Originally Posted by lancsdave (Post 1047097)

Lets face it we already have a merged council, it's called Lancashire County Council. They can make decisions about Hyndburn that the local council can't do anything about.

Originally Posted by cmonstanley (Post 1047102)

back in the early 1990s i remember something about the plan to build in between blackburn and ossy to join them up and to make hyndburn a suburb of the city of blackburn .

Originally Posted by cmonstanley (Post 1047102)

back in the early 1990s i remember something about the plan to build in between blackburn and ossy to join them up and to make hyndburn a suburb of the city of blackburn .

Originally Posted by Judith Addison (Post 1047118)

Postal addresses have never been aligned with the "new" post-1974 local government boundaries. For example, Hyndburn is not a postal address, purely the name of a local government area. Altham, Church, Clayton-le-Moors & mainstream Oswaldtwistle all have postal address ACCRINGTON - these are BB5 postcodes. Great Harwood, Rishton and some outlying parts of Oswaldtwistle, e.g. Belthorn and Knuzden, have postal address BLACKBURN. These are not BB5 postcodes - Great Harwood is BB6 and I think Rishton, Belthorn & Knuzden are BB1.

Originally Posted by accyman (Post 1047112)

yeah blackburn really wants that city status thats why they keep trying to nick rishton.I have family in rishton and some of their letters say rishton,blackburn and i think i noticed even royal mail seem to think rishton belongs to blackburn when i used their postcode finder

Originally Posted by Gayle (Post 1047145)

That's not strictly true. When Hyndburn was first created I remember everyone was told to add Hyndburn to the bottom of our addresses. There were letters from the Council about it but after a while I think they just gave up.

If you look at Rossendale which was also a made up name they persisted and everyone recognises it as an area.

Originally Posted by jaysay (Post 1047161)

Think your right there Gayle I know when I lived in Rossendale, Rossendale was recognised as part of the Postcode, never did take of in Hyndburn though, Haslingden Rossendale seems to have the right feel to it whereas Oswaldtwistle Hyndburn doesn't, its far better Oswaldtwistle Accrington

Originally Posted by cmonstanley (Post 1047102)

back in the early 1990s i remember something about the plan to build in between blackburn and ossy to join them up and to make hyndburn a suburb of the city of blackburn .

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington (Post 1047198)

Think you are right in your assessment there Sue.
I worked in Rawtenstall in the early sixties and it was always Rossendale back then.
I never really liked the name Hyndburn......and if asked where I am from I always say Accrington.

Originally Posted by susie123 (Post 1047194)

Rossendale as an area name has been around for a very long time. My dad worked at Haslingden even though we lived in Accy and he always referred to Rossendale. Whereas Hyndburn only really came into being when the local authority was created and before that was just the name of a river, and a mucky one at that. It's much more of an artificial creation and hasn't really been around long enough to be thought of as an area.

Originally Posted by jaysay (Post 1047161)

Think your right there Gayle I know when I lived in Rossendale, Rossendale was recognised as part of the Postcode, never did take of in Hyndburn though, Haslingden Rossendale seems to have the right feel to it whereas Oswaldtwistle Hyndburn doesn't, its far better Oswaldtwistle Accrington

Originally Posted by Neil (Post 1047360)

I almost never put Accrington on my address, just street, Oswaldtwistle and postcode. Sometimes I put Lancashire

Originally Posted by Neil (Post 1047360)

I almost never put Accrington on my address, just street, Oswaldtwistle and postcode. Sometimes I put Lancashire

Originally Posted by jaysay (Post 1047374)

I'm the same Neil, if I'm writing to some one I haven't communicated with before say for buying something, I do include Accrington but never do locally

Originally Posted by susie123 (Post 1047389)

If you have the correct house number and postcode you shouldn't even need the town or street.

Originally Posted by accyman (Post 1047395)

i use accrington when on the phone mainly because indians and southerners have a problem with the word oswaldtwistle when spoken in a lancashire accent and you end up spelling it for them 3 or 4 times so its easier to just say accy and give them your postcode

Originally Posted by accyman (Post 1047395)

i use accrington when on the phone mainly because indians and southerners have a problem with the word oswaldtwistle when spoken in a lancashire accent and you end up spelling it for them 3 or 4 times so its easier to just say accy and give them your postcode

Originally Posted by cashman (Post 1047400)

Many english people can't understand me.:D Though they can grasp expletives, they are universal.:D

Originally Posted by Guinness (Post 1047095)

Hey Ken..what do you think of your hero now that he's attempting to stab his own local party councillors and constituents in the back?

