250 people plus attend Mill Hill Residents Association Open Meeting

A wet and windy evening in Mill Hill and the committee of the newly reformed Mill Hill Resident’s Association were unsure about just how many people would turn up at their inaugural open meeting at St Pauls’ School on the Ridgeway on Tuesday 29^th January. Leaflets had been distributed and Chairman Richard Logue spent two hours on Saturday speaking to people at Waitrose supermarket, trying to garner support for the meeting, yet still the committee was slightly unprepared and very pleasantly overwhelmed by the numbers who showed up in force to hear about the Association’s plans and to air their own views and issues.

The Mill Hill Resident’s Association was first established in 1909 and served the community in an effort to help the area retain much of the charm and heritage that still exists today. Longstanding Chairlady Joan Ellis recently retired from her very active role as head of the association and has taken on the role of President, handing the baton of chairmanship to Hammers Lane resident Richard Logue. The Association has identified certain key areas for concern including specific issues such as the unpopular pay by phone parking system, the chaotic Mill Hill Circus road works, parking problems on Saracens match days, the future of Mill Hill Fire Station and the redevelopment of Inglis Barracks, together with general issues such as crime and anti-social behaviour and public transport. There were presented to an attentive audience which squeezed in to the school hall, where there was standing room only. 

Councillors John Hart and Suri Khatri were both in attendance, as were residents representing all areas of Mill Hill. During an open floor session residents expressed their concerns for the erosion of our greenbelt, for the lack of public transport to Barnet Hospital and the lack of disabled access at Mill Hill Broadway Station, not to mention the difficulty getting up two flights of stairs for the elderly and those with heavy suitcases. Other issues included concern over the ongoing uncertainty at Belmont Farm, ......

One lady suggested that the Association might also like to focus on the positive aspect of uniting the community and creating a network where we can help each other and try to be more community spirited. This was met with much approval by the committee and the room in general. Commenting on the extraordinary success of the meeting, Chairman Richard Logue said: “I think it is very significant that 250 people care sufficiently enough about Mill Hill to come out on such a dreadful night to attend this meeting and contribute to what was a very positive event. I am absolutely delighted with how the meeting went and the committee and I very much look forward to following up on the suggestions and actions we have taken away from it.”

At the end of the evening the committee received over 50 household membership applications. Annual membership has been set at £10 per household or £5 per household for over 65s.

The Association welcomes the views and concerns of residents and anyone with issues they would like explored by the Association should address them by email to: millhillresidents@gmail.com or visit the website at www.millhillresidents.org.uk

For further information please contact: Richard Logue on 07771 507325

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This blog is a press  release from the Mill Hill Residents Association

Exposed - Barnet Taxpayer spending over £75,000 per annum on "political assistants" for Labour and Conservative Councillors

One of the missions of this blog is to expose hypocritical behaviour in Barnet Council. In January, I posted this blog detailing a series of questions querying the activities of  Trades Unions in Barnet, which had been asked by Councillor Andrew Stronglou. Councillor Strongolou

http://barneteye.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/letter-to-councillor-andreas-stronglou.html

One of them received the answer as follows

Question 29 Councillor Andrew Strongolou

Does the tax that goes towards supporting the trade unions provide as much value for money as other council expenditures?

Answer by Councillor Richard Cornelius

Unions have a historically useful function but I would hate to feel that tax payers resources were being applied to political activity.

When I read this, I was stunned by the response by Richard Cornelius. He stated that he would be appalled if Taxpayer money was used for "political activity". The reason I was appalled by this remark was because Barnet Council pays for political assistants for both the Labour and Conservative groups. I trust that Richard Cornelius, Leader of the Council will now take appropriate action, given his comments.

I immediately fired off an FoI request asking how much this costs. Today I received the Answer. Here it is. Barnet try and be as opaue as possible with their answer. Iasked to clarify how much the assitants cost, based on there answer it could be anywhere between £65,000 per annum and £89,000 per annum. At a time when they are sacking librarians, I am shocked that our money is being spent in this way. How do you feel, knowing that you are subsidising the purely political work of the two big parties in Barnet?

When the politcians say that we are all in it together,they clearly forget about luxuries like this

  Barnet Council Political Assistant by  

Will anything of Barnet be left when the Tories are booted out ?

