Parking congestion by council staff

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THANK you for printing my letter headed ‘Parking scheme is just to raise money’ on January 26. I confess, I did go out early the following Wednesday expecting to see a full rebuttal of my claim that parking congestion is caused by Carmarthenshire County Council staff, working in Eastgate, and that residents were misled and not given the full facts.

Well, since my letter was published CCC have started painting zones and yellow lines which, as I stated, has reduced available space for residents to park in the evenings and the weekend.

To be honest, I would have been surprised if there had been correspondence from anyone, whether it be councillors or officers, as it often seems there is a conspiracy of silence, particularly from those who represent us: Jeff Edmunds, Eryl Morgan, Rob James and Shahana Najmi.

There has been email communication, but it is probably well over a year since any of them replied to any emails. However, I did email the head of law and administration, making the assertions that:

■ No account was taken of siting 300 staff during the Eastgate planning process;

■ You are in favour of charging local residents up to £90 in perpetuity, because they have the misfortune to live in an area where CCC decided to place an office.

I also asked:

■ As the head of administration and law are you sure the covering letter and questionnaire are legally sound documents upon which residents should make a decision, as there are so many glaring, misleading statements and omissions?

■ As the permit scheme could raise up to £16,000 per year, every year, is that classed as revenue raising, because there is little expenditure to warrant that income?

■ Is that being honest and fair to residents?

■ Are councils legally allowed to do this?

I received a short reply, the first paragraph of which was robustly defending the cabinet member’s decision.

The remainder of her response was ‘I note your intention to seek legal advice on the options now available to you. In that respect the order was made on January 17, 2022, and notice of that fact has been published. If you intend to go to court to question the validity of the order or any of its provisions on the grounds that it or they are not within the powers conferred by the legislation, you will need to do so within six weeks of that order so I can only suggest that you seek that legal advice as soon as possible’.

Now I read that as ‘put up or shut up’. You will note there was no response to my assertions, nor any attempt to answer my questions. I did mention contacting a solicitor, but as a pensioner, I cannot take on CCC in this matter.

I ask your readers: is this how open, transparent government is supposed to work?

Brynmor Evans via email