These letters appeared in the Croydon Guardian on 10th November. Very kind of Jim Clugston to send a response too.
Text for my letter is below:
Dear Editor,
In response to my letter on Labour councillors taking their voters for granted in Selhurst, Councillor Gerry Ryan has offered sections of his ‘appointments diary’. I might remind him that the residents in the ward that he is elected to represent were against the now approved application to erect a mobile phone mast directly opposite one nursery and across the road from another, especially as the OFCOM report advises a precautionary approach to masts near schools. If Selhurst had an active residents’ association there would no doubt have been a coordinated campaign to oppose the mast. In the absence of such organisations, it is incumbent on our paid councillors to have a sense of duty to empower the residents. Therefore, are we to infer from Councillors Ryan’s letter that he and the other two Labour councillors were too busy to represent their anxious constituents? Alternatively, are the councillors safe in the knowledge they can do what takes their fancy trusting they can continue to take Labour voters in the safe seat of Selhurst for granted? Knocking on doors galvanising support for a campaign may not be as glamorous as having meetings in the town hall but it needs to be done.
Clearly the election he and his Labour colleagues most need to win is not the local council election, but in fact the ballot of forty odd Labour members who reside in Selhurst to win the nomination. Arguably, if we had proportional representation elected politicians would be compelled to be more active.
Yours sincerely
Shasha Khan
Croydon Green Party
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Tags croydon, greenparty
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