Here’s the answers to Ashley Fox’s questions to Cabinet on Thursday regarding the Railway Path land sell-off. The Blogger’s comments are in red.
It’s certainly a fascinating insight into the quality of governance we’re getting:
Questions from Councillor Ashley Fox to Councillor Rosalie Walker, Cabinet Member for Culture and Healthy Communities.
Q1. Does the Cabinet Member agree with me that the Council should always consult with local residents before agreeing to the sale or lease of precious green space?
Q1 Reply – The Council is under a statutory obligation to advertise the sale of any area of open space over which the public has access. Additional public consultation is proposed under the parks and green spaces strategy, and this has been arranged in regards to the Chocolate Factory.
Note the paste tense here. A consultation “has been arranged”. Does anyone know any details about this consultation? Like who’s doing it, who’s being consulted and, maybe, when, where and how it’s happening? A consultation has been promised since early September, now it’s been arranged. But where the hell is it?
Q2 Does the Cabinet Member agree with me that the Council’s recent sale of parts of the embankment of the Bristol-Bath Railway Path threatens to damage the character of one of the country’s finest cycling routes in an Authority now designated a “Cycling City”?
Q2 Reply – No sale has taken place. the local planning authority will consider whether the development would damage the character of the Bristol to Bath cycling route. I would remind you of the Council motion to protect the cycle path agreed earlier this year.
“No sale has taken place”? Weasel words because an “in-principle” sale has taken place. It’s also remarkable that the Executive Member directly responsible for protecting our parks and ensuring that the Parks and Green Spaces Strategy is properly adhered to has handed this responsibility to the local planning authority. Talk about washing your hands of it. It is not – and never has been – the job of the local planning authority to decide whether park land should be sold. It is Ms Walker’s job. Why doesn’t she do it? Is she mad? Why bother going to the effort of getting elected, getting a seat in the cabinet, gaining a little bit of power and influence and then abdicating all responsibility?
Q3 Does the Cabinet Member agree with me that the apparent informal and unrecorded manner in which this property sale was transacted could leave the Council open to accusations of impropriety or favouritism?
Q3 reply – See answer to Q2 above.
What see the answer that doesn’t answer the question? Is this a joke? An in-principle agreement has been reached to sell the Railway Path land to a local property developer. The agreement is on public record as being as being transacted in an “informal and unrecorded manner” over the phone and through, apparently, unminuted meetings. The question, then, still stands: “could [this in-principle transaction] leave the Council open to accusations of impropriety or favouritism?”
Questions from Councillor Ashley Fox to Councillor John Bees, Cabinet Member for Transformation & Resources
Q1. Does the Cabinet Member agree with me that all decisions and meetings relating to the sale or disposal of land held by the Council should be open, properly recorded and fully transparent?
Q1 reply – There are procedures and protocols by which these matters are undertaken.
Good. Care to explain more? Like what they are and where we might find them?
Q2 Does the Cabinet Member agree with me that the apparent manner in which the recent sale of parts of the embankment of the Bristol-Bath Railway Path was transacted warrants further investigation?
Q2 reply – See answers to questions above. the Head of Legal Services has reviewed the decision making process and is satisfied that the Strategic Director has acted within his delegated powers.
The answers above do not discuss whether there’s a need for an investigation here or not. Mainly because that’s not the question those answers are addressing. But we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one and assume that the answer is “no”. No further investigation is warranted. On the subject of the Head of Legal Services “review”, I wonder, is it publicly available? And let’s hope he was given all the information he should have been by Head of Planning, David Bishop, and any other officers or all that egg flying around near faces could get a bit messy couldn’t it?
Q3. Does the Cabinet Member agree with me that it is important to ascertain the reason for conducting aspects of this transaction without a formal record or minutes taken at key meetings held?
Q3 reply – See answer to Q2.
That’s a no then. Helen Holland’s administration sees no need for formal record or minute taking at key meetings.
