Featured post

10,000,000 Miles in a Nissan Leaf?

Friday 7 February 2014

Liars - thumbing their noses at you

Yes, we have an axe to grind and return visitors probably have a fair idea why. This is a warning to those who are naive enough to fall for assurances issued by Environment Agency officials - particularly those in senior positions who view them as cheap feints.  

Did WrongTypeofRainMan Chris Smith even go for a paddle/get his feet wet today when he visited Somerset to inspect some Environment Agency handiwork and have a scripted ponce about in front of a selected audience?

Chris Smith is supposedly "in charge" of the EA but actually does nothing of the sort in his part time position trousering in excess of £100K a year as a PR decoy for the antics of out of control and incompetent management. Lord Smith can't even be bothered to respond to letters or emails - far too grand and busy he is with his other interests.

We'll ignore Smiffy and move on to the antics of EA managers and the utterly toxic culture that enables those managers to lie, cheat, walk away from cock-ups, ignore High Court Orders, fiddle their accounts and then presume to be the last, authoritative word on anything that comes into their heads - using eye-watering amounts of public funds to defend toxic arbitrariness and enrich their barrister mates as they go - when challenged.

Liars
There are mistakes and misunderstandings - that's life. There are also deliberate and connived untruths deployed to deflect immediate and extended "problems". EA Operations director David Jordan visited a North Mill owners home in 2012 with another senior manager where he apologised  for the unlawful deception (legal advisers have been more forthright - they've called it criminal)  perpetrated by EA manager John Aldrick and others and said "The EA owes you recompense for the damage inflicted". He then went away and appointed John Sweeney - a man known as a "fixer" who has lied and connived behind the scenes to the point where we have formally requested his removal on three separate occasions with corroborating evidence- obviously higher-ups think him the man for the job - since he's still there...  Oh, and David Jordan still hasn't elaborated on what "recompense" might be... we'd say David Jordan is untrustworthy - we'd actually go further and say along with the other people mentioned in the paragraph above, he's lied to us and lied to our M.P. Duncan Hames.

There are other untruths from EA officials associated with the Avoncliff debacle which prompted Celia to hurl the rattle out of the pram a while back.

David Jordan has overseen the spending of £620,000 (minimum) subverting a High Court Order and delaying the determination of a hydro power licence for Avoncliff for over 6 times the allowed statutory time frame.
 As usual we do not make assertions that we cannot evidence and if EA legal / PR wish to dispute the assertions above - we look forward to a full exposure of the supporting evidence = you know how to contact us. Perhaps the final (not "draft"- we know about EA drafts) Baxendale Report can be put into the public domain?   John Sweeney obviously doesn't want it there "as it could be used to bring criminal proceedings against EA officials" - go figure.

To those involved in the mess in Somerset - we'd say - ignore (it's difficult we know) Lord Smith and start looking at management - we understand Paul Leinster was Operations Director for Barbara Young (who's rather quiet eh?)- you know what that means...

We feel it's worth reminding folk about the antics of EA lawyer Jeremy Graydon gambling that a victim has not the resources to take the EA to Judicial Review . (FoI pdf)  - we did and we "won" (and the EA acted contrary to the Court Order) - the EA are now likely heading back to the High Court yet again as a JR defendant to answer for more administratively toxic antics. Somebody in government needs to get suitable PPE footwear on and apply same to a number of managerial backsides at Millbank Tower and Horizon House.

29 comments:

  1. Not seen that mug shot lurking around the Somerset levels are you sure he is director of operations.Must be doing it from his cozzzzy office, or just does not want to get his nice Hunter Wellington's wet. Shame on you what goes around comes around every dog has its day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. he's been on SkyTV I believe - but Paul Leinster is invisible - as are most of the managers concerned with #somersetfloods ...don't see any board members peering over the battlements / out of the bunker either.

      They'll all be hoping Baron Smith will be the lizard's tail - with apologies to David Icke :-)

      Delete
    2. Perhaps the folk in Somerset should adopt eco tactics to make their point like 1960's movie Wicker Man to get their point across.

      Delete
  2. Has your MP raised this issue in PMQs? That's one way of making it public.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do not take Duncan as a fool he has addressed parliament twice on this and gone further. A brilliant MP not sure how he will react to £650.000 pounds been used on this???????

      Delete
  3. How can you sleep at night watching the distress you are responsible for you should resign with smith. Your CBE MBE OBE has gone down the pan. You are keeping your head down just like Lienster poor excuse for a man stand up and do job ..........

    ReplyDelete
  4. MP Ian grainger i no what they do in London they scheme manipulate praise themselves up on tax payers money, then they work out how to screw businesses so they can get bigger pensions, and wage rises.They have no interest in people or misery or even the environment.Keep the people on the ground get rid of mid management up they are corrupt, look at the idiots dealing with this. Must be the laughing stock cannot even deal with a simple licence application.Four years £ 1.5 million would have dredged half the RIVER PARROT ha ha ha .

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pressure --------------------------------------------------------

    ReplyDelete
  6. READ The JEREMY GRAYDON Briefing note i do hope this IDIOT has been fired without a pension this has to be miss conduct in public office he has cost the tax payer £1.5 million????

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well you can think it you can discuss it but you do not put in writing.But then to give it under an FOI shows the ea in true light,but hey it got worse than that £1.5 million+. That equates to £10,000 pounds to every £1 we paid them. Real business sense? just shows what the EA spend our taxes on,certainly not floods.

      Delete
  7. Reading around the blog and site it seems strange that some police interest in what certainly looks like some kind of fraud on the part of the EA hasn't happened - the EA hid evidence and caused your business hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage?

