I’ve mentioned several times about how the vegetables who “run” Nottingham City (and County) Council are determined to destroy this city. Aside from the appalling eyesore that is the skyline in Nottingham (get a different architect to design every new building, make it completely different to the one next to it, and be creative with turrets, spikes, and cheap materials that will discolour in the sun and rain within 12 months), there is also the waste of money known as “The Tram”.
I’ve also mentioned the latest drive towards 20mph speed limits on as many urban roads as possible (and reduced limits everywhere else). It’s worth pointing out here that the Council has given up asking the public for its opinion, and is simply changing 30mph zones to 20mph without any sort of warning whatsoever now – and even if it IS telling people, it isn’t telling the ones who drive those roads but don’t live there. After all, 20mph is about screwing the motorist and catering for all the Earth Mothers who live in the God-forsaken estates where these 20mph limits are being placed, so no point telling those who actually use the damned roads, eh?
But I digress a little. Nottingham Council’s pathetic argument in favour of 20mph zones is that other cities have done it. Oh yes, and some out-of-context RoSPA advice which evidently says that all Council employees will suffer a curse for a thousand years if they don’t impose 20mph limits on at least 60% of all roads by the end of the decade.
Well, it seems that Brighton has a similar problem with vegetables running local government, and it has prompted the formation of a group called Unchain The Brighton Motorist (UBM). The group consists of – according to the super sleuths at The Argus – a number of local business leaders, including taxi firm, cafe, restaurant, and hotel owners, along with solicitors and accountants.
The group… describes a blanket extension of 20mph speed limits across the city as a “declaration of war” on motorists.
They’re right, of course. But they are missing something far more insidious, which is really what’s at the root of the problem. You see, UBM is also backed by The Tourism Alliance – which includes The Sea Life Centre, the Hilton Brighton Metropole, and the Palace Pier – which means that virtually anyone who has a business interest in Brighton is against council policy. It also means that the only people who are actually pushing 20mph limits are the clowns who work for Brighton and Hove City Council, and perhaps a few members of the public who normally busy themselves by being members of the Neighbourhood Watch but who are looking to make their lives just a little less boring than usual (i.e. by being members of silly activist groups). All the people that matter are against 20mph limits in Brighton.
I first heard of UBM when I saw an ASA ruling involving them back in February. The insidious nature of the council’s policies becomes apparent when you note that…
Fifteen complainants, including Brighton and Hove City Council and members of 20’s Plenty for Us, Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth and B[ic]ycles, challenged whether the following claims were misleading and could be substantiated…
So you have an elected council – a political body – which is using the ASA to push its own private political agenda and stifling anyone who opposes it. That cycling groups or the mummies who comprise the “Twenty’s Plenty” groups should also be crawling to the ASA doesn’t come as much of a surprise. But the council?
The council and the evolutionary throwbacks from those other groups must have been wetting themselves when the ASA upheld all the complaints on this first round. But it didn’t stop there, because in April there was another ASA ruling involving UBM and two complainants…
One complainant, a member of Brighton & Hove Friends of the Earth… Both complainants, including Brighton and Hove City Council…
Brighton City Council again clearly sought to stifle those who oppose it by twisting the ASA around its little finger. The ASA, however, appears to be wising up and this time it only upheld three out of the six issues raised. That was round two.
Round three came with this week’s ASA rulings. Who complained? You guessed it…
Brighton & Hove City Council challenged whether the claims…
This time the ASA has clearly become fully wised up and rejected ALL the complaints.
Kudos must go to UBM for bringing this issue out into the open. Something like it is needed in all cities where politically correct fools who have no other skills or qualifications manage to squirm their way into local government and interfere with the livelihoods and lifestyles of the majority of the population.
As I said in a previous article…