On July 12, I submitted a petition to Havering Council. 550 residents signed my petition, asking the Council to re-run their consultation.
We want this consultation re-run as we believe the original consultation went below the radar. The car parks, proposed to be sold, are a lifeline to many London businesses.
When submitting a petition, the council usually take a week or so to reply. With that in mind, I also submitted a question to the Leader. This meant the Leader had a chance to reply on the night.
My question was:
"The recent consultation, on selling Romford's car parks, went below the radar. There was no public announcement, no letters to residents and businesses, and no email to ward councillors. The consultation was only published as a 'legal notice' in the Romford Recorder.
Given this Administration's claim to wanting to work with Ward Councillors and to engage the public, will the administration commit to a more visible, public, consultation before Cabinet vote on the matter?"
Below is the Leader's reply and my follow up question.
In his response, the Leader simply explained the original consultation, and that it followed the legal procedure. He didn't reply to my ask. He did however, clarify that the consultation was not "to sell the car parks" but to "end their use as a car park"...
... does that make any difference?
Submitting the petition:
The Leader replies to my question: