Friday 16 October 2009

update....

Dear all, another quick update (again sorry for my absence! comments now moderated!). Just received word that in 1 week we will be able to see the consultation document, before it goes to to print - I will try and get the gist of it up on here asap. There's little more to report other than the wheels grind very slowly.

I wrote to the counsellors outlining my objections to the way that the new consultation will be carried out (in short they won't remove winns ave from the existing zone - or even consult on that - before consulting the whole area, so yet again residents won't have the full information to make the right choice and Winns Ave will not have the option of not being in any zone (we voted against last time and they included us anyway, they could just as easily have made the zones end at the end of the ladder roads leaving WA as the buffer it always was) So the upshot is chaos caused, more residents inconvenienced and a larger zone to rake in the cash. When I commented that the council were using parking as a revenue scheme, there was silence, followed by a denial and an explanation that clearly showed that they use parking as an income generator. Everyone round the table heard it.

In addition to prompting the council for the draft and for the detailed data I mentioned, which several weeks on has not been forthcoming, all I can say is frustration and idiocy reign.

I have received a response to my stage two complaint, partially upholding some of my points - that the original consultation was carried out badly (I know of 4 households on winns ave who did not receive the document) and that counsellors haven't responded appropriately to my correspondance. I am going to take it to the local government ombudsman anyway as I don't agree with other findings. Anyone else got any news on their complaints?

There was a question in one of the comments that I'll go back and try and answer now.
Best wishes
Andrea