Do you trust Tooley St.?

[Penguin68]

There have been/ are a number of initiatives currently going on in ED (CPZ 'consultation'; changes to road topology being 'tested', etc.) Most of those are, and stay, 'top of the listings' in this forum.

On the face of it this seems to be the exercise of democracy and consultative behaviour. However I have noted a great deal of scepticism (and yes, from me as well) about the level to which Tooley St. can be trusted to act fairly.

So, a simple question - do you trust the elected and appointed officials in Tooley St.? Do you believe what they say about their motives; do you believe the evidence they offer to justify their behaviours?

And if you don't believe them, do you have evidence to support this?

[talfourdite]

I think the council does a very poor job of publishing its plans so that we can have any idea what they are spending and what their plans are. The should spend a lot more time investing in transparency and have a 5 year plan to do this.

instead I feel that is all very ad-hoc and arbitrary.

[talfourdite]

Southwark introduced a CPZ in our area, based on a very low turn out rate for example. these are very localised zones, with no exemptions. so simple things like doing a refurbishment have now become impossibly expensive as you have to block bays for skips and trades making this unbelievably and prohibitively expensive. None of this has been thought through by the council and can only be damaging for the future of the neighbourhoods which can now only be improved by the very wealthy. also, this discourages trades from being in the area, driving up costs and reducing employment opportunities. this situation is already a nationwide problem.

[Zig-Zag]

No I certainly don't. Lived in Southwark for 35+ yrs, initially as a Leaseholder, and EVERY dealing I've had with this Council has been simply terrible and infuriated me. When staff answering the phone are asked to direct my call to a higher authority because they can not answer my query, they simply cut the call off, or divert you to a non-functioning extension number....and certainly NOT because I have been rude or aggressive!

Their Consultations are simply a very costly time-wasting box-ticking exercise since they will implement whatever they had planned irrespective of the results of the so-called "consultations".

[Pugwash]

I previously worked for Southwark and had many dealings with other Southwark Departments. Most of these departments were unhelpful. If you got someone good, you developed a good working relationship with them and used them to gain direct phone numbers etc of colleagues in their department. I made a few good contacts in Housing over the 20 plus years with Southwark, which saved a lot of time as they frequently gave information and pointed me in the right direction. When a Housing Officer came to a meeting with me regarding a tenant who had become seriously disabled - I could not believe it!!

I was lucky in my job as we were encouraged to use our initiative/knowledge/networking skills and experience without seeking managerial approval for every step of the way. We all abided by the 'rules' and tried if someone rang our team by mistake to give them a name, number, email address and postal address.

[Zebedee Tring]

I worked in local government for 25 years at a senior level as a lawyer and often sat through some terrible meetings at which councillors displayed their total ignorance. However my experience of the Southwark meetings that I have attended in recent years has been worse. Members have talked to each other using jargon as if members of the public were not present and have totally ignored arguments put forward by the public when it hasn't suited their agenda. They have clearly been already whipped to vote a certain way regardless of the points made during the debate.

My respect for democracy at local and national level is at an all-time low - I say this as someone who has voted at every opportunity at every election at which I could vote since 1970, the first year that I was eligible to vote.

[talfourdite]

I really wish we had a serious reformer intersted in taking over the council. I don?t think I even know who our councillors are or how Southwark is even run. Does anyone know the local council election turnout rates in Southwark?

It would have made a much bigger difference to our immediate lives to have got into this debate long before we thought about the merits and representation Within the European institutions.

[cella]

Well with Momentum poised to target Harriet Harmans long held seat it will be interesting to see if anything filters down to the local level afterwards.

[DuncanW]

talfourdite Wrote:

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> I really wish we had a serious reformer intersted

> in taking over the council. I don?t think I even

> know who our councillors are or how Southwark is

> even run. Does anyone know the local council

> election turnout rates in Southwark?

> It would have made a much bigger difference to our

> immediate lives to have got into this debate long

> before we thought about the merits and

> representation Within the European institutions.

Full list of councilors ward by ward, including all candidates and turnout

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/voting-and-elections/2018-borough-council-elections

[VerryBerry]

Unfortunately I can no longer trust the incumbent leaders. I accept there have been cuts in local government but there also appears to be a race to the bottom in terms of accountability and transparency. The attack on motorists is just the tip of the iceberg, It's anti car and a seriously overzealous attempts at blaming everything on cuts when some of the issues are clearly down to poor forward planning. I think they are way too comfortable as there's no viable opposition. To have a Labour council effectively privatise the park with the unnecessary festival (no value for money) and then the introduction of parking fees to the newly refurbished children's play area which is well used is telling. I see the same incompetent (not all) staff at the council running unchecked and good staff leaving as a result. The same dodgy contractors being given jobs and it's heart breaking. The liberals weren't any better but at least we had the hope of opposition. Now we have spats between parties and we as residents suffer.

