Letter: It Is Time For Our Councils to Catch Up

Published on: 21 Sep, 2018
Updated on: 21 Sep, 2018

Anthony and Clare Cox trapped in Tunsgate with their Blue Badge.

From Martin Elliott

In response to: The Tunsgate Trap Was A Truly Dreadful Experience

One thing, amply illustrated by this incident, is that most councillors, councils and their officers rarely think “outside the box”. What happened here is that we followed the standards for signage and a system for unlocking the gate, so it must be adequate.

Standards are written based on past, not present or future needs. With review and approval, the time from initial draft to publication is rarely less than five years.

Rarely are the arrangements reviewed against actual or future needs, or even tested. But now it has been tested and found deficient in most people’s opinion.

What will GBC and SCC do? What will councillors do, apart from asking how local media “got the story” (Cllr Ellwood should understand it’s their purpose).

As usual, they may look at the specifics of this incident and ‘fix it’.

Will they review the whole arrangement for other ways the gate may require opening? (I do hope they already cover all “blue lights” I standards).

And will they think about other installations in SCC? What do they do already in the High Street if the route is blocked already say at Abbot’s Hospital for roadworks?

I have worked with councils around the country who are far more open to using intelligence rather than slavishly follow rules and standards to cover their backsides.

It is time for Surrey and the borough to catch up.

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