Stockport Council News

Email sent – Thu 23/07/2009 08:35

c.c. amongst others cllr.sue.derbyshire@stockport.gov.uk; Cllr Mark Weldon cllr.mark.weldon@stockport.gov.uk; Cllr David White cllr.david.white@stockport.gov.uk; Cllr Dave Goddard cllr.dave.goddard@stockport.gov.uk; Chief.Constable@gmp.police.uk; casework@ico.gsi.gov.uk; BAKER, Norman BAKERN@parliament.uk; FOI Officer foi.officer@stockport.gov.uk; John Schultz chief.executive@stockport.gov.uk; media@stockport.gov.uk; Office of Chris Davies MEP chris@chrisdaviesmep.org.uk;

Dear Mr Rusbridger

I read with interest the Guardian’s recent articles on miscarriages of justice.  Please see below the apparently gloating email from the Leader of Stockport Council to me, which as I understand it is a very serious breach of Data Protection legislation, as well as revealing a worrying level of sarcasm and delight at the plight of a simple (and I mean that as a compliment), kind, helpful, gentle, determined and very brave man and the obvious detrimental effect his imprisonment will have on his already troubled daughters, whose lives were very seriously damaged by their birth family.  Having got nowhere over a decade with his request to Stockport Council for help with his troubled adopted daughters – and they would be costing Stockport Council a lot of money were they still in care – he decided to stand on the town hall steps, which he did for two years constantly being harrassed  by Stockport Council and having the police called to  him repeatedly -one one occasion I witnessed with flashing blue lights, so called as an emergency.  I do not blame the police, who have been extremely kind and helpful to Mr. Parnell and apparently have to respond if there is a breach of the peace alleged.  There is a legal right to peaceful protest, but not in Stockport.

Why couldn’t the  Council simply deal with his problem in a reasonable manner?  You may well feel this is an isolated incident but I have been publicly abused and victimised for pointing out that a proposed school, costing millions and millions overbudget with no proper explanation of the increase in cost, which is illegally taking public open space, is actually going on a former toxic dump on which no contamination investigations at all have been carried out over the site of the proposed school, which is actually directly over the tip.  I have had dirty tricks played on me too by this Council.

We need now to forensically find out what the many, many police call-outs have cost, the court time – one trial last January being abandoned on the day of the hearing.  We need to find out what this cost in keeping Mr. Parnell in prison, where he was last week for breaching a court order not to come within a mile of the town hall. All he had done was use the public lavatory in the town hall. What a disgusting abuse of power by Stockport Council.

Well, they have picked on the wrong man.  Mr. Parnell is honest and courageous and because his daughters are involved he can’t give up.

Mr. Rusbridger, I shall keep you informed step by step of what happens next in this miscarriage of justice we have the misfortune to be witnessing first hand.

With very warmest best wishes

Sheila

—– Original Message —–

From: Cllr Dave Goddard

To: sheilaoliver

Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 5:40 PM

Subject: Mr. Parnell

Dear Sheila

Mr. Parnell was charged with breaching the ASBO on 16^th and 17^th July 2009 by entering the Town Hall. He appeared at Stockport Magistrates Court from custody on 18^th July 2009. He was apparently adamant that he would not abide by bail conditions and so was remanded in custody to Forest Bank to appear today.

He did appear today. He pleaded not guilty and elected Crown Court trial. His next appearance is before the Magistrates on 14^th September 2009. Today his solicitor applied for bail which was opposed by the CPS. The Magistrates did grant bail. I have attached the actual bail notice. His condition is not to come within 1 mile of the Town Hall. The only exception is when he is appearing in court or by prior written appointment made by his solicitor. There is no exception for attendance at any meeting within that exclusion zone and that was made clear to him. These conditions appear to be unambiguous. It is fair to say that Parnell was less than enthusiastic about these conditions.

Just keeping you in the loop.

Fondest wishes,

Dave,

Ps, Glad you enjoyed the Stepping Hill by-election it makes it all worth it.

**********************************************************************
Stockport Council is officially one of the best in the country.
Awarded four stars and improving strongly by the Audit Commission March 2009. (ha ha – Sheila)

This email, and any files transmitted with it, is confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they
are addressed. As a public body, the Council may be required to disclose this email, or any response to it, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, unless the information in it is covered by one of the exemptions in the Act.

If you receive this email in error please notify Stockport ICT, Business Services via email.query@stockport.gov.uk and then permanently remove it from your system.

