The Wendover Library Facilities

Last Monday (7th Dec 09) the Wendover Parish Council discussed the disappointing news that AVDC is considering changing the rules of the game with regards to the Wendover Library car park charges and toilets. I cannot help imagining how it came about:

Jim Hacker: I am in a catch 22 situation. We must cut drastically the budget but there are elections to AVDC in June. I am dammed if I cut services and I am dammed if I don’t.

Sir Humphrey: That is easy. Lets divert the public’s attention from the real issues. Let’s start a war.

Jim Hacker: OK, but lets make it many small wars. I notice the people of Wendover have been complaining there is not enough parking provision. So we can make money out of this scarce resource. Lets increase the parking charges and get the parking wardens on double shifts. How would you suggest we camouflage this? We tried it last year in Aylesbury and had to make a shameful U turn.


Sir Humphrey: A very good choice Sir. You might consider two diversions: abolish the first free hour of parking in the Library Parking and close the toilets.

Jim Hacker: That will get them jumping. Nothing like closing the toilets to focus the attention. It is like the wife ‘holding her favours’ to ‘convince’ me to go on the trip to the USA; but really covering up for the affair she is having. Brilliant!

Sir Humphrey: Err. Don’t look at me like that. It was not me hiding in your cupboard when you came home last night. May I suggest a slight improvement? Tell the Wendover Parish Council that the changes will take immediate effect. Suggest that if they do not take over the care of the toilets they will be closed next week. Just before the Christmas shopping rush.

Jim Hacker: But they have not provided in the Precept for this … Ah, I see genius.

I probably have given too much credit to the AVDC counsellors but we are in risk of missing the point if we only concentrate on the toilets issue – important as it is. The parish council is pushing back and requesting that AVDC improve the state of the toilets at the Library card park and hand them over to the WPC in an orderly manner and in a schedule that allows for percepting. In the long run this is a good solution as no matter if the cost comes out of AVDC or Wendover Parish Council budgets it boils down to our local taxes. So it is us paying for the facilities either way. I like the idea that the responsibility is transferring from District to Parish. It strengthens the case for Quality Status and the people responsible will probably will also be users of the car park – closer to the eye closer to the hart.

Do not get me wrong. Good, clean and accessible public toilets are crucial to keeping our High Street survival. You just try finding alternative toilets in the pubs and coffee shops – go on lets see you.

Whenever the Far-East is mentioned near my mother in law, she grimaces. Rightly or wrongly it has, in her mind, a connotation with filthy toilets. She has never been to the Far-East and we told her that her preconceptions are based on Chinese whispers (pan intended) and that we could plan a trip that will guarantee top quality facilities. But the stereotype is stronger than facts. My personal experience in Venice was not of grimy toilets (I could live with that) but of their absence. The hardship of the four days of the Carnival where the time between breakfast and dinner was spent with no prospect of even a urinal has scarred me for life – Over my dead body are we going there again. And don’t get me started about the pubs and coffee shops that lock their toilets. There are even McDonald's branches where the toilets are not accessible to all anymore.

See! They did it. I got distracted from the issue I really wanted to write about – the implication of increasing the parking charges. Already the AVDC charges are skewed. The District has cynically opted for the advance payment ticket machine. This means one must guess the parking duration which as a rule results in overpayment and a stressful shopping experience.

So, if they increase the parking charges I would like them to charge for the actual time parked. Especially if they will abolish the first free hour.


P.S. Apropos spinning miss-information, have a look at “Sarah Palin: Obama must boycott Copenhagen” - When I finished reading it my belly ached from laughing until I realized how sad it is.

David Lidington: Lloyds Group

The Bcuks Herald informed us on the 1st of December that "Lidington to debate HBOS job cuts in Parliament tonight". I found the text of this debate on TheyWorkForYou. For a change, our MP did his homework and lists many interesting facts I was not aware of. If I were the editor of the Bucks Herald I would send my investigative reporters on trail set by this speech. The first investigation should be into why did the Bucks Herald miss most of these?

Did you know that one in three in our Vale works in the public sector. This mainly covers BCC, AVDC, and the NHS Trust. Even if we subtract the NHS we are still left with a proportion that will not shame any communist system. In fact Mr. Lidington sais that the conservative administration in the last decade made things worse to the extent that "Aylesbury is often seen as linked either to the Thames valley and the M40/M4 corridor area of the south-east economy, or to Milton Keynes-or indeed to both. However, when we analyse the structure of Aylesbury's economy, we find that for a long time it has been less developed and less high-tech than either the Thames valley or Milton Keynes."

