Month: May 2011

Free Kicks Foundation – On the Road Again

17:20 Friday 27th May 2011
Drivetime BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

ANDY BURROWS: The League One play-off final is just a couple of days away, and we first talked to this group of Posh fans last night. They’ve decided to kill some time with a walk round the football grounds of London. It was organised long before the final was switched to Old Trafford, but they’re doing it anyway. Let’s see how they’r getting on. It’s all in aid of the Free Kicks Foundation. The founder of the charity is the Posh fan Steve Thorpe. He’s on the line. Hello to you Steve.
STEVE THORPE: Hi Andy.
ANDY BURROWS: So where are you? What can you see? Continue reading “Free Kicks Foundation – On the Road Again”

The Amtec Contract

This is the original Key Decision where control of the Council was handed over to consultants. It’s the one mentioned by Barnackle Bill on this post.

It’s reproduced here for ease of access, and because the original archive version has major formatting issues which make it mostly unreadable. The original can be found at the following web address:
http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/democracy/decisions/executive_decisions_archive.aspx?apk=1873

It is to be hoped that there can be a constructive discussion about this decision, right here on this page, around exactly what has been agreed, what the effect has been, and whether actual benefits have accrued.  One can but hope.
Continue reading “The Amtec Contract”

Tk-Maxx Jobs – The Final Figure

Tk_Maxx opens today on Bridge Street, at 9pm Thursday 26th May 2011, after being given £750,000 by Peterborough City Council to encourage them to come to Peterborough.
Here are some job forecasts for the store, together with the final figure for jobs created..
Continue reading “Tk-Maxx Jobs – The Final Figure”

Daniel Karlin and Barb Jungr on Bob Dylan at 70 – Nightwaves

22:00 24th May 2011
Nightwaves BBC Radio 3

(MUSIC: DYLAN: BEYOND HERE LIES NOTHIN’)

ANNE MCELVOY:Bob Dylan at three score years and ten. The singer who defined the social changes of the 1960s celebrates his birthday this week, with a spate of new biographies, all trying to unravel the abiding appeal of Dylan’s 50 year career, and his secretive personal life.
As a young man, Dylan bestrode the American music scene, with his mixture of folk and blues-rooted music and poetic lyrics, delivered in that inimitable reedy voice. Like his famous lyric, Dylan has remained a rolling stone, frequently changing his style with, as he defiantly sang, no direction home. That certainly proved true in the last two decades. His Never Ending Tour commenced in June 1988, and Dylan has played roughly 100 dates a year since. Now he’s been rediscovered by the singer Barb Jungr, who’s versions of his classics have won critical plaudits. She joined me earlier from her own slightly shorter tour in Lincoln, and so did Daniel Karlin, Professor of English Literature at Bristol University, who’s an expert on Dylan’s lyrics. I started by asking Daniel what appeal a popular music lyricist held for an English literature expert. Continue reading “Daniel Karlin and Barb Jungr on Bob Dylan at 70 – Nightwaves”

Transformation with V4 Services and Verto in Peterborough

Many will remember that the subject of consultants has been rumbling on here, ever since Cllr Mike Fletcher asked some difficult questions back in January 2010 and later. If this means nothing to you, and you’d like to find out more, here is as good a place as any to start.

If you’d rather have a quick summary, here it is. Peterborough City Council have spent many millions per year on consultants, in order to achieve claimed savings of many more millions. Others dispute the benefits. What follows is one person’s interpretation of the situation.
Continue reading “Transformation with V4 Services and Verto in Peterborough”

Green Backyard and Seeding Futures – Updated

A recent commenter worries about Green Backyard and Seeding Futures, the latter having received £6,000 capital investment from Council in January. Seeding Futures are based at the hospice at Thorpe Hall, where there were previously some good things, including a small plant centre often useful. Let’s hope this is the start of a Council-funded revival.
Continue reading “Green Backyard and Seeding Futures – Updated”

BBC World Service News 09:00 GMT Sunday 22nd May 2011

BBC World Service News
09:00 GMT Sunday 22nd May 2011
Newsreader: Jonathan Izard

President Obama has indicated that he would be prepared to order another covert operation against Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders in Pakistan, despite the row with Islamabad that followed the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Mr Obama was speaking in a BBC interview. Steve Kingston reports from Washington. (TAPE) The discovery and killing of the Al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan shattered relations between Washington and Islamabad. But Mr. Obama says that if the target is right, he’s prepared to do the same again. He was asked by the BBC’s Andrew Marr whether he would order a similar strike against the Taliban leader Mullah Omar. Continue reading “BBC World Service News 09:00 GMT Sunday 22nd May 2011”