I must confess I was upset to read about the demolition of the Turrets pub in Friern Barnet. It was a landmark building, in which I'd spent a few very decent evenings in my youth. The story is told on the Hendon Times website here

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/10222087.Iconic_former_pub_The_Turrets_demolished/

Am I alone in finding it demoralising to see just how many landmark buildings have been demolished in the Borough in the last ten years? Not only that, but the green belt is being ripped apart bit by bit.

Last week we featured an article on how Barnet council are selling a plot of green belt land and have not even mentioned that it is in the green belt. Check the details here

http://www.barnet.gov.uk/directory_record/145812/former_nursery_site_burtonhole_lane

Dountless they are hoping to encourage speculative developers from far and wide.

We have also seen the Belmont Childrens farm open on green belt land without planning permission, bringing hoardes of visitors. Whilst a few locals enjoy having a waffle cafe and a petting zoo on the site, do they really think that the destruction of the green belt is a price worth paying? I am all for tearing down ugly buildings and giving people decent homes. There is a chronic shortage in Barnet. I do not agree that developments should destroy the green belt or the nature of the area.

In Mill Hill Broadway, we've seen one church rebuilt (The Sacred heart), One church massively refurbished and it's church hall rebuilt as flats and a prestige development on the site of the other church. Around the corner in Goodwyn Avenue, we had a massive building development on the site of the Methodist church, with it's lively and well attended youth club.

We have seen the loss of Mill Hill Swimming pool, first to a Garden Centre and now to a school. We have also seen the loss of the Mill Hill Sports Club with its playing fields for a school development. Now on there own any of these changes are perhaps non contentious, but what has happened is Mill Hill is becoming more unrecognisable by the day. We will see the closure of the Medical Research Centre in 2015 we've seen dozens of gardens have dwellings built in them (many without planning permission). We have seen allotments turned into commercial operations, with the council turning a  blind eye.

Even developments which bring tangible benefits often bring a ream of problems for the neighbours. An example of this is the massive CPZ imposed on Mill Hill by the council, following the Saracens development.In this case all of the responses from the consultations and representations by local councils were ignored.

In 2014, there is a council election. We have the opportunity to change things. Will we take it? More to the point, will anything be left to save by the time the election comes around?

A message to Matthew Offord MP - Go forth and Multiply

Anti same sex marriage campaigner Matthew Offord MP has been attracting much attention to himself of late. He has gone public with his view that the purpose of marriage is to procreate. As Mrs Angry rather cruelly points out, Mr Offord has thus far failed to actually procreate himself following his marriage. Now I'm a big fan of marriage and I'm a big fan of procreation. I have spent many a happy hour whiling away the time daydreaming about procreating. Being a good Roman Catholic, I'd have happily had ten children, because there is nothing I enjoy more than being in a mad house . Having children is great. It allows you to meet lovely new friends and develop exciting new hobbies. Since my kids were born, some of the marvellous new hobbies include getting up at 4.15 to ferry kids to the swimming pool, standing in the pissing rain for two hours watching inept eight year olds failing miserably to kick a ball to each other and best of all the marvellous sport of trying to get a coherent sentence out of a teenager.

It also teaches you great humility. After all of the sacrifices, you know you have succeeded as a parent when a polite request to move a coat dropped in the middle of the living room is met with "OH MY GOD, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!!" or a request to turn off a light or shut a door is met with "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM".

Now sadly  for me, my chosen wife is not a Roman Catholic and she doesn't share my desire to be driven insane at all times, for the fun of the intellectual challenge. Therefore she selfishly limited our family to a mere three children (she is also not of the faith, so doesn't feel guilty about it). As three kids singularly failed to cause me enough brain damage, I have successfully managed to persuade her to add two dogs to the mad house. Dogs are far better than children in many ways. If you give them food they eat it. They don't answer back and they wag their tails when you enter the room. Matthew Offord is also a fan of dogs. He made a huge fuss when the Parliamentary authorities banned him from bringing his dog to work. He claimed that it breached his dogs human rights. Personally, I think anyone who breaches a Dogs human rights must be a terrible meany.  How could they be so cruel to poor old Max (Matthews doggy). I must commend Matthew for subjecting himself to such public ridicule on behalf of Max. Personally, whilst I love my dogs, I would not want the world to think I had a screw loose on their behalf.

