Not The Last Word on the Balloon, though I wish it was.

Even though the balloon has gone the junk left behind still sits by the winch house on Torre Abbey Gardens. Apparently it has been moved to the position it is in to stop the balloon company taking it away, they have no legal access to that part of the Green, before the legal dispute regarding the rent is settled. No sign of that happening any time before the end of this century. In the meanwhile the pile of junk will sit there making Torquay look even more of a dump. People don't want to come on holiday and look at piles of rubbish littering the seafront. The railings are also still there though the old path to the balloon and the space where the balloon stood have been grassed over. Me, I would just as soon forget the whole thing, let Lindstrand or who ever owns the stuff take it away and restore that section of the Green to the pitch and put that once stood there.

People, including members of the council are still campaining for an inquiry in to why no rent has been paid by the balloon operators. Forget it I say. The Mayor, Gordon Oliver, is determined not to hold an inquiry and he is protected by a majority on the council so what ever Oliver wants Oliver gets. We can always vote him and his band of faithful brothers out at the next election though probably we wont even bother to vote. One person I was speaking to recently about this and the head in the sand attitude our council have, complained long and loudly about councillor so and so who he described as a complete waste of space ( he used other words to describe him as well but this is a family show so you will have to use your imagination.) When I asked him, the complainer, not the councillor, who he voted for in the last election he laughed at the idea of actually voting. Waste of time, he said they are all a load of w*****s. You can vote by post these days, takes 5 minutes every 3 years, not a waste of time.

And a little footnote on the balloon from far away Hong Kong where they also had a helium filled balloon. Sixty metres (200 feet) up in the air it lost much of its helium through a rip in the side. Several people were injured though none seriously. One person on the ground was hit by the falling balloon and suffered head injuries and had to go to hospital.

Full story here.