Oh the irony .

[Inspector Knacker]

Watching the local news tonight and there was a feature on people in South Tyneside campaigning to stop services being transferred from their local hospital to Sunderland.
Then my attention was caught when the suits started their patter and alarm bells started ringing.
A nondescript suit came on to point out that there had been extensive consultation and the residents wanted no change, but no change was not an option. So why consult?
They then said there were difficulties recruiting staff and it all started to sound uncannily familiar. To crown it they then said moving services would be safer and provide better quality care. Isn't that the script we got?
The campaigners walked away saying there were no options.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

Plus ca change, plus ca meme chose ...

[fred c]

I wondered who needed a clapped out double decker bus in South Tyneside.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

I wondered who needed a clapped out double decker bus in South Tyneside.

[Inspector Knacker]

You really do have to wonder if there really is a scripted format for these things.
The new version of 'consultation' must now be defined as, ' To engage with the public and opponents, to educate them in the need for change and to persuade them to accept our view of the future. If however they fail to respond to our presentation, ignore them and carry on regardless with what was pre-determined to happen anyway.
Consultation does not mean listening to them and doing what they want. It means look as though you care, but use the event to persuade them we're the professionals and we know what's best'.

[mk1]

You have to wonder why Hill (or his replacement-in-waiting the good Doctor) do not make an unambiguous statement that any incoming Labour Administration will restore our A&E.  Perhaps because he knows that there is no chance at all of that ever happening?

[jeffh]

If the Seaton Car Parking consultation process is anything to go by the process is quite simple - keep having consultations until the number of attendees is 30% of the original consultation meeting, then formalise the change based on the premise that the reduced interest demonstrates public acceptance.

I can see the Seaton Crazy Golf planning going exactly the same way.

[fred c]

In the case of the Seaton Carew parking situation..... Mad Dog implemented the scheme, then held the 1st 'Consultation'...... that resulted in changes to some of the Double Yellows and Signage............. those changes cost £46k

Then as jeffh mentions..... they had more 'Consultations' until residents got fed up and the number of attendees dropped off.

Only in Hartlepool and Only Under The LabTor Mob

[Stig of the Seaton Dump]

If the Seaton Car Parking consultation process is anything to go by the process is quite simple - keep having consultations until the number of attendees is 30% of the original consultation meeting, then formalise the change based on the premise that the reduced interest demonstrates public acceptance.

I can see the Seaton Crazy Golf planning going exactly the same way.

Quite possibly but the flip side is they are also making new enemies.
Social media is spreading the message further too.
365 people follow Hartlepool Labour Party on Facebook.
1485 follow Hartlepool Post.
2200 follow Putting Hartlepool First.

[Inspector Knacker]

Can someone remind me what the excuse for bringing the charges in in the first place was. I drive through now but never stop.

[Stig of the Seaton Dump]

Can someone remind me what the excuse for bringing the charges in in the first place was. I drive through now but never stop.

Enforcement would improve the(fictitious) terrible road safety record in Seaton Carew.

We didn't have an actual record of lots of accidents but there was and still is inconsiderate parking outside chip shops etc.
Nothing has changed on that front and neither has the pot holes, flooded car parking etc situation.

It is a cash cow to prop up Tony Hanson's plans to turn Seaton Carew into a copy of the last seaside town he was responsible for.

[Inspector Knacker]

Parking enforcement is surely there to collect the cash from non payers. Traffic control and road safety is the realm of the police. I don't see the connection.
Nothing's changed, the ignorant parking is as bad as ever but the genuine motorist has to cough up.

[station cat]

Parking in Seaton will always be a problem.  I have to pay to park outside my house due to the residents parking scheme. That doesn't stop the world and his wife from parking there. Pavements are ruined due to the weight of the cars. There is absolutely no need for parking on the pavements outside my house. The road is more than wide enough.