Orca
Well-Known Member
I have a friend who works at the LGO and I was chatting to her last night about the Academy situation. I asked for her advice over whether anyone could make a complaint about the Council and impending loss of the Academy facility.
If you recall, the minutes of the meeting the Councillor attended to ratify the sale of the Ricoh to Wasps included a number of points about the protection of the Club. Specifically the minutes stated:
"The commitment that any deal relating to the Ricoh Arena would not be approved unless the following three tests were satisfied: (1) A good deal for the City (2) The security and future of Coventry City Football Club (3) The security and future of Coventry Rugby Club"
The document also went on to state "The need to ensure the continued regeneration in the North East of the City." and "The intention of Wasps to develop the Ricoh Arena as a conference centre plus a training facility in the future would benefit the City."
Now I've written to my Councillors on this point (see my earlier thread) and unsurprisingly, they haven't replied.
So back to the LGO. If you want to make a complaint about the loss of the Academy or the failure of Wasps to redevelop the Ricoh site you can, but for it to get to the LGO, it has to come from a party who has been 'injured' by the Council's action. Now I can't claim to be personally effected by all of this (other than it making me angry), so if I did complain, the LGO would reject it. However, my contact said that a "Public Interest Body" could complain as they would be seen to be representing a wider community interest. I mentioned the SBT to her and she said, that would work. I guess in theory, it could also be the SCG.
I know there are members of the SBT board on here, although being a relatively new regular visitor, I'm not sure who is who.
For the complaint to work, it would need to exhaust the Council's official complaints procedure and any complaint would need to ensure it is not covering any planning matter as the LGO don't deal with this.
Having used the LGO in the past, I know they can work quite slowly and if it causes delays to the Wasps development, it could help to ensure there is more time to develop a workable solution, or even stop it altogether. I also know that in general terms, Councillors aren't too bothered about being called out by the press or their constituents, but they are bothered when the LGO gets involved.
Does anyone think this is worth pursuing?
If you recall, the minutes of the meeting the Councillor attended to ratify the sale of the Ricoh to Wasps included a number of points about the protection of the Club. Specifically the minutes stated:
"The commitment that any deal relating to the Ricoh Arena would not be approved unless the following three tests were satisfied: (1) A good deal for the City (2) The security and future of Coventry City Football Club (3) The security and future of Coventry Rugby Club"
The document also went on to state "The need to ensure the continued regeneration in the North East of the City." and "The intention of Wasps to develop the Ricoh Arena as a conference centre plus a training facility in the future would benefit the City."
Now I've written to my Councillors on this point (see my earlier thread) and unsurprisingly, they haven't replied.
So back to the LGO. If you want to make a complaint about the loss of the Academy or the failure of Wasps to redevelop the Ricoh site you can, but for it to get to the LGO, it has to come from a party who has been 'injured' by the Council's action. Now I can't claim to be personally effected by all of this (other than it making me angry), so if I did complain, the LGO would reject it. However, my contact said that a "Public Interest Body" could complain as they would be seen to be representing a wider community interest. I mentioned the SBT to her and she said, that would work. I guess in theory, it could also be the SCG.
I know there are members of the SBT board on here, although being a relatively new regular visitor, I'm not sure who is who.
For the complaint to work, it would need to exhaust the Council's official complaints procedure and any complaint would need to ensure it is not covering any planning matter as the LGO don't deal with this.
Having used the LGO in the past, I know they can work quite slowly and if it causes delays to the Wasps development, it could help to ensure there is more time to develop a workable solution, or even stop it altogether. I also know that in general terms, Councillors aren't too bothered about being called out by the press or their constituents, but they are bothered when the LGO gets involved.
Does anyone think this is worth pursuing?