I know that this article is likely to make me about as popular in the benefits world as Jeremy Clarkson’s is after his recent outburst on ‘The One Show’ when he suggested that striking public sector workers should be shot in front of their families, but I really don’t care, its just my opinion and my column and i’m entitled to express it openly,  just like the next man, woman, TV Journalist or public sector worker.

First of all, I will state that this isn’t an attack on those who legitimately claim benefits through redundancy, critical illness  or through no fault of their own, or because they have no other choice, or suffer from a disability which leaves them bed / housebound and unable to participate in society, let alone work. My gripe today is about the thousands of people claiming benefits simply because they can, or because the Government have handed it to them on a plate, the type of people who we all know exist and who have no intention of seeking employment, the no-er-do-nothings who left School thinking that society was going to continue where their parents had left off, and continue supporting them, cocooned around the belief that Society owes THEM something for just being born.

Recently I discovered an internet forum with millions of daily visitors, where discussion and advice on Benefits was a popular daily occurance, and I was appalled by what I was reading. Not sob stories about how the Frail or Elderly can barely afford to run a 100 watt lightbulb to keep warm, nor a warm winters tale about a lonely christmas orphan finding a home, but people actually asking the sort of  questions which indicated that the decision to claim benefits was actually a lifestyle choice, and not a means of barely keeping them from off the park bench and the wolves from the door.

Such Gems included subjects and questions along the lines of…

“My husband is unhappy at work, if he packs it in, what benefits can we claim and will he be sanctioned?”

“I’m 19 and pregnant AGAIN, am I entitled to a bigger council flat ?”

“Can I claim housing benefit or Council Tax Credit for a second home ?”

“I want to reduce my working hours, can I claim more benefits”

” I’m finding getting child care difficult, how much will I get as a stay at home mum?”

“I’ve finally been offered a job but I’m £90 a week better off  staying on Benefits than working”

Other popular topics also included discussion of the forthcoming £10 Christmas Bonus (paid out to certain benefit claimants), as well as some members openly discussing exactly what Benefits they received and how much they get. Although some of these figures were admittedly modest and hardly  a champagne lifestyle, quite a few others were openly professing to be ‘claiming everything offered to them’ amounting to over £300 or £400 a week in benefits, not to mention child maintenance payments from absent fathers, and its not unfair to see exactly why some people are angered and why some may assume that people are being actively rewarded for choosing not to work, when they read of people encouraged to give up their mundane jobs because benefit claiming appears a gold plated pension in comparison.

Alarmingly, a large number of posts were started by relatively young people, some 17, 18 or 19 years of age stating that they were pregnant for the first (or second) time, and wondering how the arrival of their latest offspring would better their chances  of claiming additional benefits or increasing their existing amount of Benefit. Even more alarmingly was the fact that none of the posts I read on these subjects indicated that the person was currently (or ever) in employment, neither did it indicate that their babies’ Father was currently in their life, or had hung around long enough to be involved.

One young, single mother even actually openly admitted boasted on the forum that she was much better off having three children by three different (but equally absent) fathers, not only because she got three lots of Child benefit but also because the amount of child maintenance paid out by each father, (each representing upto 25% of their individual incomes),  amounted to significantly more than a ceiling which would limit the amount paid out for all three children by one father, had all three of her children have been his!. Scandalous, when are we going to adopt the ‘You breed them – you feed them’ attitude shown by many other countries, and rid ourselves of the burden of those wastrels who see producing additional children in much the same manner as working people see their annual payrise?.

Like a wise woman (okay it was TV’s Judge Judy) once said, “It’s upto you to make sure they are the right person before having a child with them”. Excellent advice, even bordering on common sense, which is a commodity in precious short supply in society these days.

Non of the discussion topics that i’ve highlighted above  indicate desperate people, below the poverty line, they represent lifestyle choices and partner decisions made by rational thinking adults. If I made the decision to go out and buy three brand new Mercedes Benz Cars, because they made me happy and because I believed that I was entitled to them, when I found that my income could not support them, I wouldn’t expect the tax payer to fork out the loan payments for the next eighteen years on my behalf because I was fulfilling my dream.  What is so different about making the lifelong committment to having and raising children?, surely you should consider how you are going to support them? and whether you can afford them before making the decision to actually get pregnant?. However, many people still believe that its their ‘right’ to have children because it makes them happy, despite not being in employment, having zero income and not even in a steady relationship let alone a steady job, and barely have the means of supporting themselves let alone a child.

Equally if somebody chooses the wrong person to start a relationship with, and they have a child with them, then how is it the fault of society if the relationship breaks down, or they discover the person wasn’t the person they thought they were?, yet society is the foolish entity who foots the bills for a personal error in judgement. Life is hard, constantly cruel and always  unfair and is all about making choices, its 50% luck whether the choice made is the right one, but its exactly the same for everyone. But the financial burden from making the wrong choice, as far as choosing a partner and having a child(ren) with them is concerned, shouldn’t come out of the benefits pot.

In addition, how long are these young benefit claimants in a relationship for before they move in together and begin to raise a family?. In my generation it was not unusual for Husband and Wife (yes people got married back then) to live together for several years before deciding to start a family, this way you could ensure that the person you live with was the right person for you, was the person who you wanted to be a life long soul partner to and who did not have a darker side,  a secret lifestyle or was the local axe-muderer before making the important and precious decision to settle down and have children with them. This way if it all went wrong and the relationship ended, you could cut your losses and move on and out without having to worry about raising a child alone or what the break up would do to them emotionally.

