Cafe prices too high now in Pinner?

The coffee wars, and closure of Bella Cafe have brought London prices to Pinner.  The cafes are now working to the book and making up sandwiches etc using weighed amounts of food!

I may even go as far as to say that there is no longer a decent cappuccino or latte served any more. 

Come on Fratelli, Costa, Harris and Hoole, Carluccios, Starbucks and Cafe Rouge - reduce your prices or one of you will lose custom for sure!

I do also hope that Harris and Hoole have their application to sell alcohol refused.  One pub in Pinner is already boarded up, awaiting a new lessee, give the pubs a chance. Some mothers who will insist on taking their screaming brats into Harris and Hoole, will not take too kindly to people drinking alcohol and swearing or being unpleasant, or even fighting!

Pictorial comment

Pinner's Bella Cafe has risen from the ashes, having been closed all of January and February. It has been refurbished and is now part of the Fratelli chain of coffee shops.

I had a cup of their Cappucino, and it was very nice indeed, possibly a little too milky for me though. They also do pots of tea, herbal etc (Tea Pigs Brand)  There is also a good range of cakes and pastries. The cakes tended to be rather overpriced to my mind.  They also have pre-made snacks which they heat up on the grill, plus the ubiquitous cooked breakfasts.

Lovely fixtures and lights in the cafe.  Also new tables and chairs and padded bench seating.  Not too keen on the large mirror on the side wall, mainly because I would not like to see myself in the mirror whilst eating my meal,

I wish Mo and the team much success.

Pinner Church looks absolutely great now it has emerged from its restoration work.  The stonework is so light now!  I took these pictures of our lovely High Street and Church earlier this week

Lidls are selling pictures to stick on your wheelie bin - I think they look plain daft!  How about you? I wonder what Harrow Council think about them?  Mind you they are too busy putting up our council tax to be worried about that!

 Finally a view of a Met Line Train coming into Pinner on the track.  I spent 34 years travelling on the Met Line from either Pinner or Eastcote!

The inevitable

Vote them out at the first possible opportunity!  My last post on council tax gave the wrong amount spent on consultancy fees spent by our lousy council


Brent always get subsidies - how about Harrow getting some!  If it was not illegal I would stop paying Harrow Council Tax - I dare you to.............................

I  heard  from a lady in a charity shop in Pinner that the Librarians have had to take a £1,000 cut in salary, if this is so this is out of order!  If you are a librarian and have lost this amount of salary please post anonymously in the comments below.

From the Harrow Observer Site

Council tax to increase by 2 per cent as new budget is approved with 34 councillors in favour

11:51pm Thursday 28th February 2013 in News By Jaber Mohamed

Harrow Borough Council approves new budget

Harrow Borough Council has agreed a two per cent rise in council tax for the year from April.
The rise will increase the amount an average Band D household pays by £23.97 a year, from £1493.27 to £1513.28.
The budget also includes cuts of more than £650,000 from the street cleaning, rubbish collection and park maintenance budget and 230 staff redundancies.
Conservative group leader Councillor Susan Hall, said the she "abhorred" the cuts to the public realms budget and “could not and would not” support the budget.
The Hatch End councillor said: “All councils have a moral duty to freeze council tax during these difficult times.”
This week figures obtained by Councillor James Bond revealed a total of £4,078,040 was spent on consultants between May 2010 and September 2012.
Cllr Hall added: “Just look at how much money this council is spending on outside consultants while we are losing council officers.”
Council leader Cllr Thaya Idaikkadar said tough decisions had to be made because of a 28 per cent cut to local government funding compared to eight per cent in other departments.

He said: “Of course we would have liked to invest in the public realm but the cuts mean that we had to choose between keeping the libraries and children centres open and investing in social care instead of putting money into street cleaning.”
The council's portfolio holder for finance Cllr Sachin Shah, said this budget was for the long term and the council tax increase would plug an £8million spending gap while protecting the most vulnerable in the borough.
He added: “We are protecting those that are most in need by investing in social care and children’s services.”

The council is hoping to balance the books by 2015 by saving £75m with its new budget plan.
The plans won with a majority of 34 councillors voting in favour and 27 against.