Category Archives: Shitty Hall

Our fine local authority – all about Bristol City Council and the Mayor

ARE COUNCIL BOSSES BARRA MAC RUAIRI AND ANGELO CALABRESI BENT? (SLIGHT RETURN)

NOW ‘ADVICE’ TO A CHAIR OF A PLANNING COMMITTEE HAS BEEN ‘DISAPPEARED’!

Shred

Until around the 20 October, Bristol City Council planning officer ANGELO “KING PRAWN” CALABRESE was set to make an unconstitutional delegated decision to give planning permission to the Nexterra/Balfour Beatty AVONMOUTH BIOMASS PLANT.

However, a major u-turn ensued after an outcry from an unholy coalition of The BRISTOLIAN, members of the public, MPs, prospective parliamentary candidates and councillors of all parties demanding that this decision went to a planning committee as the King Prawn’s OWN GUIDELINES demanded.

The BRISTOLIAN has already remarked that KING PRAWN‘s conduct and – by association – his boss BARRA MAC“ NUGGET” RUAIRI‘s conduct of this process looks extremely dubious.

So to further explore what had been going on, a Freedom of Information request was put in:

Dear Bristol City Council,

The above planning application is to be decided by officers under
delegated powers.

1. Please can you provide me with any information held in any form
by Bristol City Council as to why this application can be
considered under delegated powers.

2. Please can you provide me with any information held in any form
by Bristol City Council and provided to the chair of the relevant
planning committee, Cllr Alex Woodman, by city council officers as
to why this application can be considered under delegated powers.

Yours faithfully,

And back, in a matter of days, came a reply from someone called Steve Knight, masquerading under the minimalist job title, ‘Place’:

This application is being determined at committee level on 5^th November
2014 rather than under delegated powers. As the information is not held,
we are therefore unable to have that information communicated to you.
The application details are available via the council’s Planning online
facility
[1]http://planningonline.bristol.gov.uk/onl…
. The details of the committee meeting will be available a week before the
committee meeting via
[2]https://www.bristol.gov.uk/CommitteeMeet…

“The information is not held”. How strange. Because on 18 October, the chair of the planning committee, Alex Woodman, announced on Twitter:

Woodman

How, one wonders, did councillor Woodman offer his opinion about something for which no information exists?

Of course this information exists. How could King Prawn have possibly formed any opinion, communicated it to a variety of third parties and got to within two days of making a decision otherwise?

So what’s happened to this information? Has it been lost? Mislaid? Shredded? Rest assured The BRISTOLIAN will be chasing this.

And we’ve said it once – and we’ll say it again – this whole planning process needs to be HALTED and Bristol City Council needs to start an immediate investigation into King Prawn and McNugget for potential breaches of THE BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION ACT.

Something doesn’t add up. There’s something rotten in Denmark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GREEN CRAPITAL: YES, IT REALLY IS SHIT!

green cap

MELTDOWN

“IN life you often have to spend money to make money,” guffed SIR GUS HOYTY TOYTY, Uncle George’s pale green footrest, as the former line cook turned finance expert explained to us last November why he was paying a yankee CORPORATE MARKETER with no knowledge of Bristol or green issues a cool £250k to run the Green Capital shambles.

Meanwhile UNCLE GEORGE told us back in December, “European Green Capital is one of Bristol’s greatest opportunities and I wanted to find the best person in the world to run it. I am confident that KRIS DONALDSON is that person.”

George also assured us he had set the well-remunerated yank some tough targets, saying he needed to “raise millions”. Fast forward ten months and despite the tough targets it looks like George and Sir Gus’s brilliant appointment has raised a great big, fat, best-person-in-the-world ZERO for the Green Capital.

Indeed, so utterly hopeless was the yank that he was briefly PULLED from his post last month and then SACKED altogether from running the project he’s been paid a bomb to make a success. City Council Chief Exec NICOLA “LADY GAGA” YATES has now been given the reins for an undisclosed rate on top of her city council £140k pa day job.