Matthew claims that  Gay marriage is the first step on a long, rocky road to the destruction of the institution of marriage. He used the issue of polygamy to demonstrate one way in which it might be undermined. Just think how society would collapse if we could all have as many wives or husbands as we like? As I stated above, I'm quite a fan of procreation. Matthew is quite right that dastardly devils such as myself would be tempted to try and bring extra wives back home. I can just imagine the conversation "Hello Darling, this is Uma, you may have seen her in Kill Bill, I met her at the drugstore and we got hitched at the Elvis chapel. I thought she could help you with the chores". Poor old Matthew doesn't realise that such things are not really the thing which damages most marriages in this country. Usually it is more likely to be a bit of extra marital shenanigans with Betty from billing or Bob from the Butchers.

I was discussing the gay marriage thing and Mr Offord with a friend of mine who was gay and had been married a while back. He married a woman when he was younger, before he came out. He believed that if he married and had kids, he would be able to manage. In the end, his wife got sick of the fact that her husband wasn't really interested in her. She suggested that they would be far happier as friends, if he could live his life the way he wanted and she could find a man who wanted a woman. They parted amicably and he says they are good friends, the children are happier and his ex wife is fulfilled. He plays a full role in his childrens life as a father. I asked him if he regretted what happened. He said that he would never regret having children and his children were the one thing in his life that he was truly proud of, but he bitterly regretted the hurt he caused his ex wife and says that he is blessed that she is so kind and forgiving. I asked him about how he feels about his ex's new husband. He laughed and told me they regularly play golf. It was a bit awkward at first, but once everyone realised that they had each others best interests at heart, it was fine. You may wonder about the kids. He said that because both he and his wife cared passionately about them, they did everything they could to protect them. When they finally told the kids the truth (at an age when they thought they could deal with it), the kids told them they'd known for years and their biggest worry was that "daddy wouldn't love them any more". When they realised that Daddy did love them and that Daddy was still there for them, they were happy.

I asked him how he felt as a father? He said that he had never missed a parents evening, a football match, a birthday party or anything else. He said that his kids talked to him as friends and confidants and felt there was a mutual bond of trust. When one of the children was seriously ill, he'd stayed at the family home for several weeks and was fine with it.

Then I asked him about gay marriage. He said that having been married and failed to keep the marriage together, he would not try again. He said that he felt everyone who marries should regard it as a solemn sacrament and be 100% committed to the marriage. He said that he couldn't judge anyone else as he'd failed himself.

My friend, who was raised a Roman Catholic, asked me how I felt about the position of the Church on the issue. I said that I feel it lacks a bit of compassion for people. I find it hard to condemn people to a lonely existence who have a different predeliction, when I enjoy my own, more conformist one so much. I find it almost selfish. I am happy and fulfilled with my life choices, so how can I possibly judge others who are wired so different.

His response to this shocked me. He said that I didn't realise just how miserable he'd been at one point. He said he knew his wife was being made to live a horrible existence and it was all his fault. He was considering committing suicide as a "honourable way out for all concerned". He said the only thing that stopped him was his son one day saying "daddy I love you so much, you won't die will you" after watching a documentary about a father who had a terminal disease. He then said that he entered a period of praying madly for "a cure". This brought no joy, just angst and turmoil. Eventually he asked a priest for guidance. The priest, who was clearly a wise and spiritual man said "God made you the way you are, that was his plan for you and it is not a cure you need. What you need is a purpose and a away forward, pray for guidance, not a cure".

He said that he prayed for this that night. He said that the priest had been the first person he'd ever discussed his feelings with properly. Shortly after, his wife asked him if he was gay and they worked out their separation. He said that his biggest fear was that she would cut him off from his children and cease to be his friend. In the circumstances, she insisted that he "remained their father and remained a part of the family".

Which brings us up to date. The children have almost grown up and are well adjusted and successful, the ex wife is happy and contented with a partner that appreciates her. In short, although we are not at the ending, everyone is pretty happy at the moment.

And the conversation returned to where it started. With our local MP, Matthew Offord. My friend said that perhaps the best thing Matthew could do is go forth and multiply. I'll let you decide exactly what he meant.

