Having admitted earlier this week that the letter to residents encouraging them to attend next week's vital Planning Committee online was a mistake - an old format that cited covid restriction, the Council said that residents could attend in-person.
However, the council website front page notice of Monday's Planning Committee states, 'If you wish to attend this meeting we ask that you join online using the live webcast.'
It's enough to turn this 76 year old into Victor Meldrew!
UPDATE - Brent Council has amended its announcement on the website but it is not exactly encouraging the public to attend in-person as is their right! Anyone would think they really do not want the public there.
5 comments:
Are they afraid that a big crowd at the meeting might intimidate their councillors into doing the right thing???
Would Francis Meldrew please explain what exactly is the problem of keeping the public as far away from a Planning Meeting dealing with a controversial Planning Application.
"Open Government" which Brent Council 'apparently' supports does not mean that effective scrutiny of Council decisions is welcome.
There have been numerous recent examples where the On Line "live webcast" did not work and residents were very effectively silenced. In any case it is so much easier to stop "trouble makers" who seems to think that they are entitled to express their views!
We need the good old days back where decisions were made behind "CLOSED DOORS". If residents don't know about things they will be happy - as they do not need trouble themselves to worry about them.
Brent needs CLOSED DOORS and not OPEN GOVERNMENT! and WE are almost there.
BRENT AMENDS ITS WEB MESSAGE ABOUT THE PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING!
In response to complaints that it was discouraging residents from attending Monday's Planning Committee meeting in person, Brent has changed the wording of the banner advertisement for the meeting on its website from that used yesterday.
The first sentence of the message is the same. The second sentence now reads:
'You can follow along online by joining the webcast, which will go live when the meeting starts.'
So that is clear about our right to attend the meeting in person, isn't it?
Let's face it, there is little point attending the Planning meeting to be patronised bythe Lobbyist Cllr Keltcher and also be ignored by the rest of the committee. Besides, isn't it more interesting for the committee members to chat with the developer again and go over all the stuff that they've already discussed with them under the new planning rules?
You need to attend to show you object and to witness the councillors who were elected to support us residents vote instead in favour of a developer.
History will remember them as the councillors who voted in favour of development in our historic park despite restrictive covenants, blighting our children's and grandchildren's vital green open space.
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