Latest news with #councilpolicy
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Anger as Bexley dropped kerb denied 'over house being 30cm too small'
A woman has claimed she has been 'stonewalled' by Bexley Council after her bid to have a dropped kerb outside her house in Bexleyheath was dismissed. Louise McCarthy says it has been 'frustrating' to be denied a dropped kerb after she had worked hard for years to buy her first home in Standard Road. She first applied for the kerb to be lowered in October 2023 and was told that her home was not wide enough by 30cm under council rules. But she claimed that Bexley Council's position lacked 'commonsense' as other terraced houses in her street that have identical dimensions already have a dropped kerb. READ MORE - Louise McCarthy has pointed out that other terraced house in her road have a dropped kerb (Image: Louise McCarthy) Ms McCarthy has since appealed the decision and contacted the council on multiple occasions asking for 'discretion' but believes her pleas have been ignored. 'We knew it was a busy road when we bought the house, but we thought we could get a dropped kerb,' she explained. 'How they've dealt with it is quite shocking. They just say this is the policy and that's a red line. 'They're digging their heels in over 30cm. We just have nowhere to turn – it's near on impossible to park down the street especially on a weekday which is far from ideal.' She added that she felt the council has shown little concern for the implications of denying her a dropped kerb. 'I have to park further down the road and it's quite a quiet road at night – there's not many people around,' she explained. 'They clearly don't care about my safety.' Ms McCarthy added: 'We're doing a full renovation so we're planning on staying there for at least six or seven years. 'I've grown up in this area and I want to stay in this area. 'I've been fortunate enough and saved hard enough and worked hard enough to buy a house. 'Then to have this reception from the council has been hard work.' READ MORE - A Bexley Council spokesperson said that the minimum size requirements are to ensure that parked vehicles do not obstruct the pavement by overhanging or with opening doors. They added: 'Although an applicant may currently own a smaller vehicle, once a crossover is approved, in the future it would be available to be used by large vehicles by the applicant or future owners. 'Some properties on this road do have existing driveway access, but these were approved under earlier policies and cannot be revoked. "The current policy has been updated to reflect the increase in vehicle sizes in recent years and the problems experienced where driveways are too small.'
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark at odds with council over blacking-out inappropriate language
Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark doesn't believe his council should redact comments made by the public. Photo: Supplied / Otago Daily Times Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark believes his council should not redact feedback from the public, even if it is difficult to hear. His comment comes at a time when councils are dealing with an increase of inappropriate language in public submissions. In Invercargill, it is a problem which has led to staff blacking-out some parts of feedback. The council raised the issue in a report last week as it works to introduce an official policy for dealing with community input. Clark told Local Democracy Reporting he noticed inappropriate language on annual plan feedback, but was mindful the forms were given out and taken away for people to submit on. "You can't then redact what you don't like to hear." There were parts of society that had strong views which might be filtered, but ignoring them was perilous, he said. "I personally wouldn't redact it. The rationale is that it's important the public know the sort of feedback we get." Council policy and engagement manager Rhiannon Suter said submissions could be redacted if they contained offensive language, threats, were potentially defamatory, or could lead to abuse of the hearing process. A recommendation would now be made to council to adopt a submissions policy, which would clarify expectations around appropriate language, Suter said. "It is hoped that this will see a reduction in the number of submissions needing redaction." A report prepared for a committee meeting showed the council relied on an "internal approach" for handling feedback instead of an actual policy. In relation to inappropriate language, it gave the example of last year's consultation for Te Unua Museum of Southland where 14 of 286 responses - or almost 5 percent - had to be redacted due to content. A number of other councils were also addressing the issue which was on the rise across the country, the report said. It also discussed social media comments, which didn't meet the criteria for being a formal submission but were summarised by staff for inclusion in documents. That approach would continue under the new framework, but with an allowance for receiving submissions via social media if requested by the author. The council was not aware of any other councils taking that approach. A final decision on whether language should be redacted would remain with the council's manager of governance and legal, Suter said. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