How long are young couples together for these days before they fall pregnant?, is it measured in days or hours?. I am certainly not a religious nut, nor do I go around preaching the ancient attitude to marriage before sex, but what I do think is long overdue, is a means test to ensure that Child related benefits are perhaps only paid to those single parents who previously have lived together and at least ‘tried’ to make the relationship with their partner work for ‘years’ rather than ‘months’ before having children with them.

I also believe that the American benefits or should I say, ‘welfare’ system is much fairer and better aportioned than in the UK, over there benefits are paid out as tokens, which can be exchanged for providing the support they were intended for. Giving people cash is a bad idea, as some assumption by others may decide that its being used to fund Sky or a new Ipad instead of the purposes for which it was paid. Replacing the cash benefits system for Food shopping Vouchers, baby essentials, electricity / gas top ups, childrens clothing will ensure that they are spent where they were directed and there can be no public cries of ‘Foul’ when the Comet van rolls up outside the house on every street where nobody ever seems to leave for work, delivering the new £2000 Entertainment system.

Benefits  should not be a lifestyle choice, and even if one person is actively able to  choose to decide between working and living a life on benefits just because they don’t like their Job, then its simply one too many. Benefits exist as a last ditch means of keeping a roof over ones head and food on the table when times are tough and you are temporarily between employment. They are not there as a safety net because they hate their  job / boss!, or because they leapt into bed with the first person they met whilst wearing beer goggles.

Something is wrong, If people are actively asking publicly whether to give up existing employment in order to live a life  on Benefits, its even worse when it becomes apparant that some people out there are actually doing it, and from the feedback and replies on these discussions it seems that it does become a viable possibility, and many of the same ilk are openly encouraging / condoning it and actively closing ranks and protecting the art when others dare to criticise it.

The DLA system also needs an overhaul. Again I have no issue whatsoever with genuinely disabled people claiming help to live and gain mobility in order to visit places, do their shopping and maintain the shadow of a social life which able bodied people take for granted, however why is it that the mobility scheme should also be used to fund a full plethora of factory fitted extras to these vehicles?. Surely all that is needed, is a basic vehicle adapted to that individuals’ disability so if a specially modified Ford Fiesta can get them from A to B then why should the mobility scheme pay a penny more than that?. Are factory fitted extras such as  leather seats, a Harmon Kardon sound system upgrade, DVD Players for the kids, Metallic paint and a fitted satellite navigation system really commensurate to helping with a disability?, or are they options just used by people ‘because they can’ and that the £16,000 mobility allowance is seen as some form of target rather than an upper limit to ensure that the vehicle on the mobility scheme is suitable for the driver?. From some of the discussions i’ve read, from people embarking on the mobility scheme, a basic £12,000 vehicle isn’t enough, they also want the £4000 of extras to take it to the £16,000 on ‘offer’, and in a struggling economy, with many low income workers working 60 hours per week and struggling to keep their old bangers on the road, that is just plain wrong, in fact its ethically obscene.

I think personally that tighter controls have to be levied on this to prevent misuse, and so if it is deemed that a £6999 Honda Jazz is perfectly suitable for one persons’ disability then they should be allowed £6999, and not a penny more. However if a person requires more budget in order to buy a larger vehicle with the space for a wheelchair, such as a specially adapted MPV, then thats fine too, but if the total cost with the adaption equals £13,000, then £13,000 is the amount the Mobility Scheme should pay out. If the person wants a satellite navigation system, or factory options then they should perhaps write a letter to Santa, or pop down to halfords just like everybody else.

No doubt the benefit massive will get collectively together and pick holes in my rant and gang up on old Mr Grumpy for highlighting and attacking what is after all for some – a lifestyle choice, but the fact remains that the points i’ve highlighted here isn’t rumour or assumption, these are discussions which anybody can read on Google or  public forums, often written by those in receipt of the benefits themselves. ‘You’ too can read the many self volunteered forum posts, proudly listing the benefits received and totalling them up, and yes it can easily go well over the income from a single person or couple working for minimum wage, and yes it isn’t surprising that some choose to live on benefits because working would cost them more financially, and yes I agree that some would be worse off for working, I have never questioned that, I only question the logic behind making it a possibility.

However, I once again point out that this is not a general rant against people struggling on JSA or other minimum benefits and suffice to say that most people genuinely on benefits  are also fully aware of others fiddling the benefit system and are just as annoyed by it.

DLA and similar allowances should only be paid to people who cannot work, as opposed to will not work. I do wonder how people who openly admit to being unable to work through illness or disability manage to sit at a computer on an internet forum for long enough to make several thousand posts in a relatively short space of time. If you are able to sit at a computer for several hours a day making detailed and comprehensive posts on the internet numbering well into four or five figures, then i’m sorry but you are also fit enough to work in a similar environment, sat at a desk inputting data, proof reading, doing Admin work answering phones and sending emails – FACT. Nobody is suggesting labouring on a building site, or gardening as an occupation, but if somebody can sit at a computer updating their facebook profile or engaging in forum related debate, then whats the difference between doing this and being in a work place or working from home, doing similar clerical work? – No smoke and mirrors, and no pack drill.