Mr. Lidington said that "Like all the other growth areas, Aylesbury vale had a sizeable proportion-just under £2 million-of funding that the Government had provisionally allocated for next year withdrawn by the Department for Communities and Local Government in order to fund the so-called kick-start scheme for housing development. That clawback by the Department represented a reduction of almost half Aylesbury's original GAF budget for the next year and nearly 20 per cent. of the funding allocated over the entire three-year period." So They promised us money for the infrastructure for the new 9000 units and then took it away once the consultation was over. Nice move.

He then goes on to make a few suggestions where the government might help (go read for yourself). While we are waiting with baited breath for the written response from Ian Lucas (Parliamentary Under-Secretary {Business and Regulatory Reform}, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), I would like to add a suggestion of my own: we need a real university center here, teaching real sciences. A research center always attracts High-Tech.

One of Lidingotn's suggestions informed me that "Government to accept the application made by Aylesbury Vale district council to be one of the pilot areas for the tax increment finance scheme." - Hay Bucks Heral! Why did you not report this? How about tacking this up as a campiagn. I think it is a briliant idea.

Budget Consultation

Bucks County Council is asking us to fill in a survey pertaining to the 2010-2011 budget. These consultations always make me stop in my tracks: I would like to believe that we choose our representatives to local and national government so they could look closely at the details of any issue and use their manifesto to guide the decisions they make on our behalf. Instead we have glorified social workers who fear to take any controversial decision that might anger someone. Generally it is our fault; we constantly bash them no matter what they do and assume they are guilty of holding the worst human traits the moment we elect them. A better culture is found in Scandinavia where the general consensus is that the elected politicians have the good of the public as their rudder. Any parent will tell you that children live up to expectation. If we behave as if they are brilliant they will go the extra mile not to fail us. That holds also for adults in general and politician in particular. I suppose that one of the reasons for the attitude towards politicians is that people here vote for political parties like football fans choose which club to support – Loyal to the hilt with no relevance to performance.

Back to the consultation issue, one may claim that this is the best way for local government to do their research and that if it is not conducted many would complain their point of view was excluded. I generally agree with this. However, the consultations I endeavoured to respond too always left me feeling I did not have enough information to form an opinion. Take the consultation about the budget. To respond properly, I would like to see past budgets and actual spends. I would like to know the details hiding behind general spend heading and what the people working for the council think. In short, information only a County Councillor (or a good reporter) may obtain or have the time to look into. The only people who might respond meaningfully are already involved in public life or have an agenda to promote.

The way this particular consultation is designed is a neat marketing ploy: it seems BCC cares and you feel good as if you are participating. However, it would be hard to analyse as the questions are totally open. I hope the intrepid reporters of our free press will follow the budget closely and inform us if the consultation was addressed, whether the opposition scrutinized it, and whether the result makes sense.

Here are my responses:

On which of the county council’s services do you think we should continue to spend your council tax and where should we make savings?

i.e. where does more need to be spent and where should we make cuts

People will gladly point where more money should be spent but will be hard pressed to indicate what services should be cut. To identify where budget should be increased I will focus on where I think services are lucking instead of listing all the services the council provides in order of importance. Two items that need improvement are transport and employment:
Transport – there is a depressingly poor public transport service to the rural areas in Buckinghamshire. Just as an example there is no bus from Halton Village. Moreover, much much more needs to be done to encourage people out of their cars; be it cycling facilities or maintenance of public paths. It is the old Chicken and Egg conundrum: people do not travel by bus, cycle or walk because the facilities are near non-existent. Money will not be directed to these facilities because nobody uses them. Talk about lack of vision.
Employment – Even before the recession kicked in Buckinghamshire has been bleeding jobs. this is partly because the transportation environment is a prohibitive hurdle to employers and mainly due to lack of correct initiative. Now that things cost less, it is the best time to invest in infrastructure that will encourage high-tech employers to open offices in our county when the economy improves.

Where should the budget be cut: Where bad decisions have led to waste. For example the move to the new offices. Performing poorly thought through consultations that were doomed before they saw the light of day.

What is needed in your local area?

i.e. within a 15 minute walk of where you live.

• An efficient shuttle to the Wendover and Tring train Stations.
• An efficient (at least every 12 minutes) bus service to Aylesbury, Tring and Amersham serving Halton and Wendover.
  
