Steve Goodman is back with this week’s Golden Pothole. In his own words. Ed
Thanks to watching the pennies, I found this week’s Golden Pothole(s)! at Station Road Bembridge. And, as expected, they may well be the best example of the golden opportunity to transfer lots of our money to a lucky contractor, for 25 years, for no good reason.
Any further nominations?
Why no previous consultation?
Having chosen to ignore PFI’s horrible history, and the warnings to keep clear (anyone new to this will find the information on previous postings & elsewhere), and having spent about half of the “set-up cost” of £7 million or more of our money, our council have apparently now decided to attempt consultation with the announcement of the following:
“Three public meetings are being held in June where residents can find out information about the Highways PFI scheme and ask any questions they may have. IW Council Cabinet member responsible for highways Edward Giles, Director for Economy and Environment Stuart Love, members of the PFI project team and PFI Programme Director Jay Jayasundara will be at the meetings with each event taking place between 1800 – 1930.
“The first will be held at West Wight Middle School on Monday 13 June; at County Hall in Newport on Tuesday 14 June and at Ryde High School on Thursday 16 June.”
My first question might be to ask why they failed to consult before now.
My second could be about why they failed to save our £7 million, when (as Mike Starke & others have pointed out) they could simply have telephoned Portsmouth council and asked about the disadvantages of such a deal.
More questions, and more Golden Potholes, to follow.