In the same vein, is it really fair that things like Winter Heating Allowances and the Annual Benefit £10 xmas bonus are paid out to people who really don’t need it?. There are many retired company directors, with retirement incomes far in excess of the type of pensions which the normal working class can ever dream of, yet they still get and are able to claim the same heating allwance payment as poorer or sick pensioners for whom the heating allowance is a lifeline. Even Cliff Richard once mentioned in a TV  interview that he still claims the heating allowance, I wonder which of his mansions he uses it in?. Exactly what logic in relation to determining benefits, hands out heating allowances to millionaires living in mansions based on principle?, whilst many working class people struggle with the burden of ever increasing winter bills and get zero help. Are people on low incomes or who work for the Minimum wage incapable of feeling the cold? are they not worthy of a little help also?. Obviously not.

In the meantime, nothing will change. The country is almost stoney broke, already massively in debt and from bailing out the banks and other European countries, and its now facing crippling debt from the benefits culture its created, as well as record high energy prices, and as we approach 2o12, there is further talk of another double dip recession and even more trouble in the Eurozone. How long can it continue to pay out for some people’s lifestyle choice to remain on benefits?.

Well it wont be long before the burden of benefit  outgoings equal more than the income from tax paying workers fotunate to  still be in employment, and when you are paying out more in benefits than you are creating from actual  income, then its only a matter of time before the entire system collapses, benefits disappear and the country becomes bankrupt. For some, when it happens it will be a huge wake up call, and I hope that those who have decided to give up work, in order to “Spend more time with the family” or fulfil other lifestyle choices, will be big enough to stand by those decisions when the benefit way of life is removed. Unfortunately, however, this will also be disasterous to those genuine in need of benefits, whose lifeline has been removed,  by the massive burden of those who CHOOSE not to work.

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That new chappie Prime Minister David Cameron has called for more to be done to market Britain as a destination for foreign visitors as well as those at home.

Apparently, Mr Cameron has urged people to be “more proud” of the UK, its natural assets and its history.

He also said that more is to be done so that the UK can break into the top five most visited destinations in the world.

I applaud the urge. Most encouraging. And with the media harping on about the first 100 days of office, I wonder if our new elected MP will soon be sharing his thoughts by echoing his leaders calls of importance placed on the role of tourism – for Buxton and its surrounding areas?

Given the number of coaches parked everyday of the week near Spring Gardens (?) and outside the Buxton Opera House, there seems to be no let-up of tourist sightseers’, however I find it incredible that compared to other ‘tourist’ attraction destinations such as Bakewell or Matlock, Buxton must be the bottom of the pile when it comes to promoting itself as ‘a serious tourist attraction’.

Lets look at some facts.

Compared to these other examples, Buxton has equally marvellous appeal but isn’t pulling out all the stops to promote or encourage the ‘all year round tourist’ or ’seasonal tourist’. It relies too heavily on the Buxton Fringe Festival month, and up to 8 market stalls on Tuesdays and Saturdays, a fact which for the highest market town in England, is disgusting in my opinion, and of course the ‘Buxton Water’ fountain.

With no visible work being carried out on the Crescent Hotel, this weeks biggest attraction to Buxton was the felling of a tree. That actually attracted more audience than the recent Morris Dancer showcase, believe it or not, but I guess the ‘Buxton Stump’ will have an appeal as it is something new and different…cue digital cameras for another of Buxton’s memorable sights.

Actually, whilst I mention Buxton sights, could someone prod our new MP to take a moment to reflect on the following snaps (courtesy of Mr Grumpy’s Grandson!)

Here is the George Hotel. It’s pretty close to the Buxton Opera House and quite closed. What a shame. Not that Buxton really needs anymore hotels or guest houses, in my opinion, but isn’t it a shame that another business / premises in the heart of Buxton has succumbed to being a derelict graveyard, and now literally just waiting for some oiks to cause a nuisance, mischief and misery.

The fact that this establishment is so close to the Buxton Opera House and Pavilion Gardens reminds us that if businesses located in main tourism areas are not immune to downturns,  recessions and changes in social trends, what chance does the established business have in the outta and non-tourism areas of Buxton?

Here’s the Liberal Club in Waterswallows Road.  Quite closed.  Not even subsidised beer or the community status tag of ‘the club’, supposedly “underpinning the local community” managed to keep the doors open.  I wonder which club or Pub in Buxton will be next to fall victim to the change in social trends?  Buxton Working Men’s Club perhaps?  The ‘19th Hole’ perhaps?

There are some strange and peculiar mindsets in Buxton which seem to pour scorn on anything that is positive or bettering the community or Buxton tourism.  I’d include common sense in that statement too, but having just visited a recently rejuvenated business in Spring Gardens which is apparently “a charity”, common sense here seems to be thrown out of the window.

It seems that the establishment desires a particular type of customer which someway goes to explain why this newly decorated tea room is as empty as the heads of its new management.

It never used to be like this and was always ‘busy’, especially when it rained, as customers (my self included) would dash in and naturally partake in the friendly service and wares.

Of course the establishment needed an overdue makeover and the previous management (from own experience) were as patronising and nutty as the owner of Fawlty Towers, but that was part of the charm and appeal of this local business!  You knew what to expect and the staff were most accommodating.

With management change and the ‘new broom’ philosophy, one would still expect that all customers would be welcome.  Apparently, not so.

I have nothing but admiration for those that manage and run a local charity (is this a local charity?), but if my face does not fit, my money is obviously not good enough, consequently it’s not rocket science to see how others will view this establishment.