• Dedicated Cycle paths throughout the villages, safe enough for children to use on their way to school.
• Extra cycle racks around the villages.
• More Toucan crossings mainly on the Aylesbury Road, the High st. (opposite the Manor Waste) and most importantly on South Street near the new allotments and play area.
• Better facilities for the Wendover Parish Clerk and her team.
• The Library Room is overbooked and another such facility is required (as long as the rent is kept low)
• More trees along the roads. e.g on the Manor Waste.
• CCTV surveillance near the pubs and along the Wendover Arm Canal
• A much more visible presence of the police and the PCSOs
• Calming measures on the roads leading to the schools and probably turning these roads into a one way system.

Thoughts from Newport

In the last couple of months I have been working in the Wild West – Newport in Wales. I always knew Wendover is a good place to live in. However, working and sleeping in a gray town where to get good food one need a car to go to Cardiff, makes me appreciate the quality of life we have here. I miss the green gardens, the picturesque houses, the ability to cycle to the center and to the Gym. When we came here, we thought the choice of food was limited compared to what we got used to in Vienna and Copenhagen (I still think that). The new owner of Budgens went some way to improve this buy offereing better brad and better products such as cheese & fish. Even though Budgens have cut back on the bread offerings (just the bread types we liked), they put to shame what I can get in NewPort. I find it hard to even but Scottish Salmon. The only food they seem to eat there is low quality Fish and Chips (I found a good one but it is hard to get there on a regular basis).

Three things we can learn from the Welsh:
(1) Their bus service is better than the one available in Wendover. There is a bus every 10 minutes going from the town centre to a village similar in size to ours. And it does not stop running just when people are returning from work or theatre although it is less frequent.
(2) Local and National trains have a special bicycle section. I saw people taking their bicycles to Reading & London.
(3) It is a cycle friendly town – lots of dedicated bicycle lanes and many areas where the speed limit is 20MPH.

And to balance this here are some things that I saw lately that pleased me very much and the good people of Newport may learn from:
(1) The new recycling centre at Aston Clinton – Wow, well done AVDC, modern, well planned & inviting.

(2) VAHT has provided a prize/grant for some on street public area landscaping. The residents of Holland Close took them up and the result is a significant improvement on the bland paving that was there originally. I hope it is kept in the preteen shape it is in now and that it would encourage others to do something along these lines.

BCC election results 2009

The results of the county elections are extremely disappointing in general nad in particular for Wendover: Well the people of Wendover got whet they deserve. I hope they will not be disappointed with the urbanization of our village they just voted for.

Party Name	Seats Elected	% of votes
Conservative	46	49.2%
Liberal Democrat	11	28.1%
UK Independence	0	13.5%
Labour	0	5.9%
Independent	0	1.8%
Green	0	1.1%
British National	0	0.4%
Turnout:		40.1%

So nothing really has changed. The Conservatives have a free hand to do arrogantly what they want. Wife says, that is exactly what we need: some really bad 'Bush' nationalistic years to frustrate and infuriate those who did not understand the consequences of their voting; and to open the was for 'Yes We Can' Change.

More about Chris Peeler

Who am I voting for?

Chris has lived in Wendover with his wife Mary since their arrival 36 years ago. He says that it is an ideal place to bring up a family and he wants to keep Wendover that way. He studied agriculture at university and worked for the National Farmers Union in London for 26 years.

Chris has been very active in the life of the village. He stood twice as a Liberal Democrat candidate in the local elections and was on the Parish Council for six years (until 2007).

Within the village, he has taken a particular interest in road safety and the encouragement of cycling. He played a strong part in the provision of the extension of the cycle route along the Aylesbury Road as well as the installation of cycle racks in the centre of the village, the extra step outside Stars (it is part of the Manor Waste and thus on parish land) and the improvement of the cycle path linking Lionel Avenue with Dobbins Lane.

Chris is also an active member of the Safer Routes to School group for Wendover Junior School, where he also was a governor. Another of his major interests is the “Get Wendover Cycling” group. He feels strongly that improving the facilities for cyclists. pedestrians and users of mobility scooters would be of immense benefit to Wendover and Halton villages that currently are suffering severely from traffic congestion and parking problems.

He is a member of the local Wildlife Trust and has a large garden with “wildlife corners”. The garden has been open to the public to raise funds for both the local wildlife trust and the Ian Rennie Hospice.

