Who’s The Real Victim

 

I’ve visited Meadow Lea in Madeley a few times and spoken to quite a few down to earth decent people, but here, we have that element that cannot be considered decent.

 

Meadow Lea is an area of rented and owner occupied properties but the balance of fairness seems unbalanced.

 

Here are some live scenarios that are happening as we sit and read this piece.

 

 

 

Some residents are owners and have lived in Meadow Lea for 20 years plus. Some work full time and pay their way, others have retired and still pay their way. Paying Council Tax, paying for dentistry, paying for prescriptions and all those other money sapping things we all have to fork out for.

 

On top of this cost of living, owner occupiers can and do receive additional bills in the form of service charges.

 

These service charges seem to arrive randomly and for varying amounts. One resident reported that at around Christmas, residents who own, received a bill for

 

 

 

 

 

Is it fair to charge these additional charges for damage in high traffic areas that could be caused by people who don’t even live in the area?

 

There appears to be no maintenance programme in which owner occupiers can actually agree to and budget for, especially when some owner occupiers in other parts of the borough report a 50% increase in service charges.

 

Telford Council Watch has created a Petition against the closure of Post Offices throughout the borough of Telford and Wrekin.

 

The Petition reads

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the story of a family pet who has become a community celebrity in Donnington.

 

Fizzy is a pet of a Donnington Teenager who is now aged 15.

 

At the age of 7, Ann-Marie rescued two cats that had been dumped in a shed as part of an unwanted litter of four, the other two kittens were taken by others.

 

Ann-Marie and Fizzy have now lived with their family in Donnington for around six years without any problems or complaints.

 

In approximately summer 2006 it was discovered that Fizzy a little black and white cat was hanging around outside Donnington Medical Practice where she was receiving positive attention from the kind patients entering and leaving the practice.

 

Sometime afterwards, staff at the practice started feeding the cat (Fizzy). Initially only bits ‘n’ pieces outside.

 

After sometime, these bits ‘n’ pieces became a bowl of food and water outside the building.

 

As time went on, the bowl of food was brought into the foyer of the building with staff and patients welcoming the cat in.

 

Ann-Marie became aware that her cat was not coming home as regular as she used to. The family soon discovered that Fizzy was being fed at the doctors and advised the Practice Manager that the Cat could start hanging around the area even more.

 

Despite the family advising the Practice about the nature of the Cat they carried on feeding her and making her welcome, the family new where she was and new she was safe.

 

As time went on, it became a standing joke when the family went for prescriptions etc.

 

Until, the evening of 20^th March 2008 when the Practice Manager of Donnington Medical Practice phoned the family saying,

 

 

You may or not be a cat lover, but lets face it, something is fundamentally wrong here and its not with the Cat or the family, it is certainly an issue with the Practice Manager who has been the cause of what they perceive as a problem.

 

The Practice fed the cat despite being advised it was not and is not a stray.

The Practice have never expressed any concern previously.

The Practice has welcomed the cat into the premises.

The Practice have coaxed the Cat away from its home.

 

As you can appreciate, the call from the Practice Manager of Donnington Medical Practice has caused some considerable upset to the Children.

 

 

 

A 13 year old student of The Sutherland School Trench has launched her first web site. Katrina Houghton was encouraged to launch her web site to show off her natural talent for photography.

 

Katrina has Dyslexia and other Special Educational Needs, but despite the difficulties that dyslexia offers, Katrina is still aiming high and wants to show other young people, that they need not be a draw back. But you can use other talents to get a head.

 

Katrina is a year 9 pupil who has been informed that during year 10 she will be sitting GCSE’s and in year 11 she will be sitting As Levels in design and technology.

 

Katrina wants to set a good example for others to follow and hopes to raise funds to assist others and buy specialist software such as kurtzweil through sales of her digital photographs.

 

Katrina’s Web site can be visited at

 

 

 

The Web site was officially  launched on Sunday 23rd March 2008 and has already seen a number of visitors from the County.

 

Although only 13 years of age Katrina has received a number of enquiries about her photography and even offers a

 

 

for those who want a particular photo from a location in Shropshire but are not able to go themselves.

 

The site is receiving support from John Franklyn of Telford Council Watch and has been offered additional sponsorship for a full size website via local IT specialist www.servtec.co.uk.

 

The full web site is now up and running, with two Galleries containing photographs ready for purchase, more photo’s will be added very soon, so keep visiting.  

 

Katrina’s mother said,

 

“Katrina is quite a determined young lady who has always been extremely creative and had a keen interest in photography, this will certainly allow her to show case her talents in a public forum”

 

 

Katrina herself has been really excited and said,

 

“I am so happy to get my web site, I am really excited”

 

 

To All Councillors

I have sent a letter to all Councillors complaining about Transforming Telford’s discrimination against the disabled and the manner of its implementation of the Council’s garage replacement 'policy’. As advised, I consider this to be illegal and, if knowingly perpetrated, might constitute malpractice.

Transforming Telford is declaring that it has the power to dictate Council policy and that it can rule on policy matters, specifically on the conflict inherent in its interpretation of the Garage Replacement 'policy' and the Disability Equality Scheme. I venture to suggest that the company has no such power, and if the Council has delegated its responsibilities in this respect then it is clearly acting unlawfully. May I suggest that if a written policy and an unwritten ad hoc policy conflict then the obvious thing to do is to refer the matter to the policy makers - that is, the Council. I would also point out that there should be no ad hoc policies dealing with the disbursement of land and public funds.

