Calls for Unitary Council Increase

One Council for Northampton
Calls to create a new unitary Council to govern Northampton have split politicians at the Guildhall.Both the leading Liberal Democrats and the Labour group on Northampton Borough Council have said Northampton should have just one ‘unitary’ council, while the Conservatives have said that the already poor council is not fit to take on extra services. The new authority would carry out all the services currently carried out by the borough council, such as rubbish collection and street sweeping, but also take on services currently provided by Northamptonshire County Council, such as libraries and social care. The debate on the council’s future comes at the same time the Boundary Committee is looking into the future make-up of Northampton Borough Council.The independent group is looking into both how many councillors the ever expanding town should have and what areas the council’s wards should cover. The review is expected to be completed next autumn.

Corby Cube, late and over-budget
The Corby Cube, Corby's civic hub is running £2.5m over budget and will be completed at least two months late according to the Evening Telegraph. The shortfall in the £29m building, which will be the centrepiece of the town's redevelopment, means the council will have to borrow money to complete it. The building which will include a new theatre, council offices and rooftop garden will not be ready until July 2010 rather than spring next year. Once the building is open Corby library will also begin plans to move in. Corby Council chief executive Chris Mallender said the shortfall was a result of an increase in the cost of steel and a realisation that the building would need more than first anticipated. Surely the Architect would have said in advance exactly how much of each material would be needed to complete the building. The increase in the cost of steel may be acceptable but Corby Borough Council should pursue the architects if they have been mislead on the amounts required. Architects are insured for such circumstances.

Weirdo watch
A local communist oddball in Corby is blaming BNP leafleting activity for an increase in racist attacts in the town and claims that the "two events are inexorably linked". The figures he says have been released today, maybe he would like to provide a link to them. He may like to think that the rise in hate crime in Corby and any BNP activity in the town are linked, but he has no proof that this is the case. There is a very high probability that hate crimes would be just as high, if not higher has the BNP not distributed one leaflet in the town. As is usually the case, the far left will twist figures and try to apportion blame where there is no concrete evidence. So what else is he going to try and pin on us next, the rising cost in steel, increasing unemployment, the obesity crisis, global warming? It has been statistically proven that where the BNP is active there is generally a decrease in hate crimes. This is because the party educates those people who are at the end of their tether not to attack immigrants, but to take their frustrations out on their elected representatives that have let them down. There are also many crimes classified as hate crimes which were not committed simply because of the colour of ones skin or ones accent, it is purely circumstantial. Latent prejudice may come to the surface of the drunk that staggers out of the pub but he is likely to start a fight on anyone that bumps into him on the way home regardless of their race, colour or creed. The truth is that there is no such thing as hate crime, only crime. Hating cannot a crime, because it’s an emotion, not an action, and those who wish to make emotions and thoughts criminal are the enemies of freedom and democracy.