Thursday 31 May 2018

Homes To Be Destroyed in Bent Lion Farm Deal

Addendum 02/06/18 - SMBC have given the developer options on at least 4 separate Land Registry titles including the one that includes these houses. They say the option on this particular title is for development of land close to the houses but does NOT involve them. They will NOT be demolished. It is time Labour Sandwell lifted their self-imposed veil of secrecy surrounding this bent deal and let locals know exactly what they have been up to here!

It is not just the Fields corrupt Labour Sandwell Council are desperate to obliterate at Lion Farm but in the bent property deal with Jeremy Knight-Adams they are going to destroy homes too! Council housing!

The Skidder can exclusively reveal that the dodgy option the bent "socialists" have given the property developer  (believed to be a substantial donor to the Tory Party "lol") includes options to destroy the following houses:

Saladin Avenue:  Nos 1, 2 and 4 to 21 inclusive;

Crusader Close:  Nos 1 to 6 inclusive, 8 to 11 inclusive and 14 to 18 inclusive;

The Templars:  Nos 1, 3 to 5 inclusive, 7 and 8.

No doubt two of the Councillors who have been so anxious to push this through, the joke "Leader" Steve "The Milkman" Eling and Tom Watson's puppet Paul Moore (pictured) have consulted with all local residents (double "lol").


And what of your local councillor (treble "lol") Bill "The Coward of the County"* Gavan? When he was out canvassing did he explain to residents in Saladin, Crusader and The Templars that Eling, Moore and Co are hoping to chuck them out of their homes?????

Of course, it is OK for the wealthy Eling. He has access to a second home in a pretty Derbyshire village so he can escape the traffic congestion, air pollution, chemical pollution, dog sh*t and other urban horrors of Sadders. This is a picture from the actual village where he has been living - no concreting over green space there!


Please note that the Save Lion Farm Fields campaign are holding an event at 7pm on Wednesday 27th June on Newbury Lane, Oldbury starting opposite the Post Office to protest about:

  • the bent deal to Mahboob Hussain's mate and business associate;
  • the secrecy - Sandwell Labour have still not replied to the Skidder's Freedom of Information request despite the intervention of the Office of the Information Commissioner;
  • air pollution;
  • traffic congestion;
  • flood risks,
  • destruction of yet more green space by Labour in urban Sandwell at Lion Farm and elsewhere.

The Black Country is synonymous with chain production and the campaign will form a human chain along Newbury Lane linking hands at 7pm. Please go and give 10 minutes to show your support for saving this vital green space (and homes).


*So called as Gavan twice "played the hard man" with The Skidder before the Lion Farm meeting even threatening him in the street outside the butchers down on the Farm. He was insistent he was going to attend the meeting to tell local people "the truth" about the bent deal but then filled his pants and failed to attend. No doubt when he was out canvassing he thoroughly explained to all the residents of Saladin, Crusader and The Templars that Eling and Co were hoping to chuck them out of their homes?????

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Thursday 24 May 2018

Girlie Name "Jan" Gets His Own Back "Lol"!

On the advice of the Office of The Information Commissioner I made a formal complaint to bent Sandwell Council about their failure to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I hand delivered it to the Oldbury Kremlin on Monday.

Chief Executive [sic] "Jan" Britton's corrupt paid service - tainted by fraud, corruption, cronyism and incompetence - sent me TWO identical letters today from the, wait for it, "Customer Focus Team" addressed thus:


I have rattled Jan's cage recently - he has yet to comment on the circumstances why Ms Liz O'Nions was moved recently from one department to another. He won't say why he has paid compo to six secretaries but forced them to sign confidentiality agreements. (Only he and I know the other stuff.)

Is this girlie-named "Jan" taking the p*ss or just yet another example of how totally useless this lot are?

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Wednesday 23 May 2018

Hackett's Amy Gets The Shaft!

Addendum 5th January, 2020: due to an ongoing legal dispute against me sponsored by the GMB Union I have deleted most of a paragraph plus an original hyperlink and an addendum dated 3rd December, 2018. I have retained an addendum of 2nd October, 2019 and added an hyperlink.

Let me take you back to January. The "comrades" had finally arranged a show trial for Cllr Ian Jones on trumped up nonsense (ie that the late Smethwick Scumbag Darren Cooper had ordered that the plot of land at Florence Road, Smethwick be removed from an auction and sold privately to Cllr Mohammad Rouf's son. Jonesy was allegedly in breach of the code of conduct for simply passing this order on to members of Jan Britton's bent paid service).

Regular readers will know from the infamous WhatsApp feed (posts passim) that a number of Councillors, including the feeble "Leader", Steve "The Milkman" Eling, were determined to destroy Jonesy who was seen as a threat to the new regime. To make sure that the Standards Committee came to the right decision on the evidence, ahem, Sandwell's highly controversial new Monitoring Officer, Surjit Tour, arranged a top secret meeting the day before the hearing with the Committee members. You would have thought the four Councillors - Lewis, Trow, Shackleton and Crompton - would have been experienced enough to have realised the irregularity of all this but dutifully turned up anyway. But info of the pow-wow leaked out.....

