Topic: | Re:Re:Ombudsman | |
Posted by: | Dan Murphy | |
Date/Time: | 08/10/14 06:13:00 |
Patrick I don't think there is anything more we can do, the machine is in motion and I fear it is now all too late. Having attended the call in meeting in January 2013, my own opinion is that most (not all) of the councillors were either asleep or had no interest in what was being discussed. There were no questions, no interest, no signs of life. In fact the only time they actually moved was when they were asked to raise their hands to vote for Cllr Mayne's CPZ consultation. I genuinely believe that most of the councillors in Lampton Road really don't know where Chiswick is, let alone having any interest in what happens here (apart from collecting our CCTV parking fines, of course). I think it perfectly clear that they are toothless. That is the only possible explanation why this has been allowed to happen. It cannot be because they don't know what was going on. The Traffic Department, supported by the Legal Department are able to do whatever they want and they have no interest in what anyone thinks. I can tell you that from writing over 50 letters to the Traffic Department since 2011, they treat you with total contempt. I have at least 10 replies from them saying "We are sorry that it has taken (6, 8, 10 weeks) to reply to you, but the person who deals with this issue has been on holiday / we have had a new computer system installed / my email hasn't been working for two months. In my world, the whole lot of them would have been fired long ago for hopeless incompetence, but Hounslow Council thinks it's all perfectly OK, and having witnessed the senior councillors in action I can understand why. Dr CPZ has been exposed to the national press. The Guardian and the Evening Standard both showed interest in the story a while back but to be honest it's not a story to set the nation (or even London) on fire, and "Local Politician tells lies" is only one step above "Dog bites man" in terms of selling newspapers. They did not pursue with any vigour. I believe that the entire CPZ scheme is part of a well thought through plan to get CPZ into the whole GP area regardless of local opposition. However, I simply do not believe that LBH has the intelligence to map out such a plan and deliver it in such an effective way. Most of them really could not think it through. So who is advising them? Who would have the experience to explain exactly how to overcome a 94% opposition and get the area wide CPZ? My own theory is that Serco advised them, as part of the integrated traffic contract that Cllr Mayne signed. It's only my theory, but you can imagine them saying "yes, we will take the Hounslow CPZ contract but what's this little white space here in Grove Park? We would want the entire area covered by a CPZ for it to make business sense for us. If they have voted against it, all you have to do is to find one or two roads that you can get it into, maybe for some made-up reason, and then the ensuing parking chaos will force the residents to accept a CPZ, road by road. They will have no choice. And then you get your CPZ, and if anyone complains, you can just put your hands up and say 'but the local residents asked for it!!' " This is precisely what happened in Barnet a few years ago, so it's tried and trusted tactic. But it's only my theory of course, I have no proof that this happened. But I know that the people running Traffic at LBH could not have thought this up on their own. |