4-Feb-2015

Denham Petitions - Date set

All change!

The words of the Select Committee chairman, Robert Syms, misled us into believing that they were going to come back and see us again. This is an excerpt from his statement on Monday about the Colne Valley:

“We will be coming to the Colne Valley before the election, and we ask petitioners to cooperate …”

We took this to mean that the MPs had heeded our request to come back for a second look, because they missed out several important ‘blackspots’ on their coach tour on 15th January. Having checked with the Select Committee’s clerk, Neil Caulfield, we now learn that what the nice Mr Syms meant was that they’d be ‘hearing’ petitioners from our area, rather than organising another coach trip.

It’s a surprising – and truly disappointing - decision, because their normal way of doing things is to hear first from the ‘Big Beasts’ (County Councils, District Councils, and then down the food chain to businesses and individuals) but in our case – uniquely - they’re doing it the other way round, in order to get through as many petitions as possible before they shut up shop at the end of March to go away and try to get re-elected. Five of the six committee members are in safe seats, by the way, so the nucleus of the committee is likely to be unaffected by the national vote.

So, we ordinary folk now have the task of ‘introducing’ the Colne Valley’s concerns in Parliament before anyone else. We must regard this as a chance to shine, rather than the equivalent of a visit to the dentist!

But the likely timetable is a bit scary, I have to admit: we’re going to be called between 9th March and 23rd March. The first of these dates is less than five weeks away, so we have some serious work to do to get our presentations in order in time. Our Petition Response Documents should arrive from Westminster in the next few days, because we’re supposed to receive four weeks’ notice. If they’re late, we can demand a postponement.

If/when these documents arrive, you have a decision to make.

  1. Would you like to present the petition yourself, or would you prefer to appoint an agent to represent you? An agent can be a professional such as a solicitor or an expert on sound, tunnelling, hydrology etc, or a complete amateur like Yours Truly!
  2. If you’d prefer to present your case yourself, you can elect to have a ‘prompter’ at your side, call an expert witness to bring out certain aspects of your case, or just tell your story on your own. But perhaps you’d be interested in receiving assistance with your visual aids: we’ve assembled a pretty good ‘image bank’ of local blackspots, and either Bucks CC or Denham Against HS2 can help you with PowerPoint: the software that enables you to build your presentation around an accompanying slideshow, screened on the wall of Committee Room 5. A picture tells a thousand words, they say, and the Select Committee always gets much more animated when you show an eye-catching slide.

Bucks CC, who’ve been excellent in reaching out to petitioners great and small, are holding a meeting at their HQ at Capswood, Tatling End, on Wednesday 18th February, to discuss and offer any support you feel you might need. We’re not sure of the timing of that yet, but it’s likely to take place during normal working hours. So, Denham Against HS2 are thinking of laying on our own event at the DeVere Denham Grove hotel on Tilehouse Lane for petitioners who can’t make the council event or would prefer a more ‘local’ gathering. Please let me know if you’d be interested in a local seminar, tailored for you. If there’s enough interest, this would take place on the evening of Thursday 19th February or Thursday 26th February, depending on numbers. Having been to a few sessions at Westminster, I know that the Select Committee quickly becomes impatient when they hear the same story from one petitioner after another, so getting everyone together in the same place – with a few nibbles and a glass or two of something (free, as long as you make a contribution to our dwindling funds!) – would help us ensure that everyone’s petition is UNIQUE, highlighting points that no other petitioner is making. And we can establish who needs what, in the way of maps and images etc.

Simple choice:

  1. If we held an event on Thursday, 19th February, would you be interested?
  2.  If we held an event on Thursday, 26th February, would you be interested?

On the other hand, you may prefer to go it alone and ignore me altogether. The choice is yours, but, please note … time is short!

Please get back to me when you have a moment.

Best wishes

Frank