Teignbridge District Council give up, plan to get Muse to do job

There's a germ of an idea lurking in Teignbridge councillor Jeremy Christophers' plan to ask Muse to run the district for a day. Unfortunately, that germ has been submerged in a gimmicky stunt:

Jeremy Christophers, who is the leader of Teignbridge District Council, said: "We're still in talks to get things sorted. It's vital for the council to engage with the younger generation."

He also claimed that the political themes of the band's most recent album, 'The 2nd Law', made them suitable candidates for the role. "Muse have been busy on tour promoting their album 'The 2nd Law'," he said. "The album has songs about global warming and sustainable living, which are important issues."

Well, yes, Muse are interested in that. The problem is that local politics has a focus on getting the opening hours right at Newton Abbot Swimming Pool and making sure that the recycling bins of Dawlish Warren are emptied on time.

Those are important things too, but it's not entirely clear by having Matt Bellamy stand in the council offices talking about ecogeddon is going to link the kids (by which we actually mean Muse fans, who are increasingly-less-young people) with the debate over double-yellow lines in Teignbridge.

After all, Westminster City Council had one of Blur actually fighting for a seat and that didn't do much for the turnout.

Freebutt: The council statement

An anonymous commenter on the Freebutt story seems quite upset that No Rock's coverage of the Save The Freebutt campaign hasn't been balanced enough for their liking and demanded to know why we hadn't put the other side of the story. Apparently, only quoting Brighton And Hove Council on the original post somehow doesn't count.

Still, to avoid the Glasgow Media Group being alerted and heading down to investigate the shoddy quality of reporting on a sarcastic music blog, here is the council's most recent press release:

The council has made plain it has no interest in closing down a Brighton music venue over noise problems.

Officials say that while the Freebutt pub near The Level is causing a nuisance to local residents, it feels the situation can be resolved.

In a statement the council said:

“The council doesn’t want the Freebutt closed, isn’t trying to close it and does not believe it needs to close because of noise.

“We have written to the pub asking for a convenient time to visit so that their electronic noise limiter can be reset. We feel that if it was working as expected they could still run excellent gigs without bothering local residents.

“While the council feels live music is very important to the city, people’s right to peace in their own home is sacrosanct. The family home was there when the current management took over the Freebutt so they would have known noise was an issue.

“Their campaign material appears misleading and we have concerns for the feelings of residents. The council has a duty to investigate and remedy complaints on noise and can not be diverted by campaigns such as this.

“It has now been four months since the pub received a noise abatement notice and although the council acknowledges that some works have been carried out to manage the noise, further action is still required.”

The council doesn't actually say why it feels the campaign material "appears to be misleading" - to be honest, the Council and the Freebutt seem to be the same on details; the question is whether the noise limiter could be taken down further without ruining the point of having an event which relies on amplified noise.

So, just in case anyone was under the impression that the Freebutt were in disagreement with another party without, somehow, the other side having a different view of the matter, hopefully that's clearer now.

"Turn left at Sympathy For The Devil Close and take the shortcut through State Of Shock Drive..."

Dartford - boyhood home of Jagger and Richards - is proud of its famous sons. It gives them something to talk about other than the tunnel. So, how better to celebrate a new housing estate than to give the streets names related to Rolling Stones songs?

Yes, there's even a Ruby Tuesday Drive, which if isn't already the name for a sex act presumably will be by sunset tonight.

What this really tells us is not how proud Dartford are of the Stones, but what the vintage of the council who approved the idea is:

Leader of the council, Jeremy Kite, said he thought Ruby Tuesday Drive sounded a "fantastic" place to live.

Passing Americans will assume it's named after an unpleasant chain restaurant, and expect to see an intersection with Red Lobster Avenue, but let's give Kite his moment:

"It is a very groovy development - a very modern, creative community and I think people will enjoy the street names," he said.

