Does council really need another survey? (From Gazette Series)

Does council really need another survey?

SIR - I see from the Gazette (November 28) that Wotton is to have yet another shopping survey. This time though, the "Residents are being invited to have their say in a comprehensive shopping survey ..." Didn't we have one of those in 1994?

I seem to remember that, and I quote, "The results from this survey will be used to produce a report, not only to paint a useful picture of how things stand in the town today but also to guide future planning. They will powerfully convey your views to the town, district and county councils, health and water authorities."

So why yet another? Didn't Stroud District Council receive the "... powerfully conveyed views..." of the 1994 survey?

By "comprehensive", I take that to mean that every resident will be able to have a say. So I asked a Stroud District Council spokesperson whether this would take the form, as did the 1994 survey, of every household receiving a questionnaire to fill in, or would it be a door to door survey? The two council officials I wanted to speak to were not available.

I was told that the survey would be carried out in the town centre where the interviewer(s) would stop shoppers and put the questionnaire to them, but as to the date(s) and time(s) of the survey she couldn't say.

So "comprehensive" it won't be. It seems that it will be nothing more than a random Mori poll. And of course it will cost the taxpayer. And the residents will only be able to have their "comprehensive" say if they are all in the town centre at the right time(s) on the right day(s).

The council's cabinet member for regeneration and culture, Cllr Nigel Studdert-Kennedy, one of the councillors not available when I called, says that "...the views of the people using local service centres were invaluable". And that "They allow identification of improvement opportunities based on what people need and want. I hope that as many people as possible will use this opportunity to have their say."

Apparently, the information collected will be used (just as the results of the 1994 survey were suposed to have been used), by the council and town and community partenerships to help work towards producing action plans for the future of the town. And will the final report on the findings, due in January be made public?

Thomas Hinder, Westfields, Wotton-under-Edge