Here’s another one in the ‘you couldn’t make it up’ category.
This year is the 25th anniversary of Philip Larkin’s death. Why we want to celebrate someone’s death is something that has always puzzled me, but leaving this aside, Hull and the Philip Larkin Society want to do something ‘Larkin-esque’ this year, as Larkin was Librarian at the University of Hull.
What do you do though? Leaving people who have too much time on their hands to decide these matters can be dangerous, and unfortunately for the taxpayers of Hull, it is going to be very costly.
Two of Larkin’s famous poems are called Toads and Toads Revisited. Therefore one hundred fibreglass toads are going to be manufactured and placed around the city. If you desire, you can have a wander and try and find every one of them. No doubt the prize will be a toad in the hole in one of the city’s many watering holes.
The cost of all of this is £290,000; and £200,000 of this is coming from a grant from Hull City Council. This news has been revealed in a week when the council is asking the government for more money to repair Hull’s crumbling roads. Indeed the Hull Daily Mail has worked out 3,500 potholes could be repaired for this money.
Just when you think you have come across all the ways taxpayers’ money can be wasted, someone comes up with something new. Not that Hull City Council is repentant.
Councillor Rick Welton, Liberal Democrat cabinet member for regeneration, said the toads would attract visitors and publicity to the city during the Larkin festival, bringing in extra investment. He also said they would be used in schools as curriculum projects promoting poetry and literature. "Instead of looking at the negatives, I believe there are going to be a lot of positives from this," he said.
So next time you drive in Hull and you think the roads resemble those in Eastern Europe in former communist days, remember in the battle between toads and roads, the toads have won.
UPDATE: This decision has been reversed by Cllr Carl Minns, leader of Hull City Council. He told me on the phone that a council officer approved this grant without his knowledge. He was away at the weekend, attending the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference, and this morning was the first chance he had to review this decision. He couldn’t justify spending £200k of our money on such a project.
Well done, Cllr Minns. You have made the right decision. It’s good to see taxpayers’ money will not be wasted.
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Why has your post and comments relating to the ERYC jobs for the boys scandal been withdrawn from blog archive.
ReplyDeleteBecause there was a threat of legal action if it was not removed. The QC's report concluded there was not any wrongdoing, therefore it was not worth keeping the post on the blog. That's all I can say.
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed the scandal here. But I enjoyed your story about the frogs. Hull Uni has a great department named after Philip Larkin, does the city need to do more?
ReplyDeletethe frogs are brilliant... brightens up the city, if we want to talk about wasting money... we could start with that new foot bridge on the river hull or taking down the screen...
ReplyDeleteThe toads are bright and colourful, and the kids seem to enjoy them too. All of this was achieved through private sponsorship, and the public money that would have been used can now be used in other areas. Everyone's a winner I'd say!
ReplyDeleteOne more thing. There was going to be 100 toads, but only 40 were produced. No-one seems to be saying there isn't enough. Far from it. It's very difficult to get see all 40; 100 would have been nigh on impossible.
ReplyDeleteAs to the big screen. I know there are people who like to disagree with me for the sake of it, but saying it was a waste of money taking it down is stretching the imagination too far. Perhaps, Anonymous, you would have us believe Hitler was a decent chap, if I criticised him here?
Try harder for something sensible to say next time.