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Sam Vernon
Biggleswade Chronicle
Kitelands Lights
I am very disappointed in the article you wrote in the Chronicle last week.
It became obvious during both conversations I had with you, that you did not know the facts, and seemed to be reluctant to read the blog to obtain them. I kept referring you to it and as you know I eventually sent you a copy of it, in the hope you would read it. I am not sure that you did.
You have trivialised the events that stretched over a 7 month period. You have called the planning conditions “guidelines” something I corrected you on in our last conversation. In December 2010 after Biggleswade Town Council had been constantly in breach of those conditions, Central Bedfordshire Council threatened them with a planning enforcement order. You have made no mention of this.
You have made it appear that the lights went wrong they had a problem fixing them and so they switched them off. If you had read the blog, which details all of the events, you know that this is far from the truth.
I will be writing a letter to the Chronicle and try to address the misrepresentations in your "story".
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email 9th March 2011 to:
Jim Stewart
Editor
Bedfordshire Times & Citizen
Biggleswade Chronicle
I trust you have seen my email to Sam Vernon and his reply.
I have attached a letter I would like published in your letters column.
I have sent it via yourself, on this occasion, as I feel you should be aware of its content, and also because I would like it published in its entirety, if at all possible. I accept your right to edit etc but if this has to be done, can in it be done so that the real story is still told.
I do not accept Sam's argument that he had to tell the story in simplest layman's terms possible ( I am not sure what he means by that), and with a limited amount of space available.
My attached letter is shorter than the article, but tells it as it is.
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My letter to Chronicle - red text was omitted from publication on Friday 11th March 2011
I am taking the unusual step of writing to try and correct the misrepresentations in the “story” (Chronicle 4 March – Can’t operator see the light?)
I wrote up the detail of the problems in my blog back in December 2010, which you can find at http://biggleswadeonline.blogspot.com
I spoke to the Chronicle reporter twice, but he did not seem to understand that Central Bedfordshire Planning Enforcement had threatened the Biggleswade Town Council with an enforcement notice, because they had breached the planning conditions, not “guidelines” as mentioned in the story. I suggested he read my blog and I sent him a copy.
In May 2010 the Town Clerk confirmed he knew that they were in breach of the conditions, which was that the lights must not be on after 8pm, and must not come on again until after 7 am. The lights stayed on all night until the middle of July and then were switched off by the Council.
At the end of the September the lights were switched on again. They were still on outside of the permitted times. In October the Town Clerk said he was not aware the times had changed !! The lights were switched off again towards the end of October 2010.
Middle of November the lights were switched on again. They were still on outside of the permitted times. On the 6th December Planning Enforcement gave the Town Council seven days to comply otherwise they would serve them with a Breach of Conditions notice. The lights were switched off on 10th December and have been off ever since.
I suspected the Town Clerk has been waiting for the lighter evenings to come and his comment in the Chronicle last week confirms this !
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If you want to remind yourself of the facts go to:
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