My discovery: First Bus's £125k bill to Terror Police

You probably, like me, gaped when you found out: That First Bus has charged Avon and Somerset Police £125,000 - yes, £125 GRAND, for CCTV footage to help investigate the case of Andrew Ibrahim.

I used a Freedom of Information Act to find out how much the police have been charged.

First Bus say that they have charged so much because equiptment needed to be removed to help the police in their investigations. But given that the entire purpose of a CCTV camera is ultimately to help police with their investigations, I find it extraordinary that it should cost so much.

I have written to Justin Davies, Director of First Bus, demanding an explanation for the obscenely high bill they sent to First Bus. I will keep you posted.

See how HTV West reported the story here
BBC News Website here
The Evening Post here

Over 200 Protesters: Over 1000 signatures say: Save our Post Office!

Over 200 local residents joined in the protest march to save Wellington Hill West Post Office, and post offices across Bristol on Saturday.

Together, we marched from The Beehive Pub to rally outside Wellington Hill West Post Office, which despite being one of the busiest branches in the area, is threatened with closure.
Then we went on to march up Henleaze Road to form the longest post office queue Bristol has ever seen outside Henleaze Road post office, to illustrate:

1. How difficult it will be for the elderly and disabled to make it to the next nearest post office. ( I like to think of myself as a pretty energetic type, but it WAS a bit of a walk!)

2. The chaos at Henleaze Road Post Office at busy times like the run up to Christmas.
Many older residents told me that they were sorry but they wouldn't actually be able to make it all the way up to Henleaze Road Post Office since it was too far for them to be able to walk - which tragically proves the point.

It was really disappointing to see that Doug Naysmith MP, representing the local Labour party voted in favour of the closures in a recent debate in the House of Commons - but local people have made their voice heard as strongly as they can: Post Offices matter - for residents, for local business, for the community. It is wrong to close them down - particularly when sub-postmasters are ready, willing and able to make their small business more viable. But the Government and Post Office Ltd. seem determined not to let them make a go of it, but to axe them instead.

The consultation closes on April 9th. I am submitting a full report together with over 1000 signatures and comments from local people against the closure. We'll have to await the verdict of Post Office ltd which will be announced in a few weeks - but a huge thanks to all those residents who came out in force to oppose the closures. We really have done everything we can.

ps. If you're wondering about that big white envelope thing in the corner of the picture - it's a stiff letter to Post Office Ltd. - On cardboard... (groan now.)

Let Bristol decide about Road Pricing !

Sign up for a say on whether you should pay a road-toll: http://www.bristol.gov.uk/item/epetition.html

You may have picked up the Evening Post and found me glaring out at you today from a traffic island. I have set up a petition on the Council’s website to ask for a referendum on road pricing before a pilot scheme goes ahead.

Click on the link below for the full Evening Post story.

(http://www.thisisbristol.com/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144913&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231190&home=yes&more_nodeId1=144922&contentPK=17756360)

Sitting on the traffic-island fence?

I think the journalist on the end of the phone was a bit upset that I wasn’t going to shake my fists and yell ‘No Road Charge!’. I also think he was a bit miffed that I didn’t get all militant in favour of road charging. I suspect there are already Bristol bloggers out there joyously accusing me of opportunism and other people saying I’m just sitting on the traffic-island fence about it all. So let me explain why I have not waved my fist either for or against road charging yet, and why I want a Bristol referendum:

There really are good arguments both for and against road-pricing. You’re not stupid, you can think of the main ones, but simply put:

For:

• On the one hand, global warming is a real threat to our way of life (Though I admit, it’s hard to believe anything’s warming up today.) We must reduce carbon emissions and our reliance on the car.



• Bristol at peak hour is grid-locked. Congestion is costing Bristol business approximately £1m per week. Not good, and only going to get worse…



• Drastic times call for drastic measures, some might say. No one wants to pay more tax, but is it the only way to find the money needed to improve our public transport?

Against:

• It’s not fair to make people pay an extra tax when they have no option but to use their car.


• Businesses in the zone may suffer.


• It will not reduce carbon emissions, or congestion, it will simply push it all just outside the zone. Into places like Westbury-on-Trym, Horfield, Henleaze and Stoke-Bishop to name but a few.


• There are other measures we should try first before resorting to this.


• Extra money is no guarantee that public transport will improve. Real improvement needs a change in infrastructure, not simply more money poured into to the same financial sieve.

We deserve answers to important transport questions…
There are questions that need answering before we can really make a proper decision about a road tax. A referendum would force these questions out into the open to be discussed rigorously and answered properly and precisely.

One major factor is how would the money raised be spent? Would it really go to improve public transport? How exactly (with figures and costings and bus routes…)?

How about a Greater Bristol Transport Authority?
The congestion charge in London only works because there is a good public transport alternative and transport is run by an independent body, Transport for London. (TFL). I believe we need a Bristol area equivalent: A Greater Bristol Transport Authority. (GBTA, if you like acronyms.)

Any successful transport strategy must extend beyond simply city boundaries to Banes, South Glos. And North Somerset. We need to be sure that the money raised does not get soaked up in miscellaneous Council business, but goes straight to transport. We need an authority that can make decisions for the good of the city, untouched by political concerns and council election disruption. A GBTA would do this.

There was a referendum on road-charging in Edinburgh, and the people rejected it. That was largely because the Council had not shown they would spend the money well by ‘front-loading’ the road-charging with improved public transport.

I for one need to be assured that Bristol City Council really would spend my money well if they taxed me to use my car. And I would need to be able to get from A to B on public transport instead.

No one wants to pay more tax. But most of us see the need to reduce carbon emissions and our daily congestion. A referendum would both put the decision in the hands of the people who will have to pay for it, and it will ensure that these questions are asked and answered so that the people of Bristol can make a proper, informed decision.

What do you think?