Today I'm bringing you an update (in so far as it's possible) on the meandering Mottram-Tintwistle Bypass Public Inquiry. The Inquiry website can be found here. The latest activity, if that's not too strong a word centres on the Inspector's rather innocuous, yet rather important questions to the Highways Agency:
Q1. Does the Highways Agency still intend to submit revised evidence to the Public Inquiry?
Q2. If the Highways Agency still intends to submit revised evidence to the Public Inquiry, when does it intend to do so? Click here to see the document.
These questions were submitted on 4rth June and the Inspector gave them seven days to reply.
It took the Highways Agency the full seven days to give this brief response:
A1. It is the Highway's Agency's current intention to submit revised evidence to the Public Inquiry.
A2. Our current developing programme still indicates that revised evidence will be available in 2008. view document here
I openly invite people to comment on how they feel about this and you can do so by clicking the comments link at the foot of this post. For me there are three brief points I should like people to note.
1. The fact that the Highways Agency used the full extent of the time allowed to to give such a brief response, seems to me, to be utterly disrespectful to Inspector Watson, who has been more than patient in dealing with the sheer incompetency of the Highways Agency and their constant interruption of proceedings.
2. The response to Q2 seems rather wishy washy and far from definite 'our current developing programme still indicates' ! It seems as if they are saying to the Inspector "we hope to be ready by November but if not you'll just have to wait, matey". Again, thoroughly disrespectful.
3. An immediate response to the Inquiry on 11th June (published on Persona website 16th June and available to view here ) by participant John Hall makes the same point about their disrespect to the Inspector but goes further.
He quite rightly points out in a roundabout way that all participants in an Inquiry have the right to be treated equally and wonders whether the same luxury of a six to nine month break, for himself, to prepare a response to their eventual figures would get the same hearing.
It appears to me to be a truism that were the Peak Park or C.P.R.E. to turn up, unprepared, with their figures not standing up to any sort of scrutiny, then they would have been dismissed as a laughing stock. The Highways Agency would have wiped the floor with them and the Inquiry would have seen a speedy conclusion.
I don't believe for one moment and nor does anyone else that opponents of the scheme would have been granted an inordinate amount of time to go back to the drawing board, whilst everyone else has to reschedule their lifes and their own working timetables to accomodate these blundering buffoons.
In the same e-mail John Hall has requested that the Inspector files an immediate report to the Transport Secretary of State "to condemn this continuing deplorable situation". I don't think that sounds like an unreasonable request.
The author over at http://www.nomottrambypass.blogspot.com/ has also got harsh words to say but reserves them more for Inspector Watson. You can read the post here but the gist of the argument is that the Highways Agency rather than the Inspector are controlling the Inquiry and that it is therefore time for him to resign.
Whilst I agree that the delays are doing nothing for his career prospects or his integrity, perhaps a better option that would enable him to restore both at the same time, would be to tell the Highways Agency that both their time and their game is up. Let's remember that the initial timetable that the Highways Agency set themselves for their revised evidence was May 2008.
To give a sporting analogy, if a team is losing, it is not within their remit to take hold of the referee's whistle until such time that they manage to get ahead. The ref himself, in this case Inspector John Watson, must be in charge of the watch and the whistle. By my analysis, we should be deep into injury time by now. In fact some opponents have run onto the field....they think it's all over.....
Q1. Does the Highways Agency still intend to submit revised evidence to the Public Inquiry?
Q2. If the Highways Agency still intends to submit revised evidence to the Public Inquiry, when does it intend to do so? Click here to see the document.
These questions were submitted on 4rth June and the Inspector gave them seven days to reply.
It took the Highways Agency the full seven days to give this brief response:
A1. It is the Highway's Agency's current intention to submit revised evidence to the Public Inquiry.
A2. Our current developing programme still indicates that revised evidence will be available in 2008. view document here
I openly invite people to comment on how they feel about this and you can do so by clicking the comments link at the foot of this post. For me there are three brief points I should like people to note.
1. The fact that the Highways Agency used the full extent of the time allowed to to give such a brief response, seems to me, to be utterly disrespectful to Inspector Watson, who has been more than patient in dealing with the sheer incompetency of the Highways Agency and their constant interruption of proceedings.
2. The response to Q2 seems rather wishy washy and far from definite 'our current developing programme still indicates' ! It seems as if they are saying to the Inspector "we hope to be ready by November but if not you'll just have to wait, matey". Again, thoroughly disrespectful.
3. An immediate response to the Inquiry on 11th June (published on Persona website 16th June and available to view here ) by participant John Hall makes the same point about their disrespect to the Inspector but goes further.
He quite rightly points out in a roundabout way that all participants in an Inquiry have the right to be treated equally and wonders whether the same luxury of a six to nine month break, for himself, to prepare a response to their eventual figures would get the same hearing.
It appears to me to be a truism that were the Peak Park or C.P.R.E. to turn up, unprepared, with their figures not standing up to any sort of scrutiny, then they would have been dismissed as a laughing stock. The Highways Agency would have wiped the floor with them and the Inquiry would have seen a speedy conclusion.
I don't believe for one moment and nor does anyone else that opponents of the scheme would have been granted an inordinate amount of time to go back to the drawing board, whilst everyone else has to reschedule their lifes and their own working timetables to accomodate these blundering buffoons.
In the same e-mail John Hall has requested that the Inspector files an immediate report to the Transport Secretary of State "to condemn this continuing deplorable situation". I don't think that sounds like an unreasonable request.
The author over at http://www.nomottrambypass.blogspot.com/ has also got harsh words to say but reserves them more for Inspector Watson. You can read the post here but the gist of the argument is that the Highways Agency rather than the Inspector are controlling the Inquiry and that it is therefore time for him to resign.
Whilst I agree that the delays are doing nothing for his career prospects or his integrity, perhaps a better option that would enable him to restore both at the same time, would be to tell the Highways Agency that both their time and their game is up. Let's remember that the initial timetable that the Highways Agency set themselves for their revised evidence was May 2008.
To give a sporting analogy, if a team is losing, it is not within their remit to take hold of the referee's whistle until such time that they manage to get ahead. The ref himself, in this case Inspector John Watson, must be in charge of the watch and the whistle. By my analysis, we should be deep into injury time by now. In fact some opponents have run onto the field....they think it's all over.....
A full summary of the proceedings so far, along with a more detailed map and further stories can be found by clicking the following link http://www.glossop.com/bypass.htm
Websites featured on both this and on previous posts can be found on the sidebar for ease of use. For those of you not accustomed to cyberspeak, this is known as the 'blogroll'.
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