Peter T Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 ...can I quickly just say that if this is this 'interaction' is going to work properly in future maybe it's not a good idea for everyone to start asking questions under this one existing 'particular' topic. Maybe start a new topic regarding your issues/questions and as/when/if WBCouncil bods have time or an answer they can then post their replies against the relevant topic. In the mean time others can still contribute as we do now. It will get confusing othewise and also other forum members or people who pop in to read will not be aware of things or topics that have been, or are suddenly being, discussed within one more general topic. You could title your topic as normal Peter in the relevant section then underneath in the sub title post the words 'For the hopeful attention of forum member WBCouncil' so they notice it (or you could even pop a quick link in this bit for now to your new topic so they spot it). Like they have said though they wont be able to answer everything on here or comment as often as we would probably like them too and things may take some time. It takes me all my time to try and keep up sometimes and I'm on here all the time So back to questions and chat for now (including yours Peter if you chose to leave it here) as it could be a 5 minute wonder I suppose although I hope not OR have a new/separate place called "Local politics" just for council questions and answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Yeah but maybe by having that people would expect an immediate reply from them and they have said they wont always be able to do that... so everyone would then start moaning I do see what you mean though and a seperate area may be better but I would definately NOT have the word 'politics' anywhere in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffrey Settle Posted September 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Cheers Bill - what seems to be happening both here and in the Isle of Man is that more and more different ways of communicating are coming on board and there isn't one type that fits all. The traditional ones are favoured by some i.e. face-to-face, phone, surgeries in libraries leaflets etc and church halls and then there are the more modern ones like eComms like email, blogs, text, forums and party web sites/pages. The purpose of this thread is to test Councillor Barbers hypothesis and I think that in general from members replies and responses to the survey most agree and so far no one has disagreed. Ok statistically based on 6 responses it proves absolutely nothing but the posts do tend to bear out what he says i.e. if a forum can be non-politcal then it is a valid place for eSurgeries - he does however go on to say that Councillors must carry on using all means to get messages to and receive contact from their constituents. All feedback has very much been appreciated. and enjoy your meal. BTW this thread has receieved 53 posts and over 531 views food for thought. I've just sent an invite to Councillor Barber - we don't share the same political views but hopefully we can share non-political ones - watch this space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Yeah but maybe by having that people would expect an immediate reply from them and they have said they wont always be able to do that... so everyone would then start moaning I do see what you mean though and a seperate area may be better but I would definately NOT have the word 'politics' anywhere in it I know what you mean, but as most of us will know that WBC won't/can't respond straight away, we can inform posters of that, especially the newer ones. I wonder if Highways read the Forum? Cantilever Bridge anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Fair point Peter, and yes we could obviously inform people that there could be some delays and also moderate where necessary ... I never thought of that You are quite bright after all So new section? please Gary and first topic "Peter's Cantilever Bridge Question" ? I can move or duplicate any new questions until people get the hang of it (and also those that have been replied to already under this specigic topic and place them under the new section for ease if necessary.) It will give me something to do as the 'mods' role is rather boring these days Only question is 'are WBC(ouncil) really up for the challenge?'... I'm sure they are from what they have said and I'm sure we are. Excellent stuff and I find all this rather uplifting and I see a little light shining at the end of the one way tunnel at last. This really could work if both sides put in some effort Peter T Peter T asked "Cantilever Bridge anyone?" previously "Cantilever Bridge is going to be worked on again for 8 weeks, and will the traffic be affected again?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffrey Settle Posted September 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 Dizzy I have had a reply from Cllr Barber ‘Hi Geoff,…….. Have tried signing in …… I've looked around the site and couldn't see an obvious place you'd set up a thread "I'm one of your councillors how can I help you". You'd probably need to get admin to create one. And yes it does create work servicing this avenue for casework. 'My' ward has a title for an area roughly twice the size of my ward with bits of other wards where the resident think they're in my wards title. Hope that makes sense. Warrington is a much bigger place so you might become the cllr for Warrington. Nice problem to have. Regards james’ I’m definitely going to pass on the Cllr Warrington suggestion – I’m busy enough with 8,000 residents. In a follow up email James writes “I've had 1,800 comments over 30 months and 65,000 views of the thread ["I'm one of your councillors how can I help you"]….. from a 30,000 population and huge numbers recognise me on the doorstep as they lurk on the forum. Regards james” As you will realise I have just included the relevant parts of his emails, hopefully with Gary’s advice he will post a comment or two on here. Remember this is only one of many ways to communicate with councillors and officers – many are viewers. I can assure you that even answering, what might seem a simple question, means that any councillor or officer replying has to think very carefully what they say and how they say it. To give a quick response especially unguarded can and has does cause problems – it also takes time and effort. However if it adds clarity then that should be a good thing? If it results in an official press release then that can’t be bad either because it will reach an even wider audience BUT if it leads to flame wars then that will do nobody any good whatsoever. The offer of a keen administrator is more than welcome but to think that will be the final piece in the discussion jigsaw no I don’t think so. It will certainly depend on the topic under discussion and maybe cross-party non political topics would be the