Some News at Last

Well, it took its time in coming but we've finally had a response to the comments we raised about the latest revised plans.  We wish we could report that it was worth waiting for but it wasn't.  The key questions about why the revisions have been submitted and their implications have gone unanswered.  In the words of John Holmes "The Council does not attempt to guess why particular information or applications have been submitted, nor does it try to guess what implications neighbours or other interested parties may consider there to be."

Anyway, as we suggested in an earlier post, we believe that the revisions are an attempt to get around the Aborculturist's objections. We are still looking into the matter and will advise as and when.

We have also received a letter from Bill Cash which you be able to see by clicking on the following images.  The letter refers to a reply he got to his own letter to Stafford Borough Council on our behalf.  Most of the reply is also attached.

Still Quiet

Well, we finally got a call from case officer Alan Lynch on Friday morning.  Unfortunately, that was all we got.  He was not able to answer any of the questions we had asked despite having received them two weeks ago.  He added that we will get an answer  but not when. 

Given that the closing date for comments on the latest round of plans is this coming Friday that doesn't give us much time to respond.  However, he did say that anything received after the closing date would be taken into consideration.

We also got a letter from Bill Cash MP in response to his letter to the Chief Executive of Stafford Borough Council.  In short, the letter explains the matter will be resolved by the planning committee.  Worryingly, the Borough Council's position on the traffic issue is that the road is deemed safe because the Highways Authority has raised no objection!

What we can tell you (and have written to the Borough Council about this) is that there have been 73 accidents between the A520/ Hartwell Lane junction and Nicholls Lane during the past 14 years, five of them involving fatalities.  During the same period there have been 14 in the general area of the pub, two of them involving fatalities. 

Not dangerous?  Makes you wonder how some people define dangerous.

The Sound of Silence

Today, you find us perplexed.  A fairly normal state of affairs, some might say.  However, we digress.  The source of our perplexity is the continued silence from Stafford Borough Council about the revised plans and their implications.  The promise, last week, of an answer by the end of the current week, so far has not materialised.

Now we know that the working week does not officially end until 5pm tomorrow but we felt that if we left it until then it would be cutting it mighty fine so we rang up this afternoon to find out what was going on.  The nice sounding lady who answered the phone was very helpful and said she'd get the case officer to phone back between 4pm-5pm.  And of course, he didn't.  So we sent off another email asking what on earth was going on.  To date, that makes three emails and four telephone calls and still we don't have an answer.

A long time ago, we decided that the keys to achieving most things in life were persistence and determination.  Never were two attributes more keenly required!  We'll continue to keep you posted.

Communicating

We have just dug out and are perusing our copy of this best-selling guide to the local dialect.  And why, you might ask, should we do that?

Well, despite our best efforts, we have been unable to get a response to our queries about the latest set of plans.  Despite two emails and several telephone calls our questions go unanswered.  We are not from these parts and we can only conclude that our understanding of the English language is different from that of Stafford hence the current lack of feed-back.  It is, of course, our fault.

In order to redress the communication balance, we have therefore decided to consult the aforementioned tome which has revealed a number of local dialect phrases that might help us to get the required information:

Jip                     A degree of suffering
Werrit               Worry
Breeky sneck!   Five Towns Demolition Ltd.
Set a gate          Start about a task
Pub- crowin      Going from pub to pub
Brock               In need of repair
Packer daft       A case of nonsense
Woss mane?     Would you care to enlarge on what you are saying?

And finally,
Chonnuck-knockin     Turnip stealing (Whatever happened to the vegetables?  Or the roof?)

We apologise for not being able to provide you with anything more meaningful.  On a more serious note, however, the absence of any response at all from Stafford Borough Council gives cause for concern.  We think that, whatever the outcome of this planning application, the Borough Council will need to review how it interacts with its stakeholders in future.

As previously promised, as soon as we get a response to our queries, you will be the first to know.

The Missing Roof - Finis

And this is absolutely, definitely, finally and totally the last word about the missing roof.  We hope.  Hard working sleuths in Rough Close have established just what happened.  It seems that, for reasons best known to themselves, the owners decided to remove the pub's water tank and associated piping.  They chose to take it out via the alpine route ie. by removing some of the tiles thus creating a hole in the roof through which they manhandled the tank and pipes.  Well, you would do it that way, wouldn't you?

Anyway, the tiles are still there piled up on a ledge adjacent to the holes in the roof which are now covered with blue tarpaulins.  The owners informed Stafford Borough Council that the tank and pipes were, in fact, stolen and that they had to carry out work on the roof to make it safe.  Personally, we think this is a much better tale than the one about the gipsies.
  

Plans, Plans and Yet More Plans

First week into the new year and confusion reigns.  At least it does at the Blog.  Two new documents were posted on the Planning Portal yesterday containing what are described as "Revised Plans" and "Superseded Plans".  Quite how these differ from previous versions of the plans and why they have been submitted remains a mystery.

Some of the new documents were received by the Development Control department in November yet have only just been made public.  Whether these are the same as other versions of the plan previously published, bearing the same date, is not clear although why they would be published twice doesn't make sense.  There again, not much does at the  moment!

We await an answer from Development Control supremo John Holmes on these and other points.  Once we have an answer you will be the first to know.

Once again the "moving target" nature of this application gives cause for concern as does the fact that there are so many versions of plans and documents that the Borough Council must be hard pushed keeping track of which is the latest version.  Technically, this is known as Configuration Management, and is a major issue for organisations in terms of keeping track of documents and other assets.  Let's just hope the Borough Council has a good configuration manager.

Winners of the Christmas Competition

We are pleased to announce that the winners of our Christmas competition to come up with the most original explanation for the missing roof tiles are ...  the owners of the pub!

Although they didn't actually write in, the Blog has learned that they have claimed the tiles were taken by gipsies!   We believe that this is far more original than any of our suggestions and have no hesitation in awarding them the prize.

Interestingly, the owners were themselves were actually seen, by Friends of the Blog, supervising the removal of the tiles.  We can only assume, therefore, that the gipsies in question were working in the employ of the owners.  On second thoughts perhaps we ought to reconsider our decision to award them the prize.  Unfortunately, we didn't receive any other entries so maybe we should give it to ourselves.