| Parley Drive Mast - 1 Year On : Council Maladministration - Official |
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We issued the following statement: "Goldsworth Residents Against the Masts are pleased that the Ombudsman came to the obvious conclusion that the actions of Woking Borough Council last year in respect of the T-Mobile Mobile Phone Mast planning application and its subsequent erection at Parley Drive amounted to Maladministration. However, there are no winners here, and the compensation itself is meagre rather than punitive. The mast is now operational (and has been for nearly one year) and its microwave emissions will be contributing to the ill health of residents for years to come, whilst its presence has become another blot on the landscape. We hope that the new administration at Woking Borough Council will seize the opportunity that this Ombudsman's ruling has presented them and will prune out the dead wood which caused this regrettable situation, as part of their ongoing council reorganisation." One of the complainants to the Ombudsman had the following to say: "This is the second time the Council has failed to notify a mast operator within the prescribed time limits of refusal of planning permission for a mast near Harelands Roundabout. The first time was in 2003 and the Ombudsman found the Council guilty of maladministration, which the Council acknowledged saying that it had addressed the issue of what went wrong with a view to avoiding repetition. Now they have done it again, which just goes to show that they are pretty incompetent in these matters." One mystery remains: Nearly a year ago, on 12th November, a petition letter was sent to our MP Mr. Malins to trigger a "fast-track" intervention by the Ombudsman. An acknowledgement letter was received from him dated 29th November as follows:- "Dear Mr ... Many thanks for your letter of 12th November, and I am sorry for the delay in my reply but your letter was unstamped and so only received it today. I think you make some very good points indeed. I am in fact already very well aware of this particular issue, having received a number of letters along similar lines to yours. I shall of course write at once to the Minister and Ombudsman and as soon as I receive a response I shall write to you again. Yours sincerely Humfrey Malins CBE MP" To our knowledge no further replies were received and the Ombudsman never received the Petition letter - although we know for certain that one of the specific complainants enclosed a copy of the letter to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman made no comment to them as to whether he had received it or not. However, to the author of the letter he has subsequently indicated that he did not receive the petition. Maybe we will never know if the letter was sent or not. If we ever find out we will let you know. |