Q4. Will the Cabinet Member undertake to remind all Officers engaged in the disposal of Council-owned assets of the importance of the principle of Integrity (within the Code of Conduct for Employees) that “holders of public office must not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might influence them in the performance of their official duties”?
Q4 reply – I am sure officers are fully aware of their obligations in this regard.
Yep. And the pigs will be cruising at an altitude of 30,000 feet and today’s inflight movie is ‘Clueless’.
Regardless of your views on the Railway Path sell-off, is this pathetic level of oversight of our affairs, land and money really good enough?
quote b/b;
Regardless of your views on the Railway Path sell-off, is this pathetic level of oversight of our affairs, land and money really good enough?
the simple answer to that is a big NO!
unfortunately it does seem par for the course 😕
bees, walker, bradshaw, mccarthy etc etc,
same old names, same old stories 🙁
You’ve only got to look at the parks in her own ward to see they don’t give a damn Poets Park one of the smallest in the city – costs a fortune in police time – a den on iniquity for alcoholics and drug dealing – even adults too!
Horfield Common – well named it’s the pits! Rusting monuments, scrap metal railings and seating better suited to the dog bins!
Some showcase route to the inner city – turn around and go back – it just gets worse!
Procedures and protocols – no there isn’t there’s blatant disregard, public bull shi–ing [“consultation”] and private deals – just like the scum in her parks.
And we’re the punters paying for it.
Cycling city – Green City – Showcase ???
NO.
Dealers, drop outs and degraded.
Cradle to the grave – We’ve all been robbed – Bristolian’s History, Education, Dignity and Rights.
Time we took it back, save what remnants exist, restore what we can and invest in what matters – people, choices, opportunity and future.
STOP the sale of the family silver.
Time to see the ‘fruits of OUR labour’ not the dictate and over rule of New Labour.
Rosalie Walkers ward in Horfield once had a community of prefab dwellers on prime land just below the ‘new’ swimming baths and alongside Southmead Hospital. When the council decided they could’nt afford to upgrade the last 300 or so prefabs left, they started to negotiate the sale of lands they were built on, including the entire estate at Horfield. In the first year a badly worded letter went out from the council to the tenants at Horfield, in that year there were twelve deaths on the site, mostly elderly people who had lived in the prefabs since they were built after the war, a lot of them from the bombed inner city area.
At first Rosalie Walker supported her faithful followers in their protest at the appalling treatment received by those in ‘power’. I went to every meeting and protest, and still have all the paperwork, most of it bullshit gobbledegooch written by idiots, however I’m still trying to figure out what secret passageway Rosalie Walker disappeared in, leaving her faithful followers up to their necks in quagmire (putting it politely). She must have had instructions from above (not God-but they think they are!!) to back off and take the invisible pill. Needless to say the deal went through for a hefty sum of money, which also must have disappeared somewhere.
Chinadoll, there’s a lot more to that story, as you may know.
There is an 84 year old couple who have lived in their own bungalow in Dorian Road for 60 years, but the bungalow and the land it sits on has been designated for redevelopment. For 4 years the Council have been attempting to persuade the couple to accept alternative accommodation.
As you would expect of such an elderly couple who’ve spent virtually their whole lives making their home together they simply don’t want to move and wish to be left to pass their remaining years in such peace and quiet as is possible.
Last Thursday the Cabinet resolved to use a Compulsory Purchase Order against the couple, despite extremely moving appeals by both the son and daughter of the couple which you can see via the link below. It starts at 4 hrs 6 mins in.
http://tinyurl.com/6nfekp
This sounds dreadful. I can’t download all this video, is there nothing written?
How come there’s not more publicity and support?
Oh, I forgot, we’re all too busy slapping ourselves on the back for all the wonderful awards Bristol has wangled.
There’s a press report here –
http://tinyurl.com/5r76tt
I know about the couple in Dorian Rd, its a lovely well built and tended bungalow.
