Council's huge errors

AT THE well-attended meeting on Lydiard, Coun Garry Perkins, though he said a number of encouraging things, also said: “We haven’t started consultation yet because there’s nothing to consult on.”

This comment seems to display a fundamental error. A couple of years ago, Better Swindon had a number of very positive and constructive meetings with SBC to modify the council’s consultation policy.

Both parties shared the view that improvements were needed and worked together constructively to develop a new process, approved by SBC in February 2014.

A crucial part of this policy states that ‘Consultation should begin when ideas are at a formative stage.’ This was a genuine attempt to get away from the outdated notion that once they had decided what to do, they would ‘consult’ on that one proposal and any influence that people had on it would be minor at most.

Clearly this has not happened here. The council has held a number of ‘listening events’ that were not part of the consultation process (why not?) and not until it had already advertised its intention to lease out the House and Park to an outside organisation.

By blinkering its approach in this way, it almost lost the opportunity to engage with local people and organisations who might have been in a position to address the stated problem, which is that this jewel in Swindon’s crown is costing the council money and the council has chosen not to continue with this.

Indeed, we learned that next year’s draft budget contains a ‘saving’ of £450,000 in respect of Lydiard.

In response, Coun Perkins stated that all they haven’t decided on yet is how to make that saving. Yes, that is what he said – shocking.

The point was made at the meeting that there are lots of people who are more than willing to contribute – for nothing – their time and expertise to assist the council in the difficult situation it finds itself in.

Part of the ‘new’ consultation process is that it would be reviewed after six months, and Better Swindon was given assurances that it would be involved in this. It hasn’t happened.

Better Swindon remains more than willing to work with the council on this and anything else.

When the land around Coate Water Country Park was under threat, the council promised: “No university, no houses.”

What do we have? Houses and no university. Can the electorate give any credence to council promises?

Back to Lydiard – in making the statement first mentioned, isn’t Coun Perkins putting the council in breach of its own consultation policy?

CHRIS BARRY The Bramptons, Swindon

Climate change fears

WITH the increasing destruction of rain forests every year, depositing vast amounts of chemicals into the world’s oceans and sending harmful pollutants into the atmosphere it amazes me how many people believe climate change cannot be contributed to man.

Has it not been documented that it took a long time to convince people that the Earth wasn’t flat?

I acknowledge that this planet has gone and will continue to go through extreme weather cycles.

Without any interference, except for the odd volcanic eruption and meteor strike, nature has found a way of managing.

The natural process of climate change has been slow enough for animals and plants to adapt.

Modern man has accelerated this process to such levels that, if not addressed, they will be detrimental to every living thing.

Some people may know there is an enormous amount of methane gas frozen under the fast melting Arctic Ocean.

It has been detected from space that this methane gas is now beginning to seep through cracks in the melting ice.

Scientists are now concerned that the thawing of the Arctic Ocean could make these huge reservoirs of methane gas unstable, hence, rising sea levels would then be the least of our worries.

I fear we may have already passed the point of no return.

However, it’s good to see nations coming together on this issue, as we all have a lot to lose.

Man’s nature will always be in conflict with Mother Nature as long as profit and greed reign supreme.

WILLIAM ABRAHAM Rodbourne, Swindon

UK's small EU influence

IT SEEMS that Germany’s leader Angela Merkel is going to do something overnight that the UK has been trying to do for years and that’s deport those migrants found guilty of involvement in the sex attacks in Cologne and any other offences.

She is confident she can over ride the European Courts and throw these people out of Germany.

But where to? More than likely we will be told by Angela to have them.

This is another example of how little influence the UK has in the EU and proves David Cameron’s negotiations to get us a better deal was a smokescreen.

The EU treats the UK as a milch cow for money, when Germany can change European legislation overnight to suit itself but it took years for the Home Office to remove one cleric to face charges. It just about sums it all up.

JOHN L CROOK Haydon Wick, Swindon

Clarity on jobs column

JUSTIN Tomlinson’s column refers to jobs in the singular.

I just wonder would it be more appropriate to start telling us whether what he is actually referring to, is common or garden labouring jobs because the truth of the matter is that we no longer are a manufacturing nation since we decided to change to a nation of bankers and shopkeepers.

So because everyone cannot be bankers or domestic tradesmen, there is just low-skilled and labouring jobs to be had for the majority of the working population.

So perhaps Justin can enlighten us as to what he means by JOBS? Square pegs in round holes more like.

IAN HUNT Hill View Road, Swindon