Letters / Abysmal communication
Dear local Councillors,
I refer to the furore over the Vidlin road closures, which begin on Monday, and the abysmal communication practices of the Road Services department of the Council, in relation to this.
I would like to know from each of you, what you are going to do to ensure that in future other areas of Shetland that are likely to be significantly impacted by road closures, are not treated with the same patronising contempt that the current Road Services “standard communication procedures” seem to embody?
I would propose that in order to fulfil its’ duty of care and accountability to the community, the Council should undertake the following, AS A MINIMUM:
- NOTIFY the planning schedule for road maintenance activities via the Council website at the start of the financial year and KEEP THIS UP TO DATE on the website, so that there is complete TRANSPARENCY over the road maintenance activities.
- When there is to be a complete road closure, WRITE to each and every affected household / premises not less than 3 weeks before the intended closure, to notify them.
I understand that the Royal Mail can provide services for leafletting areas as needed, at a very reasonable cost. It would seem to me that this could be a resource efficient way of doing this. - PROVIDE households, shops, and local businesses affected by a road closure with a “Q&A” document answering important questions for the residents affected; in the same type of format that I developed, prepared and provided to the Road Services Department this week (this was NOT their initiative – but they need to adopt it as a standard!!).
- In addition to notifying the emergency services (part of the Road Traffic Act requirements) and the ferries (where appropriate) about road closures, NOTIFY IN WRITING / via e-mail, 3 weeks ahead:
Royal Mail in Lerwick;
The key haulage / supply companies (Streamline, Northwards, Highland Fuels);
The local medical centre;
The Community Care Department;
The Education Department. - Develop and provide a PROPER FEEDBACK PROCESS for all Shetland residents to give feedback to the Roads Service on road maintenance planning proposals and
A simple e-mail; roads-feedback@shetland.gov.uk , or some such,
a PHONE number and
a FREEPOST address (also not very expensive). - Monitor and report on the FEEDBACK obtained (it’s not likely to be a huge task) to make sure that the process is working.
-
ANSWER e-mail communications without delay / without ignoring them:
I understand from the Community Council that a very common frustration is that the Community Council e-mails the Roads Services for information or to report a problem and seldom gets a reply. This is rude and shows an arrogance of attitude that needs to be dispensed with. For example, our local Community Council e-mailed the Roads Services Department on 1st September 2016, asking when the proposed road closure would take place. It took a month before they got a reply – on 2nd October.
I look forward to hearing from you
Dr Helen Erwood
Lunna House,
Lunna
Vidlin
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