Planning Application Consultation ........

[LuckyOne]

[Daily Mail type rant on]

One of my neighbours wants to dig a great big hole under his house and build a maid's quarters, media room, play room etc, "modernize" the facade and "unconserve" our conservation area by adding a modernist carbuncle on to the back of a beautiful Edwardian house.

In a fit of wisdom, our local council (Camden) has given local residents the opportunity to express their views in a planning application consultation.

Apart from hating the word consultation, there were two other pieces of mail that I received along with the "consultation" documents that really got my goat :

1. A request to fill out a "diversity monitoring" profile. I do not understand how my ethnicity impacts the planning process. I object to the idea that "profiling" is acceptable. I am insulted by the fact that the "profiles" are so obviously politically motivated that my unique situation is ignored.

2. The forms were accompanied by a "first contact sheet" in English, Farsi, Urdu, Bengali, Somali, Yoruba, Chinese, Albanian, French, Portugese, Spanish, Turkish and Arabic. Surely part of the right to be involved in planning applications is predicated upon involvement in the local community to the extent that forms in English are understandable.

As a country, we are on our financial knees. The irrelvant infrastructure and waste of money implicit in my mail to-day really annoys me.

[Rant off]

[Meat Puppet]

[Daily Mail type rant on]

One of my neighbours wants to dig a great big hole under his house and build a maid's quarters, media room, play room etc, "modernize" the facade and "unconserve" our conservation area by adding a modernist carbuncle on to the back of a beautiful Edwardian house.

In a fit of wisdom, our local council (Camden) has given local residents the opportunity to express their views in a planning application consultation.

Apart from hating the word consultation, there were two other pieces of mail that I received along with the "consultation" documents that really got my goat :

1. A request to fill out a "diversity monitoring" profile. I do not understand how my ethnicity impacts the planning process. I object to the idea that "profiling" is acceptable. I am insulted by the fact that the "profiles" are so obviously politically motivated that my unique situation is ignored.

2. The forms were accompanied by a "first contact sheet" in English, Farsi, Urdu, Bengali, Somali, Yoruba, Chinese, Albanian, French, Portugese, Spanish, Turkish and Arabic. Surely part of the right to be involved in planning applications is predicated upon involvement in the local community to the extent that forms in English are understandable.

As a country, we are on our financial knees. The irrelvant infrastructure and waste of money implicit in my mail to-day really annoys me.

[Rant off]

You must live in a different part of Camden from what I have seen if this surprises you.

[Pent Up]

1. A request to fill out a "diversity monitoring" profile. I do not understand how my ethnicity impacts the planning process. I object to the idea that "profiling" is acceptable. I am insulted by the fact that the "profiles" are so obviously politically motivated that my unique situation is ignored.

This part is to make sure there is no 'unintentional discrimination' I think it actually says this on the form ( or it used to anyway)

I refuse to fill them in as the true way to protect against discrimination is to not know the ethnicity of the participants.

[juvenal]

Poole, Dorset.

I went to a Conservation Consultation meeting recently. The Council sent out 800 letters.

There were ten of us there.

[Wario]

One of my neighbours wants to dig a great big hole under his house and build a maid's quarters, media room, play room etc, "modernize" the facade and "unconserve" our conservation area by adding a modernist carbuncle on to the back of a beautiful Edwardian house.

Condolences. Ending up by one of the Blair's portfolio elements. Could happen to anyone.

2. The forms were accompanied by a "first contact sheet" in English, Farsi, Urdu, Bengali, Somali, Yoruba, Chinese, Albanian, French, Portugese, Spanish, Turkish and Arabic.

Now I know your shitting me! "First Contact", can't be, no Klingon option there.

How does it begin?

We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.

[Pauly_Boy]

You must live in a different part of Camden from what I have seen if this surprises you.

lolz, no english

[tinker]

Funnily enough I got a feedback form from the Environmental Health following a complaint, and there was a diversity form. So there will be no feedback.