There were reports that a male person in Oldbury Council House went ballistic when the leak became public knowledge. Someone decided that it must have come from one or more of the seven secretaries working for the Cabinet members. The male was heard shouting "I want the f*ckers out and I don't want the f*ckers back." Apparently Jan Britton was not in the office (though it is doubtful if his brooding presence would have made any difference given his willingness to toe the Labour Party line) but a person or persons unknown then suspended the seven - just like that! Part of the Council's computer system was locked down as the mole hunt began.

I initially reported - from information received - that the ranting male was Herr Eling which was the same information many others received. Eling never contacted me to correct this (although I have referred to his unproven denial in this blog) but he ran to his pals at West Midlands Police and said that I was guilty of criminal harassment for reporting that it was him!

But mystery still surrounds this whole affair. It was initially said that a lowly grunt in the bent paid service, Stuart Taylor, had been responsible for this crazed and arbitrary decision which always seemed improbable. This was then changed to "council managers acting on the advice of human resources" had made the absurd order. But now SMBC are refusing to answer a Freedom of Information (FOI) request as to who made the fateful decision. Further, the foul-mouthed shouter who demanded the suspensions has still not been identified.

West Bromwich West Labour Party were disgusted that seven workers could be treated in this way by their own Party and put forward a motion of censure which stated, inter alia:

"Such actions are a fundamental abuse of natural justice, a breach of trade union agreed processes and are contrary to the historic values of the Labour Party." Ouch!

I was told immediately that the leak had NOT come from the secretaries and, lo and behold, no evidence was found that it had. After a period of gardening leave they were all re-instated. They quite rightly consulted their unions. But here the story takes another odd twist....

I have blogged about Darren and Sarah James* - well paid GMB officials xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Ms James, a woman who was obsessed with the soft porn sado masochistic novels of E. L. James, has caught the eye of two of Labour's most notorious shaggers (no, not you Dave) Corbyn and [Tom] Watson.

http://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2014/12/skidder-shorts-no-22-hilarity-at.html

Addendum 03/12/18 - xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Addendum 2nd October, 2019: for those that have been attempting to make trouble for me it should be remembered that it is perfectly legal for councillors other than those of relevant wards to assist housing applicants if requested pursuant to The Allocation of Housing (Procedure) Regulations 1997 (SI 1997/483). Indeed Sandwell Labour Councillors, including the current Leader, assure me that this is a daily occurrence for many of them.

There has been a suspicion - voiced to the Skidder by some GMB members - that the Union has been less than enthusiastic in upholding their rights where Sandwell Council is concerned. Of the seven secretaries I understand that six were in Unite but that one, the secretary of The Sandwell Slasher, Simon Hackett, who I believe from the SMBC website is Amy Hodgkins, wasn't. Unite have secured compensation for their wronged six but the GMB were apparently not prepared to help poor Amy against their pals. Unite's six have, however, been forced to sign confidentiality clauses so Labour are still trying to hush this all up! BUT IT IS TAXPAYERS' MONEY that the bent Council is now forking out ie they are stealing it from you and I to cover up their shocking and disastrous decision.

I have gone to the Information Commissioner to try and force out the name of the person or persons who made the ridiculous order in the first place because it is clearly essential that disciplinary action is taken against them for gross abuse of power that has directly led to the loss of taxpayers' money.

Last night I asked cabinet members Eling, Hackett, Trow, Costigan and Hossell how much the secretaries got and why it was being kept secret. Eling and Hackett made no comment. Trow and Costigan claimed they didn't know anything about this!!!!! Hossell said the same initially but then said it was Amy's fault she lost out as "she was in the wrong Union and should have been in mine"! This is bizarre as the unemployed Hossell claims in his Register of Interests to be a member of the, er, GMB!!!!


I also attempted to ask the same Councillors, irrespective of Amy's Union affiliation, was it a "socialist" thing to do to compensate six colleagues and not her? Answer came there none....

Jan Britton made an appearance outside last night and I asked him for comment but he too said nowt. He must have signed this rotten deal off and he must now say what really happened and how much it has cost US!

Conspiracy Theory

Tom Watson used to be bankrolled by Unite's long-suffering members but they have turned their back on him. The vicious bully - who controls Hackett and some other Councillors - is now declaring donations from the, er, GMB. Nudge, nudge - wink, wink!

But Hackett's Jodie Gets The Mine....

Sandwell Council's allegedly "independent" audit team under one Peter Farrow (cf the WhatsApp feed) have had information for some time about Councillor Hackett and senior employee Jim Brennan actively involving themselves in the Council housing requirements of Cllr Hackett's personal friend Jodie xxxxxx. As nothing has apparently been done I asked Hackett about this last night but he made no comment. But here is an actual screenshot of a Sandwell Council computer showing that he was involved in one of the two dodgy transactions involving this young lady. Why and how? This is AFTER Hackett had been "cleared" (following the intervention of Herr Eling "lol") of five serious allegations of breaches of the Code of Conduct.... Over to you WMP!


Nothing is ever black and white in Sadders. It's always 50 Shades of Grey.....

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Monday 21 May 2018

Lion Farm Fields - ASDA Money????

In the social club at Lion Farm Fields the bent Labour Council put up a sign (pictured) boasting how they had given the fields to the people of Sandwell "forever". But with these lying "socialist" sh*ts "forever" means FIVE (yes, 5) months before Cllrs Hussain and Hackett agreed to try and sell the land to property developer, Jeremy Knight Adams. Soon afterwards the deal was approved by current "Leader" Steve "The Milkman" Eling and Tom Watson MP's puppet in the SMBC "Cabinet", Paul Moore (with others).


The deeply corrupt Council are currently STILL refusing to disclose the Trust Deed (despite pressure from just one solitary councillor apparently) and Fields in Trust are refusing to release it without the bent Council's agreement which they currently will not give. Ask yourselves why that is folks....

The plaque also seems to indicate the involvement of ASDA in all this but when Oldbury man Pete Durnell, Acting Chair of the Save Lion Farm Fields Campaign, contacted them they were very coy about the whole scheme and also declined to say how much they put into all this!

The beleaguered Herr Eling promised transparency when he became Leader but continues to try and hide this fraudulent transaction under "Junction 2 Regeneration". He and Moore pushed this project forward in November and January and many of you will now be aware that surveyors were out on the Fields last week. But all we are getting is more "secrets and lies". The failing Council has STILL not answered my main Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request despite the Office of the Information Commissioner writing to them to do so on 11th May. Labour is once again p*ssing on you folks and telling you it is raining....

But another FOI has been answered and seems to raise more questions than answers. It now appears that only PART of the Fields may be subject to the Trust. You will see from the following that Fields in Trust held a covenant relating to land where bent Labour have built the Portway Leisure Centre and that they transferred the covenant to PART of Lion Farm and other venues (including, ironically, Londonderry Fields which Eling also wants to destroy now.) It is essential that folk continue to lobby local councillors for the full details of  exactly what is in Trust and what isn't!

The original decision was made by Councillor Ian Jones in 2010 and is set out below but another strange feature is that the sleazy "socialists" say they had no communication with ASDA or the ASDA Foundation at all with regard to any of this either orally or in writing and they received no monies or other benefits in kind from them! This begs the question why they put up a plaque boasting of being in "partnership" with ASDA!!!

It is possible that ASDA did give money to Fields in Trust relating to Lion Farm but neither of them have commented hitherto. If money was given where the hell is it? These two organisations need to start giving some answers here!

The Save Lion Farm Fields Campaign will be organising a proper demo at the Fields in due course but invite supporters to show their disgust at this deal at Oldbury Council House tomorrow night at 4.45 to 5.45 (before the ghastly mayor-making "show"). Please come along if you can as things are now moving quickly and these sleazebags need to know the strength of local feeling. Please bring some signs etc if you come and make sure you also come and have a word with The Skidder and Pete Durnell. (See also - Save Lion Farm Fields - Facebook Group and @LoveLionFarm on Twitter).

Here is the 2010 document:








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Thursday 17 May 2018

Dave Thompson's Blues Interfere in Democratic Process

We have seen time and time again in this blog the very unhealthy "partnership" between West Midlands Police (WMP) and bent Sandwell Labour Council. A Freedom of Information Act reply today shows that because they are still determined to close down this blog they are interfering in the democratic process by "advising" Sandwell Council's highly controversial Monitoring Officer [sic] not to investigate Standards Complaints dating as far back as November.

I have four outstanding standards complaints in against Cllrs Eling, Marshall, Costigan and Rouf. Thanks to what the Police have done Marshall has now got off scot free as Labour have booted him off the Council (against The Milkman's wishes). The public have been deprived - probably deliberately - of hearing Marshall's evidence and he cannot now be compelled to give evidence about the dictatorial Herr Eling either. Nice work for your pals WMP!

WMP continue to puff Sandwell Labour at every opportunity and throughout the purdah period. They were even at it on election day!!!


Regular readers will know that Costigan lied to WMP about me leafleting against the Wednesbury BID in the town (hardly a criminal offence anyway). I was nothing to do with the campaign to get the rigged ballot overturned (step forward for congratulations local activist Darryl Magher) but it now turns out WMP were! I was mystified why they were interrogating me under caution anout the bent BID but I have just found out they, WMP, had supported the scheme through the bent process - something they managed to fail to tell me or my Solicitor at the time!


This is a letter I am just posting to the Chief Constable with a copy to the Home Secretary. The Monitoring Officer has a statutory duty to investigate the Standards Complaints and the moral Cowards in Blue are deliberately interfering in this process. On what grounds and for how long?

In any event the complaint about Costigan is based purely on documentary evidence which has been disclosed via this blog so how can Thompson and Co purport to stop that investigation into their honorary Wednesbury "Gold Commander"?

