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Idea's To Make Bedlington Better!


Monsta®

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come on then lets have some ideas!

heres one!

we print are own bank notes only spendable in bedlington! as they have done in totnes! :D

Great idea. Here's a good article to describe the Local Multiplier Effect this generates.

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OK what about a local economic development fund that is responsible for raising funds to be spent in Bedlington (this idea has already been raised). This group could also be responsible for the issuing of Monsta's currency and would also pay out to local projects in this currency. This would encourage some local enterprise and ensure the money was spent locally. Any new enterprises that come about because of the fund would be automatically reinvesting their grant/loan with local builders/shopfitters suppliers etc.

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Someone (the traders?) have to back the currency to ensure that it's fully convertible into Gordo's funny-money. Putting the same amount on interest somewhere would ensure that it's rock (not Northern) solid. A refreshing change from "real" money created by banks, which has only about 4% backing from deposits with the Bank of England.

Key is getting enough traders interested, as you can completely discount any interest from banks and government - who will always see it as a challenge to their monopoly.

This is a bit like what the insurance companies do - invest the premiums and collect the interest for themselves. So anyone backing it wouldn't be a bit out of pocket, or running any significant risk. In this case the interest would go to the community, as all that is in effect happening is that you are taking a £UK out of circulation, placing it on interest, and replacing it with a £B. The process can be reversed on demand, but as confidence in the local currency builds that demand will wane.

The really interesting thing to do would be to tie it to a stronger currency than Sterling. Now that would put a hell of a lot of noses out when Gordon's ongoing spending addiction causes Sterling to fall even further. It would give the average person access to the hedges enjoyed by the super-rich, and our oh-so-prudent bankers! The Bedlington Pound could easily become worth more than UK Pound! biggrin.gif

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Isn't issuing actual dosh something unlawful? Sure I read it a while back when there was talk about a credit union.

Absolutly nothing stopping the traders issuing a Bedlington voucher scheme though!

In law it's treated as trading coupons. Really no different to issuing any form of promissory note - like a cheque for instance. It would be illegal to put Bank of Bedlington or some such on them as that would be misrepresentation - and would we really want to be associated with such rummy institutions anyway! biggrin.gif But nothing wrong with calling them a Bedlington Pound.

It should be illegal to do what our banks do: create money out of thin air! But the whole broken system relies on public ignorance. Any honest banker would tell you that if the real truth were universally known they (politicians and bankers) wouldn't get away with it.

Of course paper currency is only a promissory note anyway. It all boils down to who people trust, and as far as I'm concerned that's not HM Govt.! Months now and they are still stalling in repaying my tax refund! No disagreement that it's due, it's just they haven't got the capacity to process it. Ha ha; wonder how far that excuse would get me if the boot was on the other foot! Meanwhile, I must pay interest on the money, and I can't recover the loss from big-spending Gordon!

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OR become an independant town get rid of the so called town "councilors" :angry: and let the folks who REALLY care about the town and its future take control with no interfeering from those dozy buggers at Wansbeck Council :angry: we would save a fortune and have OUR council tax spent where it should be spent and that is HERE. :rolleyes:

This could be a vibrant market town as it should be and not the dormatery town it has become due to weak councilors and greed from Ashington ... :angry:

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Monsta, council can't cover their own costs never mind anyone else's.

they could set up a sort of tax break for people then the shop keeper pay the cooncil some sort off windfall tax to make up the difference. or somit! :lol:

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OR become an independant town get rid of the so called town "councilors" :angry: and let the folks who REALLY care about the town and its future take control with no interfeering from those dozy buggers at Wansbeck Council :angry: we would save a fortune and have OUR council tax spent where it should be spent and that is HERE. :rolleyes:

This could be a vibrant market town as it should be and not the dormatery town it has become due to weak councilors and greed from Ashington ... :angry:

A point raised by myself not so long ago! Bedlington should stand alone instead of pandering to the needs of Ash-it-on Bedlington and not so new Newbiggin-by-the-sewer. Has Bedlington got to tow the line of the county, or should we tell the fekkers to stick it? Too long we have been the poor relations of this area, now not only have we to compete with Ashington and Newbiggin we now have to compete with them and Blyth, Cramlington, Morpeth, Berwick and so on, we had no chance then, we have even less chance now! We as Bedlington need to make a stand now or be consigned to the annuls of history as 'Here used to stand the Historic town of Bedlington'

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A point raised by myself not so long ago! Bedlington should stand alone instead of pandering to the needs of Ash-it-on Bedlington and not so new Newbiggin-by-the-sewer. Has Bedlington got to tow the line of the county, or should we tell the fekkers to stick it? Too long we have been the poor relations of this area, now not only have we to compete with Ashington and Newbiggin we now have to compete with them and Blyth, Cramlington, Morpeth, Berwick and so on, we had no chance then, we have even less chance now! We as Bedlington need to make a stand now or be consigned to the annuls of history as 'Here used to stand the Historic town of Bedlington'

the republic of bedlington!

as long as we can have are own government and immigration controls :D am all for it we could also employ dolies to create the bedlington wall! a bit like the great wall of china only not as big! :lol: and you cant see it from space! :lol:

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Up The Republic!