Those in the know tell us, “it’s unlikely Gaga will be any more competent. She knows nothing about Bristol having been here about five minutes and her green credentials stretch to a paper recycling box in her office and a tin of organic coffee. Personally, I wouldn’t rely on her to find Sea Mills on a map if her life depended on it.”

Oh, happy days …

THE THICK OF IT

Listeners to John “DARTH” Darvall on Radio Bristol were treated to an entertaining Green Capital car crash last month.

Step forward yankee idiot KRIS DONALDSON “DUCK” – the sacked Green Capital chief exec who creamed a six-figure salary from the public purse – and his partner in slime Green Capital chair, plummy-voiced thicko ANDREW “SPESH” GARRARD from – would you believe? – the Society of the Merchant Venturers,

The undynamic duo were laid low by a series of Bristolians asking SIMPLE QUESTIONS during a phone-in about the Green Capital. For instance, ‘Betty from Westbury on Trym’ wanted to know why the council wasn’t able to keep the streets clear of rubbish and litter. A query way beyond Donaldson Duck and Spesh’s limited abilities.

It makes you wonder how a Merchant Venturer buffoon like Spesh ever landed the gig running our Green Capital? Could it have anything to do with the fact he was the second largest CASH DONOR to “Uncle” George’s election campaign?

Records seen by The BRISTOLIAN show Garrard handed a cool £2,500 of cash over to Ferguson to help get him elected. The biggest donor was Merchant Venturer (are you seeing a pattern here?) ANDREW NISBET who chucked George £6,244.

Other Venturers who splashed out to get George elected included TREVOR SMALLWOOD, former executive chairman of FIRSTGROUP buses and execrable establishment lackey, JAY TIDMARSH.

Indeed, over half of the cash for “Uncle” George’s election expenditure came from Merchant Venturers. What a surprise …

EVENTS DEAR BOY, EVENTS

More fun as what remains of the Green Capital’s team of out-of-town dickheads with masters degrees announced their SCHEDULE OF EVENTS for 2015 straight off the back of a fag packet.

Highlights include the creation of a TIRED CLICHÉ (surely blue whale? Ed.) sculptured out of rubbish, a few WANKY LECTURES featuring the likes of Guardian fruitbat-in-chief George Monbiot; a competition to design a bloody PHONE APP branded as a ‘Green tech festival’ and the opening event, inevitably featuring circus from CIRQUE “BOURGEOISE” BIJOU.

To pad out this total lack of anything much happening, Gaga’s Green Capitalists have chucked information into the programme about random Green stuff that’s already happening anyway.

Hence in February ‘ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING’ is listed as an event alongside ‘METROBUS’.
This is on the basis that “Bristol anticipates approvals from the Department of Transport for the region’s remaining MetroBus route”. And means Lady Gaga’s city council PR team will produce a gushing press release of more lying bollocks about their godawful BRT bus project. What an event! Be sure to tell the kids!

Also featured is Uncle George’s boyfriend and establishment brown-noser, LUKE “GISSA GRANT” JERRAM – the man who created the slowest waterslide in human history on Park Street.

He’s now being paid to put up 200 kids’ swings at an undisclosed cost to “to bring the fun factor to the Green Capital of Europe programme” despite the fact that plenty of us are having plenty of fun at the expense of Gissa Grant & Co’s Green Capital ‘crap factor’ already, thanks.

We say sack the lot of these tossers now and instead divvy up the money and dish it out to the city’s underfunded community groups that are being destroyed by austerity.

CENSORED!!! MAYOR’S FERRY COMPANY QUESTIONS

At 2.00pm this afternoon a series of THIRTEEN questions from a member of the public about the bankruptcy of the BRISTOL FERRYBOAT COMPANY were sent out to relevant councillors and managers at Bristol City Council in advance of tomorrow’s PLACE Scrutiny Committee where they should have been answered by council managers IN PUBLIC.

