| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Are there residential caravans on Putney Common | |
| Posted by: | Jonathan Callaway | |
| Date/Time: | 16/06/10 09:41:00 |
| If you look at the overall state of the Commons, compared say to Richmond Park which is managed at far greater public expense, is closed at night and has a wall round it, then you have to say that the Commons are pretty well managed as public open spaces with free access to all 24 hours a day. If there are cases of mismanagement related to the Commons then they are no better or worse than many other public bodies, the council included. And nobody involved in running the Commons is getting paid £200,000+ to manage their affairs. Indeed the 21 staff share a gross payroll of £664,683 according to their latest accounts. The Conservators themselves get zero. I am sure improvements can be made. Maybe a more active eye should have been kept on the travellers about to be evicted from Barnes Common, but the Commons has a small team and a large area to cover. Probably they need more staff but I am sure people would complain if the levy went up to pay for them. I am sure more could be done about the dogwalkers on the Common, I am sure the hospital debacle could have beenb handled more efficiently, but I am also sure that it would not be right, or fair, to say that the fault lies solely, or even principally, with the Conservators when the PCT and the council were also closely involved throughout. But being a Conservator is not a 'job for the boys', it is onerous work, wholly unpaid, regulated through both the Commons Act and the Charity Commission rules (the WPCC is a registered charity) and a great service to us all. And they are as accountable as any elected politician is, while being wholly non-partisan. That at the very least we should be thankful for. |