Thanks Admin and you’re right in all you say. Two interesting topics here. It clearly won’t be as obvious to all watching the Committee meeting exactly what we were saying. You can’t see the paper written of course but that has now gone forward as a resolution and makes it clear we are unhappy about the lack of information we receive and which inevitably drives comments from residents who are equally frustrated as they are left in the same position of ignorance. We also make the point we can help if we’re involved, as can residents who tend to have lots of good ideas on issues. On the comment CTREP makes, about us accepting it is too expensive, he has indeed misheard the proceedings. On this stretch of river we have no details so we cannot accept or reject the plans as we haven’t seen them or been involved. That’s one of the main points we made.
What we did say was informed by some knowledge though. Nature has a way of carrying on, come what may and despite what we do. On this stretch of the river, we have had a series of floods over the years which have been eroding both banks. The path was closed off when it became too dangerous on one side. The river looks very placid and gentle normally but in flood, nature takes over and has incredible force which too many people are either ignorant or blasé about. If you were washed into the river or fell in during flood, you genuinely risk death. If you know your geography, it’s apparent the river has followed all sorts of routes across that valley and will continue to do so long after all of us today are dead and gone. From personal experience a long while ago, where I was personally involved in a project to divert a river, it is indeed hugely expensive to delay nature, let alone stop it and you can’t just shore up the stretch affected, you have to look at the whole area and understand what is determining the flows.
On the other posts about unelected bodies, town/parish councils and a “local” council it’s common to find residents don’t really know how our democratic system works. There's not much publicity about it and its not easy to find. The constitution for all this is available to read on the council website but at 400 odd pages is a big challenge! I’ve read it as I felt I ought to understand it. It’s helped me use the details of the system for all our benefit and is partly behind me using an Area Committee resolution for this. If any resident would like to know more about any aspect of how local government works I’d be happy to talk them through their area of interest.
