Trivial complaints have left us feeling harassed
FOR some three years now, my wife and I have received a stream of complaints about our property via the council planning department, and earlier this year it started to affect our mental health. It got that I dreaded the postman coming, for fear of seeing yet another ‘official’ looking envelope with a rubber stamp from the council, knowing what was inside. I respect the Data Protection Act. But allowing someone to make a complaint after complaint via an official means and remain hidden behind the Data Protection Act leaves the whole complaints procedure open to ‘harassment by stealth’ in my experience. When I contacted by council, they were completely unaware that we had been receiving so many complaints. This proves to me that there is nothing in place that protects the interests of people like my wife and I. Some complaints made were so trivial that one visiting inspector laughed when he saw what it was about. However for my wife and I, it’s no laughing matter. I have never in my 80-plus years made such complaints. My experiences of life have given me a totally different, down-to-earth way of looking at life. Like the bombing of Coventry; having nothing to eat, being woken up in the middle of the night by machine gun fire from low-flying aircraft. Being involved with Malayan combat zone with the Communists during the 1950s. Being married to a girl who had unseen medical issues from birth that didn’t start to manifest themselves until we got married 57 years ago, and is a longterm disabled person. Having a handicapped daughter.
So to whoever is consonantly complaining about us and hiding behind the Data Protection Act, I ask – please leave us alone and get on with your own life, so that we can spend our final days in peace.
I would like to thank all the planning officers who have visited my property and commend them for their caring and polite attitude towards my wife and I.
To conclude, none of the complaints made against us were upheld by the council, and therefore, are not an issue. John Chown Balsall Common