By-elections, it's market time, ban Heinz, and fortnightly - rubbish.

After the sad death of Cllr. Mike Oborski a by-election is being held on April 12th. Why am I mentioning it? Because there's district elections being held on 3rd May. One intelligent chap asks about the cost of holding two elections, but if they don't hold the election that ward will not have a representative for an entire three weeks! Their views won't be heard and the whole place will spiral into chaos. As my father pointed out "It would be interesting to find out who asked for this".


The Focus on Stourport article in the Shuttle had a big announcement - a new weekly market (yay about time) in Raven Street (yay a good location) on Tuesday (hmm) between 9.30 and 4.30 (ah). <waves hand> Just like to point out...work! Not all of us can just pop into town for some shopping; any reason it couldn't be held on a Saturday or Sunday?


Well we knew it was happening the last bottle of HP sauce to be made in the UK rolled off the line. They've moved to the Netherlands after the Aston site was deemed non-viable. So one assumes that they'll no longer be displaying Westminster Palace on the label. More on the story at Brown Sauce


"Oh woe is me" cry the populace "They want to switch to a fortnightly pick-up for normal refuse" Cue images of bags left piled on the street and complaints about hygiene. Okay here's the deal if you can't fit all your rubbish in the bin, if you have to leave bags out - you're producing too much rubbish. Sorry it's really that simple change your damn lifestyle; if you're still producing all that stuff then take it to the tip yourself you lazy bugger. Stop whining on about how difficult this is making life for you.

"Hygiene!" they cry. Put the damn lid on tightly or better yet two words - composting bin. "We haven't got a garden" fair point but you probably know someone who has and if you petitioned your council maybe you can get them to pick it all up, just like they did in the war, and sent elsewhere. I'm sure you make a big fuss over organic foods well help grow them.

"You've got to clean the bottles!". Oh yes you've got to clean the bottles you poor thing, I know someone who complained about this "I've got a dishwasher, I'd be wasting water if I put them in there 'cos they don't fit in with the dishes" You've got a bloody sink! All you've got to do is rinse them out, they get cleaned properly at the recycling site. Gods the fact he only even considered the dish-washer made me despair.

"We've got infants, those nappies take up space" Oh right in ye olden days before disposables infants just used to lie naked "We haven't got the time to wash up towelling" Otherwise known as they're smelly and yuck lumpy and we can't just bung them straight into the washing machine like the lazy sods we are we'd much prefer to just dump them in a bin.

Councils need to take an active role too; the talented, intelligent, and beautiful Susanna Reid made the point that there are some recyclables the councils don't take. A particular bug-bear of mine is that thicker cardboard isn't collected here, the type that comes through the post for mail-order, the type that Amazon use. I get rid of it properly, but how many would just stuff it in the main bin? Some councils don't even seem to be providing a proper sturdy main bin to put rubbish in, no wonder you're complaining if you have to pack everything in black bin-bags. That's a fault with the council though not the process.

Really though is this the state the country's come to? If it's not instantly easy and convenient we don't want to know. I'm waiting for someone to suggest that we just do what we used to and bung everything in the one bin and make the council sort it out. Why stop there, it's so much of a hassle walking to the bin to put things in I should just be able to drop it on the floor and the council can come along every day and clean my place up.

I'm just fed-up with the whining, you want something to whine about how about the councils cut the collection all together and make you take your own rubbish to the tip. They'd sense the apoplexy from Mars.