Blog: It was another “down with this sort of thing” week in Shrewsbury, last week, wasn’t it? writes David Burrows

Firstly, there was been the Beeb. A campaign is gathering pace to save programmes and services offered by BBC Radio Shropshire after Auntie announced that, while she may think local TV is a good idea, she has very little time for local radio, thank you very much. It’s much more important that In The Night Garden’s budget is ringfenced/increased. (Makka Pakka’s wage demands have got quite out of hand, you know. Old Wossy had nothing on him. By the way, does Makka Pakka sound to anyone else like a fold away raincoat that one of the Beatles would use? No? Okay, just me)

The call has gone up: “Save The Trunk of Funk”. Well, quite. Incidentally, you may think the BBC cuts are a done deal, but they aren’t. It’s a consultation. If you’ve been one of those people making typically British tutting noises about it, then give your views. Or shush.

As well as the Beeb, a couple of ongoing sagas popped up to say hello again.

Firstly, my old friends Tesco. Councillor Andrew Bannerman said any contribution the megastore makes to the town centre as part of a legal agreement to allow it to expand would pale into insignificance next to the amount it would take out.

I don’t like to blow my own trumpet (plays havoc with my asthma) but I’ve been saying that since the get-go (whenever that was). However, Tesco isn’t the only villain here, is it? If Shropshire Council lowered its ridiculous parking charges then maybe fewer people would go to out-of-town developments where parking is free.

Next up, the incinerator. Councillor Mansell Williams told the public inquiry into the plans for the Battlefield burner (good name for a boxer, by the way) that Shropshire would have to import waste to make it viable. I’m going to be controversial here, but even if that’s true, so what? Isn’t it better that we burn other people’s waste to generate electricity than make all the surrounding authorities bury that waste in landfill? I’ve probably missed the point here. I’m sure I’ll soon be told why.

And finally, the hot topic of the month – travellers. Yep, not content with Dale Farm getting all the headlines, we had our own travellers camped out on Abbey Foregate car park. And, to upset the moral majority even further, they’re FRENCH! Zut Alors. I’m surprised the Daily Mail didn’t send in a swat team.

They stopped off because they thought Shrewsbury was nice. The council wanted them gone within a week. They stayed a week. So everyone was happy then, yes? Of course not. For one thing they didn’t pay those extortionate parking charges.

Maybe they should’ve camped out at Tesco.