Not in the same league as a restaurant to attract the business and culinary advice of Gordon Ramsey, nor a guest house or hotel to welcome the recommendations of Alex Polizzi, perhaps Andrew Bingham can work his MP magic and offer this Buxton business / charity needy pointers before it too becomes a derelict business.

The cost of living from January 2011 will be getting higher for everyone and businesses in Buxton need to focus ahead.

Like the ‘new ’stump’, Buxton has deep roots but I fear that without scrutiny and a little concentration in the right places now, especially during these difficult times and apparently ahead, Buxton will fall far behind it’s neighbouring tourism areas, will lose the appeal as the highest market town with attractions.  It’ll be just another town on the landscape.

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In a society as paranoid as the UK most people will have heard of the CRB Checks and have probably encountered some form of CRB Checking or have known somebody who has. Well, in the last month, a friend of mine has also experienced it within his employment. Why would he need a CRB Check? Does he work with vulnerable elderly people, or is he in contact with Children? Neither actually, as it happens he is a self employed tradesman, employed to work in many different environments including the occasional trip into a School or Old Folks’ home in order to carry out remedial or installation work.

Non of this work directly involves contact with, or actually working with vulnerable people or children. It just involves him working inside a building where such individuals may frequent, yet local legislation and the usual pen pushing ‘Jobsworths’ require him to be CRB Checked before he can gain contract work for and enter such an environment. This is where the problem begins.

First of all, its almost impossible for somebody working for themselves to obtain a CRB enhanced disclosure check to the level and satisfaction required by many local schools and other council run establishments which require it. Upon calling those entities who have implemented this regulation, my friend has been told to get his employer to provide the checks via an umbrella organisation, a little impossible when you are self employed and have no employer! Upon calling the Umbrella organisations directly, he was told that they are unable to provide individuals with CRB Checks, and to get his employer to make contact with them…….and around and around it goes.

What’s wrong with this picture? Suddenly we have a situation where a hard working, self employed individual is prevented from carrying out his trade purely through a piece of legislation. My friend is perfectly willing to obtain the requested certification and pay the relevant fees to become CRB checked, however he is prevented from doing so because nobody can supply him with this CRB checking service. His only crime and reason for refusal – being self employed!

It seems yet again we have a piece of rushed through legislation which is so ill thought out that its costing people money and stopping honest hard working people from earning a living. Surely, if legislation is introduced, there has to exist an easy and nationally accessible means of applying for and obtaining such CRB certification and by ‘accessible’, I mean available to everybody of which it is likely to affect including those not directly employed by the council or care home, or doing voluntary work. So far, my friend is unable to accept work in any of these institutions and that is a great loss of business which, in a recession, may actually result in the total loss of his business and him joining the UK’s only remaining growth industry – Unemployment.

I can understand and applaud the need for those whose entire employment description involves work with children and the elderly, day in – day out to obtain such obvious security checks, but even in this case, I’ve heard stories of people declined JSA and various other benefits whilst they wait for the CRB Check to complete after being offered full or part time employment.

A friends partner told me they’d waited over 8 weeks for a CRB Check to be completed by her employer before she could start work there, and in the meantime, because she couldn’t actually start the job meant that she was not entitled to benefit payments as she was ‘technically employed’. Obviously, without any income in the interim, she fell behind with bill payments and nearly lost her home. How ludicrous is that? Clearly, the CRB Checking infrastructure is not in place, so it cannot cope with the load. Perhaps its the same people dealing with CRB checks as deal with the issuing of passports?!

Its amazing that hackers can literally clone somebody’s life, background and identity from their ‘facebook’ profile in minutes, yet it takes the powers that be anything around 8+ weeks to carry out what is basically just a glorified Police background check.

Do they need more staff working in the CRB Checking environment? If so, I can recommend many of the 2.2 Million people currently unemployed. I’m sure most of them would be able to do the job, so go fill your boots.

So, do CRB Checks actually work? Does CRB Checking actively prevent more of the tragic instances that we read about in the papers? Did CRB Checks stop the death of ‘Baby Peter’? How about the needless and tragic deaths more recently of Augustino, Gianluca, and Cecilia Riggi? Did it prevent the violet death of 15 year old Zac Olumegbon from London? It seems from the stories in the media that more Children suffer and are at risk as a direct result of abuse, neglect and violence at the hands of family members and even their peers, than they do from outsiders or Electricians and Plumbers carrying out work in their school.

Society has reached a point now where people fear that if their neighbours’ house goes up for sale, that Jon Venables might be moved in next door. They view anybody stopping to assist a lost child with great suspicion and lose sleepless nights worrying that their children’s school bus driver might turn out to be a modern day Myra Hindley. In reality, those who embark on such crimes against Children and the Elderly are few and far between are still the same minority amongst the millions of normal individuals out there, just as they were 20 or 30 years ago, however, with the press hysteria, its now more heard about and has been hyped out of all proportion, and so its the majority who are constantly under the suspicion. Its a sad, but glaringly true fact that in the recent case of the Riggi children that with the law of averages, they probably would have been much safer and would still be alive today had they have been in the company of a random stranger passing in the street, rather than living with their Mother! There does seem to be a growing and very alarming trend for parents to commit acts of violence, neglect and even murder their children, and no CRB Checks are going to call a halt to that.