    It seems a rule in these cases that the cover-up is much worse than the original deed and throwing £600K+++ at covering up is pain wrong. Mr Jordan should have to answer for his deeds and by the look of it so should a couple of other officials.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What about these fantasy ATL turbines have the EA found them? or don't they want to look, how can they accept the other applicant will not tell them? It sounds like they want to believe in fairy story's because it suits them to screw you guys over again. Sounds like they will spend whatever tax payers money it takes to defraud you of that licence. When will someone pull the plug on these fools. DB Bath

    ReplyDelete
  9. SKY NEWS That bloody man ? ref David Jordan well Mr JORDAN at least your family have someone to be proud of.

    ReplyDelete
  10. David Jordan you have blown £1.5 million on this with your partner in crime John Sweeny, you both should now be put under scrutiny ,abuse of public, funds abuse of power, breaking you code of conduct .

    ReplyDelete
  11. If a MP can do the honourable thing and resign just for employing a cleaner then its time for Mr JORDAN and his Mr Fix it John Sweeney to go also, wasting public funds breaking codes of conduct bringing the QUANGO into disrepute. DB Bath

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unfortunately Mr Jordan and Mr Sweeney do not know the meaning of honourable. It is not in their much vaunted Good Practice Guidelines

      Delete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lying would seem to be endemic in these quango's. My experience is of being targeted by a member of EA staff who drove onto my premises, demanded my name and address, and when questioned why he was travelling without a list of properties and their owners said that it was not allowed by the data protection act. This I now know was a lie. I was given an ultimatum to change processes by September 2006. He's never been back

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heh... you should hear some of the tales from recyclers and skip hire companies - lies coupled to threats ... deeply unpleasant - and very easy to understand why so many folk in those businesses are deeply angry about their treatment by EA officials.

      Delete
  14. I find it rather upsetting that people should be vilified and named. Just because David Jordan and John Sweeney appear to be Common Sense Challenged or Ethically Challenged to the less politically correct, they are stupid, incompetent and from all reports corrupt. You have to sympathise with their mothers, wives and children. Yes they are allowed to breed. They are not responsible for their actions. They were promoted into their positions by others before them. These are the people ultimately to blame. It is not too late. Disband the qango which is the Environment Agency. Keep the stars of this disaster, the hard working lower level staff, get rid of the vast majority of senior management. The EA needs a route and branch restructuring completed by private enterprise. Not absorbed into the Canal & River Trust where most of the dross will be kept. A complete performance and competence review with on going reviews. It can no longer be a job for life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The problem is lack of oversight and inadequate (as in none, nada, zip) sanctions for misbehavior.

      The cover up in bureaucracies is usually worse than the original deed - and so it is proving here - with the EA putting out conflicting information and the left hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.

      We have tried to get the matter to hand addressed through normal, confidential channels - and senior staff (as in Paul Leinster and David Jordan) have assured us that the acknowledged wrongs perpetrated with respect to Avoncliff will be dealt with at some undetermined point in the future - they then appoint people to undermine and pervert process and delay for years... in order to not be seen to "loose".

      Had any progress been made towards the remediation of EA official wrongdoing we might well have not resorted to vilification - but the evidence is in by default - officials have demonstrably little intention of righting wrongs and every intention of continuing their parody of impersonating honorable public servants.

      That's just my opinion fwiw....

      Delete
  15. When I complained about the EA to my MP he told me that as the EA were not part of the Government he could not question them. What are MP's for. I must admit my MP is new, replacing an MP caught in the expenses scandal. Corrupt MP's and corrupt senior EA officers sounds familiar to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's why they have http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/ web address then?

      When it suits they are an independent "NDPB" and also when it suits they are a Government Enforcer / Environmental Police - without it has to said anything like say the IPCC. The actual constitutional status has never to my knowledge been tested and that is the way EA managers want it to stay .... comfortably sat on the fence well away from any uncomfortable accountability.

      Delete
    2. oh they jump when a MP goes to them i can assure u

      Delete
  16. In less than 2 weeks time (23rd February) it will be exactly 4 years from the date the EA were supposed to determine the original license application for North Mill. It was around about today 4 years ago that a relatively senior EA officer put pressure on the Determining Officer to lie and request a two week delay on the determination date delaying it until 9th March 2010. On that date a threatening letter was received from the EA saying agree to a 6 month delay or we are minded to refuse your license. It went downhill from then onwards. Right of Appeal to the Planning Inspectorate blocked, High Court Consent Order ignored. You name it they've done it, all under the leadership of Lord Smith and David Jordan.
    Who is going to show up at Avoncliff with a birthday cake to celebrate the fourth anniversary, will either David or Chris be present?
    The present they could bring is the license they unlawfully held (yes they new they were doing it) in the first place. That would be a start but don't hold your breath.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AND PIGS MIGHT FLY You guys are not on their xmas list . But Im sure you know that by now

      Delete
  17. What I don't understand is if the ea have admitted owing you damages but presumably wont discuss this until the licence is determined I assume the amount of damage is dependant on the outcome? So how can it be fare that the ea are aloud to determine this licence, they are bound to be biased against you to save themselves paying damages . no wonder it is taking so long they cant be seen to be wrong ,good luck with the licence. JAMES {Bristol}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They have no interest in public interest or statuary duty .Not even in code of conduct, the licence will go to weavers mill,and then more public funds will be wasted. Easy to waste tax payers money

      Delete

Get it off yer chest - please keep it civil