Not even I at my most cynical would have believed that two of the major parts in next year’s Kendal Passion Play, Jesus and Caiaphas, would have been given to the Mayor of Kendal and his deputy!

The Westmorland Gazette has a story on the improvements which will be made to Highgate but has ignored who is actually paying for it and, more importantly, who should be paying for it.

South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) has ‘contributed’ £160,000 of the cost but nowhere does it mention that K Shopping Village should have paid SLDC £100,000 of the cost, under what is called a Section 106 agreement, which in very simple terms is their contribution to Kendal as a result of being given planning permission for the Shopping Village.

Amazingly SLDC have allowed K Shopping Village to ‘defer’ the payment which means that we (the council taxpayers) are having to pay for it instead! And as far as I can tell there is no guarantee that the money will ever be paid.

I’m not alone in my worries either. Councillor Tom Harvey, in the comments on an earlier story, said

I didn’t say I agree with taking the risk, in fact I don’t because I have real concerns that we may not see the money from K-village.

What really interests me in these difficult economic times is will K Shopping Village allow its tenants to ‘defer’ their rent and will SLDC allow businesses to ‘defer’ their business rates?

Personally I doubt it.

I thought I may have been a little harsh on Mr Beveridge, last week, when I criticised Cumbria LEP. He did, after all, admit their website needed updating.

I never dreamt, however, that he would go straight back from the interview and make sure it was updated (see below)

What surprised me though was that the document, they added, is dated September 2010 and is, in fact, the original proposal document put forward to the Government to apply to set up and run the local enterprise partnership.

Either Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership think we are all idiots or they are all idiots themselves, for thinking they can get away with this cynical disregard for Cumbrian businesses.

South Lakeland District Council has upset a Kendal baker so much over their decision to ban A-boards on pavements that he has decided to ban the planning commitee which decided on the new rules.

As the shop is on the main route to the Council’s offices his sign will not go unnoticed! And because it’s on the steps up to his shop they can’t ask him to remove it as it’s not on the footpath.

Well done Simon and Julie. Perhaps more businesses should tell the council what they think of them?

If you have a spare 30 minutes over the weekend, and have been wondering why the Cumbrian economy has languished over the last ten years,  listen to Radio Cumbria interviewing George Beveridge, “interim chair” of Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership.

This link will take you to BBC iPlayer. The interview itself is 2 hours 28 minutes 35 seconds into the programme (2:28:35).

Alternatively, fast forward to 2:54:29 when he answers my question on the internet, Twitter and the Cumbria LEP website. I especially liked his comment about “updating” the website with details of the Growing Places Fund which was announced nearly three months ago!

P.S Coincidentally the website has been updated this afternoon!

Some days I think April Fools’ Day has come early.

Today was one of those days, when I read in the Westmorland Gazette that Lancaster University has launched an enterprise centre which aims to use artistic ideas — including those of the Lakeland poet — to improve businesses.

My younger son told me years ago that Coleridge was in the habit of climbing to the top of fells and then setting off in a straight line, regardless of the terrain. Once he was stuck on a ledge for a whole night. I did, however, mention that Coleridge was a huge fan of Kendal Black Drop, an opium based drug, which probably accounted for his strange behaviour.

Yet again, I find myself saying if you want to offer advice

just help us (small businesses) make more money and have fewer financial problems.

The North West Evening Mail has launched a campaign to save Furness Enterprise which is closing because of lack of funds.

I will not be signing this petition for the following reasons:

1. Furness Enterprise’s  annual accounts for the year ended 31 March 2010 (see Note A below) showed a turnover of  £1.7m which I understand ‘supported’ 18 jobs. Unfortunately the 2011 accounts do not show turnover, but if Furness Enterprise’s income has been reduced to 30% of the 2010 figure, because of cuts, that is still nearly £500,000. Surely they can carry on, albeit in a much reduced manner?
2. If they are in the business of ‘helping Furness businesses’ common sense would suggest they should be able to help themselves survive in these changed circumstances?
3. When all is said and done they are still a quango.
4. Like all quangos they are spending taxpayers’ money which may explain why the Chairman had a consultancy agreement with the company for £25,000 per year (see Note B below).
5. The directors’ pay and benefits totalled £ 87,000 in the year ended 31 March 2010 (see Note C below), bearing in mind that there were probably only two directors being paid (the Chairman, Stephen Murray, and Harry Knowles). All the other directors were from local councils, public bodies and private businesses.  And hopefully, as the Chairman was already receiving £25,000 per year  (see 4 above), not too much of the £87,021 was his!