*** We discussed if he'd mind me blogging the conversation as reported above. He said that so long as I didn't identify anyone it would be fine. He read this before I blogged it and agonised over whether he'd be happy with me publishing it. That is why it has taken a few days to emerge. When he read it, he found it a bit "raw" but in the end decided that he wanted the story told. He said that I was the first person he'd ever really told whole story to. I find it tragic, I hope that getting it off his chest helps in some way.  As for Mr Offord, I hope he gets plenty of opportunituies for sex and travel after the next election. --- I have to admit that this is possibly the most disturbing blog I have ever written. When you realise just how sad and low peopleyou know and you like can really get, you have to readjust your views on life. If you are feeling the way my friend was feeling, please contact someone to talk it through with, be it a friend, a priest, a rabbi, or the Samaritans. The one thing I can say without fear of contradiction is that the world would have been a worse place if my friend had killed himself.  To me, that is all that really matters.  ***

New Edgware Community Market Every Friday

Dyslexia Blog - What happens when dyslexics grow up?

For those of you who haven't read my dyslexia blogs before, here is a little preamble and introduction, so you know who I am and what I do and why I write this stuff. For those of you who know the story, skip to the end of the paragraph for todays installment. Let me give you a bit of Background so you know who I am and what I do. I was born in 1962. I didn't start talking until I was 4 years old (at all, not a single word). My parents thought I was deaf. My reading age at eleven was 5. When I was fifteen I started a rock and roll band called the False Dots, the band is still going strong. When I was 16 I started a business called Mill Hill Music Complex (although then it was simply called the studio), a rehearsal studio, as we had nowhere to rehearse. The business has grown into a very successful enterprise, one of Londons biggest and most well respected independent studios. We now have 16 studios and a music shop and also have a photography/video studio and a dance studio. I also have done IT work, mostly on a freelance basis since 1983. In 2012 I also moved into film production, producing two highly acclaimed documentary films, both of which had screenings at the House of Commons. When I was 31, a friend suggested I had a dyslexia test. To my surprise I was told I was moderately dyslexic. This made me interested in the subject. To my amazement, what I have learned over the years is that my lack of educational aptitude, my feelings of anger and injustice and the core of my personality have been formed by the fact I cannot read words in a linear fashion. In 2013, I have set one of my objectives to use this blog to let dyslexics know they are not alone, to suggest that people who think they may be dyslexic to get an assessment and toget people who have dyslexic children or siblings to understand the issues that they face.

So far, all of my dyslexia blogs have largely dealt with the issues I had when I was younger. I was recently asked how does dyslexia affect me today?  The honest answer is that I don't really know. I don't feel discriminated against particularly. I run my own business, so the boss doesn't pick on me when I get things wrong. I write a blog that as of now has had 827,326 hits, so I must be able to string two sentences together, if not three or four, and yet.......

I sometimes feel like I'm at war with the English language. I still struggle to find words. This isn't only in written words, but spoken words as well. For instance I cannot for the life of me remember the names of people until I know them. In general I have to meet people three times before there name sinks in. This used to prove extremely challenging in the days when I was trying to find myself a girlfriend. To assist myself with this problem, I invented little tricks, so if someone reminds me of something I mentally link their name to the name of something familiar, then I work backwards. A simple example of this was today. There is an entertainment company based in Mill Hill called Uptown Events. I decided that, from a business perspective, I should  see what they did. The only trouble is that having noticed their shopfront, how would I remember it when I got home? That was a simple one. I simply sang the Billy Joel song "Uptown Girl". The downside was when I came to google it, I typed in "Uptown Entertainments" instead of Events. Fortunately, Google came to my aid.

Such things can happen dozens of times a day. Writing a blog, where I go to events and meet dozens of people, I get totally lost. I guess some people must think I'm terribly rude. Abstract words are the worst. Words which describe the function of other words are the worst. I have absolutely no idea what a split infinitive or even an Adverb is. If I explain this to a non dyslexic, they say "Oh, it's simple blah blah blah". It doesn't occur to them that it's not through want of trying, or because I haven't been told.

On occasion, I've even had abusive emails from readers of the blog, insulting me for mangling the English language so badly. As far as I'm concerned this is really ignorant, as I probably try ten or a hundred times harder to write things than a non dyslexic.

