'Wheelies' are wonderful (From Gazette & Herald)

'Wheelies' are wonderful

WRITING this on the eve of Good Friday, and the day the Gazette is on the newstands, the letters columns are full of the recent rates demands facing us all. I don't recall such reaction for many years - in fact ever - and it seems our essential services seem to be coming top-heavy as far as their costs are concerned. Trying to understand details on the broadsheet which came with the rates demand is difficult for the man and woman in the street. Expenditure under its various headings means little except to those "in the know", for what the various headings such as central services, or cultural and related services actually embrace is mumbo-jumbo to most of us, and the nitty gritty bits like salaries, which seems to be what every ratepayer is interested to know, is embraced under some huge heading. Nevertheless, 78pc of ratepayers think that the council's performance is good, and I expect, compared with many other district councils in the country Ryedale must surely hold a high position.

A couple of items stand out, firstly the parking business which has dragged on far too long, and why the members of the council thought so differently to the ratepayers is difficult to understand - surely before they take a decision they must have a feeling as to what the people are thinking. Anyway, a sort-of solution has been arrived at, but not an all-embracing one, for those who were able to use the annual allowance to go towards their parking permit have simply lost out completely. This is very unfair to many hundreds, perhaps thousands of ratepayers.

On the credit side, the wheelie bins are forever being lauded as the best thing since sliced bread. Not that we all prefer sliced bread, but you know what I mean. There's hardly a week goes by without someone commenting favourably on the "wheelies". They seem to have made such a wonderful difference to almost every household. It must be borne in mind that, whilst we pay our rates to Ryedale District Council, they are collecting on behalf of several other bodies, whose demand for more of our money have increased, with county council services reporting an increase of 9.75pc and the police services putting a heavy demand on top of this.

The police budget statement started off with 'The Police Authority has decided to spend £93.142m in 2002/3. Note the wording! Actually "decided" before they even get it. 'Nuff said! Another new communication system being implemented involves more costs, yet to the man in the street, getting to speak to his local office has never been so bad. Trouble was, we got in the hands of the whiz kids and the simple things disappeared. Extra pensions this year is going to cost us over £3m and the new national allowance scheme for members of the police authority is based on a rate of £17 per hour up to a maximum of £7,500 for an ordinary member, of which there are 17 of them. For this day, they "should" put in at least 1 to 1 days a week, yet North Yorkshire has adopted levels of payment which are actually below the recommended minimum at £7,000. It's a "them and us" society today, without a doubt.

The Police News reports that the service was on target to reach a record level of 1,420 officers, which is good news, although, allowing for a smattering of officers, I'll settle for police constables please.

An interesting point from the crime audit for 2001 is that Malton and Norton have seen a decrease in dwelling burglary since 99/00. There were 82 thefts of motor vehicles in Ryedale, the most common make stolen was Ford, and the most popular colour was red. As Ford is the biggest selling make in the country and red is the most popular colour sold, then this is to be expected. Many points raised in this audit, both good and bad, and the final conclusion is that Ryedale is a good place to live.

The fire and rescue service states that chip-pan fires account for the alrgest cause of domestic blazes, along with faulty wiring and electrical equipment. Disturbingly, most homes don't have a smoke alarm fitted, despite their cheapness. Fitzwilliam estate have grasped the nettle in this respect and are fitting them free to all their domestic tenancies, which is an excellent example to set!

Some adverts raise a smile don't they, like the "partner-seeking" one I saw this week. "Need someone special, Own teeth preferred" - the mind boggles! And the card in a supermarket "Oak gents wardrobe". Not a lot of oak gents about these days.

Old adage. "All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies." John Arbuthnot (1667-1735) Englishman.

Updated: 11:17 Thursday, April 11, 2002