Guest Blog - Open Letter to Barnet Councillor Melvin Cohen - Treat the public with respect by Gerrard Roots

A guest blog by Gerrard Roots, 
Former Curator of Church Farmhouse Museum



Dear Cllr Cohen

I have been attending LBB Council meetings for forty years, but last Tuesday's meeting was unquestionably one of the worst.

John Dix and I had submitted, within time, questions about agenda item 8 (* Barnet Eye note:  Agenda item 8 concerned the proposal by Barnet Council to require ten objections before a planning application is referred to the planning committee for approval. Applications where there are less than ten objections will be decided under delegated powers by the Capita lead planning department) , and had both indicated that we would be present at the meeting and would ask supplementary questions. 

However, at the beginning of the meeting, you suddenly announced that item 8 had been removed from the agenda, and so questions could only be addressed to it at some future- unspecified- time. Although your decision must have been made well beforehand, no one had had the courtesy to inform Mr Dix or myself about it: we wasted our time in coming to the Town Hall.

That, in itself, was a discourtesy, but more importantly, your decision to disallow any discussion- by councillors or by the public- on proposals designed to yet further reduce the ability of Barnet residents to comment on Barnet Council's actions was simply shocking.

You offered no justification for your decision, but, with the exception of one Labour councillor's comment, your Committee supinely accepted it. When, on leaving, I remarked that the meeting was a disgrace, you said that that was 'just my opinion'. I have since mentioned the meeting to a number of people, and they all agree with me: the meeting WAS a disgrace. You and your fellow Committee members should be ashamed of yourselves .

Yours

Gerrard Roots

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Gerrard Roots was the Curator of Church Farmhouse Museum in Hendon, until its closure by Barnet Council. The museum has been converted into offices for Middlesex University and much of the collections were sold off with some disappearing without trace.

Guest Blogs are always welcome at The Barnet Eye.

Here is a video we made at Church Farm Museum on the day it closed featuring Gerrard