Here is the letter (already sent and there are a couple of typos and lack of appropriate punctuation in places):


Mr D. Thompson, Chief Constable,                                                           
West Midlands Police                                                                               
Lloyd House                                                                                                 17/05/18
Colmore Circus
Birmingham B4 6NQ

Cc:  The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, Home Secretary, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF

Dear Mr Thompson,

West Midlands Police - Interference in Internal Affairs of Council

THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION

I am writing primarily about WMP advising Sandwell Council not to proceed with Standards Investigations against three Councillors. But it is worth reminding the public of your force’s capitulation in upholding the rule of law where the rotten Borough is concerned. Here is a non-exhaustive list of significant concerns:

1   A WMP Inspector said the force deliberately allowed the time limit for prosecution to expire in the case of the election of Lucy Cashmore;

2   DS Gilice gave advanced notice to the said Cashmore when visiting her at an address where she did not live;

3   WMP failed on a number of occasions to investigate failures by sundry Sandwell Councillors to make truthful declarations in the Register of Interests - again letting time limits expire.

4   Failed to investigate the advertisement and sale of Council property by individuals in Tipton either adequately or at all;

5   WMP have been using at least two Labour Councillors as informants;

6   Your force permitted inappropriate relationships to form eg a senior officer bragging about golf and spa days with “SMBC Colleagues” [sic];

7   A police inspector is said to have had a sexual relationship with a disgraced director of the Council;

8   Your force has promoted Sandwell Labour via social media on hundreds of occasions including on election day this month. The constant social media and other interaction between WMP and Costigan is wholly inappropriate.

9   You or a senior officer blocked investigations of social media harassment by Darren Cooper of myself, my wife and others,

10  You or a senior officer blocked a major fraud investigation into Sandwell Council with your panoply of powers on the basis Sandwell would conduct a limited private enquiry via a firm of solicitors at huge expense to the public;

11  WMP failed to discipline WPC Charlene Tranter for her wholly inappropriate involvement in the Lee Garmston affair;

12  Your force has failed to investigate a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice following the actions of Street Warden 18 Chris Jones in the Hackett public urination affair. Jones may have been innocent of wrongdoing but has not told the true version of events to internal SMBC enquiries where there has been conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. WMP have used social media showing publicly-funded officers of WMP working on the streets with Jones which is wholly inappropriate until he has been investigated and cleared.

13  Your force has harassed and continues to harass me and to close down my blog.

14   Failed to investigate possible fraud and false accounting relating to “Wednesbury Celebrates”

15   WMP failed to investigate a £15m false accounting black-hole in the SMBC accounts.

16   Even though the SMBC audit committee expressed concern with regard to land deals involving Cllrs Rouf and Bawa, WMP have failed to investigate adequately or at all.

17   WMP have failed to interview under caution various prominent players at the Council who should have been in a position to spot fraud and corruption but failed to do so eg Eling, Britton, Bubalo, Sharma, Scarrott and others.

18   Two of your officers mislead my Solicitor about the allegations against me when trying to close down my blog. Further, and bizarrely (as I had nothing to do with it), they interviewed me about Wednesbury BID without disclosing that WMP were directly involved and had supported the BID through the rigged election - now overturned by the Sec of State.

Returning to the standards issues:

1   I made standards complaints against Cllrs Eling and Marshall on 30th November, 2017 (nearly six months ago) with further issues being added later. I wish to know the legal grounds that you rely on to contact the Council and advise them not to proceed with the investigation? Further, it was Eling’s plan to keep Marshall as a Councillor until he was suspended by the Labour Party etc. Had Marshall been allowed to stand the voting public would not have been aware that he faced serious standards allegations. As it is, due to your failure to advise SMBC to the contrary, Marshall is no longer a councillor and has escaped the standards process. Further he cannot now be compelled to give evidence when the standards investigation into Eling eventually takes place. You have prevented - so far - a legitimate complaint into Eling’s conduct. Whilst he was not standing for election this time round he is the Leader of the Council and the public were entitled to know on election day that he faced standards allegations. WMP have interfered in the democratic process to the disadvantage of Sandwell people.

2   Sandwell have also failed to proceed with the standards allegations concerning Cllr Costigan. This is based on absolute hard fact ie she failed to disclose certain emails (which I have disclosed) where she was soliciting donations from a company involved in a controversial planning application. What right has WMP to involve itself in stopping that enquiry and, indeed, why are WMP not investigating the same incident as she also failed to declare an interest at the actual planning committee meeting?

Of course, it is the same three councillors who have made allegations against me which you HAVE chosen to investigate.

For how much longer to you intend to prevent the Monitoring Officer from carrying out his statutory duties and on what continuing grounds?

I am copying this to the Home Secretary.

Yours faithfully,


Julian Saunders

thesandwellskidder@gmail.com


End.

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Sunday 13 May 2018

Lion Farm - More Secrecy!

At the bottom of this post is the so-called "report" to bent Sandwell Council's Labour "Cabinet" prepared by new director Dr Alison Knight. Knight had been employed by Sandwell before and had been heavily involved in a disastrous project called "Click Sandwell." In my recent blog, "Twice a Knight", I quoted an outside senior observer with knowledge of the programme and local government who stated, "it is without doubt the worst project I have ever seen."

