From Nicola Robason: 26-Feb-20

Posted on February 26, 2020 by moderator

Dear Mr. Dawson,

I note the emails sent to me and copied to me dated 31 January and 24 February.
I confirm that Mr. Harding has now retired from the Council, which is why his email won’t be active.
My email dated 19 December 2019 set out my position on this matter. It remains the case that all complaints procedures relating to this matter have been exhausted both internally within the Council and externally.

Kind regards
Nicola

Nicola Robason
Head of Corporate & External Affairs and Monitoring Officer
South Tyneside Council
Town Hall and Civic Offices

Posted in Evasion | 2 Comments

Destroying Evidence

Posted on February 20, 2020 by moderator

20-Feb-20

Dear Mr Palmer,

Destroying Evidence

I’ve been following the Inquiry into the Grenfell Fire Disaster and I picked up a comment that building control were at fault but evidence pointing to that conclusion had been destroyed. Further more, people were withholding evidence from fear of prosecution.
When I sought legal advice about UK Dock’s shed I was advised that it was probably a case of criminal fraud but the police were unlikely to do anything as they would say it was a planning matter and a civil action made no sense as it would cost a lot and possibly fail.
I wholeheartedly agreed with the suggestion that we should go down the line that the Council had misled Local Government Ombudsman especially because I had previously had noticed the Council had led me down that path before, when they promoted the development of 71 and 72 Greens Place. Continue reading →

Posted in Abuse of Complaints System, Misinformation/Misrepresentation | 1 Comment

The Buck/Palmer Con

Posted on February 3, 2020 by moderator

I was contacted by the MP’s office, Mr Buck, for my home phone number in Amble for a Mr Palmer and I was content to talk to him as the last message from her office was:

Quoting Emma Lewell-Buck: Date:23/12/2019 (16:09:38 GMT)
Good afternoon Mick,
I am aware Angela and David are dealing with this, 
please can you let me know if there is anything
needed from me.
Best wishes, hope you have a lovely Christmas
Emma

Angela Hamilton and David Francis were 2 of the Beacon and Bents Councillors who were sympathetic to my case against UK Docks. The third, John Anglin who had backed the expansion of UK Docks’ business on the slipway off River Drive no longer represented the people living in the ward. He was replaced by a Green Party Councillor, Sue Stonehouse in May 2021, the election in 2020 having been cancelled.

I had been corresponding freely with the MP’s Office for some years and that was mostly via her previous Office Manager, Rebecca Heath but latterly with the Ward Cllrs Hamilton and Francis but not Mr Buck. Emma was busy with more important matters such as saving the South Tynside Hospital from the grasp of developers.

I had only given permission for Mr Buck to give my home phone number to Mr Palmer on condition that we should discuss UK Docks and when I returned a call to her office in South Shields he made it very clear that was the last thing he wished to discuss.

I had severe doubts about what Mr Palmer was saying over the phone and naturally complained to Emma about him and copied it to the Ward Councillors as a warning to them to be careful about any dealings with Mr Palmer.

Re: Complaint: 248789 - Unplanned Development on River Drive
From: mick.dawson@theharbourview.co.uk
Date: 13/01/2020 (22:05:29 BST)
To: Emma Lewell-Buck MP
Cc: Keith Palmer, Cllr Angela Hamilton, Cllr David Francis, Cllr Anglin
1 Attachment: 8DLL.pdf (108 KB)

The main part of the complaint was:
What I really needed from you was your support and Mr Palmer has indicated by our exchange over the phone that he is not prepared to give it. At the end of the day the Council are misusing the Ombudsman’s Office to hide malpractice then use their findings to deflect any enquirers after the truth. I understood from Mr Palmer that this was no longer a matter for Parliament but I think it is.

Continue reading →

Posted in Abuse of Complaints System, Corruption, Denial | 2 Comments

Trouble with Phone Calls

Posted on January 31, 2020 by moderator

Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2020 15:40:28 +0000
From: mick.dawson@theharbourview.co.uk
To: Nicola Robason
Cc: Emma Lewell-Buck MP,
Keith Palmer, Simon Buck, Customer Advocates,
Peter Cunningham, Cllr Anglin,
Cllr Angela Hamilton, Cllr David Francis,
Subject: Correspondence with the Office of Emma Lewell-Buck

Attachment : D8296/2

Dear Nicola,
Please see trail below. I’d like to emphasise that when I gave my personal details to Mr Buck I did it in good faith and said I would talk over phone to Mr Palmer about the corruption with UK Docks.
I should not have talked over the phone but the pair of them hooked me with the bait that we could talk honestly about UK Docks. If Mr Palmer’s intentions were honourable he would have told me that that Mr Buck was listening to the call as well. The Message I got from Mr Palmer was that he actually wanted to close down any dialogue about UK Docks which reminded me of one of the first written communications from Peter Cunningham, Principal Planning Officer, Fri, 20 Dec 2013: Continue reading →

Posted in Abuse of Complaints System, Corruption, LGO, Misconduct, Misinformation/Misrepresentation | 1 Comment

Some Truth about the Shed

Posted on January 23, 2020 by moderator

23-Jan-20

Dear Mr Palmer,

You seem to have done some homework before our phone call on Tuesday 14th but if you had paid attention to the facts rather than opinions based on fraudulent misrepresentations you would have come to the conclusion that UK Dock’s shed is 3 meters taller than planned. This can be confirmed by examination of the authorised drawing 8296/2.

