Market supporters consider Judicial Review
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A Canterbury City Council consultation inviting comments about the potential return of Canterbury Market was still live when I wrote to the council’s Head of Corporate Governance, Matthew Archer, in January, explaining why residents’ comments to this consultation should be made publicly available, as they are on parking issues and Public Space Protection Orders.
The reason for this was due to a previous market consultation report, authored by council officer, Bill Hicks, having been widely considered a “sham” by residents and market traders alike.
See:
I considered it crucial that residents’ submitted views to the new consultation could be seen and duly read regarding this issue, particularly because an important council meeting was to follow, agreeing budget proposals.
Instead, the market’s consultation’s “findings” were, yet again, only summarised but, shockingly, that summary totally omits mention of the many comments submitted by the public about proposed market pitch rents being too high and only includes part of a letter written by a market trader on this issue.
Today I have written to Matthew Archer asking for my letter to be considered a formal complaint and explaining why residents will now seek legal advice on a Judicial Review into this matter.
Here is my letter:
Dear Matthew,
I hope you are well.
I’m sure you will remember that in my last email to you of 8th January, I explained the need for the public’s responses to a recent Canterbury Market consultation to be made openly available/visible on the resulting consultation report rather than “summarised” by the council officer in charge of this policy.
This was due to considerable public mistrust having been generated after council officer, Bill Hicks, stated on his previous consultation report that the market showed “declining levels of income”, offering low figures to support that statement, without any mitigating explanation that the council had failed to properly collect market traders’ pitch rents for two years (even when offered cash) and had not billed them anything at all for that particular tax year.
Importantly, that particular fact had been brought to light after the council’s cabinet had voted on that report’s findings—and therefore the prospect of another new consultation report from Bill Hicks on this issue was already being treated with great scepticism by supporters of the market and the traders themselves—hence my correspondence to you in January.
Sadly, my warnings about this appear to have been ignored as I was to be informed that the most recent consultation report about the “return” of Canterbury Market fails to show the public’s submitted comments and, yet again, offers only a summary of responses. Importantly, those “summarised” findings make no mention whatsoever of residents’ opinions that the proposed pitch rents for market traders are considered too high. On that important subject there is only a section of a letter visible as submitted by a market trader on behalf of other market traders.
Consequently, I have recently received complaints from numerous residents who tell me they submitted comments to that effect, and I can confirm that both my husband and I also submitted responses about the proposed high pitch rents. We are all equally appalled that the consultation report relating to “findings” shows no evidence of this important point as submitted via public comments—as are other local residents who have now viewed this news on social media.
Crucially, these council consultation reports—and their “summarised” findings—contribute to councillors’ understanding of important issues prior to their voting. We understand that councillors duly voted on the council’s budget proposals, concerning the market, at a council meeting on 22nd February and there is mention of this under Section 496 on page 85 of the following Agenda:
There are also comments reported on that Agenda from a councillor who “applauded the return of the market”—presumably without properly understanding that Canterbury Market traders can only return to market trading if the pitch rents are set at a reasonable rate. Canterbury residents clearly understood this and commented as such on the council consultation but their comments are nowhere to be found on the summarised findings.
In your role as Head of Corporate Governance, I’m sure you will agree that this situation is wholly unsatisfactory and requires investigation. I would therefore like you to treat this correspondence as a formal complaint.
I also need to inform you, Matthew, that residents have been advised to seek legal advice regarding a Judicial Review into this matter, and the way in which the council’s decision on budget decisions relating to Canterbury Market have been made. As a courtesy to Alan Baldock and Connie Nolan I have copied them in to this email.
I have also informed sections of the media about this, including Private Eye.
Kind regards,
Julie Wassmer.
ABOUT:
Julie Wassmer is a Whitstable-based author, TV writer and environmental campaigner.
She has successfully fought a number of environmental issues, including fracking in Kent and tree clearances by Network Rail. Her Whitstable Pearl crime novels are now a major TV series, starring Kerry Godliman.
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