It’s that time of year again in the Ribble Valley, the time when the state funded cardigan wearers send their bill out to the hard working public.

It was recently suggested that life in the Ribble Valley was the best in the country, with green spaces, rolling hills, quaint villages and gastropubs and this may be the case, unless you receive a council tax bill.

At £3148 a year I’m not convinced.

Expensive Rubbish Removal

It is a lot of money to have my dustbins emptied, and I even have to take them to the end of the track and return them.

This is after I have cleaned up the flotsam that has been left blowing around by the ‘operatives’.

Just what are the people of the Ribble Valley, and those that fund Lancashire County Council paying for?

Unwanted Initiatives

The introduction of unused cycle lanes and roundabouts in Preston? Development of bus lanes?

The targeting of car users resulting in the demise of the high street in every town across the county?

The pursuit of the rebuilding of a demolished public house that closed because no-one used it?

Perhaps the enormous levels of money are being put to good use in the regeneration of some of the areas of Lancashire? Not from where I’m sat they’re not.

So where is it going?

What Does the Bill Say?

Other than the brief breakdown of the bill there is little to suggest just what our hard earned salaries are being ‘invested’ into.

The fire service, the police, the parish council and social care – all givens and minimal amounts, although I see that Lancashire Constabulary have increased their charge by 4.8 %.

This is no doubt a reward for their enormous successes in the South Ribble Area as part of Operation Centurion where they proudly announced that they had an extra 68 officers on the ground for a month and these officers attended 42 jobs!

An outstanding result of less than 1 job, per officer, across the entire month and well deserving of a funding hike.

Are We Getting Value For Money?

Unless you work for one of the councils then I suspect that you’d say not. Just what is happening to our hard earned salaries and our non-optional payments to the local authorities?

Are we simply funding the lifestyles of Comrade Clipboard and his cardigan and trouser suited wearing ‘colleagues’ who flit from meeting to meeting with other ‘stakeholders’?

Nothing Important Comes to Mind

There really seems to be no return upon the ‘investment’ that I make in the form of my council tax payments.

The important things such as helping homeless veterans, pensioners, maintenance of the roads, creation of jobs, regional regeneration and others, all appear to be firmly at the bottom of the list of priorities.

Perhaps I am wrong, but I suspect that it is far easier for the ‘colleagues’ at the councils, to dream up ridiculous ‘objectives’ that are, no doubt, discussed in a plethora of meetings and email wars, than it is to make a difference by meeting the needs of the majority.

Negligent Manslaughter

It is, of course, plausible that the councils are simply creating a war chest in preparation for the inevitable claims that will occur when one of the cyclists that they have so avidly encouraged hits a pot hole ( that they have so avidly ignored)

Note, I hope this never happens to anyone but with the state of the roads it is becoming more and more possible.

How long before someone is killed on the roads as a direct result of a council’s failure to maintain the highway?

Will there be a case for negligent manslaughter if and when this occurs?