ECC & DCC Place Survey 2008
This page is chiefly intended for the benefit of serious investigators studying instances of Local Government Failure, Summerway being a prime example of catastrophic handling of precious voluntary resources, resulting in their loss. The views expressed are personal, but very well supported by extensive documentary evidence.
Mention of this joint survey by Exeter City Council and Devon County Council was made in Update 2008 No 9. The deadline for its return was 14th November 2008. Cooperative as ever, Jim responded comprehensively to this lengthy questionnaire by the due date. The survey had been contracted out to Marketing Means, who forwarded my whole document to Exeter City Council due to its irregular nature. This was quite okay, as it would be time wasted if my comments had been discarded by Marketing Means without proper consideration.
The survey was being carried out by ECC in partnership with DCC, distributed in the
form of a 12-
Each of my four pages was given a heading, the first of which directly quoted a statement printed in bold type beneath the Council’s logos on the first page of the survey. What brazen hypocrisy to claim to be “Listening to your views” in the light of their insular behaviour. Of course, it could be true if the use of the word ‘Listening’ includes the interpretation ‘in one ear and out of the other’, bypassing the municipal brain.
Navigate to any of the pages by clicking its title box below.
Page 3
Working together -
Page 4
Conformity, Diversity and Freedom
Page 13
Life in my Local Area
Page 14
In Conclusion
Working together -
Sounds good, doesn’t it? Whether it is true or not doesn’t seem to matter. As long as such platitudes are swallowed by the public, all is well in municipal circles.
There has to be a fair degree of cooperation between the Councils for local government to function, but taxpayers see two Councils battling over Unitary Status at their expense. Other Councils are also involved in this brawl.
“Listening to your views” is mocking truth and reality, especially when claimed by Exeter City Council.
In order to complete this survey, I am taking time off from pursuing a campaign to encourage the City Council to listen and think. I have devoted my life to the service of others in both vocational and voluntary capacities, yet ECC has recklessly cast aside my voluntary contribution of around twenty hours a week which previously benefited children and their families. This time is now devoted to the campaign. One of the most successful voluntary tennis coaches in Exeter has been treated similarly, seriously depriving the children and community. This coach no longer exercises his special talent. Greatly to their shame, Councillors and Officers have closed ranks in refusing to deal with me, and attempted to isolate me from the rest of the Summerway Committee. I cannot see that I have committed any ‘crime’ beyond that of effectively expressing points of view which the Council did not wish to hear. Democracy has been suppressed and violated by the Council’s refusal to respond to my points and queries, and choosing to ostracise me rather than face up to its responsibilities. The City Council has created a situation which cannot be resolved because it refuses to listen and discuss. Meanwhile, I remain victimised and disenfranchised.
The Council does not seem to recognise that fine words and grandiose statements are worse than meaningless if its actions fall short or contradict them. Saying the right thing and what is expected is all very well, but actions speak louder than words. On consideration of the facts and consequences of the Council’s remote decisions regarding Summerway and the locality, the deprivation caused by local government’s failure to support volunteers is obvious to all. Even Councillors and Officers would understand if they took the trouble to examine all the issues involved objectively.
Devon County Council is guilty of neglecting a marvellous opportunity back at the turn of the century, and today’s sorry state of affairs has ensued. Nevertheless, this does not excuse the City Council’s failures, nor the lack of professionalism shown by some of its more senior managers. Citizens are entitled to sound decisions resulting from a rigorous examination of the facts and circumstances, and we have experienced false statements, inability to discriminate, intransigence, underhand tactics and bullying.
The underlying problem from the public’s point of view is the lack of credible checks and balances to the powers of local authorities. They exist in theory, but we can have no confidence in them, especially as democracy seems to have degenerated into bureaucracy in Exeter. Government has legislated itself into a straightjacket which is crippling society, and driving the country towards the Orwellian ‘1984’ scenario. Councils appear answerable to no one except within a tightly prescribed code which is inadequate to the protection of the interests of citizens.
Conformity, Diversity and Freedom
If Exeter City Council and Devon County Council are genuinely seeking our views about life in our local areas, and are hoping to obtain it from this survey, they are going to be very disappointed. The reason for the distorted picture obtained is simple:
Local Government is unable to think outside the
box, or in this instance, outside the boxes.
The terrible errors of judgement being made by the Councils originate from being constrained by ‘the system’, i.e. their way of doing things. These mistakes seriously damage community and people’s lives, and the main reasons for each are pretty obvious to those capable of stepping back and viewing the wider picture.
A system based on sets of rules applied mechanically would probably work in a uniform
world, provided that every set of circumstances conformed to a prescribed pattern
and all were covered. The fact that intelligent, sentient folk would be bored out
of their minds in such a world is neither here nor there, but this is what government
is trying to achieve. As discretion is capable of abuse and the application of rules
ensures equity in government’s eyes, discretion is being severely curtailed to the
point of extinction by legislation, best practice, guide lines and the rest. A mould
is made, and we are all expected to fit into it. The fact that practically every
set of circumstances is unique means that force is necessary to squeeze us into the
nearest shaped mould, however ill-
We live in a complex world where easy and perfect solutions are extremely rare. Some people, of which I am one, relish diversity and are happy to work with others for the good of all. Sadly, there are others who feel it is their right or duty to control and manipulate the folk around them. Their goal is to make people conform to their own ideas and wishes. Diversity is anathema to such, and their understanding of life is usually very limited. They erode freedom, and are frequently so misguided that they believe they are right in what they do. In short, they are usually jobsworths or just plain antisocial. Freedom exists where we serve, not where we rule.
