Information Tribunal orders NTC to Publish Cracks Reports, NTC orderd to publish hydrogeological reports by 2 May Options

[Simon Kirby]

Linky

The Information Tribunal has ruled that the public have a right to see the hydrogeological reports and NTC have been given until the 2nd of May to publish them.

After all the public talk about not being able to publish because of a "confidentiality agreement" the Council didn't even argue that point with the Information Tribunal and instead assert litigation privilege in the reports. However, the Tribunal agreed with the appeal and found that the reports were not legally privileged, but went further and said that even if they had been the public interests would still have been string enough to override any objection to publication.

It should never have taken this much effort to see the reports - and the Council might yet ask leave to appeal the judgment which will delay publication until after the election - but point is the Council should have been open about the reports from the off, and then there would have been much less cynicism about the sense of pursuing the claim. As it is it'll be interesting to see if the reports do indeed support a four and a half year dispute.

 cracks_judgment.pdf ( 440.57K ) Number of downloads: 39

[Cognosco]

When the history of all this is reviewed the question must be asked just what has been gained or lost through this farce?

Just some of the lost:

The precept payer has lost, nothing unusual there, a fair wedge of cash.
Precept payers have lost all thoughts that they have an open and transparent Council who are elected to serve them.
Any slight credibility or belief that NTC serves any useful purpose now has been lost. Apart from the purpose of allowing a few members of the "Club" the reason to be able to dress up and feel that they are more important than the rest of the precept payers.
Precept payers have lost what would appear to be a decent and open Councillor, Ruwan, who has resigned because of the deceitful way our Council has been managed.
A Precept payer has been vilified and made to endure years of abuse and made to lose a, to him, priceless allotment plot and all for just trying to hold a deceitful and mismanaged Council to account and bring their mismanagement to public awareness.

Just some of the gains:

It has opened the public eyes to the fact that it is possible for local politics to be just as corrupt as the national.
There is no purpose whatever in the small Town Council, and it is possible to cut out the cost in this economic climate.
It proves openness and transparency does not exist at present in our Town Council and the same as at national level they will try and cover up with a vengeance when in the wrong.
It makes it important to question just why it appears there has been very little real investigative journalism carried out by our, supposed, free local presses over the last few years?