I also know about Compulsory Purchase Orders,
the first one in my family was my grandparents in the fifties ( I believe it was a Labour council ‘taking care’ of the Bristol peoples needs then too) They had a beautiful red bricked house that was originally a Coaching Inn it is generally believed in our family that it was a listed building (I won’t go into details), however it did’nt make any difference, neither did it make any difference that my grandmother then a widow was in a wheelchair living with my aunt, they had to move in with another daughter. The council then demolished their home, mine went too and so did four original Georgian house to make way for the monstrosity of Avon House that straddles the lower end of Stokes Croft.
The second one was my brothers house in St Johns Lane, one of the many they Compulsory Purchased in able to widen the road, the houses are still standing and the road is still the same width.
Are we always going to be dictated to by morons or are we finally going to stand up and be counted.
Maybe we need to form a new party, of the people for the people, starting with Bristol.
Chris Hutt I have just finished watching the link you posted of the Cabinet meeting.
So thats where Rosalie Walker is hiding!!!
Amongst the waffle from Councillor Price I noticed she states that 44 social houses will be available from the 126 being built all on the sites she mentioned ,all once prefab sites? The tenants they ‘helped’ re-house had to go somewhere so what exactly have they saved considering that only a small proportion of the houses being built on each site are social housing, the ratio is more people had to be accommodated than the social housing replacing theirs!!!
She then went on to tell us that their great partners Sovereign Housing Association are going to help out Bovis on the Horfield site just like they did on the upper Horfield/Filton Avenue project by buying some of these houses, tenants that had original long standing contracts with the Council have now been sold off to Sovereign who are in the business of re-coupment of expenditure.
Councillor Pickup (with as straight a face as he could muster) talked about Residential Homes in Bristol for our elderly, is the same Homes along with Care Centres etc that are being quietly closed down, the rest being staffed mainly by people who can’t even speak English!!! Care in the community don’t make me laugh!
At the end of their back slapping (‘look how we care’ – not) bullshit, the motion held for the Cumpulsory Purchase Order, despite the two people still in the public sector who desperately tried to show this shower what it means to be a loving family.
If Bristol has such a big waiting list for social housing why then are immigrants given priority for this particular housing as Bristolians go further and further down the housing list.
Don’t jump on me for this statement, I am the grandaughter of immigrants, but I am a Bristolian born and bred and I love my City and the people in it who have earned the right to call themselves Bristolians.
“If Bristol has such a big waiting list for social housing why then are immigrants given priority for this particular housing as Bristolians go further and further down the housing list.”
This is the kind of misinformed statement that fuels the BNP and their kind. Here are some facts, rather than assumptions, about immigration and housing:
1. Do immigrants and asylum seekers get housed first?
Immigrants or asylum seekers from outside Europe are specifically excluded from any ‘recourse to public funds’ and this includes housing and benefits. Only asylum seekers who have been accepted as genuinely fleeing violence or torture may be given indefinite leave to remain in the UK. They can then work or apply for housing if they are eligible. The same rules apply to them as apply to anyone else. Don’t believe the racist lies of the BNP and tabloids.
2. Have asylum seekers got all the housing?
It’s important to look at the facts, not the hype. Across the country, asylum seekers granted indefinite leave occupy less than 2% of council and housing association properties. The main reasons for getting housed by the council are relationship breakdown and parental eviction, not immigration, and the biggest share of social housing goes to elderly people.
3. So why was my friend turned away by the council?
There simply isn’t enough social housing to go around. Successive governments have left it to the private landlords to provide more houses but this just hasn’t happened. As always, the system we are ruled by prioritises profit over the needs of real people, whatever our colour or race. If we want people to have access to decent housing, then more social housing has to be created.
4. Where have all the council houses gone?
The policy of ‘right to buy’ has led to the sale of millions of council houses. The houses are far cheaper than if bought in the open market, were often heavily discounted further to encourage people to buy them, and are a total bargain. However, councils are not allowed to build new houses with the money from the sales, and housing associations have built very few. This has meant that total social housing has reduced from 35% of housing stock in 1965 to about 21% today.
