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Sunday 24 March 2013

It Ain't Just Avoncliff

I've (we've) said it before - and it really does need repeating and elaborating.

The way that The Environment Agency has dealt with the water licence at Avoncliff is absolutely not an isolated case or a "solitary very complex" ( as asserted by DEFRA Minister Richard Benyon) case but is actually an instance of what can be seen to be a deliberate pattern of abusive behaviour which those officials perpetrating the delinquent deeds and some of their supervisors have sought to avoid reasonable public and institutional scrutiny of - by any means to hand.

This post will be expanded with information and documents over the next few days which will detail misconduct by licencing officials in relation to a scheme which failed and a company whose business was destroyed entirely as a result of the delinquent activities of officials in the Environment Agency water licencing and legal departments.

South East Power Enginering (Pershore Project) http://sepengineering.com/
This was the project that started our alarm bells tinkling. The scenario was virtually identical to the situation at Avoncliff - right down to the individual participants at The Environment Agency and the agent acting for the "winning" licence and - of course - the contrived and unlawful outcome arrived at via comprehensive abuse of process. SEPE did the Queen's turbine at Windsor.

The Small Hydro Company (was at www.smallhydro.co.uk)
These unfortunate chaps suffered so much from the irrational, arbitrary conniving antics of Environment Agency officials and lawyers that they were driven out of business (and into some personal insolvency) - essentially through no fault of their own beyond a belief that the system was fair, efficient and honest... They operated in partnership with British Waterways (who have now morphed into CaRT) - one would have thought that they might have received some reasonable treatment from fellow quango - the EA in that capacity but - nope...  25 schemes aborted as we understand it.(a claimed 210,000 MWh per year) and 150 jobs down the toilet and a blizzard of personal woe for some of the participants.

Within weeks of challenging the Environment Agency over the Avoncliff abstraction / impoundment licence (first time around) the Avoncliff team was aware that other projects had suffered unreasonably as a result of the conniving and damaging actions of officials and lawyers working for the Environment Agency.

There's (a lot) more to come over the next few days.

A still from an EA budget training video
Some people at the EA obviously subscribe to the idea that they can behave as they please and that they can use public funds to abuse statutory process, drag out, delay and consequently weaken any challenge to their whims... after all - it's not their money. About a million quid now "used up" at Avoncliff alone - and rising every day.

9 comments:

  1. What the hell is going on RICHARD BENYON not fit for purpose springs to mind. What are you doing about it.

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  2. I Cant believe what i have just read if this is true,!! WHY have they not shut this part of the EA down??? I thought the EA were here to promote green energy.What a bunch of money wasteing FOOLS ********

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  3. Great blog, that is what i would do to them flush the EA straight down the BOG, let them follow the public money they have abused and wasted. ABUSE OF THE PUBLIC PURSE. Must be breaking the code of conduct.

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  4. Not complex just a simple £150 licence all they had to do was follow statute,and the LAW on planning. Instead they decided to do what they felt like bollocks to there statutory duty, no concern about the public interest or tax payers money. Just cover up our lies unlawful activities and waste of funds.

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  5. Border agency not fit for purpose, SNAP! nor is the environMENTAL agency.Do the same shut them down,abusing tax payers money that could be better spent.Make them face the consequence! The boss needs to GO! A disgruntled TAX PAYER.

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  6. Cover up will be a criminal offence,

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  7. I have been reading and making the odd comment on the Avoncliff blog since soon after it started. The most heart breaking thing is that from what I can gather the EA has not changed its stance. It has not seen its errors. It continues to abuse its power. It damages businesses with impunity and it thinks it is above the law. I have read some entries that appear to originate from disgruntled EA staff. The ones in the whistleblowing item applied to many professions but it would appear primarilly to civil servants worried about their "jobs for life". It does not appear that our government ministers are even told the truth. When will this change? When will somebody grab the EA by the throat and shake some sense into it? The EA needs to go and that means a fresh start not all the senior staff absorbed into the new Canals and Riverboats Trust. British Waterways was not perfect and in a box of bad apples and we face a worse disaster. Two bads don't make a good. Sorry for the extended winge but I am fristrated when will this end? I guess the EA don't know and are hanging on by their fingertips in the hope of being transferred to C&RT and then being able to blame it on the bad old EA.

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    Replies
    1. What seems obvious about all this is that there must really be a dark and toxic reason that The EA have been continually obstructing and plainly perverting the process. Could it be... that they have given undertakings outside the proper process to somebody?

      Just sayin...

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  8. Gordon may have a point,have the EA promised a licence to the other party without using proper process?????

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Get it off yer chest - please keep it civil