Sunday, September 17, 2006
WEST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL AND ENGLISH PARTNERSHIPS - AN UNHOLY ALLIANCE ?
I have in front of me now West Sussex County Council's "Forward Plan of Key Decisions. October 2006 - January 2007". They send it to me for 'free' (our council tax) in a nice brown envelope - well, I might as well get something back after shelling out 80% of my council tax to this shower.
The document will get no 'Crystal Mark' for clarity of language - more a 'Wooden Spoon' for linguistic sophistry - language which seems to disappear up their own arse, designed to confuse not clarify - pure 'institutional obfuscation' at its best.
I digress...except to say that I no longer have confidence in the WSCC political elite to be responsible stewards of my council tax, and I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. Be assured, I speak from personal experience. I know the nature of the beast...
Anyhow, this WSCC "Forward Plan" makes for interesting reading, when you've finally de-coded and translated the crap. This caught my notice :
"ADULTS' SERVICES/FINANCE AND RESOURCES
DECISION : HOMES TRANSFER ACQUISITION OF LAND ON SOUTHLANDS HOSPITAL SITE
The Cabinet Member for Adults' Services and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources are asked to approve the following decisions :
(a) to declare the St Giles site as surplus to Adults' Services requirements (where have I heard that before - Ed)
(b) to dispose of the St Giles site together with the Elmcroft Site (already declared surplus) to ENGLISH PARTNERSHIPS (EP)
(c) the acquisition of land from 'EP' for Elmcroft redevelopment on the Southlands Site."
For those who've been following the 'plot', English Partnerships (formerly News Towns Commission) have recently submitted a proposal to Crawley Borough Council to develop Ifield Court Meadows within the Village Conservation Area of the ancient Parish of Ifield - resulting in massive opposition by the community (quite rightly).
Guess who is responsible for the Local Structure Plan in West Sussex. You've guessed it : West Sussex County Council (WSCC).
Is there an 'unholy alliance' between WSCC and English Partnerships ? You bet there is.
The document will get no 'Crystal Mark' for clarity of language - more a 'Wooden Spoon' for linguistic sophistry - language which seems to disappear up their own arse, designed to confuse not clarify - pure 'institutional obfuscation' at its best.
I digress...except to say that I no longer have confidence in the WSCC political elite to be responsible stewards of my council tax, and I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. Be assured, I speak from personal experience. I know the nature of the beast...
Anyhow, this WSCC "Forward Plan" makes for interesting reading, when you've finally de-coded and translated the crap. This caught my notice :
"ADULTS' SERVICES/FINANCE AND RESOURCES
DECISION : HOMES TRANSFER ACQUISITION OF LAND ON SOUTHLANDS HOSPITAL SITE
The Cabinet Member for Adults' Services and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources are asked to approve the following decisions :
(a) to declare the St Giles site as surplus to Adults' Services requirements (where have I heard that before - Ed)
(b) to dispose of the St Giles site together with the Elmcroft Site (already declared surplus) to ENGLISH PARTNERSHIPS (EP)
(c) the acquisition of land from 'EP' for Elmcroft redevelopment on the Southlands Site."
For those who've been following the 'plot', English Partnerships (formerly News Towns Commission) have recently submitted a proposal to Crawley Borough Council to develop Ifield Court Meadows within the Village Conservation Area of the ancient Parish of Ifield - resulting in massive opposition by the community (quite rightly).
Guess who is responsible for the Local Structure Plan in West Sussex. You've guessed it : West Sussex County Council (WSCC).
Is there an 'unholy alliance' between WSCC and English Partnerships ? You bet there is.
