The Friends of Lever Park

On the 22nd Feb/10 we submitted a complaint to Chorley Council, only to receive a reply dated the 26th Feb stating that there will be no further correspondence on this issue.

Do they honestly believe that we will stand by and allow this ignorance of rules and procedures to go uncontested.

We have since submitted the complaint again (this time more detailed), we will not allow this attitude to go unchallenged and have made it clear that if the complaint isn’t dealt with to our satisfaction, we will follow procedure and place it before the Local Government Ombudsman.

They might find some parts of the complaint hard to accept, but the law is the law and the sooner they acknowledge this, the sooner lawful decisions will be made.

No longer will we accept statements of ignorance from anyone, we have learnt the hard way and if the rules or the law has been broken, then expect to be held accountable.

Go Ape have revealed plans to build a site similar to the one in Rivington. The proposal is for a new course to be built in Moel Famau, Wales. As at Rivington, the decision is unpopular with visitors to this peaceful and unspoiled part of Wales.  A protest group (the Friends of Moel Famau) has been formed to try to stop the development.

Here’s a link to their new website: http://moelfamau.com/

Whilst it seems that all is quiet, the campaign has moved to a different level. To divulge our strategy at this time would be counterproductive, but suffice it to say that we have the man for the job and the job will be done. WTS

Go-Ape  charges have gone up to £30 for adults.

anyone who pays that! wants their head testing…

We put a question to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Goldsworthy)

Why wasn’t the application for go-ape advertised has a departure as required to do so under the rules of the Constitution.

This was the reply:

It should be noted that the above Departure Direction has since been deleted and replaced by the Town & Country Planning (Consultation)(England) Direction 2009.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the application passed in 2008?

So how could the Town & Country Planning (Consultation)(England) Direction 2009 be considered ,when the plans where passed 12 months earlier.

If anyone thought that it was all over, you are in for a shock.

And if you thought that Go-Ape was the end of it, you are in for a shock.

I encourage all supporters of Lever Park to attend any future meeting, you will be shocked.

If there are any legal people out there who value Lever Park and it’s history, then we appeal to you to come forward with your support.

We have the ammunition loaded in the gun, but we need a legal person to fire it.

When everything is made public, you will never trust this lot again.

This is the letter that the LGO sent to Chorley which contains references to the status of the park, and indicates a need for training or act on personal knowledge. Will somebody tell us how long the Corporate Director (business) has been in the planning department ?

If training is needed, then it’s the longest apprenticeship we’ve ever heard of, so we ask the question, “For what reason was personal knowledge not used?”.

Tags: letter, LGO

Chorley Council will be having a full Council meeting on Tuesday the 26th Jan/2010.

The meeting will be at the Town Hall, Market St, Chorley, commencing at 6-30pm

Ourselves and an individual objector will be submitting questions to the Council.

The rules state that we can only ask one question each, covering no more than Three minutes. following the Councils reply, we can then ask a supplementary question.

How do you compile 18 months into 3 minutes?. If I can do that, I should be able to walk on water.

The public can attend, but can’t make any comment.

It could be a very interesting and informative meeting.

It appears we are in possesion of another quote from the Local corridors of power:

“Maladministration is a description not a definition”

Somebody should tell the LGO!

Here are the explanations of what maladministration means given by the main public services ombudsmen.
 
The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) investigates complaints about local authority services in England. Its 2008 leaflet suggests that you may want to complain about:

• administrative fault, such as the council making a mistake or not following its own rules
• poor service or no service
• delay
• bad advice

We have requested to address the full Council with regards comments made by Councillor Goldsworthy in the press in relation to the LGO findings. It appears that we can only comment on anything that is set out on the agenda, and as yet nothing relating to the Investigation is scheduled for discussion.

For what purpose do Councillors exist when matters of maladministration by their officers, are kept away from them.

Why do they sit on these committees?  Tea and crumpets anybody.