Seems what is needed is better observation, training and interest by those who are in contact with children and who could spot early signs of neglect taking place, and are in the best position to do something about it, and that includes professional individuals such as teachers as well as neighbours and other family members.

In fact, in relation to CRB Checks in the School Environment, already this year there has been a large number of media stories relating to children being attacked and murdered in their own school during the day, often in full view of the adults who have a duty of care towards them. Is this the work of some serial killer? Perhaps some 2010 version of ‘Jack the Ripper’ on the streets and stalking the playgrounds? No, this is children attacking other children with knives! It seems to me that in the current day and age, the growing trend of young teenagers carrying weapons actually places the Teachers more at risk from their Pupils than the other way round. Certainly, I cannot remember any multiple instance of a Teacher recently attacking a pupil, however there are plenty of media stories in relation to stabbings and fatalities resulting from teenagers attacking each other, and even turning violent against their teachers, so who is most at risk from whom?

Some element of common sense has to be applied here, after all, we have reached a point now where you have to obtain a CRB check in order to drive friends of your own children to school, or voluntarily offer to help run a school trip. I’m not surprised that parents are being accused of not showing an interest to PTA activities and in their child’s schooling. More recently, one school decided to make its own policy that parents had to be CRB Checked in order to attend sports days, and even after the story hit the national press, common sense still trailed in last as the biggest loser.

When my friend asked the local council why he was required to obtain a CRB check, he was told that it was because he worked in places where there were children. Well in that case, we are all going to require CRB checks just to walk around the supermarket or walk the dog in the local park. Have you also eaten at a local pub recently? These days, there seems to be more children running riot in these places than at an average village school playground. Are staff and their regulars in these places CRB checked?

In the meantime, if anybody could comment on this story with information as to where a self employed individual can obtain a full CRB Check without being directly employed by a council run establishment or having an ‘employer’, neither of which allow him to obtain the paperwork required to continue to earn a living, my friend would most certainly be interested.

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Here’s another article from our resident Mr Grumpy of Buxton!

I have to laugh when I read “Buxton…. has a thriving twice weekly market” or “Number of stalls: 50-70″ or “that appeal to residents and attract visitors to High Peak.”

There I am, in my shorts, cotton shirt and sandals (not a pretty sight) ready to peruse the wares and offerings of

Buxton’s Market stall traders during one of the recent most glorious weather days, when all there is to find is a handful of stalls…..and a burger van.

Call me sceptical, but at the time of count, there were less than TEN market stalls, or to be precise, some 44 short of the

number ‘Information Britain‘ boasts about!  If I were a visiting tourist keen to sample the many delights “Buxton Market” offers, I’d feel short changed.

Undoubtedly, tourists go stir crazy during off-peak times of the year because the scope of things to see, do or buy in “Buxton Market” is as seasonal as, well, Mrs G getting her flip flops out.  That’s unless tourists wish to navigate the Buxton shopping centre and sample its many offerings as they would in their own local shopping centre….er, de ja vu?

So what actually encourages traders to cough up £60.00 – £100.00 a week for a semi/permanent pitch in Buxton Market, because when you have empty shops as side-attractions, a coach stop so far away from Upper Buxton it might as well be sited at Morrison’s, I can not see any justification or desire for anyone to invest in a market stall pitch.  In fact, while the rates for a semi or permanent pitch might not appear to be unreasonable, consider at least 100 burgers have to be flipped and sold before any other overheads are considered which, going on the number of stalls to peruse, must be increasingly difficult if not soul destroying when customers are in dwindling numbers….ooer, just like the trading stalls!  How many pairs of knickers, sun-hats or bric-a-brac have to be sold week in, week out to justify a pitch in Buxton Market?

Let’s be honest, it’s probably right that a market stall is not in direct competition with a local shop, but come on, it’s unlikely that a few more clothes stalls will cause major upset to Upper Buxton trade.?!

So what do other markets and stalls offer whilst still managing to compete with the superstores…and remember, Buxton isn’t dominated by the likes of Tesco and is supposedly the highest market town in England?  Where are all the stalls, i.e.

• Tools and Hardware
• Womens Fashions
• Mens Fashions
• Footwear and socks
• Bedding
• Nightwear
• Underwear
• Swimwear
• Camping / Army Surplus / All weather clothing
• Baby Goods
• Arts and Crafts
• Pet Food
• Fishmongers
• Butchers
• Fruit and Veg
• Health Foods
• Plants and Flowers
• Jewellery and Collectables
• Household Goods, CDs, DVDs and Videos
• Vac spares
• Rugs and Mats
• Mobility Equipment
• Car Accessories

Hmmm?  Just a few examples there.  It’s not rocket science to foresee further vacant pitchs appearing in “Buxton Market” if there’s no drive to attract business.  Still, the parked cars will benefit from the empty pitches and eventually “Buxton Market” will become another decayed memory along with its ‘highest market town’ title.

Actually, with the boy-racers cruising the night time roads, drunken youths urinating in the street and empty shop doorways, yes, the ones with England shirts and flags wrapped round their frames, it’s so nice to see Buxton finally levelling out with the rest of the UK’s state of decaying municipalism.  A town charactarised like all the others…which eventually ends in “—- hole”.

Far removed from the ‘Tourist Attraction’ area it supposedly is, Buxton has become a Dinosaur Town and there’s little evidence to support positive change.  Ask anyone over 50 in Buxton where the market is and the word ‘extinct’ will undoubtedly crop up, coupled with the younger expressive faces of puzzlement, bewilderment and “Dime Bar?”

