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GTB
Bentlian Oldboy
Joined: 05 Jun 2007
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 Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:38 am Post subject: Town Twinning |
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Call me cynical but I am sick to death with all these taxes that are showing no visible benefit to the society who pay them. One of the most pointless exercises in my opinion is these town twinning associations. How do they benefit the people who live in towns?? I know a town clerk in a Wiltshire town who spent a week in Finland at the tax payers expence all in the name of town twinning.
Somebody, please make this situation more clear over why there is a fad for towns to be twinned with a village or town in a far away land which has not even a tenuous link with each other than an excuse for a jolly up between the respective councils at the tax payers expence.
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rosco
Born and Bred Local
Joined: 15 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I presume that's not the case for Caln which does have a very distinct connection with Calne.
I guess that the idea is to exchange ideas and give people places to go where a bit more effort is made for them to visit/stay there. As long as stupid amounts of money are not spent on it, I don't think it is a bad idea to have wider horizons that just the UK. |
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Peter Dolman
Harris's Factory Worker
Joined: 09 Jan 2008
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Location: Calne
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| Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 3:24 pm Post subject: twinning |
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I think that dear GTB may not be in touch with the position regarding twinning, especially those relating to Calne.
As far as funding is concerned most of it comes from those involved apart from this year. The town mayor will be attending an event in Enningen (Germany) and I understand his transport costs will be paid by the council. This will come from a general budget relating to transport costs. The event in Ennigen is to mark the 40th(?) anniversary of the setting up of the twinning them and Calne.
I think it is fair to say that since the twinning with Ennigen/Charleiu/Caln was established many students from the JBS & others have benefited from having the chance to spend a week or 2 in France or Germany. Many of these students would not have had the opportunity to do so without the twinning association.
The amount of council monies that have been given to the Calne Twinning Association over the last 40 years is a fraction of that spent say on the allotments which actually costs every house approx £2.50 each year to subsidise them. Can you say that is money well spent? |
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GTB
Bentlian Oldboy
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| Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:42 am Post subject: Re: twinning |
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| Peter Dolman wrote: | | As far as funding is concerned most of it comes from those involved apart from this year. The town mayor will be attending an event in Enningen (Germany) and I understand his transport costs will be paid by the council. This will come from a general budget relating to transport costs. The event in Ennigen is to mark the 40th(?) anniversary of the setting up of the twinning them and Calne. |
Are you honestly saying that so far the majority of costs involved have been coming from private individuals rather than the public purse? And what's the Town Mayor going to say at this event? "Thanks for 40 years of a meaningless union between our two towns?".
| Peter Dolman wrote: |
I think it is fair to say that since the twinning with Ennigen/Charleiu/Caln was established many students from the JBS & others have benefited from having the chance to spend a week or 2 in France or Germany. Many of these students would not have had the opportunity to do so without the twinning association. ? |
What about student exchange programmes? Is this the only reason why Calne is twinned; to send a couple of dozen stuudents a year for a foreign holiday?
| Peter Dolman wrote: |
The amount of council monies that have been given to the Calne Twinning Association over the last 40 years is a fraction of that spent say on the allotments which actually costs every house approx £2.50 each year to subsidise them. Can you say that is money well spent? |
That is a very interesting statistic regarding allotments in the Calne area. But isn't it the fact that more people benefit from the allotments (either directly or indirectly) than what is spent on transport, clerical and other costs involved with the twinning?
I'm sorry, Peter but I cannot for the life of me see any benefit in English towns and villages (Bromham being one example) being twinned with another town/village from a different country. Some towns are twinned with several locations dotted over different continents. Again, what is the point in this??
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Local lass
Calnetalk Oracle
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| Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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I would have to agree with gtb i dont see the point in it also .
Peter wrote
think it is fair to say that since the twinning with Ennigen/Charleiu/Caln was established many students from the JBS & others have benefited from having the chance to spend a week or 2 in France or Germany. Many of these students would not have had the opportunity to do so without the twinning association. ?
why wouldnt they been able to go to those places if we were not twinned with them? |
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rosco
Born and Bred Local
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| Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Local lass wrote: | I would have to agree with gtb i dont see the point in it also .
Peter wrote
think it is fair to say that since the twinning with Ennigen/Charleiu/Caln was established many students from the JBS & others have benefited from having the chance to spend a week or 2 in France or Germany. Many of these students would not have had the opportunity to do so without the twinning association. ?
why wouldnt they been able to go to those places if we were not twinned with them? |
Not so easily, there are funds available to help that otherwise wouldn't be around.
I don't see what the problem is with opening up your horizons and being involved with other places with other perspectives, really. |
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GTB
Bentlian Oldboy
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| Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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| rosco wrote: | | I don't see what the problem is with opening up your horizons and being involved with other places with other perspectives, really. |
I have no problem with opening up different horizons but my main question is; what benefit do the rate paying general public of Calne, or any other town/village for that matter, get for their money? The most you could say they get is some sort of symbolic gesture between two countries. I totally respect your views, Rosco (and Peter's) but is there a definitive answer to this?
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rosco
Born and Bred Local
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| Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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| GTB wrote: |
I have no problem with opening up different horizons but my main question is; what benefit do the rate paying general public of Calne, or any other town/village for that matter, get for their money? The most you could say they get is some sort of symbolic gesture between two countries. I totally respect your views, Rosco (and Peter's) but is there a definitive answer to this? |
Well, at a local level, maybe they do some council type services better or in a different way that we could learn from and apply to Calne. And, at a personal level, maybe the people that take part in cutural exchanges are better off afterwards. I don't understand it to be wildly expensive from what Peter's saying (almost for free in fact) so it seems ok to me.
I would take issue if it were being done to the scale (and cost to the local taxpayer) that London does under Red Ken, but that's not the case here thank goodness! |
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Local lass
Calnetalk Oracle
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| Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:03 am Post subject: |
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| rosco wrote: | | Local lass wrote: |
why wouldnt they been able to go to those places if we were not twinned with them? |
Not so easily, there are funds available to help that otherwise wouldn't be around.
I don't see what the problem is with opening up your horizons and being involved with other places with other perspectives, really. |
I went to austria when i was at school which wasnt twinned.which i payed for.not the schooli can not remember one trip to any of the twinned places.
kizzy was there any? |
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Local lass
Calnetalk Oracle
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| Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 12:06 am Post subject: |
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ROSCO WROTE
Well, at a local level, maybe they do some council type services better or in a different way that we could learn from and apply to Calne
Do we really have to go abroad just for that though?
i agree with gtb .
i still can not see a very good reason for any twinning especialy at are expence.
will have to look in to it more. |
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