Letter from Our Leader Regarding Gypsy Sites...

[Jeff]

Just received the following through my letterbox from CAB addressed to The Resident.

excuse me for editing.........

UPDATE POSITION REGARDING GYPSY AND TRAVELLER POSIITION

When I became Leader of the Council in May of last year, I gave a commitment that I would work closely with the people of Hartlepool to achieve the very best for our town. Indeed some people may feel the decision to withdraw our local plan, including the designated gypsy and traveller site in the Hart ward was incorrect, but I stand by that decision as it was right and proper in view of your own concerns and anxieties.
Some people will falsely claim that the previous decision stands but this is not the case as the said designation for a gypsy and traveller site has been wholly withdrawn.  .........the Council is undertaking a gypsy and traveller needs assessment,....I feel this has to be done again as most evidence bases need refreshing every 5 years........this evidence is from 2009
'Renaissance ' consultants have been appointed by the council to identify the number of pitches needed for the period 2016-2030...A final report will be reported to Regeneration Policy committee in August 2014.......
FinallyI would like to say, I shall strive to make robust decisions that chime with public expectations of good Local Government, reflecting the trust you place in our Council under the new governance system.

Christopher Akers-Belcher

[Inspector Knacker]

When is the election........?

[Pwilson]

So they've pisssed away money on a local plan, that now needs re-writing at a cost.

They undertook a consultation at considerable cost and played politics by ignoring the recommendation.

He's now trying to suggest that pissing more cash away on another report is good news and somehow is reassuring residents of little more than the fact he is spending our money on things it doesn't need spending on.

I don't know the %age of council tax payers broken down ward by ward but I'd bet Hart is one of the more lucrative wards for this mans personal report creation fund.

If this is the best the Labour leader can do then he's banging a skinless drum with a feather because that letter is the most weak political statemen since his £1million a year savings leaflet. I suppose its a positive that at least one elected member knows where the ward is, I wonder what Jean Robinson and Paul Beck think.

[mk1]

Th worst thing is  he knows it is a lie but he has to say it in order to keep alive the (very slim) hope he can keep the seat Labour.
I don't know if any of you saw this recently



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2597387/The-granny-branded-racist-judge-traveller-living-green-belt-land-justice-turned-head.html#ixzz2ybJm5w3o

and whilst the main story itself is shocking enough this bit buried away in the text shows just how hollow  Belcher's promise is:

Last year the Linfoots were granted a temporary two-year reprieve after their lawyer argued the council's five-year plan did not include an adequate assessment of local gypsy and traveller families who would need somewhere to live in the future.

[DRiddle]

This letter ended up in the inbox and on the doormats of the residents of the Hart Ward as day or so after it broke on social media that I was standing in the Hart Ward.

Squeaky bum time?

[Pwilson]

My issue with the letter is that when you deconstruct it he's doing little but telling us that his financially challenged authority is digging a bigger spending hole needlessly.

He isn't able to reassure residents as his new plan will be written after the people have been sucked into re-electing him.

If CAB or anyone from the Labour group thinks different come and tell me or anyone else we're wrong you're welcome. 

[tankerville]

I don't get any leaflets put through my letterbox, maybe it's because of the Doberman roaming around in the front garden, even the dog won't go near her!

[Sanddancer]

I have obviously seen the letter online here and from other sources....but as a resident of Hart it disturbs me that once again I have not received a letter I am supposed to have. This was particlarly galling when I did not receive notice about a planning meeting in Hart last year and was subsequently told I could not object to the decision.
I and several other residents were told categorically that we HAD received letters and I objected at the time to being treated as an ingenuous liar.

[DRiddle]

Hi sanddancer, please see the putting hartlepool first facebook page for information on this and other issues. Also, refer to the Hart, Clavering, Bishop Cuthbert residents association page (on facebook).

Thanks.

David

[steveL]

For anyone who hasn't seen the letter.

http://www.hartlepoolpost.co.uk/row%20over%20hart%20ward%20letter.htm

[not4me]

Not surprised Lilley is pis*ed off with this but looks like CAB has been careful to avoid the purdah period by a couple of weeks so I can't see him getting anywhere. No matter. I'm sure the residents can see just how cynical this is for themselves.

[DRiddle]

I must remember to get around to thanking CAB for doing that. I can't think of anything that would given my campaign a better shot in the arm than that letter.

What a calamity.

He might want to remember people in the Hart ward aren't as gullible as they are in certain other parts of the town.

[SRMoore]

It's also misleading for even if the consultant led 'needs assessment' draws the conclusion that there is no current need  for a Traveller site it will only take one traveller within the 15 year expected life-span of any new local plan to raise his  hand and the council will be legally obliged to provide a site and there's no reason to believe the current council would  have a change of mind as to where that site should be.

That statement is very misleading I'm afraid to say. Whilst most people were speculating what would or wouldn't happen now the plan has been scrapped for the sake of scoring political points I thought it'd be far more productive to write to government ministers and senior planning officials in Whitehall to find out exactly where people stand.

I finally received a telephone reply about a month ago and this information was shared with Hart Parish Council and I promised to pass the full details on to everybody once they arrived in black and white.

In short... If an application came in without a plan in place (as is the case now) it would be down to the local planning committee to judge the application on its own merit and would be within their rights to reject it.

There are rumours about that no such allocation of land would need to be made out of the public coffers anyway as there may now be a private site in the pipeline. Something I argued should have been the case anyway.

[mk1]

In short... If an application came in without a plan in place (as is the case now) it would be down to the local planning committee to judge the application on its own merit and would be within their rights to reject it.

Note how well this upmarket council  were able to get rid of their travellers.

It was in 2008 that Mr Linfoot and his wife, who have three sons, bought a small plot of Green Belt land near Jose's home, on which they hoped to 'practise their Romany culture'. A number of caravans arrived around four years ago — since replaced with static mobile homes — and the Linfoots applied for planning permission for change of use.

The planning application and appeal were refused by the local council, which has unsuccessfully been trying to evict the family ever since on the grounds that it is an inappropriate use of Green  Belt land.

Last year the Linfoots were granted a temporary two-year reprieve after their lawyer argued the council's five-year plan did not include an adequate assessment of local gypsy and traveller families who would need somewhere to live in the future.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2597387/The-granny-branded-racist-judge-traveller-living-green-belt-land-justice-turned-head.html#ixzz2ysAjIZ31




So whilst on paper you can say that an application could be refused in reality an appeal would be automatic and take years to sort out and all the time the travellers are in possesion.

[SRMoore]

Except the reality is that the land in question to either side of Hart Village are publically owned and are currently leased as farm land. The story you tell us about is one of a private plot with existing gypsy/travellers living on it.