Opinion: When a Fish Starts to Rot…

Published on: 20 Aug, 2018
Updated on: 22 Aug, 2018

By Martin Giles

We at The Guildford Dragon NEWS regard being the occasional object of criticism in Council Leader Paul Spooner’s, Trump-like tweets as a badge of honour. But we are curious how GBC council officers feel about being the butt of recent Spooner Twitters.

Again aping the style of the US President’s erratic outbursts, Spooner has turned on his department within the council: the Conservative councillor for South Ash & Tongham is also the lead councillor for planning.

He has described the enforcement section of his own planning department as “disgraceful” and says it is “failing residents”.

Something must have gone badly wrong and, presumably, disciplinary action is being inflicted.

But we have no idea what examples of disgraceful service are being referred to, no idea where or how residents are being failed, no idea how culpable is the enforcement department that seems to have been tried, convicted, sentenced and now being punished in a single Tweet.

Our council leader says: “Sometimes leadership involves the difficult decision to state that a council service is failing residents.” It is always worrying when a leader feels has to explain that what he is doing is being a leader.

Was being open and straightforward about any problems too difficult a decision? Shouldn’t a good leader take a more measured approach?

Shouldn’t he investigate complaints, marshal the facts, then fully inform the people of the outcome, corrective action and any policy changes that have ensued?

It is pointless publicly telling the voters so bombastically: “… Planning Enforcement has forgotten that it serves existing residents not just developers. This MUST change PDQ. Priority!”

What can we do about this call to action? That message should go to the culprits, if that is what they are. Some might say the message of serving residents, not just developers should go to the whole council and perhaps first to his own councillors.

His second Tweet, in reaction to the obvious but necessary question from a more level-headed Labour councillor James Walsh (Stoke), reveals little more.

So let us imagine being a GBC planning enforcement officer. We have been part of a council which for years has, without a mandate, prioritised development over the vociferous objections of thousands of residents, a council that has secretly met with developers, advising them of the best way they can overcome objections to their plans.

It would not be surprising if officers felt they were expected to be more on the side of development than enforcement, that it was pointless to feel otherwise. Why else would a department stop fulfilling its duty in a manner deemed “disgraceful”? Hopefully, nothing corrupt is being suggested.

Most likely, if I was one of those officers, almost certainly under-resourced, I would be feeling pretty sore that I was being publicly hung out to dry, taking the blame for a planning policy managed by the leader himself. And, even worse, I am a civil servant bound to silence by the rules of my office.

There may be some disgrace and blame to be apportioned here but we need much more than the contents of a couple of reactive Trumpish Tweets before we can discover where the real blame lies.

And as the saying goes, when a fish rots it starts at the head.

Responses to Opinion: When a Fish Starts to Rot…

Jules Cranwell Reply

August 20, 2018 at 2:57 pm

This is rich coming from a council leader and his colleagues on the Executive, who have repeatedly shown an appalling lack of respect to residents, and their representatives. But then we are just a “bloody rabble”, aren’t we?

Is it not a lack of respect, to so totally ignore the 30,000 objections to their ruinous Local Plan?

As to favouring developers over residents, the Planning Department is merely following the leader’s lead.

What has happened here? Has a planning officer refused to blindly follow an edict from the leader perhaps?
John Perkins Reply

August 20, 2018 at 3:32 pm

How very modern it is for a politician to blame his officials for any failings. At one time it was normal for a leader to at least offer to fall on his sword when something went wrong, even if he was personally blameless. Now it seems subordinates are to be impaled upon it sacrificially. Darth Vader would be so proud.

Perhaps unusually for me, I’d like to offer words of comfort to the officers. It’s obvious to normal people that they lack the expertise, resources and power to oppose the expensive consultants and lawyers employed by developers and others. That lack is largely due to an absence of support from their political leaders.
Jim Allen Reply

August 20, 2018 at 3:37 pm

Perhaps something has happened in Ash to do with the hundreds of homes planned.

My complaints regarding what I believe to be breaches of planning conditions in Burpham and Merrow have fallen into that pit of residents near despair caused by claims of “commercial and legal confidentiality” (or “mind your own business” in common parlance).