I also find dyslexic jokes really irritating. The reason being that they miss the essence of dyslexia. They can be vaguely amusing, but they don't get it. My favourite one is about the Dyslexic Agnostic who wasn't sure if there was a Dog. It is funny but it doesn't really get dyslexia. A more accurate reflection of how a dyslexic mangles things might be illustrated in the way I misread a message on Twitter recently. It said

Singles Dating - Speed dating event at the City Gilt Bar

Nothing funny about that? Do you know what I read it as?

Singles Dating - Speed dating at the Glit Clit Bar

which certainly caught my eye and when I re-read it properly made me snigger. When you are simply reading a tweet for entertainment, it can be quite funny. If you are reading instructions to install a Gas Boiler or anything else similar, it can actually be quite dangerous.

My wife finds the whole thing tiresome and irritating. She is convinced that half of the things I do or say are simply driven by laziness, stupidity or a desire to annoy her. When I can't think of a word, I'll simply subsitute a non word. For example if I need the de-icer for the car, I'll say "Where is the splongy to clear the car windscreen". She'll reply "do you mean the de-icer?". I'll reply "yes" and she'll fix me with a stare as if I've assasinated the pope.

Another thing which is quite disheartening is the way that when people try and be clever with items such as menu layouts, they become unreadable. It is like the way dictionaries have phonetic spellings. Whilst I'm sure most people find them useful, to me they are hiroglyphics.

The other big pain in the bum is foreign languages. At school I found these incomprehensible and impossible. After I left school, I found I had a degree of aptitude for picking them up when I lived somewhere for a while. The only trouble is that when I return home I tend to forget it all straight away.

The one thing dyslexia has taught me is that if you are a member of a minority (in my case dyslexics), the mainstream really haven't got the slightest interest in your problems until they collide with it and affects them. After years of trying to work out how to work out the rights and wrongs of life, what is acceptable and what is unacceptable, I've come to the conclusion that what is acceptable is just about anything which impacts no other person in a negative way. If something does, or has the potential to, then it's probably unacceptable.  Of course life is more complicated. Sometimes we have choices which leave us no choice but to impact someone in a negative way. If I see someone armed with a knife threatening people and I am a policeman with a Tazer, removing that person as a threat is clearly the lesser of two evils. We all have choices to make and sometimes they are difficult, but we have to learn to tolerate other peoples idiosyncricies.

I've always identified myself with the lesser achievers academically, even though I did OK. I've always felt the need to say something for people being victimised or bullied, even though that stopped for me long ago at school. That is why I find the Frankie Boyle brand of humour about disability repulsive. 99% of the crowd may find it hilarious, but what about the vulnerable 1% who are made to feel like shit? In the title of this blog I asked what happens when dyslexics grow up. I hope that they learn to cope and learn from their experiences. I hope they stand with the 1%, even if they can hide in the 99% crowd.

It isn't the 99% who need our protection......

The Saturday List #34 - My top ten juke box tracks

If you love rock and roll, you love jukeboxes. You are never truly alone with a jukebox, because you will be joined in the room by your favourite musicians playing your favourite songs. Different moods require different music and great jukebox music has to be rock and roll (IMHO). A truly great Jukebox track is one that when someone else puts it on you think "Great, that has made my day". What greater feeling in the world is there than to stack up the jukebox, and share the moment with the one you love or the one you fancy the pants off. You scream the choruses at each other and if you get a snog at the end of it, then it's a perfect night ! With the advent of gastro pubs, we're seeing a decline in the traditional pub and the jukebox. Often jukeboxes are far too quiet. So what makes a really great Jukebox track? We've already established that it must be a rock and roll song. I believe it must be up tempo. There are also two subgenres of great Jukebox songs. Ther are ones to enjoy with your mates and ones to enjoy with the person you love/fancy (delete as appropriate).

A great example of a great jukebox track to enjoy with your mates is one like "My Generation" by The Who. With my bunch of mates, if the required number of beverages have been consumed and that comes on, we will all join in with the line "People try to put us down". A great example of a jukebox track to share with someone you love or fancy the pants off is the line in Rebel Rebel by Bowie at the end of the Chorus, where he says "Hot tramp, I love you so!". If they don't swoon in your arms when you sing that to them, then you are with the wrong person!

