Wait what? LOL how is tory austerity forcing Bristol Council to gouge this coffee store owner? You can't keep blaming bad Council decisions on central government. At some point Bristol Council needs to be held responsible. Or do you believe they are beyond questioning?

Bristol Council want to:

Increase his ground rent.
Take a significant chunk of his operating profit.
Force him to rebid for his spot.

How does tory austerity justify this? The owner has already said this is crazy and he'll go out of business. Is that what you want?

[–] appel@whiskers.bim.boats 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Councils all over the UK are running out of cash because central government has been paying them less and less. This is an austerity measure, in order to try to pay off government debts. (Or spend it on war like they have recently done).

[–] Dkarma@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Wow you're dense.
If Tories weren't spending money on the other thing this dude wouldn't have to pay more cuz the councils would have money so they wouldn't have to tax this guy.

It's hilarious that you don't get something so logically simple.

[–] mannycalavera -1 points 10 months ago (2 children)

That's an incredibly stupid argument. The Tories made us take a cut of your operating percentag.

If Bristol Council wants to push traders away and run them out of business apparently we're all cool with that as long as we blame the Tories.

It was the Tories that forced Bristol to invest in a failed energy company right? Or forced Bristol to waste money on an underground consultation scheme that's going nowhere? Or forced them to spend twice on an arena that isn't getting built? Yes that's the Tories fault.

Literally take that money and see what good it could have been put to. Absolutely crazy 🤣.

[–] appel@whiskers.bim.boats 2 points 10 months ago

There are multiple factors involved. Austerity policies such as reducing public funding are one of them. If Bristol Council was not receiving a tighter budget every year from westminster, then they would have to take less risky decisions (like the investment). Of course this does not excuse some of the other silly actions either, which should be blamed on the council itself.

Of course no one is saying that we're cool with it, I think most people are not. We are just acknowledging the impact of central government policies and then who ends up taking the hit for it.

[+] Tweak 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] mannycalavera 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You do realise that it's possible for Bristol council to be negligent and corrupt in their spending, while also getting significantly reduced funding from the government, right?

I'm sorry but the parent comments both blindly assume it's all central government's fault. And also imply that Bristol council couldn't possibly have done things differently. So yes I do realise that both can be true. But I'm not insisting that Bristol Council be let off the hook for the shitty things they do.

Bristol is only slightly insulated from this by the insanely high council tax - however their income has been reduced, and it's to be expected that they seek ways of covering that shortfall.

They have a shortfall because of the incredibly poor way they've managed their finances and government cuts. People would like to pretend it's only the latter and poor old Bristol Council are an innocent bystander swept up in a tornado not of their making. This is absurd. Have you seen the way the council responds to comments asking for clarity on finances and spending? It's an absolute disgrace.

The point of the petition by the seller in the article is to try and get Bristol Council not to punish traders with punitive chargers to cover shortfalls elsewhere. This particular trader has been chugging along for years up until now growing a customer base and now the council are gouging him for an obscene amount of money. They could have quite easily have asked for an inflationary increase in ground rent. But they haven't. The risk here is that the Council drives people out of business. I don't want to live in a place where everything is either shut or way too expensive because the bulk of the sales go towards paying off the Council fees.

[–] Tweak -2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Lmao I thought I was being a little harsh and deleted my comment. Then you plucked my comment from the grave (yay lemmy bugs), downvoted it, and argued against it.

I guess I was right after all. You just downvote anyone who disagrees with you. So I'll re-state the personal comment I made in my deleted comment:

The only crazy one is you, who downvotes everyone that contradicts you. You don’t deserve that username. You’re more of a Domino Hurley.

Enjoy purgatory. The smell of sulphur suits you.

[–] mannycalavera 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Meh,... It's the internet, nobody really cares. Chill out bro.

[–] Tweak -1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm having fun shooting the shit lol. You seem deflated now.

[–] mannycalavera 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That's rather desperate of you. What a way to live. I feel sorry for you now.

I hope you've found some solace, enjoy your weekend dear. 🙏

[–] Tweak 1 points 10 months ago

I am! Got a new air fryer, spending a city day out tomorrow. Life is good.