We're taking a bit of a breather while the world rearranges its underpants. Meanwhile, the other blog is here.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Changing rooms

Cattermole Street Library was knocked about a bit this time last year and still looks a state. The problem started when it was decided from on high that there needed to be disabled access to the boiler (we still don't know how many wheelchair-bound heating engineers are engaged by the council and they'll have a job of it anyway as the boiler's still six foot up on the wall). This involved knocking out a partition wall and moving it a yard into the library, which in turn involved taking an old three-bay set of bookshelves off the wall. Unfortunately, the council's architect's project plan costed in replacing the partition wall but didn't include making good. Which means that we've got a bare wall complete with cracked plaster and unplugged plugholes as the main feature as you enter the library.

T.Aldous has tried and failed to get this rectified but is starting to believe that the council's finance department has him beat this time. It turns out that he can't pay for it out of the capital budget because it isn't a refurbishment. And he can't pay for it out of revenue budget because it's building work not redecoration.
The best suggestion so far is that we should kill two birds with one stone by getting our engaging with youth in the community tick in the box by asking the local yobbos to set about the wall with seldgehammers so we can get the builders in to repair the damage and make good.

With our luck they'll make too good a job of it and some clown will decide to declare it a drive-in access point for disabled drivers.

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