Mayor GEORGE FERGUSON‘s conduct as a 42 per cent shareholder in the bankrupt company and Bristol City Council’s role in awarding the basketcase business a series of tenders and grants over many years with no questions asked were the theme of the questions.

At 5.30pm today, council transport boss, PETER “STUPID” MANN, a close ally of the mayor, informed the chair of the scrutiny committee he was pulling the questions.

MANN’s excuse was that some of the questions were the subject of Freedom of Information requests. MANN was supported in this blatant ACT OF CENSORSHIP by council lawyers.

Of course, there is NO LAW against a member of the public asking a local authority questions that are also the subject of a Freedom of Information request. Neither is there anything in the authority’s constitution to prevent a member of the public asking such questions.

MANN and the – as yet – unnamed council solicitor are TALKING BOLLOCKS and CENSORING embarrassing information with potentially criminal implications.

The censored questions are here: http://issuu.com/bristolnews/docs/place_qs?e=0/9833673

The issues raised include:

1) The successor companies were Phoenix Companies (which means the evidence suggests that directors just walked away from debts to buy back assets at a heavy discount – with one of the directors from Ferguson’s company simply moving to the next one to run it)

2) SIP 16 infringement (a need to follow a strict code of practice laid down in law for providing information to creditors in order to resurrect a company from most if not all the same assets of the one just gone bust) – we believe this process was not followed

3) Section 216 Offence – all creditors must be consulted about the intention for a successor company to be named almost identically to the collapsed one. Not followed as far as we are aware. The Bristol Post stories where it called the new company by EXACTLY THE SAME NAME show this clearly

4) A failure to re-tender the routes of the Bristol Ferry Boat company – it is an asset belonging to the council that was handed from one dead company to its successors like sweets to a small child. No attempt to allow competitive tendering. No effort to maximize profitability for the benefit of council taxpayers.

5) A mysterious and glaring omission of who or how all the staff salaries were paid at the Bristol Ferry Boat Company (which would be paying an unsecured creditor and no one else which is illegal). How do all staff salaries appear to be paid in liquidators report in December 12 signed by Jane Salvidge? Can someone explain?

6) Possibly trading fraudulently in the summer of ’12 when the Bristol Ferry Boat Company submitted a bid for passenger routes across the Harbour (they were hundreds of thousands of pounds in the red) yet would have to have submitted a Pre-Qualifying Questionnaire answer to BCC saying they were actually solvent. BCC holds the PQQ completed by George Ferguson’s Bristol FerryBoat Company – but for some reason is reluctant to share it.

GEORGE FERGUSON: THE LIE

Here’s George Ferguson on 7 June 2014, just days after removing papers from his Mayor’s Forward Plan proposing to award a large contract to Avonmouth’s green industry polluters, BOOMECO.

“As far as I know we’re not giving any waste contracts to Boomeco.”

18 August 2014: lo and behold! Boomeco is given a new waste contract by Bristol City Council.

NO GOAT SEX PLEASE, I’M BARKING

Mayor “Uncle” Fergo’s got in early on the August media silly season.

    A mountain goat – there’s no evidence Uncle George has ever had sex with one of these although we think he may have one doing his PR.

A mountain goat – there’s no evidence Uncle George has ever had sex with one of these although we think he may have one doing his PR.

While whinging on the pages of the Nazi Post yesterday, the public relations genius randomly decided to deny he’s got any “unsavoury sexual preferences”!

How nice of everyone’s favourite kindly uncle to share that with us. But why? We’ve searched hard to find references anywhere to Uncle Fergo and “unsavoury sexual preferences” and have come up with nothing  (aside from that story knocking around the internet about Uncle Fergo, Mike Norton, the viagra, the stainless steel funnel and the gerbils, which is definitely not true).

But why would anyone publish a denial in their local newspaper of something they’ve never been accused of?

Still, it’s very hot out there and he’s very old. Perhaps Uncle Fergo needs a lie-down (just not anywhere near a student hall with that large cactus and the antique bullwhip collection again please).

