EAST Cambs District Council has created reams of reports, best practice guidelines, service standards etc. all of which can be accessed through the internet. However, in practice, these edicts are ignored by the employees whose salaries and comfortable

EAST Cambs District Council has created reams of reports, best practice guidelines, service standards etc. all of which can be accessed through the internet. However, in practice, these edicts are ignored by the employees whose salaries and comfortable pensions are provided by the ratepayers. Many readers have followed the articles in the Ely Standard and subsequent letters and some have visited Roswell Pits to see for themselves what is happening. I can assure those concerned people that "work" at the site continues unabated in a cavalier and destructive manner. The council saw fit to serve an enforcement order recently but are now saying it wasn't really an enforcement order. The developer responded to that order but I have not seen his reply; but he then applied for a Certificate of Lawfulness and it is under this scrappy inaccurate document that work continues (see www.elywildspace.org.uk). ECDC's response to current objections is that they are afraid they might be sued if they stop work on the site and thus lose the developer potential income. At the same time, they made it clear to the developer that any works done under this latest application would need to be undone should the appropriate section of his application not be upheld.

Also how can he have potential income when the small matter of change of use of the waters has not been decided? Yet again, this shows the inconsistency and prevarication of the very people paid to uphold development standards, protect wildlife, and trees.

The council has a tree preservation officer and an enforcement officer, but trees have been laid to waste. Why all this controversy when ECDC should have insisted on a full planning application before any work started on the site? It is essential that the council reverse their supine policies; allow their paid officials to do their jobs and insist on a full planning application now.

FRANK RICHARDS

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