PENRHYN ROAD PROJECT

Yesterday, Monday, I attended the consultation in regards to the Penrhyn Road refurbishment, I have no objections to it in theory but I do have a couple of points and questions to the Council’s reasoning behind the project, for example they say it will increase business to the area, I don’t think it will, why should it?, that Road is mainly banking institutions and even the Council cannot dictate which bank we use. The same applies to their claim that it will increase footfall to the area, as I have said, this is a banking area and regardless of how it looks people will still use the bank. The strangest claim of all is that it will increase tourism to North Wales, really? how?. I cannot see how one “done-up street” will improve tourism, especially when the Council and Councillors suggest that tourism is not the future for Colwyn Bay. Cynical, maybe, but would it not have been easier to tell the truth... it looks tired and dated and needs refurbishing, simple as that.
My other concerns are; they are using the same imported Chinese granite that was used on Station Road, I know it’s a lot cheaper but cheaper is not always better; looking at Station Road now we can see this cheap import has started to stain and already looks grubby. Locally sourced material may be more expensive initially but the financial benefits are not solely in the material itself, local quarries would have to keep employing their workforce, hauliers would do the same and the finished product would not only look better it would instil a sense of local pride, these factors should be considered before costing.
Talking of “costing”, I do not know the overall costs of this project but I would like to know if it is coming out of the tax-payers pocket, and, if so, why?. Why spent Council money when this project could easily form part of the Regeneration Scheme, ie; be paid for out of our Regeneration Grant instead of Council coffers and, ultimately, our pockets. If it was done through the Grant why not go the full-hog and continue the existing covered walkways all the way down, part of my original suggestion along with cast-iron lampposts and bollards. It just seems a shame that whenever the Council do a job they go into it half-hearted and instead of doing a full project they only do half of it, perhaps they should take on board the old saying “If a jobs worth doing, its worth doing it right”.

BUSY MONTH

It’s been a very eventful month, up to now, and looks set to continue in the same vein as we slip towards October. We’ve had all the kerfuffle in regards to the Pier, Town Council meeting with the owner, letters sent to the County Council and the Local Authority Ombudsman, I’ve had a comment from “Birdseyeviewofwales” on the local forum that he/she saw “Important looking people” inspecting the Pier, which, hopefully, may mean the Council are extracting the digit and getting on with their legal responsibilities. I’ve had a good meeting with David Jones MP in regards to the Pier, the Councils intent to build offices for 600 of it’s staff in the centre of town, and about proposals that are sent to the Regeneration Board that are never heard of again; the Bermuda Triangle of Wales, so to speak.
The Ecological Friends of Colwyn Bay has also kept me very busy, the amount of people volunteering and showing an interest has been staggering and I have to thank Dave Roberts and Jennifer Geddes for their enormous input and support, without them there is no way this would have got off the ground. We’ve had meetings with potential funding sources, local media and I even appeared on ITV Wales, the Environmental Dept of the Council have yet, despite numerous calls, to furnish us with the letter that gives us consent to work in the park but, I’m sure this is only an Administrative error, I had heard that one local County Councillor was against us doing the work but I doubt the Council would side with one Councillor against the enthusiasm of the entire community, it would, after all, make them out to be extremely unwise and undemocratic. Our first day of action will be midday on the 3rd of October, we intend to have a big clean up of our project area, so any of you that want to attend and give help or support then please do so.
It would also appear there is a rumour being circulated that I have resigned or will be forced to resign from the Council; I can assure you I have not, nor do I intend to, being forced to resign is an improbability but I am aware I have upset more than a few members of the Council. I would like to thank those of you that phoned me with your concerns about the rumour; it is calls such as yours that make this job worthwhile, many times it feels like we are banging our heads against a brick wall and getting nowhere, you do start to feel despondent and wonder if you should continue or is it worth all the hassle?; it is the calls, such as yours, that make you realise there are some that appreciate your efforts, thank you.

I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF INACTION.

Here is a copy of a complaint sent to the Local Authority Ombudsman for Wales. CCBC's inaction over the Pier may cost the life of someone and I, for one, cannot stand by and watch that happen.
I have written this letter as an individual, not as a Councillor or member of the Council if I have broken the Code of Conduct or breached any rules then so be it. I am prepared to accept responsibility for my actions and any punishment that may result from them. We cannot stand by whilst this Pier becomes a Death Trap for any child that may wander underneath it, my only hope is that my actions may force CCBC into doing what they are legally obligated to do.