 Know of any “unsavoury sexual preferences” that are nothing to do with Uncle Fergo? Why not tell us about them below?

****STOP PRESS****

In a desperate effort to shore up Uncle Fergo’s collapsing reputation and the attendant embarrassment to our city, Nazi Post nobody, Steve Mellen “Kim”, today asks why do so many people have it in for Bristol mayor George Ferguson?

Here at The BRISTOLIAN we think we may have the answer to that – is it because he’s a premier league arsehole?

DIRECT ACTION GETS RESULTS FOR FLY-INFESTED AVONMOUTH RESIDENTS!

Looks like Mayor Fergo and his sidekick Green Gusset have caved in to demands by angry locals in Avonmouth that Bristol City Council step up and resolve the FLY INFESTATION caused by incompetent biomass profiteers BoomEco – with fumigation and insecticides being made available to those affected from tomorrow.

To book your visit from the pest control crew or to pick up some fly spray/paper, just pop in to the library, or contact your local councillor – that’s Wayne Harvey (07769 131 094) and Matthew Melias.

So well done on everyone up there dockside for fighting the good fight – and keep up the pressure!

In the meantime, here’s a video of last weekend’s protest…

AVONMOUTH: HOYTY TOYTY IN TURD SHOCKER

avonmouth protest

A brief soundbite from our on-the-spot interview at the Avonmouth protest today :

Protestor: It’s about George Ferguson not fulfilling his promises, its about the Deputy Mayor not fulfilling his promises, its about capitalism…..

Bristolian: That’s Gus Hoyt isn’t it?

Protestor: Gus Hoyt, yeah…

Bristolian: He’s a Green isn’t he, or something?

Protestor: Well he’s a turd mate really to be quite frank.

Quality!

ANGRY AVONMOUTH RESIDENTS TAKE TO THE STREETS OVER BIOMASS FLY INFESTATION

Avonmouth fly protest

No flies on this kid! Protest by angry Avonmouth locals – against Boomeco, the biomass company which caused a plague of flies to descent on the village, and the authorities who have failed to sort it out – reaches Crowley Way.

Local residents in Avonmouth today said ‘enough is enough’ after the FAILURE of Bristol City Council, millionaire mayor George Ferguson, the Environment Agency and the Bristol Port Company to sort out the appalling fly infestation in the portside village – and marched on the offices of the biomass profiteers responsible, Boomeco.

After assembling at Avonmouth Park, around SIXTY ANGRY LOCALS have been on a walkabout around the town, periodically blocking roads to get their message across, as they head towards the offices of the controversial waste recycling company Boomeco.

The invasion of flies has been traced back to POOR PRACTICES AT BOOMECO, which bundles up and trades in rubbish – quaintly rebranded ‘biomass’ or ‘refuse derived fuel’ – which is then burnt to create electricity. Further fly infestations are expected if a planned new biomass power plant is built at Avonmouth docks.

Here’s a press release from the protesters:

Residents of Avonmouth are in the process of marching on the offices of the Bristol Port Company due to their their ongoing failure to deal with a recent fly infestation caused by biomass exporters Boomeco at their facility in Avonmouth.

Local elected representatives have failed to address and alleviate this problem and now Bristol Port Company want to lease a section of land to the Day Group for the storage of incinerator bottom ash less than 500 metres from residences in Avonmouth.

The campaign is led by recent independent candidate and seasoned campaigner Stephen Norman after numerous emails to the Mayor, the Port Company and Mr Oliver Latter of Boomeco have been ignored.

Residents have become frustrated at the lack action to stop such industry being attracted by the Port Company like the proposed building of a Biomass plant at the dock.

Mr Norman says the campaign will go ‘on tour’ at chosen strategic venues causing peaceful disruption until common sense prevails.

A leaflet from the Avonmouth Dust Forum also asks local residents affected by the plague of disease-spreading flies to contact as many authorities as possible in order to get this DANGEROUS HEALTH HAZARD sorted.

» Avonmouth Dust Forum flyer (May 2014)

More news as we get it…