Telford & Wrekin Council Watch

Dawley and Malinslee to stay as one

Telford and Wrekin Council received a Community Governance Petition, signed by 567 local government electors of the Dawley Ward of the Parish of Great Dawley, calling for a separate parish to be formed for their ward.  In accordance with Section 83 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 and the Guidance on Community Governance Reviews issued in accordance with section 100(4) of the Act by the government Department for Communities and Local Government and the Electoral Commission, the Council has been required by law to conduct a Community Governance Review.

The idea initiated and supported by TAWPA Councillors appears to have fallen flat on its face.

In an 18 page final proposal, Telford and Wrekin Council outline a wide variety of reasons why it is not feasible for the current Parish Council to be divided into two.

Whilst 567 local residents signed the petition, the final support for the proposals were only supported by 20 residents of at least 5 were TAWPA members and 12 further letters were received to late to be considered.

The report goes on to say,

 1.5 It was the Council’s Draft Proposals that there should be no change in the present community governance arrangements in the Parish of Great Dawley.  Reasons were given to support the Draft Proposals.  In summary these reasons were as follows:

·    the submissions received to date in this Review have given no clear evidence  that there are distinctive communities of identity in Dawley and Malinslee that would justify separate parish governance;

·    to date the review has identified  an interdependence between Malinslee and Dawley, underlined by Dawley’s role as an area centre, used by the residents of Malinslee, and by the absence of an adequate infrastructure in Malinslee to support a separate community of identity;

·    the warding arrangement that exists in the present parish of Great Dawley would appear at this time to be appropriate for this parish with its overall community of identity but that also comprises different parts;

·    at this time there are no pressing reasons for altering the present warding and electoral arrangements;

·    it would appear at this stage in the Review that any change would not be in the interests of effective and convenient local government for the electors of the area and would fail to meet the ‘viability test’;

·    since the Terms of Reference were published in this review, only a small number of views have so far come forward from the electors of the parish or from community organisations within it to lead to any different proposals being made.

the Council expressed its concerns that there might not be significant benefits in terms of the costs of providing separate parish services to the residents of Dawley and Malinslee and indeed in Dawley in particular there would be cause for concerns about the future provision of services.

Cost to Residents if the move went ahead

It was identified that a separate Dawley parish would have a deficit of £32,000 on the overall budget and that its precept would have to raise by at least 24 per cent to maintain services at their current level and Band D equivalent council tax would have to raise from the present £74.54 to at least £92.43.

This move would place an a financial burden on residents that many cannot afford especially as we are suffering the worst financial crisis in 60 years.

Some are now wondering if this was more of an attempt to secure TAWPA’s political future rather than place the interest of the residents first.

I wonder just how much this has cost the tax payer to date.

The licensing committee of the council will publish its recommendations in this review on

15^th April 2010.

The following has been emailed to Gordon Brown and will be sent by post first class today. Clearly two Wrights do make a wrong.

26^th March 2010

Dear Gordon Brown,

Please find attached below a copy of an email I have forwarded to MP David Wright who full fills a whip role within the Labour Party.

It is unfortunate that I do not expect him to answer and again, expect this letter to be forwarded to someone else to answer on your behalf, if it indeed in attracts any attention from you or your party at all.

The letter is self explanatory and obviously concerns the Telford Housing Summit which both MP Ian Wright and MP David Wright attended.

As both have clearly failed to deliver on their promises to the residents of Telford and Wrekin, this is final proof that that two Wrights do actually make a wrong.

Could you please tell me and every other resident in Telford and Wrekin why should we vote Labour, vote for MP David Wright and indeed trust the Labour Party ever again.

What do you intend to do to ensure that trust in our politicians is regained and what do you intend to do to ensure MP David Wright delivers the promised Housing Summit report and subsequent public consultation.

This communication will be posted on my web site www.telfordcouncilwatch.org.uk

I look forward to your reply.

Kind Regards

John Franklyn 

OPEN LETTER TO MP DAVID WRIGHT

We first met in 2006 when Labour was the administration of Telford and Wrekin Council.

At this meeting, we discussed a number of issues with the main issue being housing. At this initial meeting you disclosed the fact the 75% of enquiries to your office were housing related.

After a lengthy debate, you conceded and then agreed that urgent action had to be taken for and on behalf of all residents who were, are and will remain reliant on Social Housing.

Whilst you were pondering the offer of a Housing Summit, a number of vital changes happened locally.

Choose Your Home was implemented by the Wrekin Housing Trust which saw the housing waiting list increase from 5000 to almost 10,000 in the first year, an increase that far exceeded waiting list growth in a number of inner city areas. The waiting list is now around the 13,000, the housing stock only consists of approximately 14,000 units, a considerable drop from the initial purchase, locally described as a “bargain basement price paid by the WHT”.

As things stand, it will take approximately 16 years to clear the housing waiting list, assuming the local reliance doesn’t increase, which it will.

Effectively, many people will never have a home they can call THEIR OWN.

Housing stock was and continues to be sold when a resident leaves the relevant property, but the Potteries seem to be the main benefactor of any investment at the cost of local residents. A problem raised many times locally.

Whilst this was happening, you still tried to wriggle out of addressing this vital issue.

Finally, after considerable local pressure, you finally conceded and arranged the Telford Housing Summit and revelled in the positive press YOU received. It took you two years to finally keep this promise, this was not just a promise you made to me, but a promise made to your constituents and the whole of Telford and Wrekin.

At this Housing Summit, YOU and members of your office revealed that the enquiries to your office had now in fact risen to 85% a 10% increase in two years.

YOU MP David Wright, promised to have the report from the Telford Housing Summit published by FEBRUARY 2009.

Unfortunately, you have failed to deliver on your promise, the Housing Report is now 13 Months late, and you have successfully alienated 85% of those that come to your office for help.

But you did send out a newsletter to ALL your constituents stating that the “Housing Summit Report” was available from YOUR web site, a LIE that you have not put right, but you chose to remove any reference to the Housing Summit from your web site.

I emailed you, in which you replied,

“I am just to busy to do it”

Yes MP David Wright, you were busy, busy doing what some may ask, the answer is simple, Furthering Your Own Career, it is that simple isn’t it.

These are not the actions of a man who genuinely wishes to put his constituents first, but is clearly the act of a man who is out for himself.

You will argue that the recession was to blame, my answer to that is simple, RUBBISH, the problems residents face with regards needing a home have been in existence long before the recession, you know this and yet YOU consistently failed to address the issue.

“Affordable Housing” is again the term of the day, which is nothing but weasel words.

Telford and Wrekin has been identified as being an area who’s salary levels are below the national average, so how can you or anyone else rely on the phrase “Affordable housing” when you need to earn approximately £37,000 to buy an “Average House”, this average house might not even suite the buyers needs, assuming they can get a mortgage.

The reliance on Social Housing will never go away, but as repossessions have increased clearly suggests that the reliance on social housing has and will increase.

What’s YOUR answer MP David Wright,

“Stick You head in the sand and hope it goes away”

Will you confirm or deny that the Leader of Telford and Wrekin Council has been in contact with you about the Housing Summit.

Will you confirm or deny the fact you routinely ignore legitimate contact from elected members at Telford and Wrekin Council.

You have pulled the wool over too many people’s eyes for too long and clearly by your own actions and admittance,

IGNORE 85% of YOUR CONSTITUENCY

You can reply via email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it as you do not have my new home address.

Yours Sincerely

JOHN FRANKLYN