Chris is a keen bridge player and is the secretary of Wendover Bridge Club which meets at the cricket pavilion. The club provides substantial financial support to Wendover Cricket Club and contributes significantly to the social life of the village.

What is Chris’s position on the main issues facing Wendover and Halton today?

• Princess Mary Hospital Development Site – 400 units will put a severe strain on the local infrastructure. Good cycling routes to the centre of both Wendover and Halton villages and to the schools are essential. This will help to relieve potential congestion and the demand for parking.
• Wendover Junior school refurbishment and expansion – the plans for the works at the school were withdrawn at the last minute. Chris believes that the Princess Mary Gate development presents a case for urgent review of the improvements to the schools.
• Parish Council – Chris is a strong supporter of the Parish Council which has achieved a great deal for village – for example, the renovation of Hampden Pond, the flower meadow, the establishment of the monthly farmers’ market and the installation of cycle racks in the centre of the village.
• Land in Back Street – Chris has strongly supported the Parish Council throughout this dispute – the Parish Council has simply been doing its job in defending the interests of Wendover residents in a proper and legal manner. It is vital that the Parish Council and the Parish Clerk should receive the support that they deserve from all sections of the Wendover community.
• Aylesbury Growth consultation – the final decision on the increase in housing must be accompanied by a corresponding improvement in the infrastructure and by the provision of adequate local employment opportunities.
• Parking consultation this is long overdue. Our district and county councils have been “considering” the parking problem in Wendover for many years but without any tangible results. It is high time that effective action is taken not only to improve the parking situation in the village centre but to confront the problems elsewhere, for example, in residential areas near the schools and the railway station.
• Public Transport – Chris will be in favour of the project linking Aylesbury to Oxford and Milton Keynes by rail. However, he finds it more important that a frequent bus link will join Halton and Wendover to Aylesbury and the Wendover Train Station and the Tring train station.
• Halton Shooting Range – Chris supports the reasonable request of the residents of Halton to construct a noise muffling structure.

What will Chris aim to improve?

The current economic crunch has brought to the fore the issue of employment. However, our vale has been haemorrhaging jobs under the Conservative administration for more than a decade (yes, also in the years of plenty). This means more people must commute out of the county and our children will move to live where there is work. It is in the hands of the County Council to attract back employers through the clever setting of business taxes, allocation of business parks and fast tracking information technology infrastructure and encouraging High Tech companies to base their activities in the Vale.

If elected, a major goal for Chris would be the improvement of road safety within Wendover and the encouragement of alternative modes of transport to reduce traffic congestion and parking problems. Much still needs to be done to improve facilities for pedestrians, cyclists and users of mobility scooters (for example, a pelican crossing at Ashbrook recreation ground).

The pavement along part of the Ellesborough Road is disintegrating and a general resurfacing of Dobbins Lane is long overdue. The Conservative County Council, however, have no plans or intentions whatsoever to do anything about these problems. Chris would exert maximum pressure on the County Council to ensure that this and other necessary work is done without delay.

In continuation of Chris’ efforts to improve accessibility to facilities (e;g; the extra step and rail to Stars on the Manor Waste), he will investigate alternative ways of scrossing the rails at the Wendover train station. There are many who shun the trains due to the prospect of using the footbridge.

In the vicinity of the railway station, the schools and the village centre, car parking is causing severe problems to local residents. There is no easy answer to these problems but Chris would work closely with residents to devise parking schemes that provide the most acceptable solution. We have had these problems for many years but, so far, there have been no satisfactory proposals.

Chris has noticed that visible policing in Wendover has been on the decline. Last year the number of Community police officers was reduced from two to one (not to mention that ten years ago the Wendover Station housed more than a handful of officers). Clearly this is because our villages are considered a low crime zone. However, we have reached the critical point where the thinly spread police resources pose an invitation for criminals, trouble makers and vandals. Chris would work closely with the Parish Council in supporting our local police force.

Chris would strive hard to ensure that there is adequate funding for Wendover schools. In particular, he would press for the restoration of the funding for Wendover Junior School so that the necessary refurbishment and extension can be accomplished.

Chris values highly the historic centre of Wendover. He would support strongly any measures needed to preserve it. It is important that the present practice of keeping the street furniture black should be maintained and he would press for the replacement of the grey bollards in Pound Street with black ones.