I am concerned that Cllr Spooner may be more worried about his South Ash & Tongham seat than enforcing planning conditions across the whole borough.
Bernard Parke Reply

August 21, 2018 at 10:30 am

When I served as a borough councillor I always had great respect for the staff indeed, as I still do.

It is not easy for them as they are always on the front line facing the general public at large.

Of course, this situation is not helped by the costly vanity projects for which we, as council tax payers, have to foot the bill.
George Dokimakis Reply

August 21, 2018 at 2:53 pm

Unfortunately, it feels that the leader of the council has forgotten he is the leader of this administration. How an organisation performs always reflects the values, approach and guidance provided by those at the top.

If he believes GBC is failing its residents (which it is), it is fully within his power to fix and also reflects the approach set by him and his Executive team.

Blaming others for one’s failings is a telltale sign of people being in a position of responsibility beyond their capabilities.

George Dokimakis is a former Labour party candidate.
Paul Golding Reply

August 21, 2018 at 4:28 pm

I completely stand by Paul Spooner. Paul has been a breath of fresh air and someone who stands by us residents. We have recently had a lot of issues and Paul has stood beside us to help resolve them efficiently and effectively.
- Ben Paton Reply
  
  August 22, 2018 at 5:58 pm
  
  Consider this: Mr Spooner has
  
  – led a Strategic Housing Market Assessment based on a demographic model that has not even been disclosed to, let alone scrutinised by, Guildford councillors or by Waverley or Woking
  – led a calculation of housing need that is based on fallacious assumptions about demographic growth, in part because of the erroneous use of statistics for students
  – led a Local Plan that does not constrain the Objectively Assessed Housing Need in any way, despite the freedom, if not the requirement, to do so in the National Planning Framework.
  
  Exaggerating the housing need to create exceptional circumstances to build everywhere is not standing by residents.
- Jules Cranwell Reply
  
  August 24, 2018 at 9:21 am
  
  Paul Golding appears to be in a minority, as most residents believe the opposite is true. Other comments rather demonstrate this.
  
  I manage a large number of teams and people. If any of them fail, then I will have failed and would accept the consequences. Why should it be any different for a council leader? The buck stops there.
  
  Also, I find it appalling that a leader would publish such derogatory comments on social media, thus washing the council’s dirty linen I public. There should be consequences for such appalling and totally unacceptable behaviour.
  
  It’s beyond time this leadership understood they work for us, and we have the right to expect standards of decency. This must change, PDQ, priority!
  
  A word to the wise for Cllr Spooner; stay off social media for all of our sakes, especially late in the evening.
Wayne Smith Reply

August 21, 2018 at 8:17 pm

If indeed, disciplinary action is warranted and is being taken against an individual or individuals within the Planning Department, I’m surprised that Cllr Spooner felt able to publicise such a thing.

Although no individual has been named, with modern employment policy, an employee would reasonably expect privacy in a disciplinary matter.

Should matters ever progress that far, it would not look at all good at an employment tribunal, where the employer has to be seen to have followed all of its own disciplinary procedures correctly and in full.
Valerie Thompson Reply

August 22, 2018 at 8:36 am

Who is responsible for putting Three Farms Meadows (so-called Wisley Airfield) back in the Local Plan after the Councillors rejected it on 15 counts?

Who gave the owners private meetings to come up with further development ideas?

Who has kept the site in the Local Plan even after the Secretary of State has turned the developer’s plans down for many reasons?

Who has offered the developers yet more time and discussions to come up with a new plan?

How can we trust those involved?
Brian Creese Reply

August 22, 2018 at 10:51 am

This is all very strange and makes me wonder just how many Tory factions we now have running our borough.

Firstly, Matt Furniss seems to be operating on his own in the witch hunt against Tony Rooth and now Paul Spooner opts for the insult by Twitter approach to “encourage” council employees.

At best this is rude and bullying behaviour, at worst it suggests the council leadership is losing the plot. If ever a council was in need of a change of leadership, this is it. Roll on May 2019.

Brian Creese is a spokesperson for Guildford Labour