Beware of Leopard

Obviously the consultation sessions on the Busway I’ve been to were a complete figment of my imagination then. Just like the man with the
five heads and the elderberry bush full of kippers 🙂

Seriously, I think you’ll find that the government makes an genuine effort to engage with community organisations on most of these developments.

However, it may be that the community organisations aren’t then very effective at spreading the word on how and when these consultations are going to take place.

I prefer the Barry/Bruce interpretation. But then, philistinism is my forte.

For those confused as to the cultural antecedents i recommend, once again, the Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy:

Mr Prosser said: “You were quite entitled to make any suggestions or protests at the appropriate time you know.”

“Appropriate time?” hooted Arthur. “Appropriate time? The first I knew about it was when a workman arrived at my home yesterday. I asked him if he’d come to clean the windows and he said no he’d come to demolish the house. He didn’t tell me straight away of course. Oh no. First he wiped a couple of windows and charged me a fiver. Then he told me.”

“But Mr Dent, the plans have been available in the local planning office for the last nine month.”

“Oh yes, well as soon as I heard I went straight round to see them, yesterday afternoon. You hadn’t exactly gone out of your way to call attention to them had you? I mean like actually telling anybody or anything.”

“But the plans were on display …”

“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”

“That’s the display department.”

“With a torch.”

“Ah, well the lights had probably gone.”

“So had the stairs.”

“But look, you found the notice didn’t you?”

“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying Beware of the Leopard.”

A cloud passed overhead. It cast a shadow over Arthur Dent as he lay propped up on his elbow in the cold mud. It cast a shadow over Arthur Dent’s house. Mr Prosser frowned at it.

“It’s not as if it’s a particularly nice house,” he said.

“I’m sorry, but I happen to like it.”

“You’ll like the bypass.”

“Oh shut up,” said Arthur Dent. “Shut up and go away, and take your bloody bypass with you. You haven’t got a leg to stand on and you know it.”

Mr Prosser’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times while his mind was for a moment filled with inexplicable but terribly attractive visions of Arthur Dent’s house being consumed with fire and Arthur himself running screaming from the blazing ruin with at least three hefty spears protruding from his back. Mr Prosser was often bothered with visions like these and they made him feel very nervous. He stuttered for a moment and then pulled himself together.

“Mr Dent,” he said.

“Hello? Yes?” said Arthur.

“Some factual information for you. Have you any idea how much damage that bulldozer would suffer if I just let it roll straight over you?”

“How much?” said Arthur.

“None at all,” said Mr Prosser, and stormed nervously off wondering why his brain was filled with a thousand hairy horsemen all shouting at him.

there arent any preferred routes yet – publically.

i went to the public display. it had about 40 interested people there, plus 10 actpla staff.

i think that the route that skirts black mountain will probably get up. Thats option 1a or 1b.

100 mill is a lot of money for bloody buses.

should be spent on lightrail – which is an investment.

I take it Barry/Bruce is spotty, has large teeth and enjoys hanging out in trees. Which describes just about anyone who watches over lightless lavatories.

I seem to recall the busway newsletter saying something about a preferred route…it may have even said the chosen route at some stage, but as I have now discarded it…

Is the leopard named Barry? I hear that a lot of leopards are named Barry…although some are called Bruce.

Yeah – Simon hasd discovered that the way to do consultation is to talk about it a lot on telly, and to run a mile if ny real affected residents want to talk to him.
John Stanhope has got into it for the Dragway behind Hackett. He sent concerned residents a letter telling them they would be represented by a community council. Then he told the community councel they were not to consult the community as part of their duties. sigh.