Many of the protesters including me had suspected it was wider as well as taller than planned before the meeting held at the Town Hall in November 2013. I confirmed for myself that it was nearly a meter wider than planned when I measured it  shortly after the meeting. Continue reading →

Posted in Abuse of Complaints System, Misinformation/Misrepresentation, MP, Planning | 1 Comment

STC and the LGO

Posted on January 20, 2020 by moderator

Originally published 8-Jul-16 this letter has been republished in full for the attention of all because the Council position has not changed since. They maintain that the shed is built to the approved height despite evidence to the contrary; authorised drawing 8296/2.

He did not reply but asked his Corporate Lead to present an alternative view to avoid the questions raised in the penultimate paragraph:- I suggest that you ask your legal department to review the original complaint of the 10th January 2014 and the correspondence following it up to 13th February and ask them to answer the simple question, What is the planned height of the shed? and the for you to answer the fundamental question: “As the applicant has not discharged condition 2 why is there no retrospective planning application?”

Neither question was answered. The Corporate Lead replied on his
behalf saying: 
"Dear Mr Dawson -Thank you for your letter to Martin Swales, Chief
Executive dated 8 July 2016, requesting matters related to your 
previous complaint to be raised as a new complaint, I manage the 
process and staff that support customer complaints and compliments. 
Your letter has therefore been forwarded to me to consider and
respond."
She went on to say that there was no evidence of misinformation
having been given to the Ombudsman.

The ‘New’ Complaint:- Continue reading →

Posted in Abuse of Complaints System, Corruption, LGO, UK Docks | Leave a comment

Misrepresentation: 14-Jan-20

Posted on January 14, 2020 by moderator

Two emails were sent to the MP and copied to Mr Palmer but not to Mr Buck as it was assumed that Mr Palmer had taken over from Mr Buck.

I spoke to on the phone to Mr Palmer but Mr Buck responded and therefore became the inadvertant target of Mr Palmer’s attempt to stitch me up. Following the phone call I wrote to Emma with a copy of the letter from Peter Dunn and Co. about the Council giving misinformation to the Ombudsman and copied it to Mr Palmer not to Mr Buck as I assumed from the call that Mr Palmer had replaced Mr Buck.

the email I sent in the morning was addressed to the MP (Emma), as was the one I sent the evening before. Both were copied to Mr Palmer, neither of them to Mr Buck and both emails to Emma had been blocked so how could Mr Buck respond to them without input from Mr Palmer?

  • it looks as if Mr Palmer had not made Mr Buck aware of the contents of the morning’s email as he could not of given his response in all honesty;
  • Mr Buck says Mr Palmer was polite, informative and accurate implying that I was not polite;
  • Mr Palmer was neither accurate nor informative and in the absence of a recording of the conversation you will have to take their word against mine.  To the ‘Dissection’ > >

Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption, Evasion | Leave a comment

Broadcast – 23rd December 2019

Posted on January 8, 2020 by moderator

Fwd: Complaint: 248789 – Unplanned Development on River Drive
From: mick.dawson@theharbourview.co.uk Date: 23/12/2019 (11:00:46 AM GMT)
To: Cllr Angela Hamilton
Cc: Emma Lewell-Buck, Nicola Robason, Cllr David Francis, Alison Hoy
Bcc: The Local Residents

there two responses:-

Date: 23/12/2019 (16:09:38 BST)

Good afternoon Mick,
I am aware Angela and David are dealing with this, please can you let me
know if there is anything needed from me.
Best wishes, hope you have a lovely Christmas

Emma
Date: 08/01/2020 (11:22:22 BST)

Good morning Mr Dawson,
I wonder if it is possible to have your telephone number, I will then pass this on to my colleague Keith Palmer who will call you later today.
Kind regards.
Simon Buck
Office Manager for the Office of Emma Lewell-Buck MP

Dear Angela and Everybody,

Seasons greetings.
Please see the response from the Council’s Monitoring Officer. Please note it is seven months after I asked her predecessor the same question. Better late than never.
It confirms that the Council did not give retrospective planning permission for the slipway shed on River Drive but beggars the question why did UK Docks tell you and Emma they had been given permission for it. The answer is in the third paragraph of my email below: Continue reading →

