Tuesday 27 March 2012

Dear Mr Pervez

I would like to completely endorse everything that Richard Snell from ‘Save our Stoke’ said in the letter that he recently sent to you.

I am a long-standing and long-suffering resident of this city and have become increasingly disillusioned with successive councils by their stubborn destruction and passive neglect of this once fine city. 

There isn't anything I can add to the letter. However, I would like to ask a question and would appreciate an answer that is sincere and honest and not couched in corporate jargon from the communication team that has been regurgitated time and time again. My question is this: ‘If, against the overwhelming majority of public opinion, this decision to spend millions of pounds on a new civic centre and become the anchor tenant in the CBD in order to attract other businesses turns out to be an unmitigated disaster, will you and the rest of the decision-makers be willing to publicly admit your mistake?’

I know an apology will do nothing to right a colossal wrong, but a sudden attack of conscience is probably the best the people of Stoke-on-Trent can hope for.

Yours sincerely

Anne Farrington
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Pervez's response:

Dear Ms Farrington,

Jobs don't get created overnight and I've yet to come across a local authority which has managed to get jobs overnight.

These things take time and all we can do is to create the right conditions to attract the inward investment and support existing businesses.

Central Business District is important to us to improve the range of jobs we have in the city. I appreciate the local authority kick starting this development is contentious but it is not a totally unknown concept. Currently we have a derelict site which is difficult to market as is. Once we have kick started the development and the necessary land assembly is complete then we will be in a much better position to attract the necessary interest.

The worst case scenario is that we can do all this and still not get any interest in the site. This is a potential risk, I am well aware of this but the risk of doing nothing is far greater.

For years we have shied away from difficult decisions and have seen our city go into decline. City's which have got their act together have succeeded.

Our vision for jobs and growth will benefit the whole city not just the city centre.

Jobs is what our people want and this is what our vision sets out to do. The Central Business District is just one element.

We are also in negotiations with Central Government over a City Deal to make Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire an economic powerhouse for advanced materials (ceramics, metals, polymers etc.) which will involve making our employment sites fit for purpose, up-skilling our workforce and driving Research & Development in the area.

I make no apologies for striving for jobs and growth in the city.

Best Regards,
Councillor Mohammed Pervez,
Leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council & Councillor for Moorcroft Ward.
Tel: 01782 232468

Monday 26 March 2012

Dear Councillor Pervez,
I am writing to inform you that I have read a printout of the letter recently sent to you by Richard Snell regarding what he sees as “The betrayal of Stoke on Trent.” There is nothing in his letter that I find I could take exception to, or disagree with and I fully support and endorse what Mr Snell is saying.

It has long been my belief that the City Council, over which you preside, is mis-managed and totally inadequate. You seem to operate a system of secrecy, bad management of financial risk with some of the most inexplicable decision making being carried out in secret. Decisions which you, your Councillor colleagues and the Officers either deny have ever happened or by a process of miscommunication you have attempted to keep from opposition Councillors and the people of Stoke on Trent. 

Not only is the Council wasteful you also have the temerity to take huge risks with our money which will result in debts that we and our children will be repaying in years to come. You have become adept at ignoring the people of this city and have indulged in some fantasy that the CBD will solve all of our problems when we know from past experience that this is not so.

As Mr Snell has made these public allegations I look forward to your reply also being made public. I do however think that like everything else, you will employ your PR team to think up some strategy to completely “muddy the waters” in an attempt to keep the truth from the people of Stoke-on-Trent.

Finally I would just like to remind you that 2015 is not too far away.

Yours sincerely.

Alan Lear
Dear Mr Lear,

You are entitled to your opinion. You don't need to remind us of elections. We already know. Our strategy is based on creating the right conditions for jobs and growth in the city. This is not about elections but about future generations.

Best Regards,
Councillor Mohammed Pervez,
Dear Councillor Pervez,
Thanks for your reply in particular regarding your strategy for creating the right conditions for jobs and growth in the city. I totally support any strategy that will create jobs and growth and bring prosperity back to this city as I’m sure that other protesters will echo.