I should like to take this opportunity to ensure that all Councillors have been presented with a summary of our argument in the above respects before they permit Transforming Telford to implement potentially unlawful policies and to ride roughshod over the public's civil rights.

 

The Woodside Regeneration is a project undertaken for the good of the community as a whole, not solely to benefit, or profit, selected individuals within it, such as the owners of former Council garages.

Ideally, the Council needs to acquire the garages it sold some 30 years ago in order that the community as a whole might benefit from the redistribution of the land. In effect, the Council's objective is to obtain the land upon which the garages stand, as the old buildings are of no use in the regeneration. Clearly, however, the building must be purchased in order to acquire the land.

Obviously, the owners of these garages must be given a fair and just price for them, but bearing in mind that this minority of garage owners (5%) may have to suffer for the greater good of the community, and definitely not that the community, and individuals within it, must suffer for the greater good of garage owners. In reality, however, nobody need suffer at all.

Above all, as has been shown in the first phase of regeneration (Woodside West 1), the Council is not obliged to acquire garages, particularly if the owners refuse to part with them. Furthermore, the Council has shown by its intent in Woodside West 2 that if garages are required in order to benefit the community then they will be compulsorily purchased (e.g. Garage 4, Warrensway).

We have been informed by the external auditors, KPMG, that the Council just happens to have mislaid all the paperwork concerning the valuation of individual garages and all accompanying correspondence with the owners. However, the Council clearly failed to inform KPMG that we had obtained a statement from the Council's legal department concerning the valuation of Garage 4, Warrensway, as a result of the proposed compulsory purchase.

The price being paid in July last year for two garage plots and an old garage building was £4,500. It is possible, therefore, to place an estimated value on a garage building and the plot upon which it stands. Given the unlikely event that a dilapidated old garage might be worth the same as a valuable piece of land in short supply, the value of garage and land might be put at £3,000. In the case of Garage 4, Warrensway, at maximum:

2 x £1,500 + £1,500 = £4,500. Ergo, a garage building and its plot would be worth £3,000.

However, it is more than likely that the land would be of much greater value than the building. It certainly is to the Council, as the building is of no use (to be demolished) but the land needs to be acquired in order for it o be redeployed. So, for purposes of demonstration, I shall place a nominal value of £500 on the garage and a value of £2,000 on the land upon which it stands. In the case of Garage 4, Warrensway, a more likely allocation is:

2 x £2000 + £500 = £4,500. A garage building and its plot are worth £2,500.

We are, therefore, in a position to quantify and compare the options offered to garage owners but, before doing so, it may be useful to consider the conditions affecting the development of a policy with respect to garage acquisition and land distribution.

1. When residents purchased their garages they obtained a ‘garage’ in two parts:
i. A garage building or ‘shell’
ii. The plot of land upon which the garage stands.

2. At time of purchase, no promises were made that the garages would not be required in future projects to the benefit of the community or that the needs of the community, for the greater good, might result in compulsory purchase.

3. When the Council re-acquires these garages it needs to obtain:

i. The plot of land, so that this may be redeployed
ii. The garage building so that this may be demolished.

4. The garage owners must not be put out of pocket in the transaction and some amount of leeway might be expected and acceptable as an inducement to surrender the property.

5. Apart from the above, garage owners must not be singled out for preferential treatment, which would be in contravention of the Council’s Code of Conduct for Members. Contravening the Code, which is embedded in the Constitution, would render such acts unconstitutional. Furthermore, as the Code emanates from an Order from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, by Statutory Instrument, contravening the Code is unlawful.

6. Regeneration is a project for the greater good. Land distribution must be undertaken with this in view and also bearing in mind the requirements of other Council policies, for example, with respect to the disabled (Disability Equality Scheme and Disability Discrimination Act).

7. Land distribution must be equitable and consistent, and all designs must comply with the Council’s stated objective of acting ethically, morally and, therefore, legally at all times.

8. As required by the Code of Conduct for Members, policies must be in written form for review by monitoring and other bodies. This permits Councillors to review the specifics of Cabinet policy decisions and the means to challenge them on matters of legality. Formal statements of policy also permit the creation of associated procedures, renders the policy auditable and provides the public with knowledge of policy enacted on its behalf, with the ability to challenge implementation contrary to such specification.

Post Offices are vital Community Resource.

Even though I could do a lot online, I like the Labour Leader Keith Austin

(and he made a big issue of this at full council on 31^st January 2008) use my local post office on a very regular basis for things like

Paying Bills

Getting Stamps

Getting Car Tax

Posting Letters and Parcels

And I see the great benefit that is received through Post office use by many community members of differing age groups.

For some people, the Post Office provides a Social venue were they meet others on a regular basis they could otherwise loose contact with.

The Post Office has gone beyond being a business but has become a valuable community resource playing a vital role in peoples lives.

However, this vital resource is under great threat in every community and as Labour Councillors said at full Council on 31^st January 2008,

And whilst Labour Councillors are saying this, Richard Overton is nodding in support.

Well then, what are the Labour Councillors going to do now and what is Richard Overton going to do now that Post Offices face greater threat of closure from their party and There are 90 Labour MPs campaigning to save post office’s and MP David Wright is NOT one of them.