I wondered how Knight had come to be re-employed following this catastrophe and mentioned the rumour that she has "friends in Derbyshire". Another SMBC employee heavily involved in the Click debacle was one Pamela Pulsford, now Pamela Eling, wife of the embattled Council Leader, Steve "The Milkman" Eling. It is said that Knight is one of the very few people who has been prepared to "out" herself as a "friend of Pamela". No doubt this was all declared when the grovelling "Chief Executive" of Sandwell Council, Jan Britton, re-appointed Knight despite the Click fiasco!

http://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/twice-knight.html

Knight had only been back with the corrupt Council for a couple of months when her political masters had her prepare the report which, as before, was hidden from obvious view by using the false and misleading title "Junction 2 Regeneration". The presenting Cabinet member, an employee and puppet of Tom Watson MP, Paul Moore (pictured), accepted it without question even though it contained such nonsense as there being environmental benefits in destroying 19ha of green space to build a shopping centre!!!


But the "report", either deliberately or negligently, contained one particularly egregious omission ie that in 2016 the very same venal Council had approved planning permission for another shopping centre by Sandwell & Dudley Station to huge retail operators, Hammerson. Accordingly, I wrote this email to the sleazebags:

"From: Vincent Alexandervich <thesandwellskidder@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 24, 2018 at 10:45 AM
Subject: Lion Farm - serious omission from Cabinet Report
To: Jan Britton <jan_britton@sandwell.gov.uk>, Paul Moore <paul_moore@sandwell.gov.uk>, sharon_davies@cllr.sandwell.org.uk, mahboob_hussain@sandwell.gov.uk, yvonne_davies@sandwell.gov.uk, maria_crompton@sandwell.gov.uk, peter_allen@cllr.sandwell.org.uk, suzanne_hartwell@cllr.sandwell.org.uk
Cc: Pete Durnell 


THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION

Dear Sir,

I write with regard to very serious issues arising from the Report to Cabinet in November last - Agenda Item 14 - prepared by Dr Alison Knight and presented by Cllr Paul Moore.

The Report as presented was grossly misleading in that it totally failed to even mention highly material facts since the original secret deal in 2012/13 ie the grant of planning permission in May, 2016 to Hammerson plc to develop their own retail/leisure centre close to Lion Farm at The Junction site in Oldbury - to be provisionally known as Fountain Retail Park.

This is an an obvious gamechanger. In 2012 SMBC made the ludicrous claim that Lion Farm would attract £200m of investment and create 2000 jobs. That nonsense is repeated at Para 3.2 of Dr Knight's report as historical detail but then represented as fact at paragraph 6.2.

At paragraph 4.2 Dr Knight states that the plans for Lion Farm will show "the differentiated nature of the offer from local centres such as West Bromwich" whilst totally ignoring the Hammerson planning permission.

Was Dr Knight's omission of highly material information deliberate? If so, why? Alternatively, was the egregious omission the result of gross incompetence?

Were all cabinet members who voted to extend the option in November aware of Hammerson's planning permission.? If so, how were they made aware of it and why is there no mention of it in the minutes of their decision?

The Cabinet decision was put to the full Council in January. How many of the Councillors were aware that the Cabinet had not been fully aware of key facts when making their odd and controversial decision? 

I am sending a copy of this mail to Hammerson. 

Julian Saunders"

At the time of writing Mahboob Hussain was still a Councillor.

This is the shocking and facetious reply from Britton*:

"From: Jan Britton <jan_britton@sandwell.gov.uk>
Date: Tue, May 8, 2018 at 2:14 PM
Subject: RE: Lion Farm - serious omission from Cabinet Report
To: Vincent Alexandervich <thesandwellskidder@gmail.com>

I have considered your email below and I do not agree with your assertion that highly material facts were omitted from the report presented to Cabinet in November last year. 

Jan Britton
Chief Executive"

You will see the list of Councillors I sent this to (I accidentally omitted Cllr Bob Price who has hitherto supported the campaign to save Lion Farm Fields) and I have to say, knowing some of them, that I was surprised they were happy for Britton to write in this way given the facts. I will now be sending a questionnaire to all Councillors who were at the January meeting of the Council and waved Paul Moore's destructive plan through whether THEY were aware of the true facts.

The Skidder's Freedom of Information Request

Regular readers and folks who attended the Lion Farm public meeting will know that a Freedom of Information (FOI) request was submitted which Jan Britton arranged to be only partially answered. When I queried this his staff - presumably acting on his instructions - attempted to "split" the FOI so that part of my queores became a "new request" and the other part went for internal review.

Jan Britton seems wholly incapable of applying the law of the land to FOI requests and this was no exception with SMBC failing to then answer either part of the self-imposed "split" request. I duly appealed to the Information Commissioner and his office have now written to bent Sandwell asking them to answer the request. Watch this space! (So much for Herr Eling's false promises of transparency, eh readers?)

Lion Farm Email

Many of you will now that a public meeting was recently held on Lion Farm. Before the meeting the Lion Farm campaigners asked politely for the documents referred to in the Land Registry search that are not available electronically via the website. Again, in Herr Eling's new "open" "lol" Council you would have thought that these documents might be forthcoming. But even though this was a polite enquiry Jan Britton turned it into a Freedom of Information request. He has refused to supply the documents forcing the Lion Farm folk to spend money on further Land Registry applications and is refusing to say what the secret deal is with Jeremy Knight Adams on the ground of  "commercial confidentiality" which is a bit rich when Knight-Adams was introduced to the Council by Hussain, no minutes of secret meetings were made and then he was given an option at a meeting where the public were barred from seeing documents and were not permitted to attend! All other parties including big companies like Hammerson and INTU (the Merry Hill people) were equally kept in the dark and all competitors locked out. This is NOT a confidential deal it is just a SECRET deal! The Lion Farm folk have applied for an internal review!

