Dear Merrick,
In reply to an FOI request Ms Tot Brill has said that the Council plan to spend a million pounds of taxpayer’s money on an Exhibition Road Show to run for 9 days between 20th July and 12th August this year. Ostensibly this is to celebrate both the Olympics and the opening of the ‘new’ £22.4 million Exhibition Rd. As RBKC has already spent near £30,000 on the opening in February this year a second celebration seems unnecessary. The Road Show will feature outdoors dance, including ballroom, film, live and recorded music and other entertainment including the aerial type. Up to 10 mobile bars will serve alcohol. As the ‘premises’ is Exhibition Rd itself there will be no control on numbers present which with the ample alcohol supply could well lead to some public order problems. Exhibition Rd itself will be closed for parts of this period and residents parking removed. The whole Road Show will cause massive noise and nuisance problems to local residents and businesses who will already be inconvenienced by the Olympics itself. RBKC appears to be serving its own desires and not the community whose objections to the event have been ignored. It is scandalous that this expenditure is taking place in these austere times when cuts are being made.The expenditure involved equates to 500 households paying band H council tax. It is puzzling as to why this Show is being held at all in view of the many existing planned events in the Cultural Olympiade. And why hold it on Exhibition Rd where maximum inconvenience to residents will be caused. Why not Holland Park instead where there is space for people and noise dissipation? With a near £150M deficit in the Council’s Pension Scheme spending £1M on the frippery of a Road Show seems to show a lack of grip on the proper use of taxpayers money.
Kind regards
Gordon Taylor
At a time of supposed austerity this is obscene, with cuts to children's services, vulnerable adult services, they have the audacity to use OUR money for such dangerous nonsense.
ReplyDeleteCamaroon said recently that he leads a busy life not just dealing with things happening in the country, but with local government ie Tory run councils.
Where is he now to stop this insanity? Oh yes trying to dismantle the EU what a great distractioin technique, it seems to be the only thing he's good at.
In the meantime the country is falling around our necks leaving vulnerable people even more vulnerable.
They are a disgrace.
Thank goodness for for Dr Gordon Taylor and his clear way of exposing another scandal from this morally decrepit Cockell Administration
ReplyDeleteWhat more do the pathetic Conservative backbenchers need before they rid residents of this menace?
Unbelievable. Just unbeleivable
ReplyDeleteThe question to be asked is "Why is Tot Brill still employed and given huge sums of money to play with?"
ReplyDeleteWhen senior executives become surplus to requirements they should be sent home on full pay to work out their notice. This is called "gardening leave" Keeping them in the office creates idle hands with nothing to do - and these idle hands then proceed to cause havoc and waste huge sums of money
In the case of K&C it adds to the burden for taxpayers of "too many Councillors with not enough to do and too much money to spend". The cancer expands to embrace "too many Officers with not enough to do and too much money to spend"
People who continue to be employed after their job ceases to exist are of no benefit to an organisation. In fact they contribute to the decline of focus, purpose and morale. A very bad practice indeed
ReplyDeleteMaking work for idle hands.
ReplyDeleteHas RBKC at last gone stark staring raving mad? As well as being an obscene waste of money, dishing out alcohol from up to 10 street bars is a recipe for disaster. The public order issues alone should prevent this dreadful event from happening. Cllr Miss Weatherhead should wield her Licensing stick to ban it.
ReplyDeleteA band or H band residents deserve protection from potential public disorder and public nuisance. During the Olympics there will be insufficient police available to keep order. Nor will there be enough portaloos. Exhibitionist Road will need hosing down after each of the 9 days of "celebration." Doubtless some of the £1 million of our wasted money will be set aside to pay for it.
The Council would do better to address the large number of empty shops along Kensington High Street. Another of Cllr Moylan's disastrous projects, built at the expense of long suffering residents.
The Proms will be well underway at this time - a far more appropriate Cultural celebration (as opposed to the kind of "culture" which will doubtless feature here) - and at no cost to the RBK&C tax-payer.
ReplyDelete