Posted in Information/Evidence | Leave a comment

No Permission for Enclosure (Shed) on River Drive

Posted on December 19, 2019 by moderator

RE: Complaint: 248789 – Unplanned Development on River Drive
From: Nicola Robason Date: 19/12/2019 (09:56:34 AM GMT)
To: mick.dawson@theharbourview.co.uk Message Log
– You forwarded this message on 23/12/2019 11:00:46 AM to: Cllr Angela Hamilton, Emma Lewell-Buck, Nicola Robason, Cllr David Francis, Alison Hoy and local residents

Dear Mr Dawson
Thank you for your recent emails and your letter dated 5 December 2019.
I can confirm that I am the Council’s Monitoring Officer. In that capacity, I have read and considered the information you have provided in relation to UK Docks and River Drive and specifically your request for information.
I can confirm that the Council as Local Planning Authority has not received a retrospective planning application from UK Docks. It is entirely a matter for UK Docks to decide whether or not to submit such an application and the Council has no influence in that matter.
I am also aware of the history of this development that goes back some years with the original planning application being determined and approved by the Tyne and Wear Development Corporation in their capacity as Planning Authority at that time. The Council has recognised that the development of the shed on the site is unauthorised but concluded some time ago, in accordance with the Constitution, that no enforcement action would be taken as this was not in the public interest as there would be no change in the level of perceived harm suffered. This decision and the reasoning behind it was communicated to residents by the Council.
I understand that all complaints procedures regarding this matter have been exhausted both internally within the Council and externally.
Many thanks
Nicola
Nicola Robason Head of Corporate & External Affairs and Monitoring Officer South Tyneside Council

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Avoiding the issue 2019

Posted on December 19, 2019 by moderator
The issue is the height of the shed, and that has been an issue since September 2013, being built some 2.7m taller than permitted. Sometimes it was the width as well.

The width changed from being of no consequence in September 2013, to being a material consideration then although being wider than planned, it was causing no harm and back to a non-material consideration by April 2019 – It is, being nearly a meter wider than planned, a material consideration and has been since 2001 when fixings for the columns was set.
Request to confirm that UK Docks had not been granted permission for their shed off River Drive – put to the Monitoring Officer (MH) on 7th May and answered by the Monitioring Officer(NR) on 19th December.

Date From to: About?
1: 2019
07-May		 The Harbour
View		 Monitoring Officer: UK Dock’s Slipway Enclosure and STC Council. – I am aware they had not before they (extended their shed )applied for permission to extend it. You can confirm that this is true?
Stuart Wright Head of Environment (Planning) – I’m away from the office now until Monday 13th May and will not have access to emails. I will respond on my return.
2.
20-May		 THV Alison Hoy: AH and Misrepresentation/misinformation given by South Tyneside Council
Mike Harding I am currently out of the office. Please contact Ben Broome, Paul McCann, Eamonn Breen or Mike Conlon
3.
12-Sep		 THV Mike Harding: UK Docks, STC and the LGO – May , 2019
Mike Harding I am currently out of the office. Please contact Ben Broome, Paul McCann, Eamonn Breen or Mike Conlon
4.
17-Sep		 THV Building Control: Tyne Slipway & Eng Co Ltd Erection of a Shelter ST/0242 /96.
Deborah Graham Hi Planning, Please see attached and email below which I believe was meant for planning – it was sent to building control and it looks like they told Deborah to dump it on planning to avoid answering the questions honestly.
5.
25-Sep		 THV Monitoring Officer – NR: UK Docks, STC and the LGO
Gill Hayton I am out of the office until 30 September 2019. I do not have access to my emails. Please contact: John Rumney, Ben Broome, Eamonn Breen, Paul McCann , David Hayward – first evidence that Mike Harding is no longer in post.
6.
30-Sep		 THV ELB( MP): Dishonesty at the Town Hall
– Copy to Monitoring Officer: Nicola Robison
Emma Lewell-Buck Thank you for contacting Emma Lewell-Buck, Member of Parliament for South Shields.
7
5-Dec		 THV Monitoring Officer – NR: Complaint: 248789 – Unplanned Development on River Drive
– Att: copy of letter from Peter Dunn& Co.(Solicitors)
Nicola Robason Automatic reply: Complaint: 248789 – Unplanned Development on River Drive
8.
12-Dec		 THV Cllrs and STC: Complaint: 248789 – Unplanned Development on River Drive
Nicola Robason That should have read ‘now’ consider, not ‘not’ consider. Typographical error on my part – apologies
9.
13-Dec		 THV Nicola and Everybody: Thank you for your apology
10.
19-Dec		 Nicola Robason THV: “I can confirm that the Council as Local Planning Authority has not received a retrospective planning application from UK Docks.“

End of Table

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment