Important info re Petition for New Stadium

[londonblue]

I spoke to an ex Southend Borough councillor yesterday and he told me a couple of things about any petition handed in to the council regarding signatures of people from outside of the borough:-

1.  Those names will be ignored since their views are irrelevant as far as Southend council are concerned.

2.  By having signatures of people from outside of the borough on it, we are playing into the hands of any dissenters. Groups like the Karers will just use this as a means to discredit the petition as a whole. (Especially if "genuine" people only put their names on the petition as they will just be able to question if that person lives in the borough. "Well there's loads of people from Swansea on there, so how do you know these ones aren't aswell?")

As nice as it is to have as many names on the petition as possible, it really doesn't make sense if it is just going to undermine the relevance of the petition as a whole.

 

[Xàbia Shrimper]

I did wonder. That's why I didn't sign as my nickname; what's the point of having a signature from Spain or Swansea? It doesn't figure with local politics ...

 

[Blue Shrimp]

The best thing fans can do is write personal letters of support to the Planning Department of Southend Council, giving support to the plans.

Please do not be scared to write in, numbers count. Those against will not hold back.

See the post at the TOP OF THE PAGE with the LINK to Southend Planning.

Get typing this Sunday, it will help you forget the team for a while.

 

[sussex by the sea]

Quote[/b] (londonblue @ Oct. 22 2006,09:44)]I spoke to an ex Southend Borough councillor yesterday and he told me a couple of things about any petition handed in to the council regarding signatures of people from outside of the borough:-

1.  Those names will be ignored since their views are irrelevant as far as Southend council are concerned.

2.  By having signatures of people from outside of the borough on it, we are playing into the hands of any dissenters. Groups like the Karers will just use this as a means to discredit the petition as a whole. (Especially if "genuine" people only put their names on the petition as they will just be able to question if that person lives in the borough. "Well there's loads of people from Swansea on there, so how do you know these ones aren't aswell?")

As nice as it is to have as many names on the petition as possible, it really doesn't make sense if it is just going to undermine the relevance of the petition as a whole.

I would say it is a bit strong to say that signatures of people outside the borough would be ignored. I have received odd petitions in my time as a planner from people unrelated to the district in which I work. Such petitions cannot be ignored as they are an expression of a view about a proposal.

It is really a question of weight to be given to such views. If, say, the stadium application had problems on traffic grounds then the fact 50 or 500 people from Swansea had signed a petition in favour of the stadium would carry little weight as you would assume they had little knowledge of the workings of the Sutton Road roundabout, for example.

If the stadium application is going well though I don't think that these signatures would discredit the scheme, indeed they would be a further point, albeit minor, in favour of the stadium.

More important, though, is that we write as many individual letters as we can with reasoned arguments in favour of the stadium. I have been going through the information submitted with the application with an objective (as much I can be) planners hat on and my initial thoughts are that the decision on the application will perhaps be more in the balance than we might hope.

As mentioned in an earlier thread, once I have finished reading all the info, I shall post with what I feel are the most reasoned planning arguments in favour of the proposal.

 

[Murkey_Mouse]

I did mine & send a letter on the net to Southend council, would my post code count? SS7 1SU as I live outside southend area.

SBTS, have you wrote a letter yet? It would help if a fellow planner writting to the council with good reason why the stadium go ahead, if not, it do not matter.

 

[londonblue]

Quote[/b] (Murkey_Mouse @ Oct. 22 2006,14:07)]I did mine & send a letter on the net to Southend council, would my post code count? SS7 1SU as I live outside southend area.

SBTS, have you wrote a letter yet?  It would help if a fellow planner writting to the council with good reason why the stadium go ahead, if not, it do not matter.

Yep, I think you're refering to my suggestion that someone who knows about these things trawl through the application details and publish on here the main benefits. Then we can all write a letter to the council based on one or two of these points.

Who was looking over the plans? Apparently letters would be better received before the 13th November so we would need to know what to write sooner rather than later...