Thank you.

http://www.stockport.gov.uk
**********************************************************************

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Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 11:16 AM

Subject: Mr Andrew Webb – appointment to outside bodies

Dear FoI Officer

I have been reading the Executive meeting agenda for 3rd August regarding the Council’s constitution.

Apparently appointments to outside bodies have to be approved.  My question is: Who agreed to Mr. Andrew Webb being on so many outside committees, bodies, think tanks etc? Please list each appointment and who agreed it.  Mr. Webb is head of a directorate which by the Council’s own assessment is not meeting a large number of performance indicators.  My feeling is that if he is highly paid to do a job he should concentrate on that and not on other career-boosting activities.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Sheila

Email sent – Sat 01/08/2009 08:58

c.c. barry khan barry.khan@stockport.gov.uk; alan.rusbridger@guardian.co.uk; Chief.Constable@gmp.police.uk; John Schultz chief.executive@stockport.gov.uk; Leader leader@stockport.gov.uk; cleggn@parliament.uk; STUNELL, Andrew STUNELLA@parliament.uk

Dear Standards Board

Please see the email below from the Leader of Stockport Council.

The background story is that when a council taxpayer who got no help from Stockport Council with his out-of-area adopted daughters for over a decade, he stood on the Town Hall steps for two years in the manner of Brian Haw, the Parliamentary anti-war protester, in the hope that Stockport Council would do something. Well, they certainly did! They had him arrested circa 11 times despite the legal right to peaceful protest and peaceful protest was all he ever did.  They called the police over 80 times to him, took him to court in January last year only to drop the case that time on the day of the hearing.  He then was taken to court charged with assault with a sneeze with intent to inflect a council employee with a cold (pre swine flu).  CCTV evidence of the non-event was not allowed to be shown in court.  The Council then had Mr. Parnell arrested again for breaking his bail conditions by using the public lavatory in the town hall.  For this he spent four days in Forrest Bank prison.

Below is the email sent to me by the Leader of Stockport Council apparently gloating at the fate of this poor man in being sent to prison and enclosing what I believe to be confidential court documents.  Mr. Parnell, the town hall protester, has since given permission for me to have access to his personal information but at the time the Leader sent that email he was not aware of that fact.  I couldn’t get any documents from the court regarding Mr. Parnell due to data protection reasons.  This man had to go to prison, leaving his already very troubled adopted daughters with yet more emotional and financial hardship.  Why would Councillor Goddard gloat about such a thing, and that is apparently what he is doing in this email? If someone had to inform me, why not our McCavity-like Council Solictor (who is never there) in a proper manner?

In addition at an Executive Council meeting in November 2008 Councillor Goddard called me a liar and said I repeatedly lied in the press. This meeting was packed with members of the public.  I am known as a local campaigner on several issues including the environment. This caused me a great deal of distress and damage to my reputation.  To be publicly branded that by the Leader of the Council, and there was no objection from the council officer chairing that meeting to that language as there would have been had it been used against another councillor, would make the council officers and members of the public think there was no smoke without fire.

I was upset and repeatedly wrote to Councillor Goddard asking for evidence of any lies I had inadvertently told and that I would immediately write to the local press to correct any incorrect statements I might have made.  I didn’t get the courtesey of a reply.  I asked him at the full Council Meeting in December 2008 for evidence of the lies I had told in the press, which he promised in his response to my public question to send me.  By February 2009 I had heard nothing back from him so I again raised the issue in the full council meeting in a public question at which point to a packed council chamber and public gallery with members of the publicCouncillor Goddard repeated that I had lied and lied in the local press.

I took the matter to the Standards Committee of Stockport Council months and months ago but have yet to have the courtesey of a reply never mind any kind of resolution of this issue.  I have taken up the matter with my local MP, but am not confident of any resolution from that quarter.

I hope you will look into this matter. There are very, very grave problems with the way Stockport Council is run – in many instances illegally – and I for one will not tolerate what it going on here.

Much obliged if you could look into this.

Kind regards

Sheila

—– Original Message —–

From: Cllr Dave Goddard

To: sheilaoliver

Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 5:40 PM

Subject: Mr. Parnell

Dear Sheila

Mr. Parnell was charged with breaching the ASBO on 16^th and 17^th July 2009 by entering the Town Hall. He appeared at Stockport Magistrates Court from custody on 18^th July 2009. He was apparently adamant that he would not abide by bail conditions and so was remanded in custody to Forest Bank to appear today.

