Cornovii: The Council That Built a Company, Hid the Books, and Lost the Architects Since 2020, Shropshire Council’s Housing Supervisory Board has met more than a dozen times to discuss Cornovii. Each meeting began with the same ritual: “That the press and public be excluded.” Now the doors are still closed, the loans still rising,Continue reading “Cornovii: Building Success? Or Just Building Debt?”
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The Blob Always Rings Twice: A Cornovii Mystery
The Blob Replies (Eventually): Shropshire Council’s FOI Vanishing Act It finally happened. After weeks of silence, a sound emerged from the echoing corridors of Shropshire Council HQ — a faint rustle of paper, a cautious cough, and then… an apology. Not for what they’ve done, but for being *late* in telling us nothing. In a properly runContinue reading “The Blob Always Rings Twice: A Cornovii Mystery”
The £56 Express: You Pay, They Play
Bins, Bags, and Brass Necks Once upon a time, in the rolling hills of Shropshire, garden waste was collected for free. Grass clippings, hedge trimmings, and the odd forlorn courgette plant went off without fuss. Then, in a stroke of genius that only local government could dream up, residents were told: *“That’ll be £56, please.Continue reading “The £56 Express: You Pay, They Play”
The Elephant Has Company: Cornovii and the House of Cards
Welcome to Shropshire, where the houses are public, the risks are private, and the only thing commercial is the branding. Let me introduce you to Cornovii Developments Ltd, Cornovii Investments Ltd, and STAR Housing — a trilogy of publicly owned entities with overlapping leadership, shared liabilities, and a striking ability to shuffle assets faster thanContinue reading “The Elephant Has Company: Cornovii and the House of Cards”
Shropshire Council’s Elephant in the Room
The beast arrives, sits on your wallet, and asks for a tip. Let’s talk about the animal nobody’s feeding but everyone’s funding.It’s grey, immovable — and financed on your credit card. The new pastime Shropshire has a new pastime: building houses with your land and your money, then calling it “commercial”. The developer has aContinue reading “Shropshire Council’s Elephant in the Room”
Oswestry: Where Accountability Goes to Melt
The Great Oswestry Giveaway: When Scrutiny Left the Building In Oswestry, transparency isn’t so much a policy as a parlour trick. Ask a question, and the Council disappears behind the curtain in a puff of procedural smoke. Take my own letter to the Mayor, dated 7 October 2025, Letter to Mayor setting out very realContinue reading “Oswestry: Where Accountability Goes to Melt”
Grants, Ghosts and Governance: Oswestry Town Council Exposed
Due Diligence by Daylight: Oswestry’s Comedy of Errors Oswestry Town Council loves a scheme. A rickshaw here, a mechanic there, and a fireworks display that arrived later than the last bus to Gobowen. But when it comes to due diligence, the Council doesn’t just miss the mark — it doesn’t even bother to aim. BlindfoldsContinue reading “Grants, Ghosts and Governance: Oswestry Town Council Exposed”
Lions Led by Donkeys in Shropshire
Article 4: The Safety Catch They Refuse to Pull Shropshire residents dared to believe their Council might actually protect them. They asked, quite reasonably: “Please, use an Article 4 Direction to stop our town being carved into overcrowded HMOs.” Article 4, for the uninitiated, is dead simple: it takes away the automatic right for landlordsContinue reading “Lions Led by Donkeys in Shropshire”
Snouts First, Public Last
When Pain Was Shared, Not Shelved In 2011, Council Leader Keith Barrow stood at the despatch box and told Shropshire councillors that “there is going to be pain and we should all take our share of it.” He promptly sliced councillors’ allowances by 5%, cut mileage rates, and asked officers to consider reducing the totalContinue reading “Snouts First, Public Last”
Commissioner Watch (Final): The Great Policing Con
A Masterclass in Doing Less With More West Mercia gives us a masterclass in modern policing: replace officers with cameras, replace accountability with press releases, and replace transparency with a £25 million umbrella called the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. The result? CCTV that doesn’t work, complaints that don’t count, and a bureaucracyContinue reading “Commissioner Watch (Final): The Great Policing Con”
The Alternative Council 