So anyway, here's my top ten Jukebox tracks

1. I Love Rock and Roll - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
2. My Generation - The Who
3. She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult
4. 20th Century Boy - T. Rex
5. Should I stay or Should I go - The Clash
6. You Really Got Me - The Kinks
7. Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
8. Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
9. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nrirvana
10. Gimmee All Your Lovin  - ZZ Top

It's quite funny really. In researching this, I came across some truly bonkers suggestions from people who've compiled their lists. I know it's all down to musical taste, but by definition a jukebox should be somewhere that you are out to enjoy yourself and have a few beers! Suggestions such as "One in ten" by UB40 are guaranteed to make you feel miserable, why would anyone pick that.  Another one which perplexed me was "I Will always love you" by Whitney Houston. How on earth can you join in the chorus of that, unless you are Whitney? These mugs just don't get it.

Here's an idea for a night out or two.Time Out printed a list of the top ten London Jukeboxes - http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2012/11/05/londons-top-ten-jukeboxes/ - We have the list, we have the jukeboxes - what are we waiting for !

A Polite Revolution - A new film about Barnet by Oonagh Cousins

Film is a very powerful medium. Last night I went to see the new film "Hitchcock" starring Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren. The film is largely about the making of Hitchcocks masterpiece "Psycho". Paramount pictures didn't like the idea of the film. The idea of a cross dressing, transvestite, incestuous necrophiliac was a bit too strong for them. Hitchcock was knocked back, but decided to make the film anyway and self finance it. As a result he made a better film, free of studio control and made a stack more money. It seems that under Barnets Conservative regime, our neighbourhood has become a hotbed of budding Alfred Hitchcocks all making our own films. Last year, I made two with US director Charles Honderick (A Tale of Two Barnets and Barnet - The Billion Pound Gamble). Azi Khatri also made a fine animation about the One Barnet program. Ex Tory Councillor Daniel Hope, who runs a blog called the Barnet Bugle has made it his lifes mission to video and document the hopeless (no pun intended) flounderings of his erstwhile ex colleagues.

Whilst none of us are likely to repeat Hitchcocks commercial success any time soon, I suspect that this is the last thing which motivates us (although a couple of million quid would be very nice, thank you very much). What drives is is the desire to tell a story of injustice and the heroic and inspiring reaction of the local people in this sleepy suburban backwater. Barnet has become synonamous with effective and imaginative protests, which are becoming ever more successful. Since September 2012 Barnet has also been home to activists from the occupy movement, who have injected energy and vigour into our campaigns and an urgency for justice and change which has energised even the most clapped out local campaigners.

I've been involved in video making in one way or another since 1979. Until I discovered the joys of blogging, this was mostly music videos. Seeking new ways to get the message of what is going across lead me to start making videos about the local situation. I believed that if we started videoing and documenting what is happening, then it would be harder for our local politicians to get away with inflicting injustice on us.

It is satisfying to find out that I am not alone. Recently I was contacted by a Oonagh Cousins, a filmmaker who was making a documentary about the Friern Barnet Peoples Library and the occupation. Oonagh wanted to interview me as part of the documentary she was making and of course I was delighted to participate. The film has now been finished. Oonagh has done a fantastic job, even securing an interview with Noam Chomsky. Whilst the Friern Barnet story is an interesting and inspiring tale, Oonagh has brought it to life and given a great flavour of what sort of community Barnet really is. Here is her film. I highly recommend it !

A Polite Revolution from Oonagh Cousins on Vimeo.

The Friday Joke - How many people does it take to change a lightbulb in the Brave New World of One Barnet

With the advent of One Barnet, I started to ponder the question "How many people does it take to change a lightbulb at Barnet Council". The Council claim that in the One Barnet world money will be saved and the council will be super efficient. In the good old days, if the bulb blew on Richard Cornelius's desk, he'd ring up the caretaker and the caretaker would change the bulb.

With One Barnet, presumably he'll ring a call centre, raise a fault, they will then initiate a process, call out a "lightbulb replacement operative", who will be assigned the ticket, do a full risk assessment, put in a purchase requesition for a lightbulb, eventually collect the lightbulb, install it, then report back to the call centre that Richards bulb has been fixed. The call centre will then contact Richard to ensure that the lightgbulb has been satisfactorily changed. 

There will have been a team of lawyers to draw up the contract, a team to manage the stock of lightbulbs and health and safety team to ensure that the whole process is risk free. There will be lawyers and accountants to ensure the contract to manage the change is done properly and that the council hasn't been overcharged. 