5. Why is renting so expensive?
Councils and housing associations charge what it costs to provide housing, about £250 a month for a flat. Private landlords, who as well as getting their mortgage paid are also making a profit, usually charge at least £500 a month. Modern built social housing is built to better standards than private housing. Private renting is basically a rip off! This is an insult to all of us simply trying to get by. Such greed is a genuine threat to our lives, unlike living with people of other races who are also just trying to get by.
Don’t be divided and ruled! The fight should be for decent housing for all.
Why is the BNP being brought into this debate?
Who is your friend who was turned away by the Council?
“The main reason for getting housed by the Council are relationship breakdown and parental eviction” So who are all those families and single people living in Hostels?
“The biggest share of social housing goes to elderly people” Is that the elderly (not yet dumped into care) that have been living in their homes for the last 20/30/40/50 years?
“Where have all the council houses gone?” Well I know where a fair few have gone, they were demolished to make way for an over influx of private dwellings.
“Unlike living with people of other races who are also just trying to get by” I have been living with many ‘other’ races all my life, I am one of the ‘other’ races.
The statistics you quote are of no interest to me, statistics can be falsified, changed to suit someones particular agenda or rearranged to pacify the masses.
I am only interested in what I see and discover from personal contact with the real world not the paperwork one.
You must think everyone is a moron if my simple statement will cause them all to be “divided and ruled”.
Private rentals maybe in some circumstances not above par,however many do still require this type of housing as the council cannot house everyone.The rents may be a little higher however for those of you who are complaining please buy a house insure it get all your safety certificates get a family living in it or single people and se how your property is degrade in a onth or so,then come and have a valid argument about fair rents.
Fuck off, Rachman 🙂
If you want to talk to Ormondroyd or her deputy they’ll be doing a wander around in these locations.
The Chief Executive will be visiting on the following dates:
Bishopston – Thursday, December 18, at 2pm
Knowle – Friday, December 19, at 10am
And the Deputy Chief Executive:
Brislington East – Wednesday, November 26, at 2pm
Further visits will follow in the New Year
Excellent post BB. Your comments are spot on.
I got similar rubbish from the council in response to my questions on green spaces.
Fudge and/or avoidance was the general character of the ‘answers’ to questions on other topics both from me and a number of my green friends:
http://www.bristolgreenparty.org.uk/nr/081127cabinetagenda.htm
Chinadoll “Rosalie Walkers ward in Horfield once had a community of prefab dwellers on prime land just below the ‘new’ swimming baths and alongside Southmead Hospital. When the council decided they could’nt afford to upgrade the last 300 or so prefabs left, they started to negotiate the sale of lands they were built on, including the entire estate at Horfield. In the first year a badly worded letter went out from the council to the tenants at Horfield, in that year there were twelve deaths on the site, mostly elderly people who had lived in the prefabs since they were built after the war, a lot of them from the bombed inner city area.
At first Rosalie Walker supported her faithful followers in their protest at the appalling treatment received by those in ‘power’. I went to every meeting and protest, and still have all the paperwork, most of it bullshit gobbledegooch written by idiots, however I’m still trying to figure out what secret passageway Rosalie Walker disappeared in, leaving her faithful followers up to their necks in quagmire (putting it politely). She must have had instructions from above (not God-but they think they are!!) to back off and take the invisible pill. Needless to say the deal went through for a hefty sum of money, which also must have disappeared somewhere.”
Interesting scandal breaking over Labour-run Norwich City Council, involving highly paid Council officers appearing to take over elderly people’s homes and live in them. At reduced rent. Council officers left no paper trail …. currently suspended on full pay ….. Google news on Norwich council housing
Closer to home, Cheltenham Borough Council “has begun legal action to recover more than £750,000 from its former chief executive.
Christine Laird, 50, spent 18 of the 36 months that she was employed by Cheltenham borough council as its £75,000 [or was it £85,000]-a-year managing director off work suffering from stress…….”