Localism Bill RSS feed for the Localism Bill tag
found 18 stories.
Comment
Stuart Williams Bloxidge Tallygraph 28 Feb 11
Today is the end of an era. Walsall’s first, and so far only, online news aggregator – TheYamYam.com – is closing its curtains, shutting its doors, giving up the ghost and turning a proverbial Norwegian Blue.
And while this may not perhaps seem a matter of such moment as when the near-150 year history of the dear old Walsall Observer was callously screwed up and thrown away like so much chip paper a couple of years ago, 28 February 2011 does have some of the feel of the dark day when that sad demise was announced.
When The Yam Yam’s website arrived on the scene, things looked up considerably for local news in Walsall. The Obbo was on its way out, the Express & Star was getting ready to flog off its expensive new Walsall offices and decamp to Wolverhampton and West Brom, and the Advertiser had never really been a Walsall paper in the first place…
Comment
Bob Piper 28 Feb 11
So, it seems today may well be the last for the The YamYam. If it was just another blogger calling it a day it would be sad. But let’s face it, life’s like that.
People have a burst of enthusiasm, blog dementedly for a couple of years, then move on to twitter, facebook or… just get a life. It happens all the while. But, believe it or not, even when (self-proclaimed?) blogging ‘experts’ and ‘superstars’ like Iain Dale and Tom Harris exit stage left, people respectfully express their regrets and move on. The cemeteries are full of people who they or others thought were indispensable.
But The YamYam has meant something different to a small black country town like Walsall. We are talking of a place that has no newspaper worthy of the name. The nearest you could come to that description is the…
News
Donna Bowater B'ham Post 15 Feb 11
The Birmingham group praised by David Cameron for inspiring his Big Society vision is facing a 30 per cent funding drop.
The Prime Minister said the drive to turn around Balsall Heath, which was once a crime and prostitution hotspot, was behind his Big Society initiative.
But St Paul’s Community Development Trust, which was set up in the 70s to improve education in the area, will see its budget from Birmingham City Council cut by almost a third this year…
Comment
Harry Phibbs Conservative Home 17 Jan 11
There have been suggestions recently of disquiet among Conservative councillors over funding cuts. However, I am assured that the mood at a meeting on Downing Street last week with a large number of Conservative council leaders was very upbeat with a warm welcome for the Localism Bill.
The Prime Minister David Cameron spoke as did Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.
Here are some photographs of the event…
Business
Marc Reeves BusinessDesk 13 Jan 11
State of the Region
Businesses in the West Midlands are more worried about the impact on the economy of Government cuts than their counterparts in other regions.
In TheBusinessDesk.com’s State of the Region Survey, run in conjunction with law firm DLA Piper, 52% of West Midlands businesses said they believed the Coalition Government would have a negative impact on the UK economy. Only 12% of readers of our sister site in Yorkshire thought the same.
However, 40% of respondents said they were feeling more confident about the economy that they were 12 months ago, and most said they saw public spending cuts as ‘painful but necessary’…
Business
Tamlyn Jones BusinessDesk 12 Jan 11
State of the Region
Not a single business person in the West Midlands is prepared to claim they fully understand the future role of the new Local Enterprise Partnerships.
As the Coalition Government continues its sweeping changes following 13 years of Labour rule, the region’s business community is left wondering what is going on and some are feeling very negative about the new administration…
Business
Marc Reeves BusinessDesk 10 Jan 11
The man who described new Local Enterprise Partnerships as ‘puddles ’ that were too small to be effective has turned his sights on the Government’s Localism agenda.
Dr David Hardman, chief executive of Birmingham Science Park Aston said there was a risk that the proposals in the White Paper ‘Local Growth: Realising Every Place’s Potential’ could lead to fragmentation, duplication and inequalities across the UK’s business start-up centres, which are primarily focused in science parks.
Comment
Graham Cornfield i-tms 6 Jan 11
At the end of 2010 people kept asking “Where has this year gone?” and I’m afraid I don’t have the answer. What I do know is that 12 months ago I was Operations Director on half salary working for a small software house that was way over exposed, financially. Misery was the norm and I was a true cynic who saw little positive in the world and no way out.
Fortunately, I decided that I’d had enough and handed in my resignation thinking “sod the consequences, I’ll get me a new job”. And here I am running my own business having met (and collaborated with many) fantastic people through “Traditional” and Social Networking. My faith in the human race is restored and I think that 2011 is the beginning of a golden age for small businesses…
News
Express & Star 21 Dec 10
The high speed rail route between London and the West Midlands has been altered after furious opposition from residents. The new preferred HS2 route announced by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond will bypass Lichfield and Whittington.
Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant said: “Many in Lichfield and Whittington will regard it as a major victory”.
The 250mph line will take passengers between Birmingham and the capital in just 49 minutes…
Comment
BrownhillsBob 21 Dec 10
I spend a lot of time trawling freedom of information requests on whatdotheyknow.com – I’d like to say the activity is for worthy research purposes, but often it’s just plain old nosiness. Some requests are painstaking and fascinating, some utterly dull, others clearly quite, quite mad. Rarely are they outrageously funny. Until today.
Whilst dredging the newsfeed tonight, I noticed a request by one Derek Tickles. It read as follows..