All The Best To You Graham

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

but moving the bus station 200 yards will kill it stone dead.

I hope they move the Jobcentre 200 yards nearer

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

In the same post I am being asked to look hard at Accrington because it has scruffy areas but reading disparaging comments about an improvement scheme which will tidy up at least one of them.

I go to Accy every Friday for my weekly shop and am never disappointed, it is far better than Blackburn and I get breakfast there too. Pennine Reach is not the be all and end all but why must everything which sets out to move with the times be looked on with such disdain?

I'm looking forward to it and all the transport improvements that go with it. In Rishton we get a new junction which everyone has screamed about for years. It just makes sense to do it holistically.

I doubt I am going to win any arguments about what Accrington has to offer but at least my head is not buried in the past like those who yearn for days gone by and assume that things are worse than ever before.

Think back, times weren't as rosy as some would have you believe.

Ken, I am glad you shop in Accrington every Friday...and that you find that experience such a pleasure. (all I can say is you must be mightily easy to please).
I am glad that Rishton is going to get a new junction.... that will win you some brownie points the next time there is a local election.

My 'disparaging' comments about what you see as an improvement scheme, are because I do not see it as any such thing.
This 'improvement scheme is going to take trade away from the areas such as Little Blackburn Rd, Peel St, Infant St, Abbey St,the GPO - that place where many of us oldies go to collect our pension, Church St...and of course the Market Hall.

200 yards is not a long way when you are young fit and healthy......if you don't use public transport then it will have very little impact on your life.
for those of us who are getting on in years(and I happen to be one of those) and who use public transport(I happen to be one of those too) that 200 yards may just be a step too far...especially as when you have shopped you need to go back down to the bus station with your heavy bags to get the bus home.

I don't live in the past....but I can use the past as a reference point and I can use the experiences it gave me.
Those experiences might just have made me a bit cynical....I have listened to stuff like this before. All about improvements which would make the town better...make our lives better.....but most of them haven't.

This in my opinion is one of those that people like you want to tell us is progress...well I am here to tell you that because something is moving it isn't necessarily progress....you can go in the wrong direction as well as the right one......and this one might be moving but I'll leave it to you as to whether I think it is progress.

[Ken Moss]

It has been plain for a few years that the few people who are still on this site now view me primarily as a mindless mouthpiece politician rather than any sort of autonomous man. I have dipped my toe back into the water this morning to try and offer up my view and answer a point or two and been unceremoniously dragged into the mire by the overwhelming air of negativity.

There is absolutely nothing positive coming from a single one of you. Forget me being a politician for half a minute and look at yourselves and the miserable outlook on life that you all seem to have.

Doom, gloom, shake shake the room.

Count me out of your world, it was a mistake trying to post anything that hinted at something somewhere not being all that bad this morning, I apologise unreservedly and will take the remaining rays of sunshine elsewhere.

[Less]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

It has been plain for a few years that the few people who are still on this site now view me primarily as a mindless mouthpiece politician rather than any sort of autonomous man. I have dipped my toe back into the water this morning to try and offer up my view and answer a point or two and been unceremoniously dragged into the mire by the overwhelming air of negativity.

There is absolutely nothing positive coming from a single one of you. Forget me being a politician for half a minute and look at yourselves and the miserable outlook on life that you all seem to have.

Doom, gloom, shake shake the room.

Count me out of your world, it was a mistake trying to post anything that hinted at something somewhere not being all that bad this morning, I apologise unreservedly and will take the remaining rays of sunshine elsewhere.

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

How the mighty have fallen.

The General Chat section used to have dozens of contributors every day, now we're down to about five, all of whom are like baying pack animals. None of you have anything positive to say and look for petty negatives in absolutely everything. There are no solutions offered up, just the same tired old rhetoric the like of which Garinda used to latch onto and use ad nauseum (95%, 95%, 95%...).

The daily debate on here used to be fantastic, generally balanced arguments from people with lots of different viewpoints, now it is simply spite for the outside world.

What a shame, what a bloody shame.

Above is the post which you started the day with, please explain in simple terms so that even I can understand, where is there even the smallest touch of positivity in that arrogant post?

You came back on site just to have a go, well, you had your go, you have continued in this not very well thought out vein throughout the day and you now want to spit out your dummy and tell us you want nothing more to do with our world.

Here's a bit of honesty to stick in your craw, you stopped being in our world the day that you got yourself elected having used the site for free canvassing. Then suddenly instead of talking to the members Mr. High and mighty, you talked down to the members rather than discuss topics with them.

If I lived in Rishton I would perhaps consider either standing against you or supporting someone that isn't as shallow as you have proved yourself to be.

Somehow I don't think you will be missed.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I have not said you were a mindless politician....and I haven't seen anyone else say that either.
I am sorry that you feel that my responses to you are mired in negativity.
It just so happens that I don't agree with your view of the development...so of course you are going to term it as 'negative'.
Positive would be if someone actually listened to the concerns being expressed and saw them for what they are...and that is, valid and genuine concern.
Concern for businesses who are having a hard time of it anyway. Concern for the elderly and the infirm who actually use the transport system.......but no, it appears that these concerns can be swept away with the dig that we are standing in the way of progess...or harking back to the old days...the days when the town was seen as being better(probably because it was).

If you go it will be sad...but it is your choice.

[Guinness]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

It has been plain for a few years that the few people who are still on this site now view me primarily as a mindless mouthpiece politician rather than any sort of autonomous man. I have dipped my toe back into the water this morning to try and offer up my view and answer a point or two and been unceremoniously dragged into the mire by the overwhelming air of negativity.

There is absolutely nothing positive coming from a single one of you. Forget me being a politician for half a minute and look at yourselves and the miserable outlook on life that you all seem to have.