Yes, he did just call it a "groovy" development. He really, really did. In 2008. Dartford Council have told the Ordnance Survey to not feature the new housing estate on its maps, as the only directions you need are that, man, it's just out there.

Kite doesn't explain why a modern community would be the best place to slap down some names of songs that are the best part of half a century old - he was presumably on his way to open the Ivor Gurney Youth Centre.

Gordon in the morning: Ex-minus

Having confused his Macca and his Mucca yesterday, today Gordon Smart's report on Heather Mills alleged building of a swimming pool without planning permission makes an even more surprising error:

The estranged wife of Sir Paul McCartney was threatened with court action after refusing to take down a 130ft by 70ft tent after neighbours complained about noise.

Is Gordon the last person in the country to not have heard about that divorce settlement where Mills ceased to be McCartney's wife in anything other than the "ex" sense? It was in all the papers, Gordon.

Still - well done on correcting the Mucca/Macca slip-up in yesterday's entry. You're still spelling "hear" incorrectly, though.

Back from the brink: Chicago abandons plans to destory live music

Chicago came within an ace of passing a new "promoter's ordinance" which, amongst other things, would have required promoters to have nearly a third of a million dollars' worth of insurance, have a licence which would require fingerprinting and a background check, and for the police to have seven days' notice of all events.

We figure the police were just trying to save on the cost of a copy of the local listings magazine, but even so - it was tantamount to telling people not to bother coming to play music in the city.

The good news is the outcry has had the proposal put on hold - but only for now. Alderman Eugene Schulter has withdrawn his plan for "fine-tuning", which suggests he sees it as slightly damaged, rather than fundamentally flawed.

Capital of Culture year: turmoil kicks in before it even starts

The omens for Liverpool's year as the European Capital of Culture aren't looking good.

The worries that visitors would be greeted by an enormous building site - rejected as scaremongering back when the planning was underway - have been borne out by experience; last week, plans were announced to cover some derelict buildings, like teenagers hiding unwashed pants behind the curtains; unfortunately, little can be done about the numerous building sites cluttering the city centre - especially with four sites being closed down following the collapse of the Livesey Building Company.

Meanwhile, funding for the year has turned into a nightmare, with the council suddenly realising it's about twenty million quid short for its plans. Before the year even begins. Like a drunk flogging his kidney for a bottle of booze, the council is now considering flogging off property owned by the people of the city to try and avoid the place going all Northern Rock.

They might wind up having to flog the Town Hall at the rate they're burning through the cash: Jason Harbarrow is due to be canned from his role running the year (and what better time to lose your pilot than, erm, nine days from the start?); he could be due up to a quarter of a million quid in severance pay, to say nothing of the costs of recruiting a replacement at short notice.

There's still the question of what exactly happened with the late cancellation of the Mathew Street Festival, as well: "Independent" council appointee Standards Board chairman Howard Winik has compared the two versions of the report on the event - one produced by the non-independent-at-all internal enquiry and one after it had been revised by council leader Warren Bradley, and declared there was no funny business:

“I have read and compared the report in the form originally handed to the leader of the council with the published report.

“I have ascertained and read each amendment. A few of the amendments were corrections of factual errors and some were typographical and grammatical corrections.

“Some amendments went to the emphasis put on certain matters by the interpretation of the investigating officers.

“I am satisfied that none of the amendments affect the substance of the findings. The recommendations of the two reports remained the same.”

Which makes you wonder why Bradley was so terse about anyone not from his team looking at the original version: are we really expected to believe that a document was considered so sensitive it could only be read by a Labour councillor under supervision and on the strict understanding that he not divulge the contents to a living soul simply because it contained a smattering of typos?

Oh, and Bradley and Mike Storey are to be investigated by the nation standards board for England and Wales over claims relating to the treatment of Jason Harborow. Storey has previously been censured by the board for bringing the council into disrepute over his struggles with David Henshaw, former Liverpool City Council Chief Executive.