R.I.P. Buxton Market 2010.

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Some weeks ago, I wrote my column highlighting the introduction of Average Speed Cameras on the A537 Cat and Fiddle Road. It got a mixed response from all readers of ‘About Buxton’, ranging from those opposed to Speed Cameras to those who want to sleep with them and have their babies. However an online story recently caught my eye, concerning the A537 Cat and Fiddle Average Speed Camera section in particular, and of which appeared in a national publication.

What if I was to tell you that doing that riding within the speed limit along the A537 Cat and Fiddle road could still potentially land you with a £60 fine and 3 penalty points from these wonders of modern technology introduced by the crème’ de la crème’ of Road Safety ‘experts’?, for doing little more than taking a short cut off the main A537 and then rejoining it further along?

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/General-news/2010/April/apr2510-800000-speed-camera-cock-up/

Yes, even by Buxton standards this is a huge and monumental cock up of cringe worthy proportions, and means that anybody on two wheels who chooses to take a well known and well mapped short cut (which has a higher NSL limit than the A537 Cat and Fiddle) could end up getting wrongly fined and having their license endorsed purely through obeying the local posted speed limits.

But I suppose that is ok in the interests of road safety, after all its nothing about making money is it?

The Motorcycle News story alone goes to show just what little planning and thought goes into these things, such is the (gold)rush to roll them out and get busy milking the motorist that little facts like this one go un-noticed until £800k has been wasted on what is now little more than a white elephant and it only gets mentioned when it starts being publicised in the national press. How long before the daily’s catch on and it gets highlighted on TV programs like Top Gear? Buxton makes the headlines yet again, but not for anything positive.

Who exactly is responsible for this ‘oversight’ in any case, can’t they use simple everyday tools like Google Earth?, don’t they have access to detailed road maps and other documents and more to the point is he still employed? Given this story it may as well be Mr Bean. Big Brother may indeed be watching our roads, but who is responsible for watching the ‘watchers’? Had this oversight have gone unnoticed, how many people would have been wrongly convicted, faced higher insurance premiums through license endorsement or even lost their license through having an additional 3 points WRONGLY added to an existing 9 penalty points on their license?

I can see what will happen now its been made public in the press. In order to cover up embarrassed red faces, either the speed limit on the short cut will be drastically cut in places, probably to 50, 40 mph or whatever conveniently happens to be the nearest round figure once the speed councils have carefully driven and timed the route, or additional pairs of cameras will be fitted to the route in order to maintain continuity – wasting even more money than the original £800k budget.

According to the article, the cameras are still not ‘live’ now that the mistake or rather oversight has been discovered, but I can’t imagine that such a lucrative tool, especially one which cost us £800k will remain decommissioned for long, so they’ll have to do something, and Mr G’s lottery money this week is riding on the first option. Watch this space!

Several readers have asked me, that if I’m so opposed to Speed Cameras, then what would I do to alleviate the problem?. My answer is always…… ‘Elect me and find out’.

But joking aside (and politics are one huge grin), I personally would have spent the £800 earmarked on the A537 Cat and Fiddle average speed cameras to something more productive. After all, you are never going to escape born again 40-something bikers trying to recapture their lost youth before a mid life crisis sets in, all these brilliant well thought out and positioned cameras do, is to move the problem to another area – it never actually solves it.

So my £800k would be spent building a track which is open to the public for a nominal and affordable admission fee. A bit like the highly successful Nürburgring in Germany but where Bikers of all ages and experience levels can visit on a whim, pay an admission fee and ride in a non competitive environment, once they have taken out relevant ‘track day’ insurance and have produced a license with the relevant motorcycle entitlement of course.

This would allow fully grown, rational thinking adults to calculate the risk to themselves and others, evaluate their own riding skills and for like minded individuals to risk maiming or killing themselves in a controlled environment well away from public roads!. Then all of the other road users / sheep / little fluffy kittens etc can use the A537 Cat and Fiddle road with fewer risks.

Having such a Buxton based track would eventually gain fame and publicity and also continue to bring in visitors to Buxton from all over the world (Just like the Nürburgring attracts visitors from all over Europe to use its track) meaning the tourist industry is given the much needed kick up the backside which has not been forthcoming from elsewhere *cough*, new jobs through catering, trackside staff, first aiders, funeral directors would also be created through the new business(es) created behind the track and everybody would be happy. I bet there would also be change from the £800k too!

Then again, this is plain old fashioned common sense, which there isn’t exactly a monopoly of in certain circles – see the above Motorcycle News story!

I will also point out that Mr G is not against speed cameras per se, just those which are miles away from schools, houses and other built up areas, and those cameras which will never pick out and prosecute Gravel and Stone HGV drivers and Coach drivers cheerfully chatting on the phone whilst driving past our children through the centre of Buxton.

Oh, and isn’t it also UK law that for the past several years, parents of Children under 11 have to strap in their kids into suitable and approved child safety / booster seats in order to legally ride in a vehicle?. Well why isn’t this being policed and tickets to irresponsible parents issued also?, because at 3.10pm on most school days I’m willing to bet that this area of road safety law is also being flouted and unchallenged daily – probably in greater numbers than a few ageing bikers on the A537 and the law is the law? right?, even when its not raising revenue? I for one would like to see this aspect and road safety law and saving lives given just as equal priority as fitting speed cameras to Derbyshire Roads.