This from the Lion Farm Campaign:

"Date: Wed, Apr 18, 2018 at 4:22 PM
Subject: Lion Farm
To: jan_britton@sandwell.gov.uk
Cc: paul_moore@sandwell.gov.uk, petedurnell@hotmail.com, bill_gavan@cllr.sandwell.org.uk, Yvonne Davies <yvonne_davies@sandwell.gov.uk>, sharon_davies@cllr.sandwell.org.uk, Robert Price <robert_price@cllr.sandwell.org.uk>, maria_crompton@sandwell.gov.uk, peter_allen@cllr.sandwell.org.uk

Dear Sir, 

We wrote to you on 29th January, 2018 asking you to keep us appraised of any developments with regard to Lion Farm. We did not get the courtesy of a reply.

We have done a revised property search at HM Land Registry on the relevant title - WM951363. For some reason the plans referred to on the title are not available online. 

We have a public meeting about the Playing Fields on Sunday. Can you please have your legal department supply the following as a matter of urgency:

1   The deed of 8th May, 2012 made between the Council and The National Playing Fields Association (now Fields in Trust) plus the plan dated 8th May, 2012;

2   The Agreement and plan dated 21st May, 2013 between SMBC and Jeremy Knight Adams.

Due to the constraints of time we are happy to collect the documents from OCH (either Mr Durnell or a nominated representative) and we will meet your reasonable copying charges."

And this the so-called "Freedom of Information" Reply:

"Information Request - FS-Case-73371676

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. In response to your request I can confirm the following:

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request as per the following details. Please see below also the Council's response. Dear Sir, We wrote to you on 29th January, 2018 asking you to keep us appraised of any developments with regard to Lion Farm. We did not get the courtesy of a reply. We have done a revised property search at HM Land Registry on the relevant title - WM951363. For some reason the plans referred to on the title are not available online. We have a public meeting about the Playing Fields on Sunday. Can you please have your legal department supply the following as a matter of urgency: 1 The deed of 8th May, 2012 made between the Council and The National Playing Fields Association (now Fields in Trust) plus the plan dated 8th May, 2012; 2 The Agreement and plan dated 21st May, 2013 between SMBC and Jeremy Knight Adams. Due to the constraints of time we are happy to collect the documents from OCH (either Mr Durnell or a nominated representative) and we will meet your reasonable copying charges. -- Pete Green (Admin) Save Lion Farm Fields Campaign Acting Chair - Pete Durnell Dear Mr Durrell, Many thanks for your recent email concerning Lion Farm Playing Fields. You raise two specific points and I am able to advise you of the following information: • Firstly, you ask for a copy of the deed of 8th May 2012 made between the Council and the National Playing Fields Association. This document is available at the Land Registry online at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry, at a cost which can be confirmed by the Land Registry. The Council does not usually provide copies of publicly available documents. • Secondly you ask for a copy of the agreement between the Council and Jeremy Knight Adams dated 21st May 2013 . This document is Commercially Confidential Under the Freedom of Information Act, the Council has the obligation to confirm or deny whether it holds the information requested and to disclose it, unless an exemption applies. Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act states that information is exempt from disclosure if it would or would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it). In this case, the Council believes that disclosing the information you requested would prejudice the Council's commercial interest. This is because the information being requested is in the process of being negotiated or re-negotiated and the disclosure of the agreements during this process would have a prejudicial effect on those commercial negotiations. Section 43(2) being a qualified exemption, its application must then be balanced out with the public interest. In this case, the Council is satisfied that the public interest in withholding the information is greater than that in disclosing it. This is because the Council believes that during negotiations/re-negotiations the early disclosure into the public domain of the requested information would not be in the best interests of all the parties, especially the Local Authority who will be endeavoring to ensure monies from or to the public purse are as advantageous as possible. As a result, the Council believes it is entitled not to disclose the requested information to you. If you wish to receive further information in regards to this request or wish to submit a Freedom of Information Request please forward your request to info_management@sandwell.gov.uk or Information Management Unit, Sandwell Council House, Freeth Street, Oldbury, West Midlands, B69 3DE"

Once again certain councillors including Gavan were copied in on this and are seemingly happy with this awful response. (Gavan said before the election he was going to fight to save the Fields which is a bit odd as he is another of Watson's boys thus pitching him against another Tommy puppet, Moore (see above)! Gavan made very aggressive claims that he would attend the public meeting but chickened-out. He has been re-elected and so we shall see what he does next...... Bearing in mind he claims to support the Save Lion Farm Fields he used a tirade of four-letter words telling them never to communicate with him again. What a f*cking joke!)

Spellar

The Lion Farm folk wrote to Spellar but still await a response. As Watson is involved and is allegedly trying to save Spellar's arse from unpleasant allegations within the Labour Party it seems unlikely that Brave John will step up to the plate!

