Forum Topic

Serious egg on the face for Hounslow Council I hear

Looks like our Council have well and truely stuffed up their efforts to "dispose" of the Isleworth Public Hall despite their infatuation to do so before the next local elections

Paul Fisher ● 4715d12 Comments

It's an ill wind - can't say I'm sorry, that's the best news I've heard in ages! What's happened?

Vanessa Smith ● 4715d

Perhaps Cllr Todd would like to expand as I believe he sat on the selection panel last Wednesday for the final two bids or was it the one bid or even none at all?

Paul Fisher ● 4713d

Paul,Why pick on me?Another speculative post perhaps?I couldn't possibly comment unless you justify your allegation - or  perhaps possibly ill informed rumour?Kind regardsJohn

John Todd ● 4710d

The plot thickens.Or gets thinner.No doubt we will hear in due course.

Guy Lambert ● 4710d

Unless John is saying he wasn't on said panel I would suggest his post is fairly pointless.Is that what you are saying John?

Phil Andrews ● 4710d

Paul is correct. I was on the panel together with two Labour Cllrs who are Cabinet members. An Assistant Director and another Officer from the Leisure Department was present too.I have no concerns about the process or agreed decision. I have not been informed of any complaint(s) about the process or mutually agreed decision.I have seen one of the applicants post the interview at another LBH O&S meeting. Nothing was said in a very brief conversation that alerted me to any as yet unspecified  matters implied in the original post. BestJohn

John Todd ● 4709d

JohnI have no idea why you think I am "picking on you" as I was informed that you were to be one of the three councillors forming the selction panel a couple of weeks agoIf you were not one of the three councillors on the panel then I apologise

Paul Fisher ● 4709d

This is all very gripping - BUT what the hell happened?

Vanessa Smith ● 4709d

I understand that the decision made regarding the Public Hall is due to be made public today Vanessa though I am sure the Council will use a delaying tactic if it canI am still puzzled why Cllr Todd gor so narked at being mentioned that he was on the selection committee which he has now confirmed as a fact as there was no suggestion at all that he had done anything wrong nor would I have ever suspected him of doing soMy origional posting was to highlight what a farce this whole saga has become

Paul Fisher ● 4709d

Well, you're not wrong there - a farce among many others it seems! I am still fuming over 'Gategate', what a complete and utter waste of time and money that's turned out to be - the damn thing is just stood there locked open permanently - these people are bonkers and just won't listen to reason. What with Hounslow Highways damaging the War Memorial by sending some brain-dead numpty to clean it in quite the wrong way -even though they were aware of English Heritage's instructions. Plus the ongoing saga of what is happening to the Public Hall and we won't even mention the roundabout shambles - it's enough to make you lose the will to live!

Vanessa Smith ● 4709d

JohnThis all began with a decision by the London Borough of Hounslow to farm out Isleworth Public Hall on the grounds that it was supposedly running at a loss.  It was running at a loss due to the lack of a marketing strategy but no figures have ever been forthcoming in respect of how much money it was actually supposed to have been losing.  We do not know therefore whether the amount in question was greater or lesser than the amount invested in officer time which has been needed to process the disposal.Other properties around the borough are in a similar situation but for reasons unspecified there is considered to be less urgency involved in getting shot of them.  Isleworth is in the unique position of being lined up for the chop before the next local elections and we can only speculate as to why.At the start of the process interested parties were invited to submit bids and were given a ridiculously short period of time - just a few weeks - in which to do so.  Although the official line was that "community" bids were what the local authority had in mind the wording of the procurement document clearly suggested otherwise.  For example bidders were required to quote their company registration number!Bids were to include a fully costed plan, however the local authority refused to hand over any of the financial information which would have been needed before such a plan could have been drawn up.Having finally realised that the deadline for submissions was unreasonable LBH extended it.  When the revised deadline arrived there were two bids in place - one from the applicant that the local authority was known to have long had in mind for running the building and another from a consortium comprising a number of active groups from the local community.For whatever reason the Council then decided to begin the entire process again and the two standing bids were declared void.  When the second deadline arrived it emerged that the preferred bidder had withdrawn and that the only one remaining in the frame was the one from the community.Hounslow now has to decide whether to award the contract effectively to the people who were managing it in the first place - in other words the very same people whose influence the disposal was designed to remove - or to scrap the whole thing, either with a view to rolling out the process for a third time or to abandoning the whole charade for good.If you really cannot see anything wrong in the way this whole business has been managed John then I can only say I wish I had been a burglar on your watch.

Phil Andrews ● 4708d

I hear the big decision is to be made this morning though I expect the Council will try and keep the breaking news under the radar

Paul Fisher ● 4701d