Strategic Voting Information?
In the last county council elections the results were very close. Had people voted more “tactically”,away Chris might well have been elected. Chris is a local man, who has a clear grasp of local issues and has already shown that he can get things done. If you agree with Chris’s programme for action, please show your support for him at the ballot box.
The 2005 County elections results

How do I contact you?
Call Chris on 01296 624 089
Send a letter to the Liberal Democrats Freepost, 7 Barrie Close Aylesbury, HP19 8BR

Where may I find more information?
www.libdems.org.uk - find out more about the Lib Dems.
www.aylesburylibdems.co.uk - A brand new website for the local party
www.southcentrallibdems.org.uk - South Central Region Liberal Democrats
www.libdemblogs.co.uk shows you the huge number of personal blogs written by Liberal Democrats all over Britain.

This is not an official Lib Dem blog/publication. All that is written here is only my opinion. To be of the safe side: 'Published and promoted by Eli Kling who is a member of Aylesbury Liberal Democrats at Reform House, 6 Castle Street, Aylesbury Bucks, HP20 2RE'. Eli lives in 10 Manor Road, Wendover, HP22 6HQ.





Picture

From Chris Peeler - Amature Photos

How will the Clock Tower junction cope with the extra traffic from the Princess Mary Gate? It is time to start planning now and not be surprised when the new residents get their keys.

From Chris Peeler - Amature Photos

Chris strongly supported the previous Parish Council, the current council and the Parish clerk over the “Back Street” issue. As county councillor, Chris would continue to give strong support and under his leadership this issue, which has been so damaging to village life, will be brought to a final and proper conclusion as speedily as possible.

From Chris Peeler - Amature Photos

It took three years to get this step and rail. The next accessibility issue to be tackled is the crossing of the rails at the Wendover Train Station.

From Chris Peeler - Amature Photos

The tarmacing of the green verges up to the trunks of the trees is nothing less than a disgrace. Chris would ensure that any future such work in Wendover is properly authorised and supervised. Rectification of this debacle is urgent but nothing so far has been done – neither have we been given any date for the work.

From Chris Peeler - Amature Photos

Further shoddy work in Dobbins Lane. The quality of the patching after the installation of a pipe is very poor and endangers cyclists. Furthermore the County Council has no intention of rectifying this in the foreseeable future.

From Chris Peeler - Amature Photos

In the conservation area, street furniture should be black. These Gray Bollards are yet another example of defective & insensitive work by the County Council.

From Chris Peeler - Amature Photos

Small changes such as markings and a dropped kerb in the right place have greatly improved safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

From Chris Peeler - Amature Photos

There were an approved plan and a budget but the promised Toucan crossing was not installed. We were never given an adequate explanation of this and we are still waiting to hear when this work will be done.

From Chris Peeler - Amature Photos

Princess Mary Gate (or is it Wendover Hights): We never wanted this development in Wendover but our Conservative district and county councils were totally ineffective in preventing it.

2009 Bucks County Council Elections – It’s a Two Horse Race in Wendover & Halton

Yesterday the candidate list for the Buckinghamshire County Council Elections 2009 (4th of June) was closed with the following entrees for Wendover & Halton:

• Peeler Christopher Henry Liberal Democrat
• Clayton Marion Patricia The Conservative Party Candidate
• Lesingham William John UK Independence Party
• Pile Robert Leroy Cuthbert The Labour Party Candidate

I have no Idea who the UKIP and Labour candidates are. I’ll be happy if someone enlightened me as to their contribution to our village life. Mr. Pile stood four years ago and pulled 458 votes.

So are we back to square one? Same candidates, same results? Four years ago Chris would have been elected had people not wasted their vote on Labour and effectively electing the conservatives. Early indications suggest that the Tories cannot fool all of us all the time. Marion has been doing our work for us. The general mood is that she had her chance and she blew it big time. More over, people have been taking note of the things Chris has managed to do for the village through long, up hill campaigns.
It is clear the Conservatives are desperate. Take for example the amusing letter Marion published in the last Wendover news. Did you spot the spin? She is trying to take ownership for an issue that is a pure AVDC matter and her much more able colleagues are looking into. Remember their election pamphlets of previous years? I dug up one from four years ago where they said they will do something about the parking. Did they? And more importantly, originally the parking consultation was scheduled for January this year. Suddenly it is to be held after the elections. What nasty, unpalatable bitter pill are they planning to shove down our thought?


