Last month the Isle of Wight council refused to accept an online petition opposed to changes in parking charges at Puckpool Park. According to the Council’s Constitution signatures collected through online petitions cannot be recognised.
Frank James signatures dismissed
The same situation has now occurred with over 1,200 (of the 2,800) signatures collected in support of protecting the former Frank James Hospital in East Cowes.
Although it was made clear when the petition – calling for the council to issue an Urgent Works Notice – was presented at County Hall last week that 1,208 of the 2,802 signatures formed part of an online petition (printed out and attached to the printed version), the online signatures have now been rejected.
Friend of Frank James, Tanja Rebel, told OnTheWight,
“When the petition for the Frank James Memorial Hospital was handed over to Councillor Whitby-Smith last Friday, 6th June (in presence of Andrew Turner), it was clearly stated that 1,208 of the 2,802 signatures were online. These signatures are from a reputable online petition site – 38 Degrees – and have e-mail addresses + post code, which I had been told by various sources would suffice. Deem therefore my surprise when I was told that the signatures online do not count as they do not contain “real” signatures.”
Call for council to move into the 21st Century
Tanja went on to explain,
“The online signatures had all been printed out by our champion Josh Aitken who – together with a number of dedicated Friends of Frank James – has spent a lot of time and energy, as well as money (paper and printing costs) to make this hand-over come true.”
Country-wide support
The online petition managed to attract signatures from around the country. Tanja went on to say,
“The people who have signed online come from all over the country, several of whom are from Heritage Preservation groups. Is their concern for this building now going to be discarded simply because the Isle of Wight Council insists on quoting a law-paragraph from a Stone Age Constitution or will we now move into the 21st century for real?”
The Friends of Frank James urge the Isle of Wight Council to “direct all its efforts to saving this building. This should no longer be a matter of bureaucracy, but of urgency. Let’s stop the rot and show that we truly care about our Heritage!”
