It’s official! Rochdale Council has money to burn!

Posted By: Robin Parker
Date Posted: 30/07/2007

I realise I’m running a few days late, as I travelled down south for a wedding over the weekend, but this relates to my going into the Town Hall on Friday.

Now I’m happy to admit that we’ve not had the summer we’ve dreamed about and temperatures have not been what we would have liked, but it is sort of summer. I mean it’s not ‘chestnuts roasting on the fire’ scenario, is it? So it was reasonably warm on Friday and I felt quite hot as I climbed the steps inside the Town Hall. In fact I felt so unusually hot that I touched a radiator on the landing and burned by fingers. I then went into the Great Hall and touched another and, sure enough, that was on too. I went into the Members’ Secretariat, where the officers were melting away, and on returning downstairs asked on the desk who made the decision to put on the heating. I was told that that was made in St Alban’s House. So much for the efficiency of the Impact Partnership. They are certainly making an ‘Impact’ on our fuel costs.

So the Town Hall is doing ‘wonders’ for the carbon footprint and nobody working in it is responsible. However, the Leader of the Council has an office up there so maybe he should be sorting it? Ah no, I realised, he’s at the AGMA Executive imposing the Toll Tax on the people of Middleton. Well, I thought, somebody will sort it. I’ve spent too many years banging my head against brick walls when we had power to waste my time trying to do it in Opposition.

I did check the temperature gauge on my car, though. 19 Celsius.