Dear Sir/Madam,
I would like to report Conwy County Borough Council for breach of their Duty of Care by their inactions over Victoria Pier in Colwyn Bay.
Colwyn Bay Town Council wrote to CCBC on the 25th of August informing them of the dangerous and potentially fatal condition of the Pier. As of yesterday 17.09.09 CCBC had not officially replied to that letter but did say in the local paper that they had served notice on the receivers..
http://www.northwalesweeklynews.co.uk/conwy-county-news/local-conwy-news/2009/08/27/it-could-be-too-late-to-save-colwyn-bay-pier-55243-24538342/
CCBC have been made aware, in the letter sent to them, that they are obliged under the Building Act 1984, sections 77 and 78 (Dangerous Structures) to carry out any and all repairs necessary to a structure to maintain the safety of the public, it is then their responsibility to seek financial redress through the Courts from those responsible for the buildings upkeep, in this case the receivers.
Victoria Pier is in a very dangerous condition, this has been admitted by CCBC. CCBC have, so they say, issued an enforcement order on the receivers, this order has not been acted upon it is therefore the Council’s responsibility to carry-out the work required under the above act but they continue to deny this responsibility. I therefore ask the Ombudsman to make a ruling against CCBC for their Breach of Duty of Care.

Yours Sincerely
John Oddy.

MEETING REGARDS THE PIER

Last night saw an informal meeting of the Town Council and Steve Hunt, the owner of Victoria Pier, the meeting was marred by the absence of our County Councillor members who, I believe, had been advised not to attend, who gave them this advice and why I do not know. As Councillors they have a duty to their constituents to be their eyes and ears, any information gained from the meeting is now lost to the members of their communities.
Steve Hunt and the County Council were both invited to give their separate accounts of the situation regarding the Pier, the County Council declined to speak to the Town Council but Mr Hunt agreed and gave us his version of events. He started off by telling us that on Tuesday of this week the Council were ordered by Conwy County Court to pay Bailiff costs incurred when Mr Hunt had to send Court Bailiffs into the Council Offices to collect Costs awarded to him against the Council, although a trivial matter we must remember that all these cost and findings against the Council are coming out of the tax-payer’s pocket.
By all accounts Mr Hunt has already won Court cases against the Council in matters regarding the Pier, the Council even being ordered to release documentation sent between them and their legal representatives. The version we heard was, of course, only one side of the story but the one underlining factor that came out of it was the reluctance on behalf of the Council to enter into mediation with Mr Hunt, the Council totally refuse to talk to him or his representatives about the entire matter. Mr Hunt is prepared to discuss such things as selling the Pier, working with a Trust and/ or the Council, in fact he only really wishes to see the future of the Pier safeguarded. The reluctance of the Council is, somewhat, perplexing; they appear to be behaving like ostriches and hope that by ignoring it the problem will go away when, in honesty, it wont, it will only get worse. We, as a Town Council are very limited in what we can do, it was agreed that all we can do is add to the agenda of our next formal meeting a motion urging the County Council to enter into talks with Mr Hunt to try and resolve this current situation that is of their making. I only wish we could do something more stronger and positive because the longer this goes on the worse the condition of the Pier becomes; that may well be the Council’s intentions, if they wait long enough the Pier will collapse and that’s the end of their problem!.

BULLETIN

By now many of you will have received the self-proclaiming Council magazine “Bulletin”; apart from the fascinating insight into the fact that we now pay our County Councillors over £1 million pounds in allowances, all it does is tell us what an exceptionally great job our Councillors do for us whilst pocketing that money.
If the Council were serious about Public Consultation over their intent to build their posh, new offices in the centre of Colwyn Bay then surely this would have been the ideal vehicle in which to get their message across; alas no, they continue to withhold the facts from the public, instead of being open and honest about their intentions and then asking for our opinions they chose, instead, to ignore the subject entirely. Where is this Public Consultation? How many of us have been asked for our opinions?, the truth is they haven’t asked because they are scared of the answer.
The Councils intentions will have serious repercussions on Colwyn Bay, none less so than the fact that they want to use our Regeneration Grant to pay for it. The time has come to start petitioning your local County Councillor and tell him/her that if they want to keep their noses in the £1 million pound trough of tax payers money then they had better start to earn it and listen to what the people want and not what the Council Officers tell them they can have.

COPY OF AN APOLOGY

Adrian,
Due to recent events I find myself having to re-evaluate information that was given to me; as a consequence I would like to offer you this full and public apology, I sincerely regret any distress I have caused to you or your family by my allegations of your involvement in the Craig Ollerton affair. My allegations were based on information that I now find to be questionable, at least. Allegations have now been directed at someone else who I know to be totally innocent I must, therefore, concur that the allegations aimed at you were also false. All reference to you has now been removed from my blog and a copy of this comment will appear in its place.
Once again I apologise for my actions and hope you accept them with the sincerity that they are offered.