Doom, gloom, shake shake the room.

Count me out of your world, it was a mistake trying to post anything that hinted at something somewhere not being all that bad this morning, I apologise unreservedly and will take the remaining rays of sunshine elsewhere.

Since your posts are offensive, have one back

This is typical of the quality of our political class nowadays...one person...count that again..one person out of four who replied...has given him a bit of grief and he takes his ball home...Pathetic!

Oh and as someone who has lived here a lot longer than a johnny come lately from Rishton...regarding you earlier comment about hand on heart who has worked harder.......

Ken Hargreaves....

Never toed the party line
Stood up to Thatcher
Fought for his constituents in Hyndburn not some faraway XXXX land that the current incumbent apparently resides in.

And he was a Tory..your pseudo-socialist mate can't hold a candle to him for workrate, integrity or honour.

[Wynonie Harris]

"Why must everything which moves with the times be looked on with such great disdain?" "Everything" isn't, Ken, but when changes are made for the worse, then folk are understandably critical.

We once had a thriving outdoor market; it was a unique structure which is actually mentioned in books on Modernist architecture but far, far more important, it worked, attracting shoppers from far and wide and creating a thriving retail environment. After forty-odd years, it was understandably a little "tired", but all it needed was some renovation. Instead, the council demolished it and built a pathetic, Mickey Mouse travesty of an outdoor market which struggles to attract customers in anywhere near the numbers of the old market.

Similarly, the venerable old Market Hall - the jewel in Accrington's crown - was hugely popular with shoppers, and simply needed some renovation work. Instead, the council ripped the heart out of it and made it an empty, echoing travesty of its former busy, bustling self.

However, the past can't be undone and we just have to live with consequences of these changes. What amazes me is that you and your fellow councillors seem incapable of learning from past mistakes and are hellbent on inflicting the lunacy of the new bus station on the town. I have yet to come across anyone outside the cozy confines of the council chamber, either resident or trader, who thinks this is a good idea. As Margaret has said, building the bus station so far from the town centre simply makes it easier for people to change buses and go shopping in another town. The sad thing is, maybe it's my imagination, maybe it's wishful thinking, but on my last three visits to the town, I've detected the first, fragile, green shoots of recovery - a few more people around and not as many impolite requests for dosh and ciggies! And, strangely, Ken, I understand why you like shopping in Accy with its quirky little shops on Warner Street, independent coffee houses and elegant Victorian buildings which have long been demolished in other towns. All this will be killed stone dead by this unwanted bus station.

So, instead of having a go at ordinary members of the public on here, I suggest you and the rest of the council direct your venom towards Lancs County Council to dissuade them from this madcap scheme!

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I am sorry that you feel that my responses to you are mired in negativity.
It just so happens that I don't agree with your view of the development...

Nail on head Margaret

It's a typically political stance at all levels local and national of 'we know what is good for you'

Yes I'm biased as unlike 99% of the councillors my livelihood depends on it. Why should I be positive about something which is going to wipe away the business I have spent 4 years building up and has only recently started to show some signs of 'getting there'.

According to all the 'experts', we won't be affected by the innovative idea of a car park in front of us. You might think there would be a constant stream of people parking up all day, but as the council car parks aren't managed people will park here all day.

[JCB]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

The General Chat section used to have dozens of contributors every day, now we're down to about five, all of whom are like baying pack animals.

A point worth making .

The active members of this section of Accy Web are few in number .

Some of the anti-Graham Jones posts which appear on a regular basis are not motivated by politics but by personal animosity towards Graham Jones.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I have no animosity towards Graham Jones.
I speak as I find.......and will continue to do so.

[Lucysgirl]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

If finding petty social media mistakes and typos is the best people can do then he isn't doing that bad a job.

.
With hindsight I regret my copy and paste, although I still think somebody should have used the spell checker before publishing several items on the website. He is a product of the education system at that time which thought it better for youngsters to "express themselves freely" without the need for other considerations, thus he doesn't know the difference between, or the appropriate place to use, "their", they're and there".

Having watched him speak in the Commons several times and also seen a couple of his videos I know he isn't concerned where his arrows fall or whether they're all falling in the right place

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

I have yet to come across anyone outside the cozy confines of the council chamber, either resident or trader, who thinks this is a good idea.

I've had conversations with a some from within the council chamber who don't think it's a good idea. You can bet they haven't mentioned in council though.

I must admit having a smile when Ken goes on about everybody living in the past and not embracing the present or future. I wonder if the same issue is brought up in council meetings

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

I've had conversations with a some from within the council chamber who don't think it's a good idea. You can bet they haven't mentioned in council though.

I must admit having a smile when Ken goes on about everybody living in the past and not embracing the present or future. I wonder if the same issue is brought up in council meetings

I don't quite get that. How can you let something that will be so detrimental to the town pass and not open your mouth and say something?
It is a good job I am not on the council. If I didn't agree with something I would be telling them and also why I didn't agree.

[Ken Moss]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I don't quite get that. How can you let something that will be so detrimental to the town pass and not open your mouth and say something?
It is a good job I am not on the council. If I didn't agree with something I would be telling them and also why I didn't agree.

Which we do. Regardless of what people think goes on at HBC there is a lot of debate on a huge range of issues and Councillors of all colours agree and disagree on all those topics. This is why we have cross-party committees.

I have only ever seen one person fervently for something whilst in control and then fervently against exactly the same thing when out of power. The item in question was the new bus station.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I am really glad to hear that. I would be very disappointed if I thought that people who had a voice to make difference, did not use it.

I do wonder though if those who make decisions like this, actually use the services.

I think that those who drive cars, those who are young and fit....who have no problems which restrict their mobility will not be in a position to understand or appreciate the concerns of those who do have these problems.