Friday 5 March 2010

REPLY TO WEEKLY NEWS

I have replied to the article in the Weekly News about the cost of the repairs to Victoria Pier.


In response to your article regarding the repairs to Victoria Pier; the frequency in which the Council use the term “Commercially sensitive” appears to be on the ever increase, a new catchword, if you like, when they do not want to tell us what they are spending OUR money on. Openness, honesty and transparency are three words our Council, neglectfully, seem to have forgotten, replacing them with subterfuge, deceit and oblique.
Under the Building Act 1984 section 78 (Dangerous Structures) the Council can carry out the repairs require and then seek redress from the owners, in this case Royce Peeling Green of Manchester, here is the sub-section...

(3)Subject to this section, the local authority may recover from the owner the expenses reasonably incurred by them under this section.

Surely then Councillor Chris Hughes is wrong when he suggests that the tax-payer will have to foot the bill, the legal onus being on RPG, they were eager enough to take responsibility for the Pier when they thought they could make money out of it, claiming they have no money for the repairs is, as Mr Hunt found out, no excuse. The Council was quick off the mark in making a dubious bankruptcy case against Mr Hunt, for a few thousand pounds will we now see them do the right thing and bring bankruptcy proceedings against those legally responsible or, as I expect, cop-out and hope that nobody notices, perhaps too Commercially sensitive for their liking.

9 comments:

Steve Hunt said...

All taxpayers must remember that this massive expense they are about to be forced into paying is ENTIRELY due to Corruption within CCBC.

Cllr Oddy is quite correct in saying that CCBC should not be spending a penny on this - it is not their pier. The law is there to force RPG, legal owners of the pier, to carry out works and maintain the listed building. The procedure is to use this law first, and then if RPG still refuse to carry out the works, then CCBC can step in and do them, and then sue RPG for the costs. However, there is a "special relationship" between CCBC and RPG, shall we say... and we all know that CCBC are not ones for following laws or indeed their own written constitution.

If CCBC hadn't decided to LIE repeatedly to the Caernarfon County Court in order to make me bankrupt for £5,144.88 that they knew (as is now proven, and indeed they now admit) I never owed them, then NONE of these expenses would have been burdened on the taxpayer.

Remember also that YOUR Council Tax is already going up by 4.7%, whilst the likes of Cllr Chris Hughes are awarding themselves another pay rise.

Does that seem fair to you? NO? ME NEITHER.

That is why KPMG, the Councils Auditors, are being called on to carry out an extraordinary audit of the Councils accounts so WE, the taxpayer, can find out just how much of OUR money they have wasted persecuting me. CCBC refuse point blank to reveal what it has cost so far, using as Cllr Oddy says excuses like "commercially sensitive" - that is hogwash, it is not commercially sensitive at all - it is POLITICALLY SENSITIVE.

As someone else so eloquently put it, the lid is off the pandora's box that is Bodlondeb, and it will never fit back on again now, no matter how hard they try.
People are shocked by what is going on at Anglesey Council, and were shocked at what was discovered in Denbighshire Council a few years back.... well, you ain't seen nothing yet!

For those in the Glyn Ward of Colwyn Bay, you have the opportunity on the 25th March to send a VERY CLEAR message to those at CCBC by voting for the only candidate who has the balls to stand up to them and expose them for what they really are... the balls to individually name, shame and accuse individual Council Officers of serious criminal offences (not one of which has ever been denied I hasten to add).

I am standing in the Election on a remit of exposing the truth about corruption at CCBC, for an end to "cloak and dagger" politics, and to get to the bottom of the (non)-regeneration of Colwyn Bay. Individual Town Councillors have little power to do anything, but the political message of complete dissatisfaction of the people of this town would be absolutely immense.

The pier has become the symbol of decline of our town, and the corruption behind its closure perfectly illustrates the utter disdain CCBC has for Colwyn Bay.

Use your vote wisely - let them know the people are not going to put up with this any longer.

Anonymous said...

People like Steve Hunt need to stop hoping for Cameron or Brown to change their politics.

The fact is, they simply don't have the principles or the commitment to this country which would propel them or anyone else into power with the majority of people behind either of them as long as they believed they were acting in the country's interest rather than their own.

They all have a passion for globalism, multiculturalism, global economics and anything to smash Britain and its people. All they ever talk about are 'others' and the majority of people are on to them hopefully just as they are in Holland.

Steve Hunt said...

Cllr Chris Hughes is as ill-informed as ever. Does he EVER bother to do any homework before opening his gob?

As you will see from RPG's latest published accounts (for year ending 31st Dec 2008) the company is worth just over £3m, with an annual profit of around £800,000 for both 2007 and 2008.

For a pdf file of RPG's accounts as filed at Companies House, go to this link:

www.victoriapier.com/docs/RPG_accounts.pdf

Given that RPG are Insolvency Practitioners, and given the substantial increase in the number of bankruptcies during 2009, it is reasonable to assume that their 2009 accounts will be at least as healthy, probably a lot more.

Therefore Royce, Peeling, Green CAN very easily afford to carry out their legal obligation to look after the Grade II Listed Victoria Pier... or to put it another way, there is plenty of money in the pot for CCBC to sue them for, rather than using council tax payers money.

CCBC decided it represented good value for money for the local taxpayers to take me to Court to gain the pier - which Cllr Hughes of CCBC claims is a "hugely negative asset" - so it obviously follows CCBC will consider it is worth taking a company worth over £3m to Court for survey and repair costs estimated at a mere £1m?

Of course, getting CCBC to serve enforcement notices on their bossom buddies will be a different matter - especially given the fact that if CCBC push RPG, RPG are highly likely to spill the beans I would have thought...

Interesting times ahead.

Steve Hunt said...

Anon:

Where on earth do you get the idea that I hope to get Cameron or Brown to change their politics from?

I agree with you that all mainstream parties are obsessed with giving away our country to an unelected, unaccountable euro-state...

Politicians are supposed to represent the people - not betray them.

The continual rise of votes for "other parties" over the past 20 years or so shows that people are slowly realising what is going on - let us hope enough people realise before it is too late?

Of course, anyone who dare speak out against "the establishment" is instantly branded paranoid etc. (by the establishment, naturally) - but at least there are now some people actually bothering to do the research and find things out for themselves...

I suspect the "other" vote in the forthcoming general election will be the biggest ever - I wouldn't be at all surprised if "other" hit 20% of the vote overall.

P C Plod (not that one) said...

The Caley Arms is a good place to sit, observe and listen - especially when Councillors mix and drink with senior Council Officers!

I know!

Anonymous said...

The Caley Arms is a good place to sit,WHAT A BLOODY SHOWER YOU LOT ARE YOU SMALL MINDED CREEP'S.

Steve Hunt said...

Bless - another CCBC stooge getting a trifle upset

:o)

Anonymous said...

Hi Cllr John, not like you to be so quite. I thought we may have some background info on the candiadates for the Twon Council election.
And next steps for the Pier. I hope all is well

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