OK, you will not vote for Marion. What can I tell you about Chris? Chris has lived in Wendover with his wife Mary for 36 years and was a Parish Council for six years. He is a member of the local Wildlife Trust and has a large garden with “wildlife corners”. The garden has been open to the public to raise funds for both the local wildlife trust and the Ian Rennie Hospice. He is also a keen bridge player and is the secretary of Wendover Bridge Club which meets at the cricket pavilion and provides financial support to the cricket club. Chris is also an active member of the Safer Routes to School group for Wendover Junior School, where he also was a governor. Another of major interest is the “Get Wendover Cycling” group.

His latest achievements are the step and rail on the Manor Waste in the entrance to Stars, the cycle path along Aylesbury Road and cycle and pedestrian provisions at the corner between Dobbins Lane and Lionel Avenue. It is time for change! She who only can find excuses why things cannot be done should be replaced with Chris who has proved he can get things done.

Vote Chris Peeler, Liberal Democrats

New, Relocated Bicycle parking at the Wendover Train Station

Today the new Cycle shelter was installed. I watched the work with mixed feelings. On the positive note the new parking is sheltered and it is positioned in direct line of site of the guard. My joy is shadowed by the downsizing of the available parking space. The new shelter accommodates only 10 bicycles where the one it is replacing was almost double. This morning I counted 12 pairs parked haphazardly. My hope is that in the future we will manage to get another cycle shelter; maybe on the platform. For the time being, I suppose we might also use the new motorbike shelter. I also lament the loss of the green patch opposite the station to more tarmac – I hope they will find a way to bring back some colour to the station front. Hopefully not of the machine-washable kind.





12 bikes overflow








This was the old facility: 8 double stations

MS Centre at Princess Mary Gate – planning application revised

The AVDC planning website application now presents the revised application for the MS centre at the Princess Mary Gate development (09/00532/APP). The revision requests doubling the size of the original planed centre to accommodate for a Hydrotherapy pool and provide more space. If I read the planes correctly the location has been moved around so now the parking will not be in contention with neighbours. All in all it seems to be a much better solution than the original one. I wonder what other changes to the original plan are being considered?

Changes to Cycle Parking at Wendover Train Station

I just got a call from a distressed friend. She left her bicycle at the Wendover train station tied to the racks near the guard’s hut. When she returned form Aylesbury she found all the racks were uprooted and the bicycles leaning on the fence. Naturally I rushed over with a camera and had a chat with the Forman – Dave. According to him a sign informing of the planned work was hung last Friday. However, both my friend and the guard insist there was no sigh this morning. The half dozen bicycles I saw leaning on the fence attest to that. Moreover, the guard was clearly uninformed as he did not warn anybody not to secure their bicycle there. Most worrying is the fact that station staff are not sure what are the plans. Dave told me that there will be a new covered cycle rake installed by the southern fence (near the entrance to the car park, in full view of the guard). He believed it would be installed in a couple of weeks.

Questions:

• Wouldn’t it have been wiser to first install the new cycle racks before taking the old away, especially when the cycling season has begun?
• Why take away the old ones in the first place. They would be replaced by only one or two more car spaces where there is a constant shortage of cycle parking?
• How many new stands are there going to be?
  
• What other works are going to take place. Are we about to see the long campaigned-for improvement in accessibility? (i.e. lifts)
• What did our Parish Council have to say about these plans?
• What was the contribution of our AVDC and BCC councillors to the plans and making the public aware of their existence?

Is this where the new stands are going the be? How many?

Green Ducks in the Wendover Arm Canal

These foreigners appeared here about three weeks ago and have been welcomed by the local population of ducks. I personally think they should pay £50 towards the extra burden they are putting on the scarce resources.

By the Way, anybody know their scientific name?

Divide and Concor

I would like to doff my hat to the conservative local government for the brilliant Teflon distraction of public opinion. Who now remembers the complaints about their poor handling of the previous consultation? It is naive to believe that public opinion was the only reason the consultation was repeated at great expense. Our elected councilors did not do their homework and arrogantly thought they could wing the test.
When l read the second consultation paper I was angry: it was biased towards the eastern option; it did not include any real information to support their assertions; I did not understand why all alternative options were not properly examined; and I could not comprehend why the southern arc was included although it was rejected by the public and found faulty. Intentionally or not, the way the consultation was presented has divided the residents into sectarian geographical factions instead of being united in scrutinizing the conduct of a through and competent planning process. Thank you AVDC for the lesson in cynical diversion of attention from the mismanagement.