Cllr Gaddafi?

Poisoning the population by intent......Denying people a right to democracy.....Threatening the population with retribution for opposing the regime.....Familiar descriptions when talking about the likes of Gaddafi and Saddam Hussain but a bit more disturbing when you can use the same descriptive terms to offer a narrative on our own 'home grown' dictator, Cllr Murphy and his deluded rantings.

The latest threats to withdraw support and funding from much needed social housing projects in King's Lynn and Thetford in order to fund his 'private' incinerator project (private because he's the only one who wants it and is allegedly the only one to gain anything from it) came about as retribution for us wanting a slice of democracy and a poison free future.

Murphy and his equally small minded minions clearly have no connection between their mouth's and brains and like all self deluded dictators they will continue to act out their fantasy oblivious to public opinion right up to the bitter end....lets hope their end comes on December 5th.

Monkey business

Caroline Spelman's decision (at last) to make Norfolk County Council jump through a few more hoops to get their hands on that £169 million has been greeted favourably by us minions in West Norfolk and less than gracefully by the burn it brigade at County Hall.

Apparently they're not really bothered though because they say they'll go ahead and do what we don't want them to anyway, so there......I swear I'm not making that up...Not only do they reiterate that they care not for our opinions but they proffer the opinion (through their latest sacrificial mouthpiece, Bill-monkey see,monkey do-Borrett) that they never thought they had to listen to us and apparently Bill is furious at Spelman for hinting otherwise.

Well on the upside (yes there is an upside) Wild Bill cockup's rantings are easily the best thing that's happened for John Martin's petition to force NCC into holding a full debate and here's why....

The anti incinerator campaigners KLWIN have been manning a stall in King's Lynn's Broad street on Friday's and Saturday's (and will continue to do so up till Christmas) with the aim of raising fighting funds through the sale of the KLWIN 2012 Calendar and raffle tickets...and to get West Norfolk people to sign John Martin's petition. Now, I have been manning that stall and doing my bit for the cause which has been great because there is no better way to get feedback and public opinion than to meet and talk to the public, and whilst last weekend we had a lot of people wanting to sign the petition and that was fantastic...this weekend it went mad with people not only wanting to sign up but wanting to with an anger and passion that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

All this anger has come forth because of NCC's response and their insistence that they are going to press on regardless, and Wild Bill's ranting in particular has earned a good few hundred signatures alone.

So, well done Murphy....Keep you a troshin Bill....you are doing our campaign proud with your opinionated, jaw dropping arrogance. The more you pair open your mouths the more signatures we will get, the more calendars and raffle tickets we will sell.

Just a word of advise to you both....when you eventually get the heave-ho, don't waste your time looking for a job in PR.

What a Pickle

The EDP did an exclusive last week.....it interviewed one of the more pointless cabinet ministers, Eric Pickles, and the resulting waffle could have been piped to the nearest gasometer and fueled a small town.

Who's Norfolk?

This magazine always manages to rattle my cage.....if it's our Norfolk why aren't our opinions taken into consideration?

Democracy vs County Council

The following is but a sample of my personal take on the truth's behind the great Incinerator debate....or at least it would be a debate if Norfolk County Council understood the meaning of democracy.

If you live in West Norfolk and someone mentions 'democracy' I think you'd be entitled to raise a cynical eyebrow at least. The battle for that most cherished of values (won through centuries of trial and sacrifice) between the 65,000 or so people of West Norfolk who demand it, and the Leadership of Norfolk County Council who dishonorably withholds it, continues apace.
It seems NCC will stoop as low as it takes to hang on to their blinkered insistence that Norfolk should adopt a waste strategy that is so contentiously outdated, anti-environmental and hideously expensive that it begs the question WHY?
Surely they must have realised that at some point people were also going to question their choice of incinerator operator. Cory Environmental and Wheelabrator Technologies, who operate under the umbrella of Waste Management Inc, haven't exactly got a history as a 'safe pair of hands', an attribute you would expect as the bare minimum for a company in an industry with such potential for environmental catastrophe.
This might be especially puzzling when you realise that checking the operational pedigree of Cory Wheelabrator is no more difficult than a fairly simple Google search.
It's there for all to see...the multitude of lawsuits, fines, out of court settlements, allegations, writs, convictions and even proven links to organised crime stretching all the way back to the 1980's with a clear message that this was/is an organisation whose only consistency is the  failure to conduct its operations safely, cleanly and efficiently.
It is very good at one thing though....making money, and lots of it. It seems that fines and settlements totalling hundreds of $m are inconsequential compared to earnings.
The fact that they are 'over here' scouting for new 'money harvesting' pastures should come as no surprise either. It would seem the good ole US of A has learnt the hard way since an incinerator hasn't been built there since 1995 and many towns and cities are now examining the fallout around their incinerator plants (For a touch of irony check out cancer rates in Lynn & Boston Mass.) which doesn't bode well for Waste Management Inc and their litigious horizons....I reckon they're going to needs lots more money and it has to come from somewhere.
And it is on the question of cost that NCC 's stance becomes all the more incredulous....Burning waste is hugely expensive, appox £120 a tonne MORE expensive than landfill. Why then, when there are so many better, greener, and cheaper alternatives out there, are we in West Norfolk staring hell in the face.
Could it be.....MONEY. It is no coincidence that the only potential winners in this environmental debacle will be Cory Wheelabrator and good old, undemocratic, Norfolk County Council who will stand to 'clean up' to the tune of £125m in grants and subsidies over the next 2 decades.
None of this is new of course. It's all out there in the public domain, but going back to the question of democracy, or lack of it in this context, just how far will NCC stoop to bludgeon this monstrous strategy upon us? I suspect as low as it takes or until someone...the people, throws these little dictator wannabes out of office but the question is, will it be before the damage is done?
If the 65,000 people that voted against an incinerator in West Norfolk were to get off their bums and march on County Hall it would all be over in a trice, of that I'm certain.