The car that's a heap of junk

Honest John doesn't have a kind word to say about the Peugeot 1007.

By Honest John

Blunder bus

I'm very interested in the Peugeot 1007, but only ever read bad reviews. Are they that bad? The specification seems to include almost everything you could want. I understand they are still popular on mainland Europe and you can pick up a very nice example for about £3,500.

DD, Letchworth

The 1007 was based on the Citroën C2... and was a heap of junk cars that got the go-ahead on the basis of flawed research. Sliding doors each side were the main selling point, but the mechanisms are prone to failure. That's why 1007s are cheap. They are neither nice to drive nor practical, so spend your money on something else.

NEWS SOURCE

Former Falls Resident Disgusted By Wretched Condition Of Old Hometown

GUEST VIEW By Don Soos

I just returned home to Florida after a visit of several days to my former hometown area.

During that time I visited Niagara Falls several times, went to the casino, drove around the area and went "downtown," where I parked the car and visited the "major" souvenir shop and the souvenir stands scattered about the area like an outdoor flea market. The entire falls area is a disgrace! There is no other way to say it.

The entire area is dingy, dirty, unkempt, shopworn. I am unable to find the proper words to describe this "wonder of the world." Sidewalks and streets are broken and actually dangerous to walk upon. The trash at the falls area (especially on the other side of the safety barriers and fencing) obviously has not been picked up or cleaned up for months, if not years.

One cannot drive any of the side streets without hitting the many cracks, potholes and hundreds of pieces of debris in the streets. And the visitors really must enjoy seeing all those crack houses just off the main drag, with the broken windows, unkempt yards, junk cars, etc.

I made it a point to speak with a few of the many foreign visitors who spoke English, and their comments were almost all negative.

I have been fortunate enough to travel many parts of the world in years past and have visited some of the countries represented by these visitors. Most of their countries were much cleaner, well kept and had many areas to tour and enjoy -- historical sites, grand buildings and parks. It was a pleasure to visit. I am speaking of England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, China, Japan, India and more.

Very few of these places were as dirty and rundown as Niagara Falls, and they offered many places of interest -- parks, museums, theaters, nightclubs, etc.

Now back to the Falls. There are very few fine places to dine or shop. The souvenir stands were all full of overpriced junk, most of which came from China and other overseas sources.

Then I had the pleasure of crossing the border to Canada. Clean, neat, fantastic shopping areas, the parks along the falls area were beautiful, with lots of flowers and green shrubs and plants.

One was hard put to find trash and debris in the falls areas. So many fine shops that it would take several days just to see them all, with a fine selection of goods. Great places to relax and have a snack or a drink. And I want to say also that the salespeople in Canada were much more friendly and cooperative.

I had the pleasure once again of dining up in the Skylon Tower. Wow! Fantastic view, and the menu, although a bit pricey, was absolutely fabulous. Their escargot was superior to that I have had many times in Paris.

It would be impossible to estimate the number of visitors who were shopping there in Canada, many thousands vs. the few hundred I saw at those great souvenir stands around the park on the U.S. side, with many millions of dollars being spent there instead of in the United States. Maybe we could tell them about the fantastic Rainbow Centre, or about all that reconstruction that was promised in the Falls some 60 years ago that never materialized.

Maybe we could tell them about the hundreds of empty promises from the corrupt and incompetent politicians in New York who were going to bring in jobs and tourism and millions of much-needed dollars.

Yes, maybe if we told these millions of people who visit annually about all our problems, they might just leave a few dollars in a collection plate, which we could set up down by the border as they cross into Canada!

Don Soos lives in Orange Park, Fla.

Niagara Falls Reporter

NEWS SOURCE

Junk car ban goes into effect Saturday

The city of Burlington will begin enforcing a junk car ban on Saturday. Although some city officials think that junk cars are a problem, a city councilman thinks the ban isn’t needed.

The junk car ban, passed in June, enables the city to tow junked, abandoned or hazardous motor vehicles that are within the city limits. Greg Turner, crime prevention specialist with the Burlington Police Department, said that the number of junked cars is pretty low.

“Junk cars have never been an issue,” Turner said. “We could ride around town and I don’t know if I’d see any.”

Councilmember Celo Faucette said that the ordinance was created to improve the appearance of Burlington.

“Aesthetically it has been (a problem),” Faucette said.

Despite this apparent aesthetic problem, Faucette estimated a low number of cars that are viewable to the public.

“I wouldn’t know what the number is, but you may see one or two (junked cars),” Faucette said.

David Beal, assistant director for planning services for Burlington, confirmed that the most junked cars are located on parts of personal property that aren’t viewable to the public.

“There is no accurate count available, but it is safe to say there are hundreds (of junked cars),” Beal said. “Most of the vehicles are in residential areas and can be found anywhere on the property, but mainly in the rear yard.”

The location of these cars is, in part, why Faucette voted against the ordinance. Faucette’s was the only “no” vote. He said that “junk” is too subjective of a work to put into a law.

“Again it goes back to what is junk to the city and what is junk to that resident,” Faucette said. “I think laws and everything is what this country is based on, but sometimes I think we can go a little too far on somebody’s personal rights. If there is a problem with it, then yes come and tell me that there is a problem with it, but don’t have laws that curtail property rights. I know we’re trying to take care of our city and make it aesthetically pleasing, but sometimes I think we can find a better way than passing an ordinance to do that.”

Despite the fact that the large majority of junked cars can’t be seen, Beal feels that the ban will be good for the community. Beal sees junk cars as a problem beyond aesthetics.

“Junked motor vehicles have been a problem in that they can be unsightly in neighborhoods, they may be hazardous, they may negatively impact property values by being allowed to remain, and there are environmental concerns due to leaking fluids,” Beal said.

Although Beal has these other concerns about the junked cars, this law is only enforced via community complaints, which will be largely based on how the cars look.

Faucette said a hotline for a citywide community junk car watch has been set up so that anyone, mostly neighbors with complaints, can call in the location of junked vehicles,.

“We just don’t have the manpower (of the police force) to go out and look for abandoned vehicles and junked vehicles and the sort,” Faucette said. “We leave it on the community to police in this area.”

The junk car ban hotline is an element of Connecting Burlington Communities, which was designed to clean up and improve the quality of life in Burlington. Other issues CBC deals with are graffiti, illegally dumped items and litter.

To properly inform the community of the upcoming enforcement of the ban, Turner plans on notifying all the individual community watch groups of Burlington.

Even though he plans on emailing almost 50 groups, Turner said he does not foresee the hotline being very active.

NEWS SOURCE