HMV is dead – long live the High Street
It is a curious thing, but the demise of HMV and chain stores of its genre may just be the saving of many high streets. Over four decades, the character of far too many high streets has been eroded by…
Andy Boddington
Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow North
Andy Boddington
Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow North
Month January 2013
Chirbury hedgerows victory – for now
I was out strolling in the woods this morning when BBC Radio Shropshire rang asking to speak about the hedgerow row. I began to talk to Jim Hawkins not even knowing that the application had been withdrawn, Of course, I…
Legal action against the Rutland Three has scary implications for democracy
Rutland is a small and beautiful county caught up in a big and ugly row. Council leaders and officers have been facing vocal and persistent opposition from three independent councillors who style themselves the Rutland Anti-Corruption Group. The council has…
Raising a glass to the pub adjudicator and the great British pub
Struggling publicans will soon be able to appeal to independent adjudicator Vince Cable, Lib Dem Business Secretary announced yesterday. I’ll raise a glass to that! Pubs are at the heart of British life. They are infinitely varied, unlike the monotonous…
Shropshire’s historic hedgerows under threat
Update: Application withdrawn on 17 January 2013 There are almost unprecedented plans to plough out 7 miles of hedgerow near Chirbury. If proposals like this are nodded through, large areas of Shropshire could soon become barren wastelands, denuded of beauty…
What a bad start for the West Mercia Police Commissioner!
An excellent expose by Chris Burn in the Shropshire Star yesterday reveals just how much the new Police and Crime Commissioner, Bill Longmore, will be costing the citizens West Mercia. Curiously, this cost was not mentioned when the three candidates…