As I didn't know the punchline, I thought I'd ask. It may (or may not) be quite an illuminating reply ! (boom boom)

----- Original Message -----

From: Roger Tichborne

To: Freedom of Information Act ; Freedom of Information Act

Cc: Cornelius, Cllr Richard Conservative

Sent: Friday, February 08, 2013 11:46 AM

Subject: Freedom of Information request

Dear Freedom of Information

When the brave new world of One Barnet comes into action, there will clearly have to be a process to manage the changing of a lightbulb in the Leader of Barnet Council's office.

Please can you inform me how many people it takes to change a lightbulb in the Leader of Barnet Council's office. Please break this down into :

1. The number of people actually involved in the process of managing and implementing the change of lighbulb

2. The number of people involved in drawing up the contract to manage the changing of the lightbulb.

3. The number of people involved in monitoring the contract to manage the changing of the lightbulb.

4. The number of people involved in health and safety/risk assessments to ensure the lightbulb is safely changed.

5. The number of people involved in procurement of the lightbulb.

6. The number of people involved in storage of the lightbulb.

7. Any other people involved in the changing of the lightbulb who are not covered by ny of the previous six categories.

Please can you also provide estimated costs of changing a lightbulb in the leader of Barnet Councils office, taking account of all of these costs.

Regards

Roger Tichborne

London Studios - what we should be doing to help each other

There are dozens if not hundreds of studios across London, all whom help contribute to make London the worlds capital for music. I've been running Mill Hill Music Complex for the last 34 years, so I know many of the challenges and issues facing studios in London.

There is a widespread belief amongst some studio owners that anything which is bad for the competiobn is by default good for the business they run. In actual fact, nothing could be further from the truth. There are plenty of customers out there for everyone and there is a chronic undersupply of studio space. What this means is that it is hard for bands to actually secure space for regular rehearsals. When bands cannot get together regularly, they often collapse and this takes customers away. The real competition for studios are the other things people do with there lives. Last year we saw studios empty at times during the olympics, football and the other events. It only takes one member of the band to decide they want to watch Arsenal in the Champions League and a booking will be cancelled. Most bands want to rehearse on a Tues, Weds or Thursday between 8-11. There will never be enough capacity in London for these times. If a band rehearses at another time, it is because they can't get a slot then usually.

The signed band, week long lock out market is a completely different beast. In our experience, the bands that use us for lockouts prior to tours are ones we have a good relationship with and are professional enough to get their bookings in early.  They use us because they know what they are getting and will only shift if we can't actually book them, which again means that the competition is  not an issue.

Whilst some studios are geographically close to each other, most have a decent sized catchment and a ready supply of bands. It is my opinion that studios should work together on common areas of interest. What could these be?

Here are a few:

1. Sharing information about equipment thefts. It suits no one to have customers pilfering equipment.

2. Business rates. If a studio down the road is paying more rates than it needs to, this doesn't benefit anyone.

3. Dodgy practices by suppliers. We also sell musical equipment and have seen some highly dubious activity from a few suppliers recently.

4. Sharing information about licensing issues etc.

5. Exchange information about local venues etc

6. Exchange information about grants for music related projects.

7. Equipment sales.swaps.  We all have spare gear that other studios may have a use for and vice versa.

8. Share info on deals which could save other studios money etc on insurance or banking.

9. Collaborate on gear purchases. One supplier is currently selling 6m guitar leads for £1.86 a lead if you buy 120. If you are paying £2.50 a lead, why not get together with a couple of other studios and take 40 each? That would be over £25 on a £100 purchase. Worth having?

Every studio is unique and has its own vibe. The reason some bands like a studio can be completely unfathomable, but if they are comfortable then that is good.  I believe that studios should talk to each other either formally or informally. If a customer gets their gear nicked,let all of the other studios know. If you get your gear nicked, let the other studios know.

Sites like http://www.rehearsalstudioslondon.net/ are a great resource for musicians. If customers don't like a studi, in this day and age they are savvy enough to find another studio, if they are happy they will stay put. It is up to all of us to figure out how to market ourselves, but why let other studios flush money down the drain.

Every studio has challenges, rent and rates rising, energy costs soaring. We need to pull together and be a bit smarter in how e deal with the rest of the world. Things won't get any easier.