Successive Labour led councils and inadequate Officers have, through their ill-conceived plans, reduced our future generations’ prospects to greater deprivation and poverty. Education standards and attainment fall well below regional and national averages and I know that education drives aspiration and ambition. In addition your strategy will encumber this generation even further by attracting thousands of minimum paid jobs in the retail and service sectors so they will be faced with a lifetime of worry because they are in jobs that attract in-work benefits and leave them with very little discretionary disposable income. You will also add to their burden by saddling them with a debt for a move that 90% of the people of this city have shown that they don’t support or need. That’s what your opinion and strategy will give our future generation.

My opinion and strategy is based on the fact that I know the conditions for growth and job creation already exist. I know that our economy is built upon the efforts and entrepreneurship of small to medium enterprises. Just look in the Yellow Pages and let this guide you. You could contact every business in the SIX TOWNS and ask them what it would take for them to employ just one extra member of staff, particularly from the young and elderly unemployed. You could then give them the conditions for doing that. You could do that tomorrow and would see the fruits of these efforts in a very short time. You don’t have to build a Central Business District taking years, build on what exists.

I am sure that my strategy would not cost anywhere near the figures I hear quoted for the move of the civic centre and would benefit the city AS A WHOLE and not just one part of it. What is the point of an attractive retail centre when you have to pass through five ghettos to get to it?

Finally, and like many others, I will oppose you or anyone I feel is not doing their job of representing the people they were elected to serve so I suppose that takes care of some of my plans until 2015.

Yours sincerely,

Alan Lear

Sunday 25 March 2012

Dear Mr Pervez

I would like to completely endorse everything that Richard Snell from ‘Save our Stoke’ said in the letter that he recently sent to you.

I am a long-standing and long-suffering resident of this city and have become increasingly disillusioned with successive councils by their stubborn destruction and passive neglect of this once fine city. 

There isn't anything I can add to the letter. However, I would like to ask a question and would appreciate an answer that is sincere and honest and not couched in corporate jargon from the communication team that has been regurgitated time and time again. My question is this: ‘If, against the overwhelming majority of public opinion, this decision to spend millions of pounds on a new civic centre and become the anchor tenant in the CBD in order to attract other businesses turns out to be an unmitigated disaster, will you and the rest of the decision-makers be willing to publicly admit your mistake?’

I know an apology will do nothing to right a colossal wrong, but a sudden attack of conscience is probably the best the people of Stoke-on-Trent can hope for.

Yours sincerely

Anne Farrington
Dear Mr Coulborn,

Thank you for your email. Like you I am also proud of our City in terms of its heritage, six towns, hard working people and two football teams.

That is why we acted decisively when it came to the rescue of Port Vale FC on the hour of their need; that is why we are in negotiations with central government over a City Deal to make Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire an economic powerhouse in terms of advanced materials (ceramics, metals, polymers etc.) and that is why even in these economically difficult times we continue to invest in our city to stimulate jobs creation and growth.

Our state of the art bus station went on display in the last couple of days and what a beautiful building it is. An excellent gateway to our City Centre. We continue to push for the City Sentral development (in terms of retail and Leisure) and are very serious about the creation of a Central Business District (CBD) (high quality office jobs, retail, hotels etc.). So serious that we have taken a bold decision to kick start the CBD development. We are building brand new secondary schools for our future generations.

Whenever I speak to people their number 1 priority remains jobs and growth and this is where the future of our city lies.

The harsh reality of our City is that despite being the 13th largest city in the UK we rank 76th when it comes to the performance of our city centre in terms of the retail offer. Our performance in terms of other key indicators can also be a a lot better.

Being proud of our past is one thing but we also need to secure the City's future and that is why it is so important for us all to work together to promote our city positively to attract the jobs we need for our people. Our strategy is not just about the city centre but the whole city.

If we are going to make a real difference then we have to be bold in our approach and not shy away from difficult decisions. The easiest thing for me to do is to sit back and not make any difficult decisions but this will do nothing for the future of our city.

We have a clear vision for our city, a vision that will create the jobs and growth that our people crying out for and the vision that will transform our city to one which we can continue to be proud of !


Best Regards,
Councillor Mohammed Pervez,