[Rockets]

Trust has to be earned and the Tooley St mob are doing nothing to earn it right now. Maximum 2.99% permissible council tax rise (along with the 8% GLA rise) plus their stealth taxes with the CPZ, park car park charges and now rumours of a brown bin tax as well.....when challenged they will moan on and on about cuts in central funding yet on a per household basis the rise in local taxes when all the stealth taxes are rolled up could well be huge.....over 50% year on year.

It will be interesting to see how the electorate reacts come the next council elections. This is the type of thing that will mobilise people to actually vote and whilst I am convinced Southwark will always be red there might be some shocks for ward councillors who have stood back and let it happen.

[El Presidente]

What did people expect?

Southwark council is in effect a one party state. look at them: http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1 The last vestiges of opposition and accountability were completely wiped out at the last election. Even good councillors like James Barber were thrown out by the people of East Dulwich.

This kind of thing is what happens when power is exercised unchecked. With such large majorities they can afford to have complete disdain for their electorate.

If you voted Labour at the Council elections, you voted for this. If you didn't, you're stuck with it.

This is not a Labour thing per se either, it is a power thing. Too much power without accountability.

Answer is to punish them at ballot box. Chance of that happening? Sweet FA.

[Townleygreen]

I should point out, following el Presidente's comment, that that Southwark has an opposition of 14 Lib Dem councillors. That makes it NOT a one party state. Lewisham - in comparison - IS such a one-party state, since last may the only non Labour councillor (a green) lost his seat.

[El Presidente]

Townleygreen Wrote:

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> I should point out, following el Presidente's

> comment, that that Southwark has an opposition of

> 14 Lib Dem councillors. That makes it NOT a one

> party state. Lewisham - in comparison - IS such a

> one-party state, since last may the only non

> Labour councillor (a green) lost his seat.

A fair and accurate point. But all councillors returned in East Dulwich related wards at the last election were from one party - Labour.

[wulfhound]

@VerryBerry - sorry if I'm being dim, what have the parking charges got to do with the play area?

[Pugwash]

Why waste money on the posters advertising ED which are being seen all over ED.

[jamesmcash]

Hi all

I am one of your Labour Councillors, for Goose Green in East Dulwich. I am more than happy to do what I can to answer any questions you have, or to help with any issues you have with the council. If you have a negative experience getting support from the council then do let me know and I will do what I can to rectify it.

My contact details are below.

Best wishes

James

[peckman]

Like many organisations there are good staff and bad staff . Just like cllrs. Officers in the council don't make policy . They simply try to what cllrs deem fit. Some times this is reactionary to a few vocal tenants and residents . It's a tough job trying to please everybody

[talfourdite]

Jamesmcash, I?ve been enormously impressed in how you?ve engaged with real problems for local residents and topics.

I really would love you to push the electric charging in the area,it is so poor and air quality is such a huge issue in and around the city and south circular in particular. There is almost no charging and with terraced housing no easy way to embrace this technology.

I would also ask if you could please revise the CPZ rules to exempt building trades, as the changes implemented add thousands to home improvements by forcing residents to block bays for tradespeople and skips for days at a time. This is so regressive and really damages the chances of improving and enlarging the housing stock and supporting local tradespeople.

[jamesmcash]

Hi talfourdite

Thanks, that?s very kind of you. I?d be happy to help wit the charging points issue. There?s an ongoing programme to roll out charging points across the borough, prioritising places where there is already a stated desire for one. Drop me an email with your address and I?ll see if I can get you put up the waiting list.

Regarding the CPZ issue, I?m happy to look into this if the CPZ is indeed implemented. Contrary to what has been said in some places, it is far from being a done deal.

Best wishes

James

[talfourdite]

Thanks James. I?m on the list and nothing seems to be happening with this at all.

On the CPZ issue, this is an ongoing issue where we live, and all other CPZ zones which don?t have building exemptions.

[peleparso]

peckman Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Like many organisations there are good staff and

> bad staff . Just like cllrs. Officers in the

> council don't make policy . They simply try to

> what cllrs deem fit. Some times this is

> reactionary to a few vocal tenants and residents .

> It's a tough job trying to please everybody

Exactly.

[Penguin68]

Thought I'd bounce this one back - in the light of some element of contradiction about what exactly different parts of the council are saying e.g. about CPZs - what the actual responses were (in detail) and what they are going to do on the basis (or not) of those responses. Also in the light of the recent local elections where the two main parties have not done so well, and where protest vote parties have done significantly better. Shame, really, that all the wards in London come up for electoral scrutiny only once every 3 years - interesting to see what might have happened here if a third of Southwark's wards had been competed for this year, particularly in the south of the borough.

[Monkey]

I?ve lost trust completely and utterly. Even considering moving.

[Zebedee Tring]

It's even worse than that. Local elections are once every four years, not three.