What is good about HBC
 

For some time now quite a lot of us have given HBC and it's officers a fair old bit of stick.
But they must be doing some things right or else we would have heard from the District Auditor by now.

So, for a change, lets have a list of things that you want to give HBC a slap on the back for.
And to add a bit of interest why not rate them on a scale of Bronze, Silver and Gold Clogs.

A Bronze Clog being "Yeah, it's OK' ,
A Silver Clog being "That's really Good!"
and a Gold Clog being "WOW! Exceeding all expectations"

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Seems a fair way to go....Just one thing though A-Bob. Can we also have Wooden Clogs for "Now't Changes"?

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Your wish, as always, is my command. But I was rather hoping to maintain an upbeat, positive tone. An uphill struggle, I know, as the response rate to this thread attests.

So I guess I will have to start the ball rolling by awarding HBC a Bronze Clog for flying the national flag outside the town hall every day. I approve of that.

Re: What is good about HBC
 

I'm trying real hard AB, honest I am!

I suppose the fact that we still have free parking in the borough is worth a Silver Clog!

And.....er.....

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Is this a trick question?

Re: What is good about HBC
 

No! I'm being serious. Honest guv!

Re: What is good about HBC
 

:idea: A bronze clog for the floral arrangements even if the biggest one is the "Hyndburn 3D" (because the 0 has a squared corner or two at the left hand side)

The free parking was the first thing I thought of to be proud of in Hyndburn, lol. It didn't go down a bundle at the time. Having spent most of the last 6 weeks or so in Morecambe/Lancaster/Carnforth area I can appreciate it all the more now.:thumbsup:

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Two bronze and one silver so far, come on chaps there must be more than this

Re: What is good about HBC
 

A Wooden Clog for the "Cog" (Toothed Gear Wheel to be politically correct), and yet another for the signs!

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Half a clog for good intentions

Re: What is good about HBC
 

I CAN'T believe what I am about to type...but I would put the HBC up for a gold award!!....but held in obeyance until they have completed "Project Phoenix" as talked about in the thread from Atarah.
If they deliver what they promise, it can only be good for Accy.:rolleyes:

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Check out last week's Observer. It looks as though Project Phoenix is turning into a DODO!

Re: What is good about HBC
 

My neighbours son attends all the meetings for the Phoenix project. Everytime HBC put forward their plans the residents ask "when?" HBC can never give them an answer but keep persisting in having meetings and spouting about their plans. They are now starting to have meetings about Peel Ward, the first being on the 20th September. My neighbours will be attending and asking WHEN? Basically HBC have all these high falluting plans, but have no cash. These plans could still be on the drawing board 20 years from now..

Re: What is good about HBC
 

:rolleyes: Is there a lead clog award?

Re: What is good about HBC
 

If you want one, you can have one! What would you award it for?

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Good intentions but little action. Like the Project Phoenix.

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Well. I tried to be generous towards the HBC, No golden clogs for them! :rolleyes:

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Well, hey, at least you made the effort, and that counts for a lot.

Re: What is good about HBC
 

How about The Order of the Boot.

I recently had a new bed delivered and was advised to contact HBC to arrange removal of the old one. I phoned the cleansing dept. on a Monday morning and was asked if the bed was available for immediate collection, I explained it wasn't but would be as from noon on Wednesday. "Oh, we can't arrange for collection without the goods being available, If I put it into the system and a job card was issued tomorrow morning and the bed wasn't there my boss would not be too pleased. You'll have to ring back on Wednesday." said the obviously Oxbridge educated young lady on the phone.
I phoned again on Wednesday to ask for removal of bed. "Yes, that's fine, someone will be out within 2 weeks. You will have to leave your gate unlocked so we have access to collect it. I'm sorry I can't tell you an exact time and date, just within 2 weeks."
They couldn't run a bath!

Re: What is good about HBC
 

I can go one better than that.

Last year whilst we were on holiday someone vandalised my shed. The thing had to be demolished and disposed of along with most of the contents.

I piled a load of broken things from the shed in the backyard and phoned the council to ask for their removal. They asked me what was in the pile. I told them a load of broken things from inside a semi demolished shed. I had even cordoned off that area behind a yellow rope (although a large pile of rubbish is quite easily distinguishable from things such as patio pots containing lavender bushes and trees) However they still insisted that I itemise the lot. They were not even willing to accept such generalised terms like "pieces of wood" - they wanted to know how many pieces and approximate sizes! I went through all that and made a huge long list which I then read out to them over the phone. They then suggested that I label the pile "rubbish for collection" ! I did so. After a week or three the pile was eventually removed.

Then came the demolishing of the remains of the shed. This we duly piled up and I phoned the council yet again. This time however they were far too busy to collect anything at any time and asked if I could deliver it to the tip.

We piled most of it onto trailer and off up to Whinney Hill - where we were greated with "What's all that then? You can't bring that much rubbish here! It's industrial that is" I told them it was the remains of an ordinary garden shed and couldn't remotely be classed as industrial - they weren't impressed. When I informed them that we had another load plus an old washing machine and muttered something about the alternative being flytipping and no wonder why people did it, that didn't go down too well either!

We were permitted to take the second load but they also took down a lot of details about who we were and where we had come from with our rubbish.

