratio of around 60% of collecting fines, and with an council officer’s time being taken into account – will the system prove to be cost neutral – let alone result in any profit for the council ?How keen on returning to Wrexham for shopping will anybody fined feel – not very – so every month the number of alienated potential Wrexham shoppers grows by around 500 – allowing for those stupid enough to be caught more than once.
Is it all worth it ?
Wrexham Council Prosecutes 45 Litterers For ‘Failing to Obey Environmental Laws’
