The canal saga, that seems to make the US election process seem like a half-hour sitcom, rubbles ever onward, at walking pace. A council meeting about the proposal descended into the muddy silt as tensions came to the surface. Seems odd that something as slow, gently and lazy as a canal can provoke such outrage, before any digging even happens.
The Canal King, Rod Bluh said it wasn't a question of "if but when" the scheme comes to the town centre. The person who tried to calm everyone down, former mayor Stan Pajak, pushed a motion to let voters decide in a ballot. The most curious remark of the night is that labour councillors opposed the motion because they didn't feel it was right for Swindon. What the heck does that mean?
Many politicians who oppose the plan keep using the immensely vague phrase, "it wouldn't work here, although it's worked in other places." Can't they come out and give some evidence to back this up, it'd make a change from the constant condemnation of the project because it's outrageous.
Swindon Centric Says ; It'd be interesting to compare the local opinions voiced when the original canal was proposed with the current ones being spouted. We're one narrowboat away from sounding like the people that objected to the railways in the 19th century.
Objections ranged from the smoke from the engines making crops die, to the breakdown of society if men and women were inside the same carriages.
PS - Lets not forget also that travellers would be risking ungodly behaviour by traveling at high speeds, ten to fifteen miles per hour, as the only other thing that traveled that fast was the devil himself.
Look out for these objections and more coming to local media soon on the canal issue!