Recently took an old fridge which had stopped working and been replaced by a new one and that required "details" to be taken!!

It doesn't really encourage people to be responsible with their rubbish does it?

Re: What is good about HBC
 

When we bought our house, the people who had had it before left a pile of rubbish in the backyard, and I mean rubbish. We took out the old fridge/freezer (we tried to sell it to ICI because of all the genetic modifications that were growing in it, but they didn't seem to be interested). Ditto one bugg***d washing machine, plus my nephew's old fridge from next door.

Well, we tried. They don't take fridges. They can't do this or that (I didn't ask about the other, I thought with the general lack of knowing a**e from elbow, it wasn't wise).
We could have it taken away (well, some of it) but had to guarantee being there every day for at least a fortnight (my boss in London was not too keen on this).

Eventually we rang a private firm, they came along, took the lot, cleaned the backyard, frightened off the rats, had a brew - yes, they charged us, but they came when they said they would (within a day), they did a fantastic job, and didn't charge us that much. Anyone want the number ...?

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Ditto my experience - old boiler and knackered wardrobe - couldn't say when they were going to come and collect but they would come in the next fortnight and could I leave the backyard door open to give potential opportunistic thieves an inviting entrance onto my property. I declined but as luck would have it a couple of 'tinkers' were collecting a washing machine from next door and whilst loading it onto the van noticed the boiler and asked if they could take it!

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Yeah, know exactly what you mean. We have brilliant neighbours in Ossy, Keith across the road comes in every few days to check everything is allright, but sometimes we are not there for up to a month, and I am not prepared to leave the back gate open for anyone to wander in and kick the back door in. Of course, I suppose if you are a career councillor (do we have those in Hyndburn? we certainly do in London, I'm not sure Ken Livingstone has done a day's work in his life) you can be at home most of the time, so the problem does not arise. However, for those of us who have the boring necessity of earning a living ...

Re: What is good about HBC
 

They said they couldn't see the problem with leaving the gate unlocked, it wasn't as if they were asking me to leave my house insecure. I said I'd leave the bed and mattress on the back street where they could collect them anytime. "Oh no." was the reply "It's an offence to leave rubbish on a back street. You could be prosecuted."
There must be an awful lot of people awaiting prosecution in Accrington.

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Anyone else in the Peel/Barnfield ward notice that the bin collection was a day late this week - today (Friday) instead of Thursday? (Unless I have totally taken leave of my senses and it has always been Fridays!) It turned out OK for me as I forgot to put my bins out on Weds night/Thurs morning! Surely though, allowing vast amounts of rotting leftovers and the like to fester for a day or so in this heat is asking for visits from our rodent friends?

Soory to go off thread AB but this thread seems to be active and I didn't want to create a new thread for the sake of it.

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Again, yeah well - it isn't their back gate that's being left unlocked. Backyards are well protected by walls, so anybody could get in, break a window, kick in a door, and if nobody heard, then they're in your house. All the time in the world to do what they like. Gone, sadly, are the days when you could spend all day, and even sleep, with your door unlocked. Like I say, we are very lucky, our bit of Ossy is quiet with great neighbours, but even great neighbours aren't there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You've got to be bl**dy careful these days.

As to a lot of people awaiting prosecution, unfortunately it is those law abiding citizens who feel compelled to leave their rubbish, unwanted items, for collection on the back street - rarely the toerags who are into breaking, entering and destroying - they probably all get holidays in the Bahamas, as being socially deprived! (OOPS - my prejudices are showing!)

Re: What is good about HBC
 

That's what I was getting at Pendy. As to Acrylic-Bob's original question:

What is good about HBC?

I think the general consensus seems to be a resounding........ Nothing

Re: What is good about HBC
 

It's due to the fact that Monday was a Bank holiday and they didn't empty any bins so all week they were a day behind. Ours are usually emptied Wednesday but this week it was Thursday. But what happened to the ones they usually empty on Fridays I have no idea!

There must be something good about HBC!

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Of course Willow.....didn't think of that. Looks like incompetance of thinking isn't just confined to HBC!

Re: What is good about HBC
 

My bin was emptied this morning willow instead of Friday.

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Ok so you have had a couple of weeks to get your nominations in and now
here are the long awaited results, in reverse order, as is traditional on these occaisions:

1 Wooden Clog, for the Cog Wheel, awarded by Darby

1 Lead Clog, for 'good intentions' re the Phoenix Project, awarded by Willow

2 Bronze Clogs, one for the floral display at the end of Hyndburn Road awarded by Willow and the other for keeping the national flag flying outside the Town Hall awarded by Acryllic-bob.

1 Silver Clog, for the provision of free parking in the borough, awarded by Ceejache.

Not a lot is it? Not what you might call a hearty slap on the back for a job well done.

So when the Audit Commission reported in May this year that a "Vox Pop" survey concluded that 48% of people in the borough were satisfied with the council's performance, it kind of makes you wonder just which section of the populi were voxing so lyrically. Does anyone remember being approached in the street for an opinion in the early part of this year? Or might they all have been sitting outside the Globe Centre having their sandwiches and anticipating the arrival of the new sculpture?

Re: What is good about HBC
 

Nobody has ever asked me to vox. :(