He did appear today. He pleaded not guilty and elected Crown Court trial. His next appearance is before the Magistrates on 14^th September 2009. Today his solicitor applied for bail which was opposed by the CPS. The Magistrates did grant bail. I have attached the actual bail notice. His condition is not to come within 1 mile of the Town Hall. The only exception is when he is appearing in court or by prior written appointment made by his solicitor. There is no exception for attendance at any meeting within that exclusion zone and that was made clear to him. These conditions appear to be unambiguous. It is fair to say that Parnell was less than enthusiastic about these conditions.

Just keeping you in the loop.

Fondest wishes,

Dave,

Ps, Glad you enjoyed the Stepping Hill by-election it makes it all worth it.

**********************************************************************
Stockport Council is officially one of the best in the country.
Awarded four stars and improving strongly by the Audit Commission March 2009.

This email, and any files transmitted with it, is confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they
are addressed. As a public body, the Council may be required to disclose this email, or any response to it, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, unless the information in it is covered by one of the exemptions in the Act.

If you receive this email in error please notify Stockport ICT, Business Services via email.query@stockport.gov.uk and then permanently remove it from your system.

Thank you.

http://www.stockport.gov.uk
**********************************************************************

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG – www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.392 / Virus Database: 270.13.20/2250 – Release Date: 07/20/09 06:16:00

Email sent – Mon 08/06/2009 20:02

c.c. MICHAEL PARNELL; Chief.Constable@gmp.police.uk; John Schultz chief.executive@stockport.gov.u

Dear Mr Khan

As Mr Parnell has shown, it is impossible to get any response from Stockport Council.

When can I have an acknowledgement of my official complaint regarding the anomalies of several million pounds sent in originally last July and when can I receive an acknowledgement of my complaint about Councillor Goddard calling me a liar in the full Council meeting without providing any proof when requested?  The Council’s Charter says a reply should be sent within 10 working days.

I might start a protest of my own outside the Town Hall until I get some sort of response from you.

I also need to know how much this entire fiasco has cost the council taxpayer in legal fees so far.

Yours

Sheila

Email sent – Fri 12/06/2009 19:34

Dear Mr Stunell

Thank you for your reply.  It would be nice if you could provide details of who you employ in your office, what their qualifications are and what their levels of pay are and also for what purpose the £5,000 paper folding machine was used.  If I have to rely on the Commons Fees Office, contact with the Daily Telegraph journalists or The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, then so be it.  I thought you might have learned the lesson of the past few weeks that openness and honesty is always the best policy. We shall see.

I had no expectation at any time you would help me regarding my problems with Stockport Council.  Now you have offered to do so, I shall send you all the details asap.  To have done so before and for you to send me a “I have noted your comments” letter in three months’ time would have been a waste of my efforts.

I was a sweet little thing, but prolonged contact with the Liberal Democraps has made me hard and cynical.  I shall try to atone.

Who said I don’t believe in a Supreme Being?  I believe in Councillor Goddard and he, like the Universe, is expanding exponentially.

I shall type out the details of how the Council has wronged me and let you have them.

As far as I am aware I was careful to say that Mr. Parnell had had the police called to him over 70 times.  I don’t think I said he had been arrested 40 times.  However, 9 arrests and having the police called out 70 times is a considerable waste of police time. Time after time I hear the Stepping Hill Councillors lambast the poor police representatives at SHAC for their failure to respond when local people call them.  Is it any wonder when they are having their time wasted by senior councillor officers at SMBC?

I look forward to receiving your help and your expenses details, as requested.

Email sent – Fri 12/06/2009 19:53

Dear Mr Stunell

Was it just me, the atheist, who didn’t pass by on the other side?  I assume in the last two years you have been to the Town Hall and seen Mr. Parnell outside – maybe even witnessed him being arrested. Did you cross over to talk to him, find out what a gentle, honest man he is and the problems he has had with the Council, or did you pass by on the other side – like the bloke in the Bible?

Yours

Sheila

Email sent Sat 11/07/2009 08:04

Dear Mr Khan

You know what a gentle man Mr. Parnell is because you spoke to him at length.  I will have you for what has gone on here.  You should lose your job for this and I will do my utmost to see that you do.

Please let me know whether Mr. Parnell is allowed to enter polling stations under the terms of his ridiculous CRASBO.

You remain my humble servant

Sheila

Email sent – Wed 15/07/2009 20:36

Dear FoI Officer

How much has the legal advice cost the council taxpayer regarding the prosecutions etc. of Mr. Parnell?

How much has it been estimated his High Court appeal, should it take place, will cost the council taxpayer? I assume someone at Stockport Council has considered the appeal costs.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Sheila