I have followed with interest the action group in Sutton Bridge who successfully defended their village against the proposed actions of South Holland District Council, thereby proving that SHDC’s arguments were flawed and inept, notwithstanding that SHDC spent over £10,000 of our taxpayer’s money on their legal action.
One assumes that as it is unlikely that many senior council officials, or even councillors, live close to the proposed site, this could well be a case of “nimby-ism” or “not in my back yard”. How typical of the powers that be who reside in their Priory Road offices, completely out of touch with those they purport to represent.
The £10,000 could have been spent on opening the recycling centre more frequently, replacing word signage in the town, correcting the grammatical mistakes on some signage – eg “quaterly”, “ofice” and the proliferation of apostrophes which are incorrectly used.
Clearly good grammar and punctuation are no longer deemed useful attributes to working in local government.
I have had the “pleasure” of speaking to, and visiting, the council offices on a number of occasions recently.
The people on the phone are, for the most part, courteous and helpful, even if they don’t have a full grasp of local geography – sample comment “Where is Surfleet? I have never heard of it”.
However, they have returned calls, located staff and provided information in a polite and considerate manner.
But in the offices, in the “waiting area” it really is an eye-opener.
Apparently there is no dress code – very short skirts, t-shirts and even vest tops are permitted, all the better if they show off the wearer’s tattoos.
I watched carefully and all the above were SHDC staff and not clients.
Let’s not forget the benefits of free parking, working from home when you want (I’ve been told that some telephony staff work from home, so I would question just how confidential is our information?), all expenses paid hotel trips for councillors and the hierarchy, and a gold-plated pension.
Oh, but they may have to work until they are older than 60 or 65?
Well, if you can hear a dripping sound, that will be my heart bleeding for them! However, I would like to end this letter by offering once again my congratulations to the tenacious group at Sutton Bridge – may we all strive to be more like you.
D Whyles
Reservoir Road
Surfleet
