January 2010

The Archives

• Cotterill on the Council, Leisure and culture

  So who knew?

  01.26.10 | Permalink | Comment?

  West Lancashire Leisure Trust is now saying that the £22,000 went missing from Burscough Sports Centre in February 2008. 
  Fair enough.  Except that I’m pretty sure I went to the West Lancashire Leisure Trust in July 2008, and it didn’t get a mention anywhere. I wonder which Trustees of West Lancashire Leisure Trust actually knew about this [...]

• Being Labour

  A warm Tory welcome: a quarter of a century late

  01.25.10 | Permalink | Comment?

  I’ve talked quite a lot over the years about West Lancashire’s Conservatives being stuck in a Thatcherite time warp, but I didn’t realise it went quite this far……
  A Downholland (West Lancashire) resident has been in touch with me to tell me that he’s received a letter from the Conservative PPC welcoming him to the area after his [...]

• Bickerstaffe Thoughts, Cotterill on the Council

  Gritting and maintenance on Stopgate and Sineacre Lane

  01.21.10 | Permalink | Comment?

  My letter to residents on Stopgate Lane/Sineacre Lane is below.  It’s self-explanatory, and with the usual anonymity courtesy for officers.
   Dear resident
   Gritting and maintenance
  Further to resident calls during the recent cold snap I have had yet another go at the County Council over the lack of gritting on Stopgate Lane/Sineacre Lane, and about general maintenance.  I [...]

• Bickerstaffe Thoughts, Breaking News, Cotterill on the Council

  Getting closer to speed limits in Bickerstaffe

  01.21.10 | Permalink | Comment?

  Further to this and before that this, and before them more posts and letters than you shake a hot dinner at, here’s my consultation response about proposed speed limits in Bickerstaffe (and Simonswood) which I seem to have been campaigning for most of my life:

  Dear x (Head of Legal Team at Lancs County Council who put out the [...]

• Bickerstaffe Thoughts, Breaking News, Planning applications

  New plans for proposed expanion of Edge Hill sports facilities

  01.20.10 | Permalink | Comment?

  I don’t often just link to another website without much comment, but the news of  new plans for the Eastward expansion of sports facilities at Edge Hill University, and the public exhibition on same, will be of interest to Bickerstaffe Ward residents on Scarth Hill Lane.
  I’ll certainly be attending the exhibition to see what the plans are, [...]

• Being Labour, Cotterill on the Council

  Quote-a-Tory

  01.20.10 | Permalink | Comment?

  The deputy leader of the Conservative administration of West Lancashire Borough Council at cabinet last night:
  “Our officers are stretched resource-wise.”
  Well, yes, that does tend to happen when you needlessly get rid of a load of staff in order to show how Tory you are.  Doh!

• Being Labour, Cotterill on the Council, Leisure and culture

  The bizarre logic of Tory irresponsibility

  01.20.10 | Permalink | Comment?

  There was an interesting extrapolation from figures presented at last night’s West Lancashire Borough Council Conservative cabinet meeting. 
  The portfolio holder for leisure services commented on the quarterly performance indicators for the period up to the end of September 2009, referring specifically to indicator WL18 ‘Use of leisure and cultural facilities (swims and visits)’.
  This table shows [...]

• Being Labour

  What the Tories think of Edge Hill University

  01.19.10 | Permalink | Comment?

  The Tories’ latest pronouncements on teaching and teacher training are so daftly reactionary that you’d be forgiven for thinking it might be some kind of spoof.  
  I bet the students and staff at Edge Hill University in Ormskirk aren’t laughing though.
  The most obvious nonsenses are already being dealt with by others in the blogosphere.  Chris Dillow deals with the bizarre [...]

• Being Labour, Cotterill on the Council, Leisure and culture

  Serco at it again as Park Pool crèche to close

  01.19.10 | Permalink | Comment?

  I’ve just learned that our friends at Serco Leisure have decided to close the creche at Ormskirk Park Pool, making two staff members redundant.  Here’s my reaction to the press:
   This shock news of the closure of the Park Pool crèche, and redundancy for two valued staff members, is an indictment both of Serco’s overall approach to its [...]

• Being Labour, Cotterill on the Council

  What’s £35,000 between Tory friends, eh?

  01.19.10 | Permalink | Comment?

  When I reported on the shockingly bad response to the winter conditions by Tory-mismanaged West Lancashire Borough and Lancashire County Councils, I mentioned that public car parks in West Lancs were not gritted for about a week, even though the County Council holds a specific contract with the borough to do just that. 
  I was asked by [...]

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