Notes

A) Turnover

B) Consultancy

C) Director’s pay and benefits

Last week I received an e-mail from our local “enterprise agency” (one of the many Cumbrian quangos)  titled Preparing for the year ahead with this opening paragraph

We want to do everything in our power to ensure that businesses in Cumbria have the opportunity to prepare their business and staff for the challenging year that lays ahead of us!

Great news I thought until I read the rest of the e-mail which detailed the support on offer:

We have just added a comprehensive programme of CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health) training courses which will be held in Penrith, they are:

Tuesday 31^st January 2012                Level 2 Award in Health and Safety

Wednesday 8^th February 2012          Level 2 Award in Manual Handling

Wednesday 22^nd February 2012        Level 2 Award in Environmental Principals and Best Practice

If these people think that this is preparing businesses for “the challenging year that lays ahead” then their knowledge of the problems facing businesses is even less than I thought.

Most business owners I meet would respond along the lines of

When you’re up to your neck in alligators, it’s easy to forget the initial objective was to drain the swamp.

In other words ‘help us make more money and have fewer financial problems‘.

The recent discovery of a cannabis farm in the “disused” (closed?) public conveniences on New Road in Kendal is a shining example of  South Lakeland District Council’s attitude to local residents, local businesses and visitors.

My office faces these public conveniences which are on the other side of the River Kent. Ever since SLDC decided to close them there has been a steady stream of people urinating (and worse) against the back wall of the building. After a complaint to our local councillor, SLDC erected wire fences at the back and side. It wasn’t a perfect solution but it did reduce the number of users.

Sadly, when the fair left in September they took the fencing with them! I phoned SLDC and told them the area was once again being used as a toilet and was told in no uncertain terms that they already knew about it and they were arranging for the fair to return and re-fit the panels. I did add that I hoped the fair was paying for any costs involved.

A few weeks later the newly replaced panels were removed by SLDC to allow a survey of the car park but nobody refitted them. They were left leaning against the wall! So guess what happened? Somebody threw them into the river! I didn’t contact the council again because of their attitude previously. One of the panels was clearly visible  as it had fallen back against the banking of the river.

Nothing happened until late October when after some very heavy rain it was washed down the river and through Miller Bridge . The recent rain has now washed it further down the river and out of sight.

What puzzles me is why, if as stated by SLDC  “The council inspects its premises on a monthly basis to ensure public safety. New Road toilets were part of a regular programme and when the building was last inspected on November 14, there was no evidence of a breach of security”, has it taken until last Friday for the fencing to be replaced?

Nearly three months and presumably at least a couple of “inspections” to do something!

P.S. I will not mention the cost of replacing the panel which they allowed to be washed down the river! It’s not their money it’s ours.

Next Monday (December 5th) is the start of Mintfest’s appeal to raise vital funds for next year’s festival.

I have said before that there are more deserving causes than Mintfest at Christmas but what really puzzles me is why do they need this money?

I know they have lost £250,000 of funding which was previously provided by the Northwest Regional Development Agency but they did receive £290,000 of “new money” earlier this year from Arts Council England, which in very simple terms means they are £40,000 “better off”, rather than facing “a hole left after the closure of the North West Regional Development Agency”, as reported in the Westmorland Gazette this week.

I am very conscious that I am not in possession of the full facts behind Mintfest’s appeal for “vital funds” but if Mintfest was a charity, which it isn’t, it would have to publish very detailed accounts like the ones from  Multi Cultural Arts .

At least the public would then be able to make an informed decision about how great Mintfest’s needs really are.