Monday, September 22, 2008

To the Administrator of Redcar.net, Thankyou.

Over the last week, two of the most well read threads about this council, including the most well read thread on Redcar.Net, have been removed. Rotten boroughs, a thread started by the sites moderator after the councils supression of a financial audit report that showed that they weren't a four star authority was featured in Private Eye, was removed a week ago. The most read and posted on thread on the site, the Coatham Enclosure thread, was removed over the weekend.

The Administrator of the site says that he wants to change the direction of the site. Thats up to him. It's his site.

I personally thought that the timing of the removal of these two threads and the Administrators desire to change, was significant. Rotten boroughs was removed and some of its regular contributors were barred from using the site, shortly after the information about the leader of the Liberal Democrats throwing what he described to the police as "tepid" water, over a two year old child, was posted and after the council were demoted to the status of a two star authority after information about this councils less than four star behaviour was brought to the attention of the District Auditor.
The Coatham Enclosure thread was removed a day or so after it had been posted by someone in the building trade, that they had been informed that Persimmon had told the council that they wouldnt be doing anything in Coatham for at least two years and if they wanted to let someone else develop the land then they could and after someone had posted information produced from council documents, that showed that the council were spending £700,000 on the boating lake, not the £60,000 that they were supposed to be spending?

Both threads were removed and people barred, after this information was produced and posted in a formal, run of the mill manner. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions...
It will be interesting to see, after the removal of these two threads about the council, if the council now unblock access to Redcar.Net from computers in public libraries? Something that they have been doing for some time now because the leader of the council said that basically, the site showed images and included language that weren't suitable for public viewing. A view not shared by other councils around the country who haven't done the same thing?

The council have been caught out not only for attempting to stifle free speech and attempting the to stop the public from viweing information that they would prefer them not to see, they have also been caught out for lying under the FOI act about this issue by a regular contributor to Redcar. Net. When he asked who made the decision to bar access to the site, the council as usual, started to prevaricate and twist and turn and fail to give clear answers. I have a feeling that now the two threads that the council dislike most on Redcar.Net have been removed, that rather than provide those answers under the FOI act, access will now be restored from public libraries.

The Rotten Boroughs thread and the Coatham Enclosure thread, were the only things on Redcar.Net, that the council found offensive.

At this point, I would like to say thankyou to the Administrator of Redcar.Net.

We have a situation in this borough where it would appear that certain elements of the press are in the pocket of this most rotten of local authorities. On one occasion even though this development has been beset with problems from the outset and even though work hasn't even begun, the Gazettes chief political editor Sandy Mackenzie, said of the scheme, "Following the success of The Coatham Enclosure".
At the foot path hearing which took place in court last March, the true facts about this development, about how the beach was going to be restricted use if the scheme went ahead and how there wasn't going to be the leisure that the council have been telling people that there will be and that what Leisure there would be was going to be paid through the council borrowing, not through Persimmon or their houses, the Gazette, who had a reporter there listening to these things, didnt print any of them. Other papers and radio stations didnt even send reporters.
When the supression of the audit report was exposed NATIONALLY in Private eye, the Local press didnt mention it once. And when this council was found to have been UNLAWFUL in a High Court, bold front page headlines if ever there were, coverage of this story was limited to a small inch long column on the bottom corner on the front page and then a couple more columns way back on page fourteen. Pathetic.

Faced with this apparent bias, it has been very difficult in taking out the real facts about Coatham and this council, to the public of the borough. However, the Administrator of Redcar.Net has helped us no end by allowing us to post the truth and facts on his site. Thanks to his courage and determination not to succumb to the harrasment and intimidation exerted by the council, (how can I ever forget the ex-chief executive threatening both Admin and I by getting Carter Ruck, the most feared libel lawyers in the country) to send us a letter threatening allsorts, to then be placated by me removing one small posting from the site. Sledgehammers cracking wallnuts and all that?

The Administrator has helped us in our campaign for the truth about the Coatham scheme and this council, to be known and for this I thank him. He may have removed these two threads from his site for whatever reason, but the fact is that because of his determination and his desire for the truth to out, the facts are known and people do know the truth and now people all over the place, even nationally are asking and are about to ask even more, massive questions about the behaviour of this council.

There are those who aren't bothered about the complete breakdown of democracy in this borough. There are those who are. I would just like to say thankyou to the Administrator of Redcar.Net, for helping us take the facts out to people no matter what their standpoint is and wish him and his new look site and all of its users, the very best for the future.

Peace,

Chris.





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