Another Notice Appears

It's interesting that a notice has appeared advertising the next meeting. In fact before the previous meeting none appeared anywhere on the site. Yet strangely when a regular member of the group asked why this was so the Sheffield Wildlife Trust manager responsible insisted that notices had been put up. The truth is that SWT likes it to be known that they are very open and responsive; it looks good on their paperwork. But they would prefer to have all the decision making to themselves.

This dissembling was the subject of some ill-feeling at the latest meeting and one regular member left in disgust after ten minutes - but not without leaving this statement.

That meeting was already badly attended. After this there were remaining only 9 people. Of these one was the chair who was from the council and asked to come along specially by SWT to fulfil that role. Then there were two officers/managers from SWT, and two SWT members, two newcomers who had been persuaded to come to make up the numbers, a member who had only come to complain about the recent handling of the consultation, and one other with an interest in a narrow area of wildlife.

This hardly represents a ringing endorsement of "organisations individuals and groups from the local area" implied in the notice above.

In fact may groups have been represented previously but have now decided not to come. The reason is simple. They know that the consultation is a sham.