Rainbow warriors

I'm painfully aware that I've not been to The Rainbow for weeks now...after being a regular for years and just as the place faces the biggest challenge to its survival ever I've been AWOL. A combination of funerals, parties and holidays has kept me away and meant I missed last Friday's mass gathering. It was, by all accounts, stirring stuff and happily both Pete Ashton (of Pete Ashton fame) and Nicky Getgood (of Digbeth is Good fame) have captured the highlights on their respective sites. Here's the biggie though, Kent's (the Rainbow landlord) speech about the whole bloody mess and what he intends to do about it.

Rainbow Meeting - Kent Davis from Pete Ashton on Vimeo.

It strikes me that Birmingham City Council and the environmental health bods ain't exactly covering themselves in glory here. In fact, with 20,000 plus Save The Rainbow group members on Facebook and coverage in the local press, it's nothing short of a PR nightmare. Hopefully the powers that be will see sense and allow the Rainbow to continue doing its thang until they're able to fit a new roof that should...that's SHOULD...solve the problem. My big fear is that they go to the expense of fitting the new roof and then mystery protester makes yet another spurious complaint. What then? Wrap the whole bloody place in bubble wrap? Watching John Tighe's (the landlord of the already silenced Spotted Dog) piece it seems as if the Council's planning team has been, let's say, a little lax when it came to the Abacus development that's at the heart of all this. Some would call it downright sloppy. I think Mr T (I pity da fool who messes with him) could well press for some kind of enquiry into the whole debacle, especially as his request for document's under the Freedom of Info Act seems to have uncovered some dubious tactics. Suffice to say that, if I were in Planning for BCC - and had anything to do with this matter - I would start looking for another career if I were you.

Anyway, enough of dodgy dealings for now, The Rainbow is holding a ruddy great street festival thingy on August 1st to raise dosh for the new roof. Nicky G is also celebrating the 1st birthday of Digbeth is Good this Friday - muchos congratulations and a big thank you for all your hard work on this blog...it's ruddy good - at The Spotted Dog 7.30-ish where she'll be gathering donations too.

In the words of Karen and Richard Carpenter 'It's only just begun...'