April 1999

Local produce direct (April 25)

Dancing for disarmament (April 17)

Last May Day of the millennium (5 April)

Council to abolish itself - shock announcement! (April 1)

 Local produce direct

Yesterday saw the first of this summers' Local Produce Markets. The markets are an opportunity for local people to buy fresh food, in the town centre, directly from the producer.

Local Produce Markets are modelled on American Farmers Markets and the French custom of taking even the smallest surplus of smallholding produce to town. In this country the idea is growing in popularity with most suppliers demonstrating a commitment to organic methods.

Yesterday's market in Bradford saw several stalls selling vegetables as well as veg, flower and herb plants for the garden, a stall run by a community group which produces garden accessories and a stall by an organic butcher. It is hoped that as the monthly markets take off they will be joined by a wider variety of producers.

Dancing for disarmament

Whether the 400 plus people who participated in todays 10th Day of Dance did so out of commitment to CND or just joined in for the fun of it scarcely matters for join in they did.

Today over 400 people took part in sessions at various venues around Saltaire. Workshops were run in more than 30 different styles of dance from the hugely popular Salsa to the stately Regency dances usually only seen in TV productions of Jane Austin.

Louise Eaton started all-day dance workshops to raise money for CND. Little did she think that they would become a twice yearly event and that 10 Days of Dance later she would have raised over £35,000.

Money was raised for both CND and Oxfam and although it's too early to confirm today's total Louise is hoping to pass the £40,000 mark.

The Day's of Dance must be one of the best examples around of effective fund raising. Louise and the other members of CND have hit upon a winning formula. People have a great time doing something they enjoy and raising awareness at the same time and there's no speeches, no chanting and NO PAPER SELLERS.

Last May Day of the millennium

The last May Day of the millennium looks set to be celebrated in traditional style in Bradford, and elsewhere.

Pete Chapman of the 1 in 12 Club said: "We've had big celebrations in Bradford over the past 3 years and it's spreading. We know of other "Reclaim May Day" events across Britain this year - including Tyneside, Portsmouth, London and Burnley."

Traditional trade union type May Day celebrations have been in decline in Britain since the seventies.

"The move to Reclaim May Day in this country as a celebration for ordinary working class people began in 1996 when a group of 43 people went from Bradford to Barcelona at the invitation of the Spanish anarchist union the CNT. We discovered that May Day is still celebrated on a massive scale throughout the rest of the world" said Pete

This years May Day events include:

• A light-hearted "Reclaiming May Day" march through the city on Saturday, May 1st, leaving Infirmary Fields at 1 o'clock prompt.
• A weekend of football with 16 teams from as far as Germany, Belgium and Bristol.
• The premier of "The uses of disorder" - the 3rd play in Noel Batstones trilogy "The Anarchists", opening at the Priestley Centre on Friday, April 30.
• An evening of "Slinky Malinky" cabaret, hosted by Leanne (as seen on John Peels TV show on Saturday), featuring 10-piece ska band "Splitters"; at the 1 in 12 Club on May Day.

There's also a host of other events - films, meetings, gigs etc. across the city.

Pete Chapman added: "May Day will once again be celebrated in Bradford independently of political parties and, of course, costing not one penny of public money".

See last years May Day reviews

Council to abolish itself - shock announcement!

Bradford councillors are set to completely abolish the local authority, in an astonishing twist on their current re-organisation plans.

Council leader Ian Greenwood told KDIS exclusively:

"We've decided to put our option 4 to the people in a referendum - that is the complete abolition of the council. Let's face it, most people think we're a waste of time anyway."

The council has been toying with various ideas for re-organisation, including the election of an all-powerful mayor. But a fourth option, secret until today, has been drawn up by reluctant council officers.

The report concedes that the "Best Value" option would be the authority's abolition. There will be no council tax collected this year. Facilities owned by the council would pass directly to those who use them, such as the council house stock which would pass to tenants associations.

School governors would take direct control of education services. Other services such as rubbish collection would pass into workers control and be funded directly by householders and businesses.

The new plan is expected to receive widespread popular backing from the people. The referendum will replace the normal council elections due next month and abolition is expected by the summer. City Hall is set to become a leisure complex and massage parlour. 

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