Originally Posted by Ken Moss (Post 1047682)

He isn't, he has merely put forward a suggestive future framework if the time ever comes to hit the panic button in order for East Lancashire to survive. Bear in mind that the possibility exists that at some point district Councils could come to an end and we would all end up under the wing of LCC entirely.

Just remember we are in election season, with a certain Accrington Observer star columnist defending his County Council seat so things will be very lively over the next six weeks and the slightest little thing will be an 'outrage' in order to ramp up a story. Last year I found myself on the front page twice over 'resident anger' (or some other sensationalist sabre-rattling) in stories which were at best off-the-cuff quotes taken wildly out of context.

I have said it before but just take media reports with a pinch of salt, they are rarely verbatim accounts.

Originally Posted by jaysay (Post 1047684)

yoda yoda yoda:rolleyes:

Originally Posted by cashman (Post 1047687)

Me no understand?:confused: would that be Tory speak?:confused:

Originally Posted by jaysay (Post 1047690)

No its just a different way of say I'm bored with pathetic excuses, from a bloke who milked this site for all it was worth on his way up the greasy poll, but only appears when he thinks he has something to gain.:( I opened a thread about HBCs incompetence, no doubt he'll have missed it:rolleyes:

Originally Posted by Ken Moss (Post 1047693)

Jaysay strikes again....

Answers are given and they're labelled as excuses.

Originally Posted by Ken Moss (Post 1047682)

I have said it before but just take media reports with a pinch of salt, they are rarely verbatim accounts.

Originally Posted by Guinness (Post 1074943)

Our Graham..he's a real star...

Responding on twitter to someone who pointed out that newspaper sales of the Sun have fallen by almost 10%, he tweets this pearl of wisdom..

'Dramatically falling newspaper sales not helped by people not believing what they read. TV regulation for press would help.'

Hey Graham...mind giving us your insight on falling voter turnout? Do you think TV regulation would help?

e.g....

If MP's fail to comply with their election promises, they lose their MP status, like broadcasters who fail to comply lose their broadcasting rights.

If MP's fail to be impartial to political party and vote according to the wishes of their constituents, they lose their MP status, like broadcasters who fail to be impartial lose their broadcasting rights.

Then again, maybe the falling newspaper sales are down to people being fed up with stories about Justin Beiber, One Direction and Simon Cowell and get their information from selectively surfing the net.

Talk about an out of touch MP.........

Originally Posted by Guinness (Post 1074943)

Our Graham..he's a real star...

Responding on twitter to someone who pointed out that newspaper sales of the Sun have fallen by almost 10%, he tweets this pearl of wisdom..

'Dramatically falling newspaper sales not helped by people not believing what they read. TV regulation for press would help.'.

Originally Posted by jack preston (Post 1075035)

yes rishton has BB1 as its postcode and is regarded as Blackburn for car insurance purposes and so is heavily loaded as a major claim fraud area by certain members of the Blackburn area who are constantly looking to make money out of all parts of the system,

Originally Posted by Guinness (Post 1047095)

Is our MP for real?

When there was talk of merging constituencies..he kicked and screamed because it might have affected the gravy train that he is on. Now he thinks its a good idea to merge local councils to save money.

MP?s super-council plan comes under fire - Accrington Observer

I've suspected for some time that Jones has a god complex, but now I'm convinced that he's touched in the head and totally lost the plot.

Lets take a quote of his...

“In times of austerity we have to think about working collaboratively. We have six finance officers and six heads of legal service, plus chief executives, plus a whole host of bureaucrats down at Preston.”

Let me fix that for him....

'In times of austerity we have to think about working collaboratively. We have umpteen MP's representing East Lancashire, plus umpteen associated hangers on, plus umpteen private secretaries, plus a whole host of bureaucrats down at Westminster'

Hey Ken..what do you think of your hero now that he's attempting to stab his own local party councillors and constituents in the back?

Anyone of ANY political persuasion that puts an 'X' against this self serving buffoons name next time is certifiable. He is to the electorate of Hyndburn what Venkys are to the supporters of Blackburn Rovers or what Pol Pot was to the Cambodians...an abomination!

Originally Posted by g jones (Post 1075180)

Hyndburn is a great place and I'll continue to be a strong advocate to make things better for constituents and the borough.

.

Originally Posted by g jones (Post 1075180)

There is no substance and your main argument is based on personal abuse. Hyndburn's future should be based on intelligence. The majority of people will read the above post and learn nothing.

Hyndburn is a great place and I'll continue to be a strong advocate to make things better for constituents and the borough.

Good luck with your personal abuse.