 

[Hooly]

Quote[/b] (londonblue @ Oct. 22 2006,09:44)]I spoke to an ex Southend Borough councillor yesterday and he told me a couple of things about any petition handed in to the council regarding signatures of people from outside of the borough:-

1.  Those names will be ignored since their views are irrelevant as far as Southend council are concerned.

And to be fair the man is an ex councillor presumably heading for top office in national politics with a one eyed view like that.

I only come to Southend for footyball, I wouldn't go there out of choice!  Who would?  When I'm there I spend my dosh in it's businesses, which then pay rates etc etc blah blah, which keeps the place looking slightly less like an Eastern European ghetto than it otherwise would.  

  I don't cost Southend council anything I just contribute to the local economy.  I'll take my custom elsewhere if they don't want it (apart from the footy!).

 

[londonblue]

Quote[/b] (Hooly @ Oct. 23 2006,09:34)]

Quote[/b] (londonblue @ Oct. 22 2006,09:44)]I spoke to an ex Southend Borough councillor yesterday and he told me a couple of things about any petition handed in to the council regarding signatures of people from outside of the borough:-

1.  Those names will be ignored since their views are irrelevant as far as Southend council are concerned.

And to be fair the man is an ex councillor presumably heading for top office in national politics with a one eyed view like that.

I only come to Southend for footyball, I wouldn't go there out of choice!  Who would?  When I'm there I spend my dosh in it's businesses, which then pay rates etc etc blah blah, which keeps the place looking slightly less like an Eastern European ghetto than it otherwise would.  

  I don't cost Southend council anything I just contribute to the local economy.  I'll take my custom elsewhere if they don't want it (apart from the footy!).

With respect, it doesn't really matter what your view is. This is all about playing the game to maximise the chances of the stadium plans being agreed, and if that is the view of the council then we ought to play by their rules.

I'm not even sure if is the person in question's view, he was just telling me how to make the petition more relevant and credible.

I guess if everyone else knows better then fine.

 

[sussex by the sea]

Quote[/b] (londonblue @ Oct. 23 2006,08:51)]SBTS, have you wrote a letter yet?  It would help if a fellow planner writting to the council with good reason why the stadium go ahead, if not, it do not matter.
Yep, I think you're refering to my suggestion that someone who knows about these things trawl through the application details and publish on here the main benefits. Then we can all write a letter to the council based on one or two of these points.

Who was looking over the plans? Apparently letters would be better received before the 13th November so we would need to know what to write sooner rather than later...

Yes, I will certainly be writing a letter - in a seperate post, I also indicated that with my planners hat on I would list some of the main points, as I saw them, in favour of the application. I was going to wait until I could see the plans myself but the Council's website appears to have all the relevant bits and pieces. I have nearly finished trawling through it all as much as I can and I shall try and post this evening on this thread with what I think are the main planning points that should be included in letters for anyone that is interested.

 

[Einstein]

Quote[/b] (londonblue @ Oct. 22 2006,09:44)]2.  By having signatures of people from outside of the borough on it, we are playing into the hands of any dissenters.

I understand what you are saying, however with an online petition they do not know who lives inside and outside of the borough. Of course they can see by some of the comments, but it is not the same as your average high street petition where you write down your address. Obviously the online petition is not going to play a major factor in the decision, however every little bit helps.

 

[Upminster Blue]

Quote[/b] (londonblue @ Oct. 22 2006,09:44)]I spoke to an ex Southend Borough councillor yesterday and he told me a couple of things about any petition handed in to the council regarding signatures of people from outside of the borough:-

1.  Those names will be ignored since their views are irrelevant as far as Southend council are concerned.

Hmmm.  So why did I receive a letter from Southend Council seeking my views on Fossetts Farm?  

Also, the Council can't tell from the petition where you live.

Personally I think it's a mistake showing on the petition whether you're a SUFC fan or not.  I'd encourage people to sign up and to say they're not a fan to make the petition look more impartial.