way to start like the cantilever bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 While Gary does a great job of publicising the info we send him, we'd be happy to flag up things that we think might interest the regular forum users. A quick look at the consultations currently 'live' on our website (purple box on right hand side of homepage) shows that we have one ongoing now, for non-residential adult social care charges, if you're interested? Thank you for the plaudits - but there is more than just Gary - perhaps I should change my name to WWWorldwide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 Maybe Gary could be persuaded to create a new area called “Ask the Council” with a set of forum T&C’s slightly modified to prevent deliberate political council bashing. Bill The question time section was set up exactly for that purpose in conjunction with the council but had to be changed to a general question section because the council stopped responding. But if the current members of the communication team are happy to respond to your questions regarding council issues there is no harm in using that section. We have more than enough topic areas in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WBCouncil Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 This all sounds good to us. We tend to check out the Local Issues topics anyway and we'll now monitor the Question Time section too so hopefully we'll pick up on any new posts or questions without too much delay, but please bear with us while we get the hang of it! We've forwarded the question about the Cantilever Bridge to our highways team and as soon as we have an answer for you, we'll post it up. Looking forward to debating more topics together... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 Peter... your question about the cantilever bridge has been answered on the front news page today. Can't post the link as I'm using my mobile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 Peter... your question about the cantilever bridge has been answered on the front news page today. Can't post the link as I'm using my mobile Yup, I know thank you. First port of call every day. But WBC either don't read the news page or there is more to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WBCouncil Posted October 4, 2011 Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 Well, looks like we've been scooped by WW! The detail on diversion routes is hopefully helpful but we'd be interested to know if anyone has been experiencing problems or delays? As for there being more to it, the work is being carried out by Manchester Ship Canal/Peel because the bridge joints on either end have weakened and need strengthening, so while they're at it, they're going to resurface the bridge at the same time. The traffic diversions have been planned and are being managed by our highways team, hence the request for feedback about whether those are working smoothly. Sorry it's a bit late but hopefully we can persuade our colleagues to come back to us more quickly on other topics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted October 4, 2011 Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 I came over Cantilever Bridge today and no sign of any works? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted October 4, 2011 Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 The detail on diversion routes is hopefully helpful but we'd be interested to know if anyone has been experiencing problems or delays? They wont have 'yet' as according to the news article that was on here it starts next week That could explain why you went over today Gary and saw no sign of works. I don't go that way very often but two members of my family do on a daily basis both ways so no doubt I will hear a daily whinge 'if' there are any problems or delays. The proposed times of the closures are not around rush hour though so maybe it will be ok as long as they do stick to those times. Anyway just for info... from the news page last week Work will be carried out in phases and the borough council has made orders for temporary prohibitions of driving and footpath closures along the full length of the bridge over a period six weeks. Phase One will include the closure of the Bridge between 9pm on Fridays and 6am on Mondays for the weekends of October 7-10, 14-17, 21-24 and 28-31. The second phase will include closure of the bridge between 9.30am and 3.30pm from Monday October 31 to Friday, November 4 and from Monday, November 7 to Friday November 11. Access will be under the control of the contractor and signs will be in place during the works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted October 4, 2011 Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 THANK YOU WBC for the explanation! Gary, the signs are out there for you to read. Dizzy, they "don't" have to go over they Cantilever!!!!!! :roll: :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted October 4, 2011 Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 Stop giving me Peter... you are starting to annoy me now so get over what ever little niggles you seem to have these days I never said people had to go over there. I also said it may not be a probem if they do stick to the times they have said (ie the contractors not the council by the way). I also posted the dates and times to be helpful too incase people had forgotten. AND I was certainly not having a go at WBCouncil and I gave them a Blummin' heck if you want me to change just cos some council bods are now posting on here then tough. Infact they've probably been reading for so long that they expect it anyway and who knows they may even like to be treated like everyone else as part of the forum rather than complete 'aliens'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 I wasn't suggesting that you were having a go. I was giving WBC some thanks and encouragement. I will also say, thank you Dizzy for your informed post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 THANK YOU WBC for the explanation! Gary, the signs are out there for you to read. and the sign STILL says work due to start October 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 Well who knows and yet another dilemma for us to ponder over. Maybe it should have started hence the question from WBCouncil and your news report was wrong 'Due to' is different than 'will' though. Don't worry about Gary and the possitive side is that many people are probably going the other way cos they 'think' there are road works on it so you are probably getting a clearer route Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffrey Settle Posted October 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 Hi all getting back to the communicating with councillors thread I've started one on a manx forum - just to see what they think of their politicians. Isle of Man Forum What do you make of their responses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.