*For newcomers to this blog through the Lion Farm campaign Jan Britton had a very thin CV and was promoted to "Chief Executive" above his pay grade and abilities by the late Darren Cooper, current "leader" Steve Eling and now-disgraced ex-councillor Hussain. He agreed a policy where professional staff would kowtow to these three and other councillors and despite a very high salary he totally failed to notice ANY of the fraudulent/corrupt episodes referred to in this blog (or at least that is what he says and he has apparently never been interviewed under police caution.) Some might think that if he IS telling the truth he is guilty of gross incompetence for his failure to see what was happening and should be fired immediately without compensation but I couldn't possibly comment... Oh, and by the way, this arse-licker extraordinaire presided over the implosion of the bent Council's Children's Services Department so that the Government had to intervene and take it over!

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Here is the link to the Cabinet Report:

https://cmis.sandwell.gov.uk/Cmis5/Document.ashx?czJKcaeAi5tUFL1DTL2UE4zNRBcoShgo=vJuZ7DFwBmaEWqXNeKlz7GgVZ2sezxLNVHYIH8jjVwW0BYF9EWPUMw%3d%3d&rUzwRPf%2bZ3zd4E7Ikn8Lyw%3d%3d=pwRE6AGJFLDNlh225F5QMaQWCtPHwdhUfCZ%2fLUQzgA2uL5jNRG4jdQ%3d%3d&mCTIbCubSFfXsDGW9IXnlg%3d%3d=hFflUdN3100%3d&kCx1AnS9%2fpWZQ40DXFvdEw%3d%3d=hFflUdN3100%3d&uJovDxwdjMPoYv%2bAJvYtyA%3d%3d=ctNJFf55vVA%3d&FgPlIEJYlotS%2bYGoBi5olA%3d%3d=NHdURQburHA%3d&d9Qjj0ag1Pd993jsyOJqFvmyB7X0CSQK=ctNJFf55vVA%3d&WGewmoAfeNR9xqBux0r1Q8Za60lavYmz=ctNJFf55vVA%3d&WGewmoAfeNQ16B2MHuCpMRKZMwaG1PaO=ctNJFf55vVA%3d

Tuesday 1 May 2018

Mohammad Rouf Speaks!

I was picking by way through the canine excrement-smeared streets of Sandwell (aka "Sadwell") yesterday distributing the leaflet set-out below and talking to folk about the 43 years of failure during the Labour dictatorship.

PLEASE NOTE - there were two typos on the first batch of leaflets distributed in the Cape Hill area. The address at 33 Trafalgar Road was accidentally stated as number "23" and Mo owned 23 Wellington Road and not 23 Waterloo Road as stated on some leaflets before amendment. My apologies to the residents of the wrongly stated addresses.

 In Smethwick I bumped into the man himself and we had a long chat. Cllr Rouf was unhappy with what I had been saying about him and I confirmed that I would happily put his comments on this blog which I am now doing.

It is worth noting that I have met Mo on a number of occasions since I started writing about him in 2015 and he has NEVER complained to me that anything I was saying was inaccurate. Given his comments below I asked why he had never said anything before and he said it was because he "wasn't bothered" about what I was writing.

Cllr Rouf pointed out the typos on the leaflet mentioned above and I duly amended all further leaflets there and then.

Mo said he had owned 23 Waterloo Road but never lived there. When I pressed him on that he said he may have lived there but wouldn't tell me. I hope that is, er, clear?

The Labour Candidate for Soho and Vic said he has never had a Sandwell council house in his name. He never lived at 33 Trafalgar Road. He said his Mother lived there and that when she died his sister "gave it back to the Council." This is the first time he has said this in three-plus years.

I asked him where he had been living during these years and he said it was none of my business. I said it was my business if, for example, he had been living outside the Borough and/or using a false address to pretend he was resident in Smethwick. He repeatedly refused to say where he had been living from 2014 (which seems very odd for a Labour candidate) but then eventually said he "may" have been living with his brother. I asked him if he HAD been living with his brother and where that was but he refused to say. I hope that is, er, clear?

Voters should remember that I made a formal complaint to bent West Midlands Police about Rouf making false entries in the Register of Interests but, as they did in the Cashmore debacle, they conveniently let the statutory time limit for taking any action expire. As shown on this blog, the current disastrous "leader" of the Council, Steve "The Milkman" Eling, was unhappy with this and referred to the local plod as "the idiots".

Although the Police actually did nothing, Rouf said this was vindication that his Register of Interests was all ok!!!! I have pointed out many times that this is not the case (posts passim ad nauseum). In particular, Mo had actually declared in the 2015 Register that he had a beneficial interest in 33 Trafalgar Road (ie he owned all or part of it) which was a lie as I had proved by obtaining the Land Registry entry which showed that it was a Sandwell council house! Mo said yesterday that the Land Registry was "wrong" but much as I tried to point out that he had just said his Mother was living there and it was "given back" to the Council he would not say why he had claimed ownership of that property nor why HM Land Registry allegedly had a defective entry for that address. I hope that is, er, clear?

