Where is the Whitby Bus? A game for Brum Twitter crowd – In his response to the Big City Plan bus-thieving debacle, Clive Dutton said, ‘I really do hope we can move forward beyond this unfortunate experience’. Can we heck, where’s the fun in that? So if you’re on Twitter hop aboard and play Simon Howes’ ‘Where is Whitby’s bus?’ game. If you can make it stop in Highgate you’re already doing better than the council.
Birmingham City Council’s response to my Freedom Of Information request came through. It again states the break in the consultation exercise was an ‘error of judgement’ and apologises for any inconvenience caused. It also says:
I very much wish to ensure that the Highgate Community’s views are comprehensively understood. I would expect that dialogue to be ongoing and comprehensive and so in that regard I really do hope we can move forward beyond this unfortunate experience towards an ongoing fruitful and very beneficial relationship with the people of Highgate.
Which is good. It would be great if a similar event could be arranged for those that missed the bus. I have childish hopes for an ice cream van. But as Pete Ashton says, it ‘Doesn’t confirm or deny Paul Dale’s original report that Whitby took bus for photo shoot. Answer still needed I think!’
No, it’s not an answer. To be honest, I doubt I’ll ever get one to that particular question. I was hoping one would emerge from my request for an audit trail behind the redirection decision, but apparently this doesn’t exist because ‘The change to the arrangements was organised verbally at very short notice that afternoon and therefore there were no emails, letters, memos and records relating to the change of the bus’ schedule.’ I’ve asked for a review of the FOI response, just to be sure this is the case.
Just to update you on my progress with finding out what happened to the missed Highgate bus stops – I received a confirmation to my Freedom of Information request today. On Pete Ashton’s advice, I also emailed Birmingham City Council’s press office on Tuesday night asking for a response. I called early yesterday afternoon, and the person I spoke to confirmed it had been received and told me he’d get the guy dealing with it to call me back. As yet he’s not called. Story of my life, that.
Well, it seems I’m on a steep learning curve today with my Freedom of Information request for the reasons behind changing the schedule of the Big City Plan’s consultation bus on Weds 14th Jan, which was reportedly diverted from Highgate to Aston for a photoshoot with Council Leader Mike Whitby.
You see, I’ve never done an FOI request before so really wasn’t sure how it worked. Luckilly, I know some people that do, who’ve been a great help. It seems that asking fror a statement/answer to a question rather than documents/facts held isn’t quite the right way to go about it. Had I left my original request as it was it could have well have been rejected. But after seeking out some great advice from the likes of Matthew Somerville, I’ve sent a follow-up to the original FOI request clarifying exactly what it is that I’m after – the audit trail (emails, letters, memos, etc.) behind the decision to change the route of the bus. Hopefully this means the request will be accepted and the response to it will shed some light on the reasons for the change that day.
A little while a go I wrote a post encouraging all Digbeth/Highgate locals to join the Big City Plan bus at its scheduled Highgate stops on Weds 14 Jan. I also emailed the entire Digbeth Residents’ Association urging them to go. I thought it was important that residents made their voices heard in a consultation which I feel has so far done a pretty poor job of engaging and gathering public opinion.
The following day I was dismayed to receive a couple of emails from members of the Residents’ Association wondering where the bus was – they had gone to meet it and it was not there.
It took several emails and chasing-type messages to get a response from Birmingham City Council which stated:
The schedule was updated on the website at noon on Tuesday 13th to the venues listed below, following advice from the Beyond Midnight bus team, whose guidance we relied upon as to the venues and sites to use in each area. The reason for using the bus was that it had the flexibility to move to an area where there would be more people if the bus arrived at a venue and found there were no people there, or if there was intelligence to suggest that a venue would prove to be too quiet. I asked for the website to be updated as soon as I found out that a change was planned.
Okay, so my bad that I didn’t double check the website the day before the scheduled arrangement. Once they had announced they would be in a certain place at a certain time, I assumed they would stick to that.
So was it cancelled because ‘there was intelligence to suggest a venue would prove to be too quiet?’ Or was it because, as Paul Dale of the Birmingham Post announced, Council Leader Mike Whitby commandeered it for a photoshoot in Aston?
If it’s the latter I’ll be extremely disappointed. To feel a photoshoot is more important than engaging local people in a consultation would suggest you’re perhaps not that bothered about gathering the public opinion you profess to care about. Or, as Michael Grimes more eloquently put it:
…the clearest signal yet that those at the top of Birmingham City Council have no interest in what their citizens have to say about this Big City Plan.
I’m sorry if I sound a little angry, but I am. I felt pretty bad that people went to something after I encouraged them to go and ended up having a wasted journey. If this is the reason why I’ll be pretty upset. Not because the people concerned were very seriously put out but because of the lack of care, respect or interest in them that that would infer. I can only hope there is another explanation, fingers crossed my Freedom of Information request will shed some light on it.
How do vegetarians get fat? – By eating like pigs, but not pigs, in the Friends of the Earth Warehouse Cafe on Allison Street, according to Paul Fulford in the Evening Mail.
Digbeth Olympics Ridiculous River Rea Raft Race – John Mostyn, Adam Crossley and some unconvincing-sounding Welsh guy travel down the River Rea in rubber dingies and manage to emerge with all their skin intact.
Gigbeth competition – This competition for free weekend tickets is such a fantastic idea: ‘Gigbeth is looking for entrants to create their own version of The Sugarhill Gang classic ‘Rappers Delight’ and post them on a specially created You Tube page. Entrants are invited to come up with the best and most original alternative music video to the ground breaking hit, or to produce their very own recorded performance of the song.’ If like me, you just fancy giggling at the entries rather than making one, all entries will be posted on Gigbeth’s YouTube.
Pub Crawl – The Final Leg – Bull Ring and Digbeth – A guy and his camera in the Bull Ring and ‘Digbeth, dusty, dirty, noisy Digbeth’. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, his camera died as soon soon as he hit The Dubliner. This may be a good time to tell you that me and Antonio Gould are planning to do a repeat of last year’s Digbeth pub crawl for our birthdays on Saturday 10th January 2009. We plan to make it bigger, better and bloggier, photographing and twittering our locations and drunkeness levels. All are welcome, especially if you’re wearing a flat cap – stick it in your diaries!
