An interesting comment by Gary Hopkins over on Charlie's blog on what we all seem to be calling "Red Trouser Gate":
"I unlike the blogger or some others am not shocked that a developer,of whatever shade of green or none, should do his best to secure the best deal for his development.
It happens all the time and I would be suprised if any developer were not trying to lobby.It is the council officers job to act in line with council policy and in the interests of Bristol residents.
Three things though are being suggested
1 That council policy has not been followed.There is genuine concern here and whilst it has been common practice for many years at Bristol CC.it is not acceptable and it does undermine political accountability.It has been confirmed that the piece of land was part of the green space strategy and I have confirmation that no exceptions were written in to the plan. (This was in answer to queeries about Filwood park)
2 That the action is not in the interests of residents.The point of loss of accountability is that it becomes almost impossible to test this.
3 Something illegal has occured. I have seen no evidence of this but would support openness as a matter of principle.Getting basic information out of this administration is a real problem ,even for a determined questioner like myself, and a secretive administration will inevitably become a bad one even if it does not start that way."
So it seems Hopkins, former Cabinet member for sustainable environment and neighbourhoods, sees nothing wrong with developers energetically lobbying council officers.
But what is abundantly clear from the FoI emails is the power imbalance between middle-ranking council officers, feverishly pinging emails around the Council House as they try to negotiate the procedural labyrinth, and exuberant local bigwigs who are able to breeze in between trips abroad and charm the (hopefully metaphorical) pants off off-the-pay-scale council executives over cafe ristretto at Goldbrick House.
(Please note: the preceding scenario is a mere figment of Greengage's fevered imagination and any resemblance to actual events or personages is entirely accidental.)
Council policy is never going to be followed under these conditions, and the idea of any kind of genuine accountability to the people of Bristol is a complete joke.
Showing posts with label LibDems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LibDems. Show all posts
Friday, 14 November 2008
Thursday, 7 February 2008
Gary Hopkins, England Manager
Things are hotting up on the Bristol-Bath railway path.
The petition is now heading for 7000 signatures.
The Evening Post, until now an enthusiastic supporter of the crackpot BRT plans, is apparently preparing a"major feature" about wildlife on the path. You can email j.hunter@bepp.co.uk with your tales of newts, bats and frogs. Could this be a start of a u-turn?
There are also signs of growing cross-party opposition.
Paul "Mr Bean" Smith has come good on his promise to oppose the plans, although Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy seems to be mainting her silence on the issue.
Meanwhile, we are promised that a LibDem statement on the issue is imminent. While we await this, I'd like to invite readers to reflect on another uncanny similarity.
Could Bristol's former waste supremo and the hapless England manager have been separated at birth? I think we should be told.
The petition is now heading for 7000 signatures.
The Evening Post, until now an enthusiastic supporter of the crackpot BRT plans, is apparently preparing a"major feature" about wildlife on the path. You can email j.hunter@bepp.co.uk with your tales of newts, bats and frogs. Could this be a start of a u-turn?
There are also signs of growing cross-party opposition.
Paul "Mr Bean" Smith has come good on his promise to oppose the plans, although Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy seems to be mainting her silence on the issue.
Meanwhile, we are promised that a LibDem statement on the issue is imminent. While we await this, I'd like to invite readers to reflect on another uncanny similarity.
Could Bristol's former waste supremo and the hapless England manager have been separated at birth? I think we should be told.
Monday, 28 January 2008
BRT: Bus Rapid Transit? Or Bristol's Rubbish Transport?
My fellow footsoldiers in Bristol East Green Party have been wading through the plans to transform the Bristol-Bath railway path into a bus superhighway and have come up with some searching questions for Mark Bradshaw and his merry band of unelected fools.
It seems extraordinary that in months of under-the-boardroom-table scheming, the question of where and how pedestrians might cross the bus route has not even been considered.
Interestingly enough, it seems Bristol Labour Party may not be lining up behind Mark Bradshaw to support this one. Paul Smith, Labour candidate for Bristol West, has come out against it over at the Bristol Blogger. (I am working on the assumption that no-one is sad enough to go round the Internet impersonating Paul Smith.)
The Mr. Bean lookalike is the only mainstream politician to stick his head about the parapet so far. Local residents won't be expecting a statement any time soon from absentee Labour councillor for Easton, Hotwells resident Faruk Choudhury, who might struggle to find the railway path (or his own ward) on a map. And so far, there's been a resounding silence from the Lib Dem councillors for Easton, Lawrence Hill, and Eastville.
Luckily, thanks to the efforts of the Bristol Cycling Campaign, popular resistance to this idiotic scheme is snowballing. (See the Green Party's statement here.) Over 3200 signatures in less than a week is quite something. At this rate, they won't even need a consultation.
It seems extraordinary that in months of under-the-boardroom-table scheming, the question of where and how pedestrians might cross the bus route has not even been considered.
Interestingly enough, it seems Bristol Labour Party may not be lining up behind Mark Bradshaw to support this one. Paul Smith, Labour candidate for Bristol West, has come out against it over at the Bristol Blogger. (I am working on the assumption that no-one is sad enough to go round the Internet impersonating Paul Smith.)
