Council is broke

spacey2012

Yes they get around 14k a year expenses and then a special allowance for the group or committee.
Most are on some sub committee or other so get on average another £25k on top of the 14 k.
So in short, they get on average £800 a week and they are required to sit at two meetings a month and hold one workshop a month.

This is why they make is as hard as possible for anyone to find out how to stand for election, which at local councillor level is free.

It is a right pig's nose in the trough crack to get on.

grizzly1911

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

This is still in the Black Country, in Tipton:

http://www.madorourkes.com/

So is this, at Himley:

" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=crooked+house+pub&espv=


And of course, this in Wolverhampton, just up the road from where I live

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN1gWMJDfm4

I have enjoyed the Desperate Dan Pies in the past. Do you know if they are still on the menu? They used to have the "Dry Dock", with a narrow boat as the bar, somewhere close too.

Yes I have witnessed the marble rolling upwards and the wedged vertical grandfather clock.

W&D were a good brewer but aren't they now just a Burton off shoot these days with Marstons headlining? The Clarendon on the corner too.

seven-day-weekend

My husband had a Desperate Dan Pie last year

lemonjelly

grizzly1911 wrote: »

IIRC Merry Hill was ortiginally zoned for industrial use. It was on the site of the Round Oak Steel works which was closed in the early 80s tearing the heart of Brierley Hill/Dudley. Eventually the developers got the retail centre.

Last tie I went to Dudley that was a ghost town.


It has been a long time since I went there but by modern developments, like the Trafford Centre, it was pretty tired. Telford was/is a much better proposition IMO. For those on the west of Wolverhampton it doesn't take much longer to get into and for many years had free parking.

Because i was the site of the old steel works, no-one wanted the site, as the cost of cleaning the ground for redevelopment was prohibitive. Ultimately the only way it could be sold off was to the richardson brothers with absolutely no planning restrictions whatsoever. They then built merry hell on it, but contributed nothing to developing the infrastructure needed to support it.

That development killed Brierley Hill (or finished it off after the steel works shut). B Hill is now a ghost town, made up solely of charity shops & takeaways. That has spread through Dudley and even Stourbridge.

I should have mentioned the old Sunbeam factory, which has just been announced for redevelopment.

It's a big if, but if the 2 supermarket developments are done quickly & properly, and the Sunbeam development is too, & the chapel ash area is resolved then there is a lot of potential for the area. I'd consider increasing the amount of homes in the city centre, rather than trying to build it back into a shopping centre, as if you have people living & working there, then that will attract business & commerce.

seven-day-weekend

lemonjelly wrote: »

Because i was the site of the old steel works, no-one wanted the site, as the cost of cleaning the ground for redevelopment was prohibitive. Ultimately the only way it could be sold off was to the richardson brothers with absolutely no planning restrictions whatsoever. They then built merry hell on it, but contributed nothing to developing the infrastructure needed to support it.

That development killed Brierley Hill (or finished it off after the steel works shut). B Hill is now a ghost town, made up solely of charity shops & takeaways. That has spread through Dudley and even Stourbridge.

I should have mentioned the old Sunbeam factory, which has just been announced for redevelopment.

It's a big if, but if the 2 supermarket developments are done quickly & properly, and the Sunbeam development is too, & the chapel ash area is resolved then there is a lot of potential for the area. I'd consider increasing the amount of homes in the city centre, rather than trying to build it back into a shopping centre, as if you have people living & working there, then that will attract business & commerce.

Agree absolutely.

lemonjelly

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-26238862

Unemployment is more than twice the national average and 10% of parents are single parents
The council says it employs more than 12,000 people
According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2012, 27.4% of Wolverhampton's working population was employed by the public sector. The UK figure is 18.8%
In 2010 Wolverhampton moved from being the 28th most deprived to the 20th most deprived local authority area, said the government

mayonnaise

lemonjelly wrote: »

The council says it employs more than 12,000 people

Isn't that a bit on the high side for a city of 250k residents?

grizzly1911

lemonjelly wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-26238862

2% increase in council tax on top.

Council Tax has been held back for so long I wonder how long it will be before we start seeing increases across the board?

blunther

grizzly1911 wrote: »

I have enjoyed the Desperate Dan Pies in the past. Do you know if they are still on the menu? They used to have the "Dry Dock", with a narrow boat as the bar, somewhere close too.

Yes I have witnessed the marble rolling upwards and the wedged vertical grandfather clock.

W&D were a good brewer but aren't they now just a Burton off shoot these days with Marstons headlining? The Clarendon on the corner too.

I live in Brum, and would love to use the Black Country a bit more for nights out - Civil/Wulfrun, The Robin 2, Crooked House, Pie Factory... but it's near impossible to get there! The public transport is crap, and the most puzzling one is the Civic/Wulfrun. Gigs finish about 11.20pm. Last train? 11.15pm. Last Metro? About 11.25pm. Means that if I want to see a gig in a neighbouring city in the same urban area, I have to pay £40 for a taxi, which I'm not going to do. Why on Earth isn't there a late train between Wolvo and Brum?! It's preposterous.

no_debt

well i work in a yard couple of factorys. the bins next door are empted by biffa wagon 1 man hooks it up tips it into the truck and off he goes , we use to use the same company . now we use the council one has its cheaper 3 men turn up in the truck driver sits there the other two get out hook the bin on the back tip into the truck off the go . thats 3 wages on a 1 man job and cheaper. i still cant get my head round this it makes me laugh to watch them