THE turnout for the Pickering and Malton "rates' assemblies" was a triumph for Yorkshire nouse.
Quite obviously, the vast majority of ratepayers now realise that attending one of these shows of 'caring' would achieve nothing; the bureaucratic steamroller would roll on regardless.
Some years ago, when our practice was involved in fundholding, I used to attend such meetings to press for change. A mistake, as it turned out. I was taken aside by a person with a great deal of experience in the public sector and told that I should "play the game and not make waves". In other words, enjoy the beanos, take the money and run! Meetings are, at best, a delaying tactic; at worst, a method of hoodwinking the public into believing they are being listened to, yet they employ tens of thousands of people on a daily basis!
The danger of non-attendance, of course, is that it gives Ryedale the opportunity to claim that only 17 people are concerned about the rising rates. May I suggest voicing our concerns in hard print via letter, fax or e-mail rather than the vapouress environment of a meeting.
Updated: 12:34 Wednesday, April 14, 2004
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