Could last summer’s crippling bins strike about to be recycled?
difficult to introduce, that talks are breaking down and there is growing anxiety that the truce might be breaking.
One or two anonymous tip-offs and off-the-record commentaries might be dismissed as hearsay and gossip from a couple of malcontents or those with their own political axe to grind, but the volume of grumbles is growing each week.
There has also been major upheaval at the top of the service – several managers have been replaced.
One assistant director for waste appointed in February had moved on two months later. Which perhaps explains the delays and hardly inspires confidence.
And despite aiming to implement the new working practices first in April and then by September, there is still no sign that anything is changing.
Backbench councillors are still turning up at committees with long lists of missed collections showing that the service is still stuttering on the ground.
There is an eerie feeling that, yet again, the council and its bins staff are inching towards another flare-up.
With memories of last year so fresh and many still licking their personal and political wounds, it is hoped that cooler heads will prevail and the cycle of behaviour which has blighted the city several times over can be broken.
There is an eerie feeling that, yet again, the council and its bins staff are inching towards another flare-up
THE announcement that Birmingham is to be the testbed for emerging 5G mobile technology is undoubtedly welcome.
After all, it has been at least a century since the city was last at the forefront of major technological change.
The Government is subsidising the roll-out of the new network which apparently is more than a mere upgrade on existing 3G and 4G networks – more a shift in the underlying technology which will require a whole new range of phones and tablets. These are currently in development.
The question on everyone’s lips at the media briefing this week was exactly what difference will it make?
We have seen the smart phone revolution – with people Skyping relatives while out and about, sending selfies to Facebook and streaming YouTube clips while waiting for a bus.
But, beyond this frivolous stuff, it has boosted businesses and innovation. Firms like Uber are able to give customers the unrivalled convenience of live information.
Of course, there are downsides such as anxieties about privacy, use of big data by the internet giants and the fact many are now chained to the office emails at all hours of the day an night.
But that is more about the application of the tech, rather than the technology itself.
5G, if it is indeed on a par with superfast fibre links, means that the vast amounts of live data needed to pilot driverless vehicles can be transmitted, that buses and trains could have live CCTV links allowing police to respond to anti-social behaviour, and that paramedics could get live video links with specialists to provide even better emergency healthcare or save valuable minutes by giving the medical briefing en route to hospital.
And just as many now watch Netflix, YouTube or Sky Sports videos while out an about – the extra capacity could see virtual reality on the go.
The exciting thing is that there are uses that have yet to be dreamt up, but by being one of the first with the network, Birmingham’s creative minds could be first to bring the next killer app to market.