John Oddy

IT'S ALL GONE QUIET OVER THERE

Most of you are aware of my opposition to the Councils intent to use our Regeneration Grant for their own use in building offices for 600 of their staff in the centre of Colwyn Bay and that I think they have gone about it in a very undemocratic fashion. I was interested to know what had happened to the two proposals I had put forward in response to the Councils request for ideas, so I sent the following email to them..
Shane,
As you are no doubt aware I am totally opposed to the Councils intentions to build offices in Colwyn Bay as are a lot of others including Councillors and community leaders.
Up to date I have sent in two proposals for the Regeneration Board, the one below and the Council supported proposal of a tram system, the latter being also supported by Mostyn Estates, the Civic Society and David Jones.
Neither the Town Council nor myself have heard from the Board on what action they have taken in relation to these proposals, the Council, at least, had confirmation of having received the proposal, I, unfortunately, didn't even receive that courtesy. I do know that David Jones has take a personal interest in this and will be writing to the board himself. I, however, would like to know if you could inform me of what progress the Town Council Proposal and the Town Centre Proposal (reproduced below) have made.

Regds
John Oddy


That email was sent 10 days ago and I am still awaiting a reply.
It further adds fuel to my speculation that the Council couldn’t give a toss about other proposals, they have already made up their mind to use the grant for their own needs and not necessary those of the Town. It is a sickening thought when those we voted in to help us do not listen to us and carry on regardless. Ask your County Councillor how they feel about these intentions and let me know their answers. Remind them, of course, that they are there to serve you, not the other way around. You can also remind them that if you are not happy with their decisions then there is always the next election to look forward to.

CONSERVATIVE CONSPIRACY

“Safe Seats” are wards where Political Parties put their Candidate with an almost guaranteed chance of election. The only problem with this is when the candidate themselves are either disliked in the ward or have done something so wrong that they marginalise their chance of election. When you watch how parties stack-up, how they conspire and think, then it is not too hard to work-out their next move.
The local Conservatives, for example, have two wards here that are “Safe Seats” Rhiw and Rhos; they also have Councillors who, for whatever reason, will not be standing at the next Council Election so they have to find candidates to fill those vacancies, they also have a staunch Conservative, Margaret Lyons, who has angered and upset her constituents over in Llandudno, she by-passed planning by installing uPVC in her listed building and, eventually after public pressure, had to have wooden ones installed, she also defended herself quite badly by insisting she had spent years doing good work for the people of Llandudno and blamed a local blog and it’s readers of pettiness. She has, therefore, jeopardised her chances of re-election; so, the big question is, what are they going to do with her? I will answer that in a minute.
The Conservatives are also grooming up and coming Candidates and those that have already stood and failed, party connections are very important to the Conservatives as is “Toeing the line”, if, for example a staunch Conservative Councillor upsets the wrong people he or she could see the party whip withdrawn and they are left out in the cold. I can now reveal my prediction of one of the Conservatives moves...
Margaret Lyon will stand in the Rhos Ward, Chris Lyon will stand in the Rhiw Ward and his wife, Lyn Lyon, will also stand in the Rhiw Ward following the withdrawal of a long standing Conservative. I may be wrong, but I doubt it. The only problem the Conservatives can see is that none of these Candidates live in those wards, this wont bother them too much as they expect “Sheep voting” for their party anyway. I do wonder if any of them will put down for the Town Council too, considering that is an unpaid position I somehow don’t think so.

LETTER TO THE WEEKLY NEWS

In reference to your article “MP Slams Council Plans” the spokeswoman for the Council not only appeared arrogant but also mislead your newspaper and it’s readers. She said “Unlike the House of Commons, the council does not provide canteen facilities and as a result staff will visit local outlets to buy lunch.” She should have read this section of the Office Accommodation Sub-Committee’s meeting of May this year....
Members discussed the report and presentation in detail, and in particular debated the following issues:

• Priorities of the Council
• Ring fencing income from capital receipts
• Efficiency savings, including efficient and effective working practices (Lean Thinking), EDRMS and reducing energy costs
• Phased approach to office accommodation
• Timescales and the need to vacate Dinerth Road by March 2013
• The need for additional resources and the use of consultants
• The benefits of contractors ‘scoping out’ suitable proposals
• Regeneration of Colwyn Bay
• The need for additional meeting rooms and canteen facilities
• Possible site visit to Neath and Port Talbot Council to view their facilities

The full minutes can be read here... http://modgoveng.conwy.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=548&MId=1682&Ver=4
This is a money making scam by the Council, not only are they using the Regeneration Grant, which could be used to save the town, to build their offices but they will make several million pounds by selling off their old offices and land.
Once again the Council and its Councillors show their contempt for the people of Colwyn Bay, so much for democracy.

Councillor John Oddy.