Ideas

[Toad]

Originally Posted by Lex

Is it me, or was that really patronising?

Which is why it's not worth answering! It contains the two assumptions that we are all 'boys' and that Toad has something to do with the chamber of trade Assumption without proof is very silly.

[Lex]

Glad it wasn't just me. I remember being talked to like that when I was 5 years old.

[cathidaw]

A phrase I like is 'A Council Spokesman' who has the answer to everything
But no-one ever knows who he-or she, is and it is quite impossible to find out.
Does anyone out there know?

Is there just one -or an army of them scuttling about in the depths of the council offices like Ninja turtles each with its own speciality in answers.

I know this is flippant but the way things are going everone is getting heated, and it doesn't do to get personal.
Flippant did I say ? I m serious..

[chillitt]

I know someone who used to be a council spokesman! they left, because the job was literally driving them toward a breakdown. If you think what the spokeman says is bad, Imagine the stuff that we don't hear about...( I will not give out any information on who this was, or what they would not 'spin' for public consumption, as I am sure it would cause er... 'issues' )

[Toad]

Which indirectly leads me to ask, did anyone see the one-sided diatribe against Warwick in the Courier on Friday? It really makes you wonder if the paper is in league with WCC in trying to close the place down!

[Toad]

Just in case anyone would like to read it (and hopefully email a comment to letters@leamingtoncourier.co.uk)

What's wrong with Warwick by Peter Ormerod
Warwick’s a funny place, isn’t it? Its name has a prestige and allure arguably unrivalled in the Midlands, being appropriated by businesses and organisations that have nothing to do with the town (see Moss Bros’s Warwick range of wedding clobber, or Warwick University, or Warwick Gates). Millions of drivers will have seen brown signs pointing them to Historic Warwick, and it lends its name to roads and streets in towns and cities nationwide.

If you’d never been there, you’d think you were missing something. But the question must be asked: weren’t you just a bit disappointed when you first went?

It certainly has its attractions. Parts of the town centre are undeniably pretty, with the view of the castle from Banbury Road indisputably magnifient. Yet somehow, it doesn’t quite work. There’s an oddly hollow and disparate feel to the place.

Two problems the town faces are symptomatic of its lack of cohesion. One is that its annual pancake race may not take place this year - purely because the chap who normally organises it has been away. The other is that work is yet to begin on a community centre for the Chase Meadow housing estate, in the town’s south-western corner. Both demonstrate a certain lethargy, sluggishness and soullessness.

Perhaps part of the blame lies with decades of poor planning. Warwick’s body seems somehow dismembered, like a miniature Stoke-on-Trent. It various estates - Packmores, Percy, Woodloes, Forbes, and so on - mesh none too well, and they comprise the bulk of the town. They are not without merit - indeed, they recall the town’s proud industrial heritage - but they are unlikely to feature on any postcards. Market Place meanwhile remains a windswept semi-plaza under Shire Hall’s drab, empty gaze. And there is not a single shop in Warwick that would tempt me away from Leamington.

But the problem goes deeper than aesthetics and architecture. It is a mark of the place that we as a paper have struggled for some time with our coverage of Warwick. This has not always been for want of trying, or due to our journalists’ lack of ability (two Warwick reporters from recent years now work on national newspapers). It’s more that, bar a few douty, public-spirited stalwarts, few people seem to care that much about it, and stories are harder to come by than they ought to be. By way of comparison, Kenilworth (population 22,500) usually has 12 pages devoted to it in the Weekly News; Warwick (population 25,000) usually has only three in the Courier.

There is doubtless much good going on in Warwick. Its literary and folk festivals now have a national profile, and it continues to attract businesses and tourists. Its Victorian evening before Christmas was great fun, and it also has some of the best pubs and restaurants in the county. But, overall, it seems for the moment rather like a sad, reclusive middle-aged bloke who feels his best years are behind him. Yes, he enjoys the odd night out - but unfortunately those just show him what’s missing in his life.

Now, I would enjoy being proved wrong on all this. If you can let us know of things that are going on in Warwick of which we’re unaware, please do. If you can suggest any improvements in our coverage of Warwick, go ahead. We will continue to do what we can for Warwick; the rest is up to you.

It was meant to be patronising, though only to Toad who seems to have a very interesting point of view he (sorry..or she) is all to willing to write while thinking they're annonymous.

As for the Courier article it raised some good points about Warwick. As you guys (sorry..or girls) aren't from the chamber of trade I guess you won't mind me saying it is the excess of junk shops and food outlets that let the town down and make Leamington a preference.

[Lex]

You could at least have the guts to register on the site before talking to members like that. Now, be a good girl and run along & don't bother us any more.

[Toad]

Originally Posted by Lex

You could at least have the guts to register on the site before talking to members like that. Now, be a good girl and run along & don't bother us any more.

Thanks Lex, can't be bothered with snide attacks. Very happy to debate but not with the likes of 'unregistered'. it's a bit like 'name and addressed supplied' very suspicious.
Anyway, really glad we don't have to put up with them in Warwick and Leamington is very welcome to them They probably like the mop a well!!

[cathidaw]

Ithought the newspaper article was very good. The reporter sounds desperate to DO something ,or at least to shake the council out of their comfy seats.
Of course nothing will happen as usual,there will be angry letters for a while ,then all will be back to normal. Something really radical has to happen for things to change.
The problem is ,very much like in Coventry- everyone grumbles about injustices and things , but will not back each other up when the time comes.
I always think of Warwick as a quaint old town which it is, but you are right, most of the new build has no character whatsoever. I hate that area by Woolies.
Last summer I was passing through Warwick on a Saturday It was market day so I stopped to have a look. What a pathetic scene it was too.
I wonder if it is always as dreary as that. Even the stallholders looked as if they had given up.
The new market in Bedworth is attractive, although the rentals are extortionate , so we dont get so much variety as we did when it was in the town centre.While the new one was being built it was held in the centre and crowds came 3 times a week. People asked the Council to leave it there but of course they always know best what's good for the proles so it moved and not many visitors come now.
Ilike the bit about the pancake maker. which reminded me:::
I had an 'incident' with my car last June and the person who was dealing with it at the insurance company went on maternity leave. I was told that I'd have to wait. I phoned their freephone number every day for two weeks until they got fed up and passed it on to someone.
I'm still waiting for my money----should be here next week.