Lazy useless councils

[Ukwildlifeo]

I was reading my local paper the other day and they were talking about the 'development' going on on the local council golf course which is being leased to a private company. They are currently 'landscaping' it, which when this company did this before they did with landfill they were paid to take. The soil is probaly the contaminated soil drom the olympic sites (we know this as they've denied it!). But what annoyed me most was the fact that they filled in a lake (which incidently caused flooding for nearby houses) and it turns out it contained rare newts (undoubtly great creasted newts as they can be found nearby) but the dug it out agian so the council let them off! They probaly killed any newts and anything else in there when the buried the poor things. And the council now has plans to build on parks and worryingly wont let essex wildlife trust buy up the rest of Bedfords Park. What do we pay council tax for exactly?

[nightshade]

Today is the chance to change your council; VOTE
Many councils are cash strapped and it probably looked a good idea on paper
but I do wonder where theecological advice came from or was it just ignored
could you find out?

[Pete]

Originally Posted by nightshade

Today is the chance to change your council; VOTE
Many councils are cash strapped and it probably looked a good idea on paper
but I do wonder where theecological advice came from or was it just ignored
could you find out?

Bedfords Park is in the LB of Havering. There is no elections there until ooh 2010.

[nightshade]

You can still ask how they arrived at their decision and what
eco. advice they took, and from whom, if nothing else it will show
that people do care and are watching
I found out that if people mutter but do nowt nothing changes

[galanthus]

Our council sold a piece of land to our local rugby club for £1, yep, one pound !! It was a flood plain and hence a mosaic of different habitats; contained kingfishers, water voles, bat nests, orchids, ragged robin and a botanist friend even found 2 unidentified plant species. The club put down tonnes of hardcore and flattened the lot, who gave permission ? The countryside council for Wales. They said they'd assumed it was waste land. Local nature lovers know what important specimens are where and should have a voice in this sort of thing.

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by nightshade

You can still ask how they arrived at their decision and what
eco. advice they took, and from whom, if nothing else it will show
that people do care and are watching
I found out that if people mutter but do nowt nothing changes

Local residents have been complaining, hence they emptied the pond again. But some of the local councilers are known and have even bragged about recieving nice thick brown envelopes, hence there are 10 flats and houses going up where they shouldnt be. And our local MP jumps on every bandwagon so he'll probaly just voice support and do nothing

[Hornbeam]

Get your local newspaper involved. Even if they don't give outright support, they love a good contoversial story.

[Chiltern Chris]

[quote=Ukwildlifeo;116665] The soil is probaly the contaminated soil drom the olympic sites (we know this as they've denied it!). But what annoyed me most was the fact that they filled in a lake (which incidently caused flooding for nearby houses) and it turns out it contained rare newts (undoubtly great creasted newts as they can be found nearby) but the dug it out agian so the council let them off! QUOTE]

A few of points:

1. If more dumping occurs send me an e mail via WAB and I'll put you in contact with the Environment Agency Area Environmental Protection Team Leader in charge of investigating illegal waste transfers in east London and if appropriate she can set up an investigation if their waste transfer notes are not legal.

2. I've dealt with Havering Council over a number of ecological issues and their attitude can be quite variable. Until a few years ago they were trying to use public money to dump waste on Rainham marshes (part of an SSSI) so it would be more desirable to developers but now they are considering supplementary planning guidance to open up the riverside south of Romford as a 'natural' river corridor.

3. Bedfords Park is a Metropolitan Site of Importance for its ecology. Therefore the Council cannot just sell bits for development as it is protected under the London Plan policies. If they did want to develop any of it you could put up a good case against them. This could be on planning grounds, ecological grounds and social grounds as the park is part of a network of sites which reduces what the GLA call "Areas of deficiency" i.e. areas of London which have no access to sites of nature conservation value.

Councils can be lazy but quite often its a case of the officers being ignorant of the policies they should follow, they may be overworked or they are pushing a particular proposal to attain a particular goal and they purposefully push other considerations aside. So if you keep shouting you can influence decisions, but try and back up what you say using their own planning policies or the London Plan as legally their decisions must be in line with these published documents.

[Ukwildlifeo]

[quote=Chiltern Chris;116761]

Originally Posted by Ukwildlifeo

The soil is probaly the contaminated soil drom the olympic sites (we know this as they've denied it!). But what annoyed me most was the fact that they filled in a lake (which incidently caused flooding for nearby houses) and it turns out it contained rare newts (undoubtly great creasted newts as they can be found nearby) but the dug it out agian so the council let them off! QUOTE]

A few of points:

1. If more dumping occurs send me an e mail via WAB and I'll put you in contact with the Environment Agency Area Environmental Protection Team Leader in charge of investigating illegal waste transfers in east London and if appropriate she can set up an investigation if their waste transfer notes are not legal.

2. I've dealt with Havering Council over a number of ecological issues and their attitude can be quite variable. Until a few years ago they were trying to use public money to dump waste on Rainham marshes (part of an SSSI) so it would be more desirable to developers but now they are considering supplementary planning guidance to open up the riverside south of Romford as a 'natural' river corridor.

3. Bedfords Park is a Metropolitan Site of Importance for its ecology. Therefore the Council cannot just sell bits for development as it is protected under the London Plan policies. If they did want to develop any of it you could put up a good case against them. This could be on planning grounds, ecological grounds and social grounds as the park is part of a network of sites which reduces what the GLA call "Areas of deficiency" i.e. areas of London which have no access to sites of nature conservation value.

Councils can be lazy but quite often its a case of the officers being ignorant of the policies they should follow, they may be overworked or they are pushing a particular proposal to attain a particular goal and they purposefully push other considerations aside. So if you keep shouting you can influence decisions, but try and back up what you say using their own planning policies or the London Plan as legally their decisions must be in line with these published documents.

Thanks for that, it was very helpful

the link to the story is

The problem is really proving it. I've emailed the Romford Recorder and asked them for any info they can give me about whats going on. Im sure if theres anything fishy going on with the earth they'll find out. The earth thats been brouight in from 'somewhere' has been piled up into a kind of fort around the course because it has been invaded by gypseys/travellers in the past. I've walked along a footpath which runs along the edge of the course, which they've 'temporarily' diverted and built a driving range across. Im gona have a good look round next time im out there and take some photos. And if i find that they definately havent been punished for the filling in of the pond I'll start asking why

[Paul mabbott]

I just hope that people who are complaining about their councils are out today voting?