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Well, spring has sprung, but its not the only thing that has suddenly and mysteriously sprung up on the A537 and A54.

Yes, they are heeeerrrrrrrrre. The long publicised average speed cameras have appeared. Now a well heeled sceptic may say that it was more than a coincidence that they have been switched on just in time for the long Easter bank holiday weekend and the usual expected influx of the motorcycle fraternity for the first usable Bank Holiday of 2010, but I’m not sceptical, so I won’t say it here!

One thing is certain however, that they’ve lost no time in fitting them along both the A54 Bosley & A537 Cat and Fiddle and Bosley roads, its genuinely amazing how fast they’ve been installed, considering the length of time it took for the borough council to reopen those same roads during the heavy snowfall over the Christmas holiday period. That same sceptic may even go on to say that these grey vultures have been installed far faster than the time it took to clear away a bit of snow. I live in hope that perhaps with this new form of revenue generation in place, that in future, more time and effort will be spent clearing and gritting these roads during the winter, after all, if traffic isn’t flowing, the milk machine isn’t milking, and with the roads being kept open and usable for the Winter months, some of us law abiding motorists may be able to get to work, in order to pay our increasing Tax bills.

I wonder how it is possible to install several average speed cameras miles apart in a short space of time and with so little inconvenience, yet utility based roadwork’s seem to take several weeks or even months to dig and complete either minor roadwork’s or a few yards of trench causing chaos and holding up traffic for as much as 30 minutes? Could the person who arranges the lightening fast installation of average speed cameras be also found other duties?! He or She would do wonders working for the council, gritting the roads, repairing those loose flags and dodgy pavements around Buxton, not to mention clearing the never ending landslip on the A6. Why should speed (pardon the pun) and enthusiastic competence just be directed and limited to the installation of Speed Cameras on our rural roads?

I’m sure that if the Council and Highways Agency pulled its collective finger out, and the same interest levied in their many other areas of responsibility we could have the best (and safest) pavements in Derbyshire, coupled with the smoothest roads, repaired and replaced in effectively the same space of time as it takes to dig, install and wire miles of communication links for these ‘Average Speed Cameras’.

Speaking of which, I wonder what impact the installation of these Average Speed Cameras will have on the Tourist Industry?  I’m sure that there are a few owners of guest houses, hotels and eateries in the borough who have entertained and enjoyed the company and patronage of bikers from all over the Country (and profited hugely from them). In some ways, this stretch of road was something of a Mecca to people several hundred miles away who actually got to together in groups to arrange a visit and bring their cash injection to our Tourist industry and we should be flattered (and also thankful). In fact, the Cat and Fiddle road was a form of tourist attraction in its own right, and now effectively, somebody has been along and bulldozed it. But don’t take my word for it, Google a few discussions, and read the comments, and this is only early days.

Already the many internet forums, owners clubs and Motorcycle communities are buzzing with the news that ‘One of the best roads in the UK has been blighted’, many are already talking about “visiting other similar roads in other areas” and will no doubt be actively changing their plans and taking their business and overnight accommodation requirements to those areas – areas like the infamous Snake Pass. I can’t help feeling sorry for the Businesses actually along the A534 / A54 stretches of road – namely the namesake ‘Cat and Fiddle’ Inn and the Tea Rooms, both of which can often be found filled wall to wall with Bikers on a sunny day. Will these speed cameras end up costing these businesses money(?), and if the worst comes to the worst, will financial help be available to those businesses in recompense for any loss of trade?

Bear in mind that not all motorists are boy racers or potential criminals nor do they risk their own and other road users’ safety, and not all Bikers are speeding hells angels either. However you can see why some of the Motorcycle communities are taking offence and talking about boycotting the area feeling that they are no longer welcome. After all, nearly all of the signs along the stretch of road seem to actively target and victimise bikers rather than more ‘general’ motorists, at least judging by the sign pictures with cheerful little messages such as ‘Worth Dying For’ and the empathy on how many bikers have been killed or injured along the road. Don’t car owners have accidents too? and what about that Car and HGV that collided on the Leek Road a few months ago(?) – with Fatal results. Not as newsworthy I suppose(?), certainly a missed sign opportunity there for the phantom sign fetishists.

Let me just point out that neither Mr G nor any of the G family are ‘Bikers’ nor have ever been. However, I sympathise with the points made on the many forums and also why even genuine, careful bikers would be aggrieved by this rather one sided anti-biker prejudice – more so as its already been spotted in more than one discussion that the cameras are the new rear facing type, designed to catch motorcycle number plates.

Surely it would have been far cheaper to just put up signs on all of the roads into Buxton reading “Welcome to Buxton (Unless you are a Biker)”. Either way, I fear the loss of business from the drop from this popular and much self-publicising area of the Tourist trade will become soon apparent either way as the news continues to spread via Email and the Internet.  I hope that I’m wrong but somehow I think its going to be a tough season.

Perhaps we will tempt a whole new breed of tourist, maybe we’ll get tourists photographing our new grey towers perched over the road thinking its some sort of crazy ad-hoc ‘War of the Worlds’ exhibition. I’m not sure that I believe the BBC’s coverage of the installation as being “sympathetic to the area”. To me, they look like the same generic speed camera’s which appear everywhere else, by the looks of it they’ve been designed and positioned by blind Pugh. What next to blight our area? A few 300 foot metal pylons perhaps(?) or how about a few mobile phone transmitters?