The Mr. Bean lookalike is the only mainstream politician to stick his head about the parapet so far. Local residents won't be expecting a statement any time soon from absentee Labour councillor for Easton, Hotwells resident Faruk Choudhury, who might struggle to find the railway path (or his own ward) on a map. And so far, there's been a resounding silence from the Lib Dem councillors for Easton, Lawrence Hill, and Eastville.
Luckily, thanks to the efforts of the Bristol Cycling Campaign, popular resistance to this idiotic scheme is snowballing. (See the Green Party's statement here.) Over 3200 signatures in less than a week is quite something. At this rate, they won't even need a consultation.
Friday, 12 October 2007
Recycled politics
The last three weeks in politics have been so exciting, even a Greengage couldn't fail to wake from its summer slumber. More (perhaps) later on election fever, the Tories' great green climbdown, and some inconvenient truths about climate sceptics.
But the mills of Bristol politics - rather like this blog - grind a little more slowly. It may seem like we've been talking about rubbish for years now, but the Lib Dems just don't want to stop. So enamoured are they by this topic, they want a special council meeting on the subject.
What's to discuss?
The waste management scheme introduced by the Lib Dems is still in place.
We have been told that the Citizens' Jury set up by Labour largely endorsed the status quo - as has been pointed out elsewhere, a rather expensive exercise in sham democracy at £45k. (Although the full report has its highlights. More on this in my next post.)
Of course it is fun to see Labour climb down from their ill-advised local election pledges about weekly collections in inner city areas like Easton - and we can only hope they will be soundly punished for this at the next round of elections. But it's hard to imagine that a special council meeting on waste will do anything other than give the Lib Dems gloating rights, and allow Gary Hopkins to mount his corn-starch hobby horse.
Hopkins is puzzlingly infuriated that his wrong headed demands to introduce corn-starch liners for kitchen waste bins have not been acted upon. Lib Dem freesheet The Bristol Reporter quotes him as saying 'Professional advice about how they [liners] would improve composting rates and please residents has been rejected'. But both the environmental benefits of these bags and their popularity are illusory. Hopkins has yet to rebut the Green case against these bags. And his e-petition in favour of the liners has collected a grand total of 17 signatories since August. Hardly a ringing popular endorsement.
There are real issues about waste and recycling in Bristol, but whether the Lib Dems will raise them is another matter.
But the mills of Bristol politics - rather like this blog - grind a little more slowly. It may seem like we've been talking about rubbish for years now, but the Lib Dems just don't want to stop. So enamoured are they by this topic, they want a special council meeting on the subject.
What's to discuss?
The waste management scheme introduced by the Lib Dems is still in place.
We have been told that the Citizens' Jury set up by Labour largely endorsed the status quo - as has been pointed out elsewhere, a rather expensive exercise in sham democracy at £45k. (Although the full report has its highlights. More on this in my next post.)
Of course it is fun to see Labour climb down from their ill-advised local election pledges about weekly collections in inner city areas like Easton - and we can only hope they will be soundly punished for this at the next round of elections. But it's hard to imagine that a special council meeting on waste will do anything other than give the Lib Dems gloating rights, and allow Gary Hopkins to mount his corn-starch hobby horse.
Hopkins is puzzlingly infuriated that his wrong headed demands to introduce corn-starch liners for kitchen waste bins have not been acted upon. Lib Dem freesheet The Bristol Reporter quotes him as saying 'Professional advice about how they [liners] would improve composting rates and please residents has been rejected'. But both the environmental benefits of these bags and their popularity are illusory. Hopkins has yet to rebut the Green case against these bags. And his e-petition in favour of the liners has collected a grand total of 17 signatories since August. Hardly a ringing popular endorsement.
There are real issues about waste and recycling in Bristol, but whether the Lib Dems will raise them is another matter.
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
local news values
Very interesting goings-on down at the Council House tonight.
The LibDems have lost control of the council, and Labour have refused to form a minority administration. This despite Helen Holland's pledge just a few days ago: 'We will not rest until this battle is won.' Labour's selfless struggle does not seem to involve actually taking charge of the city and sorting out the mess they created in the first place.
Not that you'd know from our local news hounds. The top story on bbc.co.uk/bristol/news and PointsWest is David Farr's criticism of the Old Vic closure, reported in the Guardian last Friday.
Over at the Evening Post, the news agenda is understandably dominated by headlines like: 'Clamped as I sat waiting for my wife'. (' A motorist has spoken of his disbelief after he claimed he was clamped as he sat in his car reading the Evening Post.' The readers' debate that follows it is the best thing about this story by a mile.)
Meanwhile, back in the mundane world of local politics, it's hard to know whether to laugh or cry at the sight of Labour and the Lib Dems tossing the city's governance around like a hot potato.
It was pretty miraculous that Labour managed to get through the election without the collecitve penny dropping that homecare privatisation was their idea in the first place, but perhaps it will turn out to be a bit of a Pandora's box for them after all.
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