(If the general reader is confused why Rouf would lie in the Register about owning the property the fact is that he would not have been eligible for Council housing and so he could conceal the fact that the corrupt Labour Council had "sorted him out" with a publicly-owned property by claiming ownership of it. That is precisely what another Labour deadbeat - soon to be ex-Councillor Frear - did. Why Rouf claimed an interest in 33 Trafalgar if his Mother had a legitimate tenancy of it unfortunately remains a mystery.)

I asked Cllr Rouf where his son got the money from to buy the Florence Road plot from the corrupt Council and could then afford to build a seven bedroom house on it. In a rare admission from Mo he DID confirm yesterday that whilst all this was going on his son had a failed business venture in Bearwood Road. But Rouf said his son had worked all his life and notwithstanding the business failure "had his own money" which he then used on the Florence Road project.

When I asked Mo why soon to be ex-Councillor Marshall had written in the infamous WhatsApp feed about Marshall and Eling's working to destroy Mo but that Rouf and Ahmed had then had a meeting with Marshall (and Eling????) and signed-up to The Milkman's cause he claimed no knowledge of any of this. I asked him if he had read the WhatsApp feed and he said he had but didn't think any of this could be right. He would not comment further on this. I hope that is, er, clear?


I asked Mo how the corrupt former leader of Sandwell Labour Council, the Smethwick Scumbag Darren Cooper, had come to order that the Florence Road plot be removed from auction to be sold to a different one of his sons. Cllr Rouf said he had no idea and I should ask Cooper - slightly difficult as he is dead! Mo said he had never had any interest in Florence Road and he was unaware his sons were interested in it. Accordingly he had never had a discussion with Cooper or anyone else in the Council about the plot. It was a complete mystery to him how Cooper found out his one son was interested in the property and then stopped the auction sale to sell the plot to him. Rouf had never been curious enough to ask the old wife-beater how he had become involved in the whole sordid affair.

Dazza - if Mo is fibbing please knock twice.......

Mo denied lying to my face when I saw him working in the Midnight Pharmacy (which he says he does on a voluntary basis) during the time the seven bedroom mansion was being built. In an earlier post I described how Mo had told me directly he would NOT be moving into the house himself. Yesterday, he insisted this was all true. He had no interest ever in moving from his unspecified address to the mansion but once his sons (plural) had built it they PLEADED with him to move in and he felt he had to oblige them. As I have always said about Mo - WHAT A GUY!!!!!

Mo was out leafleting in a neighbouring ward yesterday presumably confident that the postal votes have already given him victory. He was with Cllr Ahmed and another gent who kept coming over to us to encourage Mo to move on. Unfortunately I could not question him further on this and other issues but Cllr Rouf did offer a peroration on the merits of Cllr Mahboob Hussain. Mo assured me that all the allegations against him were "rubbish" and that one day local people would see what a great man Mahboob was/is. He had done fantastic work not just for the Muslim Community but for all the people of the Borough. Indeed Sadders, you are truly blessed......

Just remember folks that the embattled Herr Eling promised to "drain the swamp" and rid Labour of the endemic fraud, cronyism, incompetence and corruption. Then two Councillors directly involved in suspicious land deals are reselected by his tawdry local party. You couldn't make it up! And the  local morons will probably vote them back in again. As I have said before: Sandwell, you deserve everything you (don't) get!!

I staggered on from my encounter with Mo yesterday in a state I can only describe as "dazed and confused...."

TWO BENT LAND SALES - TWO BENT LABOUR CANDIDATES?

Two Labour Councillors/their families have done well out of the taxpayer and now you can vote them back in again to get more dosh from you!

COUNCILLOR BABU SINGH BAWA together with Councillor Mahboob Hussain were the ONLY two people to financially benefit from a Compulsory Purchase Scheme that affected many Oldbury residents. ONLY those two and/or their families submitted bids for properties that were then sold to them below value.

COUNCILLOR MOHAMMAD ROUF routinely gave inaccurate declarations of interests but bent West Midlands Police let the time limit for action against him subside. He had/has property interests in Shireland Road, Smethwick yet was given a Sandwell Council house at 33 Trafalgar Road when he sold his other property at 23 Wellington Road for £125,000 cash! How did the corrupt Labour Council work out ROUF was eligible for council housing?

The former corrupt leader of Sandwell Labour Council, the late Darren Cooper, arranged for a large plot of land in Florence Road to be taken out of public auction to be sold to Rouf’s son. For reasons unknown, that fell through and so Sandwell Council then sold it to another of Rouf’s sons instead! How did this happen? Where did that son, Mohammad Shauib. get the money to build the seven bedroom mansion there - where ROUF now lives in luxury?

Once again, bent West Midlands Police have failed to investigate any of this. Why not? The Labour Party said they were going to clean up their act but then list this pair of jokers as Labour candidates!

LABOUR HAVE SHAFTED SANDWELL FOR 43 YEARS. VOTE LABOUR AGAIN FOR MORE FRAUD, CRONYISM, CORRUPTION AND INCOMPETENCE!

For the truth about Sandwell Labour read thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com



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PROUD TO HAVE BEEN TROLLED BY DICKHEAD DARREN COOPER DECEASED!