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Friday 18 March 2011

Readers Write....

The Dame is always hyper alert when she gets a copy email from Dr Gordon Taylor, the scourge of waste at RBK&C and the voice of reason and sanity.

In this letter Dr Taylor highlights the most extraordinary piece of unnecessary spending at a time of momentous cutbacks to front line council operations. If it were not so serious it would be risible.
Read the letter and see what we mean....

Dear Merrick,

As you will know the new lighting standards installed as part of the re-development of Kensington High St have a very unusual feature. This is a stainless steel shroud covering the bottom 2 metres or so of each standard. As far as one can gather this is unique. In reply to an FOI request this shroud is for decorative purposes. It also covers some fixing bolts and probably the access panel for the electrical supply. If this latter is the case the shroud would need to be removed to access the electrical supply. The FOI answer also says that the shroud requires less maintenance than the painted standard.

This totally unnecessary piece of decoration to each column has cost us taxpayers some £1,950 each. As there are some 96 lighting standards the total cost is £187,200.
No doubt as Design Champion Cllr Moylan approved this expenditure and is a prime example of the lack of rigour in getting value for taxpayers money.
The perfectly adequate black guardrailing at the east corner of the junction between Kensington Church St and Kensington High St was replaced by a shiny stainless steel railing at the exorbitant cost of £15000. Clearly cost appeared not to be an important factor in this redevelopment.
Yours sincerely
Gordon Taylor
Chairman West London Residents Association


The Dame says contact your councillor tell him/her what you think of this latest extravagance by the Cheesecake Eater. 

1 comment:

  1. RBKC should start with an understanding of human nature:
    (i) no overtaxing of residents in order to build up huge reserves (if there is spare cash lying around in the bank we all have a compulsion to splurge on luxuries)
    (ii) trim Moylan's wings. He has a compulsion to leave his mark by dreaming up and authorising radical new schemes (eg Sloane Square and Exhibition Rd where he is spending £24 million to beutify the street with pink marble imported from China) and avant garde baubles (eg Kensington High Street and Kings Rd street scapes). Any maintenance spending that is not on a "like for like" basis should be brought under change control ie the full incremental cost (and justification) should be reported and authorised by a vote at a full Council Meeting
    (iii) responsible Leadership. The Leader should set a tone in the Council that K&C money is derived from tax and should be spent with great prudence. K&C is not a Victorian philanthropist. We need a change of Leader

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