THING OF THE WEEK

A SEAT OF ENGINEERING… The first of 52,888 seats have been installed at Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, a major milestone in the project. The aptly named company Bluecube is responsible for installing the seats and is striving for a target of 500 a day for the next 100+ working days. Everton’s form has picked up of late, the recent Merseyside derby defeat notwithstanding, giving fans renewed hope that, once they take their seats, they will do so to watch top-flight football. 

There is no room for monkeying around when it comes to the welfare of baboons. Credit: Jorge Tung via Unsplash

MNKY HSE… Finally, a residential application in the Green Belt that nobody will be opposed to… surely. Knowsley Safari Park has applied for permission to build a new home for its troop of baboons. At 8,000 sq ft, it comfortably complies with nationally described space standards and will improve the animals’ living standards. The current baboon house does not “fully meet their welfare needs” and without an upgrade, the “baboon element of the business may face closure”, according to a planning statement accompanying the application. If any application was destined to sail through the approvals process it is this one. Visitors can look forward to their cars being pulled apart by well-rested baboons in future. 

Four-day working weeks are nothing more than a pipe dream for local councils. Credit: Headway via Unsplash

TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS… Any local councils hoping to adopt a four-day working week have had their dreams of Friday lie-ins squashed after the government announced its stance on the initiative.

The government thinks a shorter working week does not deliver value for money for taxpayers. “Should councils disregard this advice and there is evidence of service decline or failure, DLUHC or another government department may raise concerns directly with the authority, monitor performance more closely, and consider options to correct declining performance,” is the message from Whitehall. This will be welcome news to developers already upset about how long they have to wait for planning applications to be validated. 

Lib Dem-run South Cambridgeshire Council is in the midst of a trial to reduce the working week by a fifth, despite already being warned by minister Lee Rowley to abort the plan earlier this year. Since then, several other authorities have toyed with running their own four-day week trials but strongly worded guidance from Whitehall published this week may put paid to the plans before they begin.

Almost half a million visitors headed to Liverpool for Eurovision. Credit: Liverpool City Council

EUROVISION… Liverpool City Council now has some numbers to back up all of its Eurovision bluster, and they are very impressive. Five independent evaluations looking into the impact of the event have found that it generated a £54m boost to the city region’s economy. Other standout stats include the highest number of hotel rooms sold in a single month since May 2018 (175,000) and more than 280,000 pieces of global news coverage. Make that 280,001. 

The Manchester Halloween Monsters, including Hellvis Presley, are the work of Filthy Luker and Pedro Estrellas. Credit: via ECHO PR

NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS… What’s this? What’s this? There’s pumpkins everywhere. What’s this? There’s Christmas markets standing by. What’s this?!

Manchester is in the midst of calendar confusion. Monsters are waving from buildings, but the Christmas market stalls are being set up on King’s Street and Boodles is covered in its evergreen trim.  Is it Halloween? Christmas? Who knows. We can only presume that Jack Skellington would feel right at home.