As for the dolies maybe Camille(Miss Vic) could crack the whip, dressed in leather uuurrrrgggh, cringe, vomit, shudder bah! when they are building said wall. Should The Station be included in the boundry or not? If not where would the cut off be? Should we include Nedderton and Hartford Hall(Plenty money there :D ) We could use the community centre as town hall :lol: Put them in the dole office on minimum wage(see how they like it) and them in the cooncil offices, tell them that the computer has made a mistake and they're not getting paid for six month, and because it's more than a month it can't be back-dated so they're getting NOWT :lol: Lift the smoking ban and get people back in the pubs, better than smelling BO, stale beer and FART, let dogs sh-it everywhere, good for the flower beds and no more placca bags hanging from trees. OWT ELSE!

Edited by Merlin
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they could set up a sort of tax break for people then the shop keeper pay the cooncil some sort off windfall tax to make up the difference. or somit! :lol:

Monsta,

Councils don't set tax in the way you propose, apart from property based ones that is, this would be so far out of their remit, or competence, as to be unthinkable.

Good thread though...........

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Monsta,

Councils don't set tax in the way you propose, apart from property based ones that is, this would be so far out of their remit, or competence, as to be unthinkable.

Good thread though...........

shame! suppose the councillars need the money for there new cars and holidays not to mention there chrimbo bonuses! :lol:

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15 years ago I had a letter in the News Post leader proposing passport controls on Stakeford Bridge and people thought I was daft! We now need then on the Morpeth road to County Hall!

This whole 'Unitary Authority' thingamajig has handicapped us even further and not just for the reason's Merlin mentions. It is supposed to bring decision making closer to the localities but in reality it has made an Authority which has always been described as being too remote by government inspectors even more so. It would be easier to find the 'Holy Grail' than it is to access officers! I wouldn't care but just over 50,000 people voted for this option, single tier, while over 60,000 people voted for a 2 tier system, what did we get, oh yes the democratic option, single tier???????? This has been imposed by central government against the wishes of the majority of the people who took part in the referendum so the noun to be used does begin with a 'D' but it isn't democracy! We have lost a whole swathe of our elected representatives, maybe not a bad thing considering the costs involved but, and seen services centralised in what for my money is little to do with service delivery but more to do with county balancing its own deplorable budget state. We now have a handful of parish councils who oversee the flotsam and jetsam of services councils provide. Anything with a real budget has disappeared into the hallowed halls of county.

As an example we have just seen the decision to close our libraries deferred (that word again!) yet at the same time a new state of the art library opened in Haltwhistle? It would seem cuts in services in one part of the county are paying towards upgrades in another, hardly the level playing field we have been promised even just considering the population figures of each! Another example is in the area of leisure facilities. I know the hard work and dedication it took to get the money for this feasibility study into recreational facilities in Bedlington yet we see Ashington is to get one handed to them on a plate. The cynic in me would suggest mass demonstrations just before an election might just be a lesson we need to learn!

Could we have had something else, yes. We should have reintroduced the old Shire boundaries and ran along the lines of the old BUDC, one council for the whole Shire. We have the infrastructure in place, we own, or did own, the council offices on Front Street, no need to use the community centre Merlin we have a bespoke suite of offices. We could have contracted the major services off county, health, education, fire, police etc, yet kept most of the day to day stuff and made our own decisions about the way we would like to see our own area develop. Local decisions made by locally accountable people not by faceless autocrats in the warrens of county hall!

Come the revolution brothers and sisters, first against the wall............. :P

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Malcolm I suggested the community centre so as to keep it alive! Tongue in cheek, to get people thinking, we need to do something other than to tow the county line! We are lost and the abyss is vast.

Merlin,

I agree and that's why I think threads like this are so important, they throw up off the wall stuff, some of which could hold some of the answers/suggestions we need to go forward. What is certain is that we need the debate which produces a consensus and then an open partnership with all parties involved in an effort to get the town moving in the right direction. If we are forceful and united enough to do that we will see change, if we don't get together on the issues the status quo continues............

As for the community centre its future seems a bit more rosy than of late.....time will tell.

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Perhaps people don't want to contribute to something thats started off in such a negative manner.

Had the optional second topic title not been there, people may have taken it a little more seriously.

That was the reason i never got involved. Dunno what others opinions are.

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