I’m certainly not against speed cameras in residential areas and outside schools, and I agree that they serve a purpose and certainly have a valuable place, they are also less intrusive on the wallet than the sets of springs and suspension I have replaced on my own vehicle due to the sudden appearance those piles of council dung which masquerade as speed calming humps.

However, there are no schools, play areas and hopefully no unsupervised children wondering the Cat and Fiddle Road. The message on the signs tells us that 20 Bikers have been Killed or Injured on the stretch of road in the last 5 years, however what it doesn’t say, is how many motorists and tourists actually used the road safely and without incident during the same 5 year period and so give a useful statistic as to what percentage of actual accidents have occurred in relation to total volume of traffic. But then that wouldn’t be removing the shock and awe trigger would it?

However, since there is an obvious interest in signs and statistics at the moment along the road, why not add another statistic to them? I would like to volunteer the suggestion of signs containing other public interest fodder, such as ‘xx accidents caused by un-gritted and treacherous roads in the last five years’.

I know that the aim of the Speed Camera Partnerships up and down the country is to reduce the needless number of deaths on Britains roads. However in the past 5 years between 1200 and 1700 needless deaths per year occured in hospitals from MRSA, yet how much investment is being set aside to tackle that?  Maybe each Hospital should also have a sign on its front entrance saying how many deaths from MRSA have occured in the building, just the same as the current trend for signs which advertise road fatalities?

I will close my latest gripe with a comment made to me by one of my non-driving license holding passengers’ “When putting up these cameras you would have thought that they would have bothered to fill in these deep pot holes wouldn’t you?, as they must be a hazard to motorcyclists and cyclists”

Enough said!. Bring out the risk assessors!

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Some even had pictures of the local representatives…at first I thought it was a brochure advertising a new “Halloween” film at the cinema, then I realised that it was more empty promises from yet another MP and political party. You would think that with all of those MP expenses floating around that they would at least be able to afford a comb.

I had only just recycled my empty wine bottles after a heavy night (celebrating the reduction in junk mail following the demise of Readers Digest) only to find that it had been replaced with more crap from the various political parties.

Don’t they respect the mailing preference scheme? Are they above all of the laws that apply to normal everyday folk? And is this yet another fine example from our example setters? The only saving grace is that their leaflets are about the same size as a cat litter tray liner (well I do like to recycle!)

Why do the parties have to advertise in any case!? Are we not reminded of their existence whenever we are told that we have to pay more tax, that fuel duty is rising or we read of yet another business closing down?

These parties could save a fortune on PR, because we are reminded of their very presence, bad politics and poor handling of the economy whenever we read that another “xxx” of jobs are lost.

Have you checked out the Job vacancy pages in Buxton recently? You should do, because there is even less content on there than you’d find on a tourist guide called “Tourist and Picturesque sights of Fairfield”.

But harping back to political junk mail and hoardings, what about the various examples of tree cruelty? Nailing ‘Vote xxxxxxx’ signs onto trees is hardly ecologically sound is it? That is going to get ‘Swampy’ and his crew driving up the A515 in their Toyota Prius’ assuming that they can stop before they go ploughing into one of the increasing number of closed down and forlorn looking empty shops which litter the tail end of town. Businesses whose owners have now joined the UK’s one and only remaining growth industry – UNEMPLOYMENT.

Although not being able to stop safely applied not only to Prius owners, but also to most drivers of the cars who were having great difficulty negotiating the main roads of Buxton the other night.  As the temperature dropped to below freezing, we had a flurry of snow and the roads became un-gritted ice rinks. I assume that the council road gritting crew were all busy and otherwise engaged going around picking up all of the fallen ‘Vote xxxxxx’ signs and political posters which were littering the streets, because they certainly weren’t gritting the roads.

No doubt its only a matter of time before we have to witness the nauseating images of the various MP’s posing in photographs showing them in carefully staged position – scooping dog dirt and used junkie paraphernalia from out of children’s playgrounds; why do we not see them doing this at all other times, and when there isn’t a camera and a local journalist present?

Could there be an election soon?

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I wonder if either that Tory chappy or Labour lady will be doing anything about Buxton’s street lighting when they take over the Levitt Empire?

How many more reports of muggings, knife attacks or women assaulted in the poorly lit areas of the TOWN CENTRE do we have to read before something is done?  How many more Buxtonian’s will disappear at night down those dark pot holes and abandoned works on street corners?

Soon we’ll see the Buxton Tolkien Teenagers, or Orcs, who congregate on street corners, pedestrianised shopping areas or garages, in their Hobbit like hoodie attire, baseball hats and mobile phones, daring and egging-on each other to mischief and misbehave.

What better invitation then, when the town has fallen under the shadow of night and the Edwardian atmosphere beckoning the youth to go wild and commit intimidation, annoyance, vandalism and other crimes too scary to contemplate?

Street lighting is supposed to help make a safer environment, however, is Buxton, a tourism attraction virtually all year round, actually that safe at night to navigate?

I nearly broke my ankle in December on my way to the Granddaughters Nativity play!  Couldn’t see the kerb properly and bang, on my backside.  Felt like an idiot, but I was lucky.  It could have easily been a lot worse.

Still, how long before the goons step forward citing light pollution and chapters of directive at the mere mention of extra street lighting?!

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