The petitions Stu Allerton and I put up on the All About Goole seem to have incurred the wrath of councillors and at least some staff of both councils. In particular, the one I put up quoting the East Riding Council slogan “Your East Riding…where everyone matters”. I posed the question: “do you believe Goole people matter to East Riding Council?”
Of those who answered, 96% said no. There was bluster about it only being a small sample – but that never stops the two councils claiming they know there is “overwhelming support” for what they have decided will happen.
Fine words butter no parsnips. Words can exert a powerful influence, but actions tell their own story. When you listen to people in Goole, there is an almost universal feeling that East Riding Council is all about Beverley and the well off – and Goole is only of interest when it can be used for Beverley’s benefit. East Riding Council councillors, executive and staff no doubt feel that is unfair, even outrageous, to say any such thing but talk to most Goole people and they feel Goole doesn’t matter, and voting in local elections doesn’t make any difference.
There is an episode in East Riding Council decision making that relates to Bridlington rather than Goole, but I think throws a spotlight on why there is so little trust in East Riding Council.
A few years ago Bridlington Golf Club was in financial difficulty. East Riding Council owned the land. A deal was put together under which East Riding Council would sell the site of the golf club to the Golf Club. The Golf Club would then sell a small proportion of the golf club site to a property developer for significantly more than East Riding Council was selling the whole golf club site. Despite opposition this deal went through. The Golf Club received the money from the property developer out of which they paid East Riding Council for the land, and settled the Golf Club’s debts. East Riding could have sold the portion of the golf club site to the propert developer, received the full amount, and still owned the rest of the golf club site. It’s hard to see how this could possibly be in the best interests of those council tax payers who are not members of Bridlington Golf Club – the majority.
The Police investigated, and found no evidence that there was anything criminal about the transaction. East Riding Council sold the freehold of the golf club site to the Golf Club for £725,000 – the whole site. The Golf Club then sold part of the site for £1.6 million. That means the Golf Club made an £875,000 profit on the deal, and East Riding Council received £725,000 and didn’t own the golf club site freehold any more, whereas the Council could have sold the parcel of land direct to the property developer, received the whole £1.6 million, and still owned the freehold on the rest of the golf club site?
The Hull Daily Mail reported on the conclusion of the Police investigation: https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/police-conclude-investigation-sale-council-2546617
The Yorkshire Post, a well respected publication, among others, covered the story before the Police investigation started: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/questions-asked-over-sale-of-seaside-council-owned-golf-course-320614
As a council tax payer, regardless of whether it was criminal behaviour or not, how do you feel about what East Riding Council did with a significant asset, and the £875,000 it lost to the council tax payer, plus whatever it might have got in a subsequent sale if it had held on to the rest of the golf club site?
If you read the Hull Daily Mail story you see that the then executive director of planning for East Riding Council, Alan Menzies, was closely involved in the golf club deal (and cleared of wrongdoing by the Police). Mr Menzies has been acting chief executive of East Riding Council since November 2023 – 16 months and counting (https://www.eastriding.gov.uk/council/councillors-and-members-of-parliament/co-opted-voting-members-register-of-interests/?entry=menzies_alan He is on the board of the Humber Freeports. He also oversees local elections – including for the Police and Crime Commissioner, and on behalf of the new Combined Authority, the election for the Combined Authority Mayor in May . (https://www.eastriding.gov.uk/news/article/?entry=2940
There doesn’t have to be any wrongdoing, this is a considerable concentration of power in one person, and it raises questions about whether the councillors are able to hold such a powerful person in check. It isn’t healthy and it is a fertile breeding ground for mistrust.
If you look at the Health and Wellbeing Board minutes, Mr Menzies attends ERYC Health and Wellbeing Board meetings. Goole Hospital isn’t mentioned in the minutes. Anybody posessing even a basic acquaintance with Macchiavellian techniques knows that informal discussions hapen all the time, in corridors, at watering holes, on golf courses, and they don’t appear in minutes…
We’ve had a “position statement” about Goole hospital in which we are invited to believe it is safe from closure. It’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that a hospital trust short of money would sound out somebody in a powerful position who understands property, and has lots of contacts, about the potential to sell a hospital site.
Raising questions and isasues those in positions of power don’t want raised tends to lead to them attacking those raising the questions – always being negative, trashing other people’s hard work, always running the town or county down, never doing anything constructive, personal wrongdoing, personal failures, etc etc.
The people of Goole united to protect the hospital. That unity brought strength in numbers which makes it harder for those in power to dismiss, and divide. The people of Goole must not drop their guard, either about the hospital’s future, or the best interests of the town.