Britain is clearly moving in the wrong direction, nationally and locally. We are heading towards tyranny, which only brings misery and suffering to practically the whole of society in the end. Tyranny is the deadly enemy of such virtues as love, unselfishness, sense of duty, responsibility and the like. It is time to consider how this might be reversed, but how can that be brought about if Government and Councils refuse to listen and discuss with concerned citizens capable of helping to work out solutions.
This survey is designed to fit ‘the system’. It restricts residents to ticking boxes that suit the Councils’ statistics, enabling them to give an impression of consulting the public. This is no doubt pleasing to the Councils, but doesn’t get to the heart of the problems. Exeter City Council has shown that it lives in an ivory tower. It will need to engage meaningfully with citizens before it can function effectively.
Life in my Local Area
My local area appears on the surface to be civilised. Unfortunately, this is more
an illusion than a reality. Community is seriously deprived, chiefly because Councils
concentrate on environment and self-
Since the City Council’s destruction of the Club’s delightful premises, seen by many as a grossly vindictive act, I have kept in touch with local families, whether or not their youngsters had been Summerway members. By offering a friendly ear, my knowledge of the area has been confirmed and deepened. I also listen carefully to the views of a large number of others who I meet during my day to day activities throughout the City.
Most families in the locality are making a considerable effort to bring up their children properly, often a struggle on very restricted means, and care about the social standards they absorb. However, too many have little or no effective control for a number of reasons, causing their children to be a bad influence on others. Some are so out of control that they are described as feral, and that is no exaggeration. These are a considerable concern to the caring families, one of which I know is desperately anxious to escape from Exeter as soon as possible, mainly on this account.
There is a serious dearth of affordable supervised activities for youngsters in the area, exacerbated by the City Council’s withdrawal of support on grounds of poverty. If ever there was a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, refusal to renew leases on acceptable terms sustainable by volunteers is it. In my local area, the Summerway Junior LTC, run and managed entirely by volunteers, was taken from the children by the City Council’s unreasonable and unworkable demands, as was the Orchard Adventure Playground. Both organisations had been established for decades, and catered for hundreds of local children. We have the children, we have the need, we have the volunteers, but we also have an unsupportive Council that prevents a sensible resolution. It has shown that it doesn’t understand people, and doesn’t understand community. Consequently, we all suffer vandalism, rowdy behaviour, drink and litter problems, a fear for our personal safety, and are raising a generation which includes an unacceptably large number of uncouth and uneducated dropouts.
The Councils, particularly the City Council, are responsible for the severity of our problems by swelling the numbers of idle youngsters on the streets by the eradication of constructive supervised activity not controlled by them. This survey may supply the Councils with statistics, but it isn’t going to help the blind to see nor the deaf to hear. Neither will it supply the children with the role models they need so desperately.
I will add to your statistics by answering some of the questions where I can give a reasonably accurate response by ticking a box. Questions where ticking a box is an inappropriate or inadequate response, or no suitable box option is given, will be marked with an asterisk.
In Conclusion
This survey gathers information, but does not address the vital underlying issues. It is a political tool to serve ‘the system’, suit processing by computer and hopefully yield pointers that indicate which adjustments are most necessary to improve the status quo. There are fundamental aspects omitted from this document, so its use will not reverse the downward trend, understood by the more perceptive of the public, and which is frequently highlighted in the press, on radio and shown on television.
Both Councils have serious questions to answer.
I hope to post these on my campaign website in due course, accompanied by sufficient publicity to encourage local government to withdraw its head from the sand and face up to the damage it is causing to citizens, community and, most importantly, the next generation. Britain is failing them, and volunteers like myself are being prevented from giving back to children nowadays what we received from others when we were young.
Finally, I wish to reiterate a few points I have made from the very beginning of our campaign. I realise that the Councils are extremely diverse, and make no attempt to tar everyone with the same brush. I bear no malice towards anyone, but the degree of respect that I can feel for individual Councillors and Officers varies considerably. I do not want anyone to be hurt by our campaign, but do wish to see the Councils making far better use of their resources as they administer our resources with greater fairness, less waste and improved focus. I also wish to see the Councils tackling the big issues, such as democracy, bureaucracy, and the victimisation of someone expressing unwelcome points of view so that council officers may avoid the inconvenience of examining them rigorously. Just in case anyone is in doubt, I am highly constructive by nature, approach problems positively, am not easily discouraged and am fully at peace with my conscience.
Enclosed are a few items which may help the Councils understand how things appear from our side of the fence.
You are welcome to share my comments verbatim with the Councils. I think there will be little doubt at the Civic Centre or County Hall as to their origin !!
( I apologise for any errors, awkwardness or lack of clarity, but there is no time for polish on this occasion.
I reserve the right to make minor adjustments to these comments if I choose to publish them later. )
The items enclosed with the completed survey consisted of ‘Volunteers Care!’ cards, ‘Summerway Watchers’ slips and ‘Summerway Watchers’ flyers. The text and PDFs for the last mentioned have yet to be posted on this website.
While I reserved the right to make minor adjustments to my comments if I chose to publish them, no amendments were necessary to the text of any of the four pages posted above.