I have just watched yesterday’s cabinet meeting on Braywick Park and noticed how under-prepared those who were trying to secure public land for Maidenhead United were.
The Braywick item starts around 6 minutes in…
Making an emotive plea to residents to sign a petition is one thing but fighting your corner in discussions with the council is completely another and I thought it worth making a few points for anyone else considering taking on “the council” in whichever corner of England’s green and pleasant lands you might be.
Andrew Hill, the 5th public speaker given 3 minutes, offers the most insightful presentation because he understands the rules of the game.
No. 1 – IT’S NOT PERSONAL
The councillors are governed by the rules that have been set through the democratic process and those rules / policies will, or should, determine their decision making.
No. 2 – IT’S A LEGAL PROCESS
As mentioned above, the council policies will / should determine the outcome. So any challenge made after will need to pull on those policies, national and local.
No. 3 – USE THE RULES NOT EMOTIONS
Coming into a meeting making claims around feelings and thoughts might get you all hot under the collar and feeling like Mel Gibson in Braveheart but they’ll do little to help your cause.
Read the policy documents and find the one’s that fit your agenda and use them to fight your corner.
Use the rules that carry the most weight as your main argument with support coming from other elements you have identified.
These are the rules that will determine any legal decision if the challenger loses and decides to go to court to find “justice”.
WHAT ARE THE KEY DOCUMENTS
The Corporate Plan is the main document that governs what councillors & officers should have as their main focus when making a decision.
You’ll find RBWM’s Corporate Plan here
If the topic is around developing land in Windsor then you need to look at
- National Government Policy NPPF here…
- Borough Local Plan here…
- Windsor Neighbourhood Plan here…
- And a host of other supplementary planning documents that might fit your argument…
Your town will have similar documents, ask your local councillor where they can be found.
Totally get the naivety of those unused to having dealings with local councils coming at it all Braveheart… I was guilty of that early doors but I soon learnt the hard way how to get the best result.
If you can’t be bothered to read the docs above then the fight can’t be that important to you.
This was the argument I put when I challenged the original decision, while still a councillor, earlier in the year.
Photo by Nicole Wreyford on Unsplash