Strangely, none of this found its way into the Liverpool nativity/

Dolly Parton splits Rotherham council

You'd have thought the burghers of Rotherham would have been delighted: Dolly Parton has chosen their town to be the site of the UK launch of her reading scheme, the Imagination Library. The council has arranged a small jolly for the elected few, with a bit of nosebag and a chance to shake the hand of Ms Parton.

Not everyone, though, is thrilled: Tony Mannion, who sits on the council as an independent, is fuming that Dolly is delaying the start of council business by an hour:

I’m boycotting the lunch and I am outraged that democracy is being put on hold because of a celebrity,” Mr Mannion told The Times. “I have nothing against Dolly Parton. Not that I know much about her except that she sang 9 to 5. That’s about the top and bottom of my knowledge. And I think the literacy scheme is a good idea. My objection is over the timing. We have vital business to discuss, for example the siting of a power station in the middle of a nature reserve. And we have few enough council meetings as it is.

“I’ve spoken to the Labour leader. Apparently, he’s a Dolly Parton fan. I suppose my complaints will fall on deaf ears and that some might say it’s a storm in a D-cup, or double D-cup. But it’s the principle.

Mr Mannion, then, appears to also know about Dolly's breasts as well as her having sung 9 to 5.

Mathew Street: Bradley orders internal inquiry

It looks like Warren Bradley has held on to his job, despite the Mathew Street Festival fiasco in Liverpool. He's ordered an internal whitewash inquiry into his council's inability to organise the Festival, and the last-minute late cancellation. Of course, it might not be a whitewash, but considering the amount of damage the late dropping of the event could have done to the local economy, at the very leats an independent investigation might look a little more open.

Mathew Street screw-up threatens Liverpool Council head

Liverpool City Council leader Warrern Bradley is facing a no-confidence motion at tonight's council meeting, following his part in the costly last-minute cancellation of the Mathew Street Festival.

Somewhat surprisingly, Bradley is trying to suggest that his confidence or lack of it to head up the council shouldn't be an issue because there are more important matters to discuss:

Cllr Bradley said he had no intention of stepping down, describing the call as a “political stunt”.

He claimed it detracted from issues such as a debate on tackling gun crime after the death of Rhys Jones, which was due to take place at the town hall meeting.

You have to love the logic of a man who won't accept criticism of the way the city he is the leader of is heading because they've got to find time to talk about the gangs of youths running round with guns and the murder of eleven year-old kids on the street. The casual observer might wonder if, in fact, the gun crime in the city is another symptom of weak leadership rather than something of itself, and if a man who is incapable of organising a few Beatles tribute acts and a bit of a street party is going to have the skills the "city of culture" needs to get through 2008 with a more, rather than less, positive public image at the end of it.

Vote Dave

Dave Rowntree is taking first steps towards becoming Prime Minister, throwing his aeroplane goggles into the council elections this May. Rowntree will be standing in the May 5th elections, running as a Labour candidate:

"I've been a long-standing member of the Labour party and active in local politics for a while.

"I'm a Westminster resident and in my experience of living here, it all looks lovely - there are hanging baskets everywhere - but you only need to scratch beneath the surface and see that there's a lot of deprivation and a lot of inequality around. I think someone needs to do something about it."

Rowntree will be standing in Marylebone High Street ward [pdf] (the councillor for BBC London 94.9, of course); the official document of nomination lists his full name (David Alexander De Horne Rowntree), which might swing some of the Tory votes his way.

There's no borough-wide elections in Westminster this May, this is a by-election to fill a vacant seat, but at the 2006 election the ward returned three tories with around 1,200 votes each; the Lib Dem and Labour candidates scored in the higher 200s. So, probably unlikely Dave will be delivering a victory speech.

The other candidates for the Marylebone High Street ward are Stuart Bonar (Liberal Democrats), Colin Merton (UKIP), and Ian Rowley (Conservative)