Westbury Town Forums

Seen on Facebook but relevant to all.
So, you are running out of food on the shelves, fuel in the garages, you can’t buy things you need, because the shops can’t get their supplies.
Why is that? 
A shortage of goods?  No
A shortage of money?  No
A shortage of drivers to deliver the goods?  Well, sort of.
There isn’t actually a shortage of drivers, what we have, is a shortage of people who can drive, that are willing to drive any more.  You might wonder why that is.  I can’t answer for all drivers, but I can give you the reason I no longer drive.  Driving was something I always yearned to do as a young boy, and as soon as I could, I managed to get my driving licence, I even joined the army to get my HGV licence faster, I held my licence at the age of 17.  It was all I ever wanted to do, drive trucks, I had that vision of being a knight of the roads, bringing the goods to everyone, providing a service everyone needed.  What I didn’t take into account was the absolute abuse my profession would get over the years.
I have seen a massive decline in the respect this trade has, first, it was the erosion of truck parking and transport café’s, then it was the massive increase in restricting where I could stop, timed weight limits in just about every city and town, but not all the time, you can get there to do your delivery, but you can’t stay there, nobody wants an empty truck, nobody wants you there once they have what they did want.
Compare France to the UK.  I can park in nearly every town or village, they have marked truck parking bays, and somewhere nearby, will be a small routier, where I can get a meal and a shower, the locals respect me, and have no problems with me or my truck being there for the night.
Go out onto the motorway services, and I can park for no cost, go into the service area, and get a shower for a minimal cost, and have freshly cooked food, I even get to jump the queues, because others know that my time is limited, and respect I am there because it is my job.  Add to that, I even get a 20% discount of all I purchase.  Compare that to the UK £25-£40 just to park overnight, dirty showers, and expensive, dried (under heat lamps) food that is overpriced, and I have no choice but to park there, because you don’t want me in your towns and cities.
Ask yourself how you would feel, if doing your job actually cost you money at the end of the day, just so you could rest.
But that isn’t the half of it.  Not only have we been rejected from our towns and cities, but we have also suffered massive pay cuts, because of the influx of foreign drivers willing to work for a wage that is high where they come from, companies eagerly recruited from the eastern bloc, who can blame them, why pay good money when you can get cheap labour, and a never ending supply of it as well.  Never mind that their own countries would suffer from a shortage themselves, that was never our problem, they could always get people from further afield if they needed drivers.
We were once seen as knights of the road, now we are seen as the lepers of society.  Why would anyone want to go back to that?
If you are worried about not getting supplies on your supermarket shelves, ask your local council just how well they cater for trucks in your district.
I know Canterbury has the grand total of zero truck parking facilities, but does have a lot of restrictions, making it difficult for trucks to stop anywhere.
Do you want me to go back to driving trucks?  Give me a good reason to do so.  Give anyone a good reason to take it up as a profession.
Perhaps once you work out why you can’t, you will understand why your shelves are not as full as they could be.
I tried it for over 30 years, but will never go back, you just couldn't pay me enough.

Wow a victory for common sense. The government does seem to be trying to crack down on all this woke nonsense.

'Gents' and 'ladies' toilets WILL be compulsory in all public buildings under new planning laws in blow for campaigners for gender-neutral facilities

Mail Online: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9584757/Gents-ladies-toilets-compulsory-public-buildings-new-planning-laws.html


Thank God some sense is coming back.


I hope they extend this to schools as all sorts of nonsense has been going on in schools where unisex toilets have been created.

Obviously, the vaccine rollout in the UK has gone well, whereas EU countries were told to let the EU commission organise vaccine procurement for the bloc and that has turned out to be relatively slow and cumbersome in just about every way imaginable so that the populations there are turning on their governments for being inept ...

Quote from: Shizzy on March 25, 2021, 15:07:27 PM

Quote from: Bob DeBilda on January 31, 2021, 10:12:18 AM


I know it’s ridiculous isn’t it? Nearly 5 years since the (at the time naive) public voted and I still cannot see any significant advantages.

Vaccine roll out

And?

Quote from: Bob DeBilda on January 31, 2021, 10:12:18 AM


I know it’s ridiculous isn’t it? Nearly 5 years since the (at the time naive) public voted and I still cannot see any significant advantages.

Vaccine roll out

Westbury Town Council’s Neighbourhood Plan team are keen to hear from Westbury residents about “Heritage Assets”. As well as the listed buildings in Westbury, there are buildings and features that are a part of the local scene and identity, but do not meet the criteria for national listing as Grade 1, Grade 2 etc. It might simply be old shop-fronts or gate-posts - heritage isn't just about impressive buildings like the swimming pool or old town hall.

We can and will draft policies to protect these features but only if we know what they are and where they are. What buildings or features do YOU think are an important part of Westbury’s local heritage?

Follow the link to make your nominations:
http://bit.do/HistoricWestbury

Quote from: Shizzy on January 26, 2021, 11:36:29 AM
Still struggling to come to terms with the result of a democratic process I see.  Where elese have we seen this recently??

Just about everywhere you look.

I know it’s ridiculous isn’t it? Nearly 5 years since the (at the time naive) public voted and I still cannot see any significant advantages.

In fact since not having to follow the CAP the UK government has decided that its ok now to kill bees!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/newsbeat-55566438

I’ve no problem with the vote result. Just the consequences of it but should I just lay down and say nothing?

Still struggling to come to terms with the result of a democratic process I see.  Where elese have we seen this recently??

The second case eventually got dropped after the Monitoring Officer decided that taking the matter any further to a hearing would be a waste of public money.