Of extreme importance to our local blogging community

"If ordinary people can't criticise political decisions - regardless of how that's said or done -  taken by people who aren't even elected, without fear of being threatened, arrested and dragged through the courts, then what do we have?"

"I'm no longer sure I have any sort of legal or constitutional protection to do this. I'm not sure I want to tread on eggshells, crossing my fingers and hoping that political criticism won't be construed at some point in the future as libel."

I have been sitting at the computer for a little while now, my mind in somewhat of a turmoil, trying to find the words; but I think it is best if I let you read for yourselves as the Welsh bloggers express themselves far more eloquently than I ever could.  

'oggybloggyogwr' ("Blogs like mine are for hardcore anoraks and supporters of independence") summarises the events concerning blogger Jacqui Thompson ( Carmarthenshire Planning blog ) and then he goes on to present his views on blogging/the blogosphere - touching on what he feels you should and should not do as a blogger.  'oggybloggyogwr' expresses his disillusionment with the political system and what he feels about his continued future in blogging.

Jacqui gives a brief statement here and I will not attempt to dilute the impact of her words by summarising.

For me, this is terrifying, but I cannot see that I have any alternative but to continue to raise issues.  I will let you all have some time for this to sink in and will explore issues that resonate in a little more detail in some later posts.

"Save the Canal Park"

A new website for you interest:

Save Canal Park

"Science in the Corridor"

According to the STEM* web page

The East coast corridor between Inverness and Elgin has become the focus for 'P4 Digital' healthcare which aims to promote the delivery of Predictive, Personalised, Preventive and Participatory healthcare using digital technology.

And, 

Life Sciences is an emerging sector which is rapidly growing in importance both regionally, nationally and globally. More than 50 organisations employ around 1,800 staff in the Highlands and Islands.

More information is given on the HIE web page here and on the Inverness Campus page here

The HIE web page (as above) reveals that:

...Scotland is home to around 600 bioscience companies employing approximately 30,500 people. 

...Across the Highlands and Islands, between 40 and 80 organisations make up a dynamic and growing life sciences industry. 


It is not clear from these facts how many organisations will sit within the Inverness to Elgin Corridor' and how many they will employ in the Corridor (The SRUC (SAC?) Labs are  relocating from Lochardil - maybe around 20-25? people).  Certainly it looks to be that Lifescan in Inverness employs around 1100 people.  Details of the 'Centre for Health Sciences' can be found here.  STV has reported on a new Enterprise area in Moray 

It will be interesting to see how the Third National Planning Framework represents the sector and what additional development will be needed.  Of course that does not guarantee any funding since not only is a National Planning Framework not supposed to be a 'prescriptive blueprint' but it does not provide a guarantee of funding either.


*STEM North of Scotland is an initiative developed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to increase the number of young people with STEM qualifications to ensure a skilled workforce to support the region’s key sectors: energy,life sciences, food and drink, financial and business servicesand the creative industries.

"Councillors for Hire" - "Is the planning system corrupt?"

Further to that "Councillors for Hire" article in the Telegraph highlighted in 'Planning'; there is an excellent piece on the 'Martin Goodall' blog entitled:

Is the planning system corrupt?

Fortunately in Scotland we do have a 'Public Standards Commissioner'; the web site is here and it well worth a look.  However, as far as I am concerned, despite the existence of the Commissioner and the 'Improvement Service.'** the Planning System and its operation within Local Authorities still falls short. 

Up here in 'the wilds' there has always been the occasional murmur about 'brown envelopes', but all that I have been aware of, as I have poured over document, after document, after document, after document, (you get the idea) is how easy it is for the system to be less than transparent, which of course makes it open to abuse and open to the perception that abuses are  taking place within it, even though nothing may have been specifically identified. 

One thing that Mr Goodall mentions is that,  "The development management system is complex and bureaucratic, but it is not an arcane mystery..."  I would say that in our neck of the woods  the operation of the development planning system (which forms the basis for development management here) has most definitely been 'mysterious'.  One extremely intelligent, and I mean 'top notch' in the brain cells department, co-worker of mine commented, "...I know that the planning system can be difficult to understand, but it should not be this difficult."  Indeed, in my opinion, in Highland, things have been made far more difficult and complex than they should have been.

No matter how much is spouted  by Government about making the planning system more inclusive, with a range of measures purportedly introduced to give local people confidence that their views have been properly considered as part of the decision-making process for  example, there still appears to be a  'default mindset' of exclusion.  

So my impression is that of a less than transparent system; wholly mysterious and operated within a mindset of exclusion.  It would not be unreasonable to comment that this is an atmosphere in which corruption, no matter how 'petty' could flourish.

[**The Improvement Service works with councils and their partners to help improve the efficiency, quality and accountability of local public services in Scotland by providing advice, consultancy and support. Our purpose is to help councils improve the health, quality of life and opportunities of all people in Scotland through community leadership, strong local governance and the delivery of high quality, 

efficient services]

"Councillors for Hire"

Reference to the article below appeared in the 'Newspaper Round-up' highlighted in yesterday's e 'Planning Daily'.

(Thanks to an APT contact for sending me a link to the Newspaper.)

'Councillors for hire who give firms planning advice'

Extracts

"Councillors across the country are offering themselves for hire to property developers who are hoping to take advantage of relaxed planning laws which come into effect within weeks, a Daily Telegraph investigation reveals on Monday...The Daily Telegraph’s investigation also looked at the activities of Indigo Public Affairs, a lobbying company, with offices in London, Newcastle and Manchester...Richard Patient, the managing director of Indigo Public Affairs, said: “In common with most businesses, it is not company policy to make our staff list available to the public... He added that Indigo’s code of conduct met or exceeded all legislative and regulatory requirements and “prohibits all members of staff who are serving councillors from working on any planning applications in their own local authority area”.  Statement from Indigo Public Affairs

Today's 'Planning Daily' top Story  is 'Devon Councillor suspended after planning consultancy sting'

There is also an item on the BBC here

"Sticky Housing Markets" - another thoughtful post from Chris Brown

Click here for Chris Brown Post

Extracts:

"...We can’t (or don’t) measure emotional attachment to a neighbourhood or a community so we ignore it."

"...Simple questions like ‘how many people do you know in this neighbourhood’ may be much more revealing than knowing the amount of money flowing in welfare benefits."

"...big questions that our unthinking, school-boy, economic assumptions ill equip us to answer."

I trust you will find the post thought provoking.