No not with a dodgy premium rate phone line but for an email conversation with the local planning department.
Rochford church is trying to update its heating system and what is intended might be covered by church planning rules or might need local authority permission too.
So an email to Malvern Hills District Council explaining what we want to do and asking if church planning is enough. The email reply says yes we do need their planning approval and telling us that counts as " advice" for which a fee of £51 is chargeable!
But why doesn't church planning cover this? I reply.
Because of paragraph 27 of the attached document, comes their answer, and any further advice is £51
Are you sure you're right, I ask, What about paragraphs 5, 16 and Annex A which seem to say something quite different.
I'm not going to answer that, comes the reply from the planners, till you give me £51 pounds.
I know times are tight for local authorities but having to pay to get them to justify their decisions!
Friday 13 July 2012
Friday 6 July 2012
Safety first - at what cost?
Yesterday as I was walking the dog there was a girl of about three years old running along the lane. Not a busy lane and there were no dangers from traffic, but the lane led on to a main road with traffic travelling at speed.
The little girl was happy exploring but with no responsible adult to be seen was clearly in danger of wandering on to the road. She could tell me her name, but couldn't tell me where she lived. Her parents, she said, were at the shop but the nearest one is a good two miles away so that was unlikely! Of the few houses on the lane there weren't any that she seemed to recognise but there was one on the main road which she seemed to think was something to do with her. Not so the residents of the house. They had never seen her before.
The story ended well. The police arrived just as a panicking grandfather appeared & she was reunited with her family, but it's worth reflecting on the role of the adults. I was extremely wary of doing anything that might be seen as trying to abduct a toddler. When she was walking on the main road I held her hand so as she didn't get hit by traffic but what I wanted to do as a human being, a parent and a grandparent, was to pick her up. But I daren't for fear of it being misconstrued. Likewise the residents of the house were extremely careful to ensure that they did nothing that could be misinterpreted.
The little girl was happy exploring but with no responsible adult to be seen was clearly in danger of wandering on to the road. She could tell me her name, but couldn't tell me where she lived. Her parents, she said, were at the shop but the nearest one is a good two miles away so that was unlikely! Of the few houses on the lane there weren't any that she seemed to recognise but there was one on the main road which she seemed to think was something to do with her. Not so the residents of the house. They had never seen her before.
The story ended well. The police arrived just as a panicking grandfather appeared & she was reunited with her family, but it's worth reflecting on the role of the adults. I was extremely wary of doing anything that might be seen as trying to abduct a toddler. When she was walking on the main road I held her hand so as she didn't get hit by traffic but what I wanted to do as a human being, a parent and a grandparent, was to pick her up. But I daren't for fear of it being misconstrued. Likewise the residents of the house were extremely careful to ensure that they did nothing that could be misinterpreted.
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