The following is the statement I sent to Cabinet about the sham community engagement organisation about to get a refresh:
The Western Harbour Advisory Group is having a refresh. Perhaps this time we can get some actual representation rather than have a group full of friendly faces to the administration.
The weaknesses in the previous group were quite something considering the lack of attendance, appropriate representation, and consideration of the community.
I attach a heatmap I made of attendance at the meetings.
It is quite evident that under John Savage's chairship, there were few people attending by the end, and in the meetings few members were given any actions or involvement at all; some people never attended (Kevin B from Homes England), others were appointed as friendly faces to the administration and they barely turned up as well.
It should be unacceptable that the mayor's pastors are involved in this attempt to manufacture consent for the Western Harbour.
The initial engagement about Western Harbour saw 2600 comments made by residents. These were all ignored and instead £150k of public money were used to create a new 'consensus'.
The new manufactured consensus included no discussion about a huge part of the project, namely the roads. We now have to talk about the roads because the Arup proposal (secret for a very long time) has been overshadowed by the listed status of the Underfall Yard substation.
We really need to talk about the WHAG's chair, John Savage, too, and his pre-determination in this post; not only has he written a report called High in Hope with ideas of how the area should look and, but his influence can be seen in a lot of the outcomes for the current Harbourside.
One has to wonder whether Savage's proximity to money and business has caused Bristol City Council to forego all democratic procedures and principles. The people of Bristol are meant to be protected by our elected representatives from business exercising its power through its money and time. Instead, we have business leading the way in one of the most important developments in our area.
As a member of the Cumberland Basin Stakeholder Group, I would like it on the record that the manufactured consent by the WHAG is not acceptable, and it's not particularly believable either.
I suggest the people of the area actually get asked for their opinions and how these changes will affect them.
Joanna
Thanks for sharing Joanna shocking just like Liverpool sadly kind regards Paul