Originally Posted by g jones (Post 1075182)

The debate about County Hall (72%) and the Districts (15%) is important. There is foi t there is duplication neither is their any doubt that the County element is remote.

Britain has a significant number of unitary authorities, all the metropolitan areas. It is also clear that they are be fitting significantly from City deals and that having two authorities causes confusion and when they compete with each other provide a disservice.

There is no doubt that we are paying several people to do the same job and Hyndburn has merged some services with Blackburn and Rossendale.

If we want deep cuts we have to make tough decisions. The luxury of multiple people doing the same job in each area is costly and cutting front line services to protect these 'multiple senior highly paid jobs' is not the choice I would make.

If we want strong leadership, if we want 72% of services brought back to East Lancashire, if we want to end multiple high paid jobs, have 60 just councillors instead of 300, to be taken seriously by government and be able to lobby government, then we need a unitary east lancs council.

Some would disagree but I'd be interested in the rational for keeping the status quo.

Originally Posted by jaysay (Post 1075224)

For once I can agree with you Graham, I have long been an advocate of Unitary Authorities, Hyndburn should have taken that road when Blackburn decided to go it alone back in the 90s, it would mean everything raised in rates (council tax) would be retained and spent here in Hyndburn, plus streamlining of local government officialdom, cutting down on unneeded staff. Its an eye opener going to county hall, I couldn't believe how many people were walking about with a piece of paper in their hand looking busy.

Originally Posted by g jones (Post 1075256)

I appreciate that John.

There's clearly two sides to this argument. A local small advocate, the district council offers accountability that would be at risk with a larger authority.

The counter view, my view is that already happens with county providing 72% of the services. Strategic clout offers more benefits than the the comfort of a district council. Then there's duplication of well paid staff and division of responsibility between upper and lower local government.

I appreciate that Guinness has made some articulate points and that's the way it should be if we are to make Hyndburn a better place. Progressive debate.

What I'd want to say in response to the list is its about the big issues. 12 months ago I was told by LCC CEO that the pupil premium in Hyndburn was lower than it should be. That HBC had personal data that could identify 00's of pupils entitled to free school meals triggering a pupil premium to that school. I got HBC with the leaders help to write twice to every family that looked like they may be entitled. I had no interest in broadcasting this effort until the papers wanted to print a story that Hyndburn schools this year were to receive huge increases in funding via the pupil premium. That's what I mean about commitment, about important issues, about having an MP who is continually striving for this area.

This like quite a few issues is under most people's radar but we've made a different to tight school budgets.

Originally Posted by g jones (Post 1075256)

I appreciate that John.

There's clearly two sides to this argument. A local small advocate, the district council offers accountability that would be at risk with a larger authority.

The counter view, my view is that already happens with county providing 72% of the services. Strategic clout offers more benefits than the the comfort of a district council. Then there's duplication of well paid staff and division of responsibility between upper and lower local government.

I appreciate that Guinness has made some articulate points and that's the way it should be if we are to make Hyndburn a better place. Progressive debate.

What I'd want to say in response to the list is its about the big issues. 12 months ago I was told by LCC CEO that the pupil premium in Hyndburn was lower than it should be. That HBC had personal data that could identify 00's of pupils entitled to free school meals triggering a pupil premium to that school. I got HBC with the leaders help to write twice to every family that looked like they may be entitled. I had no interest in broadcasting this effort until the papers wanted to print a story that Hyndburn schools this year were to receive huge increases in funding via the pupil premium. That's what I mean about commitment, about important issues, about having an MP who is continually striving for this area.

This like quite a few issues is under most people's radar but we've made a different to tight school budgets.

Originally Posted by cashman (Post 1075247)

Hells Bells, Fer once i can agree wi you Jaysay.:D

Originally Posted by Guinness (Post 1075312)

Gah! Over corrected my last post.

Should have read...the pupil premium appears to be a new fund based on how many get free school meals

Note to self* (must be more careful attempting to debate with a professional debater)

Originally Posted by g jones (Post 1076383)

I worked at Daltons Printers for 10 years and lived up Plantation Street for 30 years and my conversations are more likely to take place in pubs or working mens clubs. A long way from Eton debating society.

A lot of things are not my job in terms of decision making however I live here and people expect me to be involved. The work we did on the pupil premium certainly helped Hyndburn families, Hyndburn schools and beneficiary children. Result in my book.

Originally Posted by jack preston (Post 1082862)

as a point of interest we moved from bb5 to bb1 rishton and even though rishton is in Hyndburn our car insurance nearly doubled because of the bb1 postcode.so where are we?