What would be worth paying more council tax for?

WE’RE being softened up for a rise in council tax along with more service cuts.
Wiltshire’s cabinet member for finance, Dick Tonge, warned in last week’s Journal that even if Trowbridge imposes compulsory redundancies, we’re likely to have to cough up more.
I’ll be watching with unholy glee as the council’s hapless communications staff try to put a positive spin on this one.
They are usually required to adopt a ‘first, the good news, then the bad news’ approach, burying details of cuts or failed inspections and other disasters in the tenth paragraph of a press release in the hope that we won’t notice.
They are a great bunch, but the endless stream of inanity that they are ordered to spew forth is one aspect of the council’s spending programme that’s well overdue for a review.
Here’s one recent prime example from my inbox:
“Drivers are being urged to keep safe on the roads this winter by slowing down and following precautions for the cold weather conditions.
“John Thomson, cabinet member for highways, said: “While it is tempting for us to try and get to our destinations as quickly as possible, when conditions are bad there is nothing that cannot wait a few more minutes.”
Ask yourself: Do we really need to be paying for the production of this patronising drivel? Does anyone honestly believe that it will have saved even one life? Has Mr Thomson nothing better to do?
It reminds me of the spendthrift days when some authorities, in particular inner-city ones, employed ‘five a day officers’, on salaries well above the national average, to exhort us to eat more fruit and veg.
Interestingly, there’s one thing that people wouldn’t mind paying a bit more council tax for, and that’s free car parks. Well, free at the point of use, at least, like our health service.
There was strong support for the idea at the recent public meeting about parking charges organised by our area board.
And just think of the administrative savings…



ON a completely unrelated subject, I take my hat off to our cathedral’s clerk of works, Gary Price, after seeing the frankly terrifying photos of him dangling from the top of the spire in last week’s papers.
Heights don’t worry me unduly, but I’d need a substantial platform under my feet before I’d be able to enjoy the breathtaking views from up there.
I chatted with Gary a couple of times in the summer, when he was keeping a protective eye on the peregrine falcons’ nest at the top of the tower, and I was struck by his enthusiasm.
His job is clearly a lot more fun than its title might suggest.