It was reported in this week's Observer that our beloved borough has managed, just, to claw its way out of the list of the fifty most deprived boroughs in the country. In spite of the bout of self-congratulation that broke out at Scaitcliffe House, I cannot help but think that this is more by luck than good judgement or sound management.
That depressingly cheerful critic of Accyweb's moaning old washer women and renowned expert on all things local, the oh so PC "Kipper" would, no doubt, disagree with my assesment. Such is his perogative and the nature of democracy.
However, I am a little concerned that in these virtual pages we might be giving the impression, however well intentioned, that Hyndburn in general and Accrington in particular is in some way not perhaps the best place in the world to live and bring up a family.
Of course we have our problems. Show me anywhere in the world that does not. We also seem to have more than our fair share of incompetents and sociopaths. That most of these appear to find gainful employment within the local authority occaisionally gives rise to understandable concern, which in turn finds a voice on this forum.
But I don't think that any of us actually hate our borough to the extent that we would actually wish to discourage people from coming here either to enjoy our diverse and inclusive leisure opportunities or our culturally enriching shopping experiences.
It ocurred to me then that some of us might wish to demonstrate our love for our home town(s) by taking a leaf from New Labour's book and indulging in a little spin and Google Page Ranking exercise.
To this end I have devised a little Logo for the campaign, which you may see below.
It would be nice if someone were to adapt it so that members could attch it to their avatars or signatures. it would be even nicer if someone were to adapt it into a range of lapel badges or bumper stickers etc. Maybe neighbourhoods could adopt it to signal to the disaffected and dysfunctional that, contrary to popular belief, they actually do care about what happens in their locality.
The logo is entirely free of copyright and may be used by anyone, in any circumstances and for any purpose, with the exception of Hyndburn Borough Council, its officers or employees who may not use it for any reason whatsoever - This is about people power, not municipal nest feathering!
