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Personally I would have just doubled the cost every time you argued
Me too. OP is going to get a shock when he has to get a solicitor to scan and post him something or heaven forbid write a letter for him, or deal with the private sector at all.
Having worked for a local authority I think the mandatory punishment for moaning about them should be 6 months working for them to experience the reality of trying to provide services with almost no funding.
Sure, but the private sector don't get given/collect a huge bucket of money every year to provide their services. The payment reflects the cost to them of providing the service (or more realistically what they think the market will tolerate).
[i]Sure, but the private sector don't get given/collect a huge bucket of money every year to provide their services.[/i]
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/07/corporate-welfare-a-93bn-handshake
The annoying thing is that newer applications are all online, so people can see those for free. So I am effectively subsidising other people being able to see their records for nowt
how much demand is there for planning documents for every single planning application etc for over two decades ago? Where do you draw the line for putting them online? How often do people want to see really old planning documents unless its some sort of dispute with a neighbour etc?
I'm firmly with the council on this. They are there to provide a service within reason.
Well there's a lot of people who would be paying more than they need to because they are too scared to challenge like I did!
Why?
I was emailed the detailed pricing structure of documents from planning and where they are derived from. I checked what I wanted off the list and checked my initial invoice I paid and I realised I had already paid for the decision document. Additionally the extra money they wanted to charge for plans wasn't meant to be for the plans submitted with the planning application. Result is that I've paid £25 instead of £60 just because I challenged it and checked I was being charged fairly and accurately.
Sure, but the private sector don't get given/collect a huge bucket of money every year to provide their services. The payment reflects the cost to them of providing the service (or more realistically what they think the market will tolerate).
The public sectur organisation I work for has been charged £800 for a days fume cupboard servicing and £400 for a days autoclave servicing. If only we could offer efficiency like that
Oh and we don't pay tax to do the paper work for some one to extend their house
They don't do anything any more that they don't have to - for example SBC don't collect garden waste anymore. There flyer about it was very clear "there is no law that compels us to do this, so take yer own leaves to the tip" (I'm paraphrasing).
There have been items on TV showing the money that can be made by councils selling compost made from garden waste collected from residents.
Wiltshire CC put up options for residents regarding garden waste collection; charge £40/year to collect regularly all through the year, stop collecting through the winter and keep it free the rest of the year, and I think a third option was to stop collecting completely.
The biggest response was to go for the second option; the council said no, we're going to charge you regardless.
Good to see democracy isn't dead. 🙄
Its worth remembering that the cost includes the storage of the original material, person to be there to take your call, search, find, photo copy post. Seems reasonable to me. I for one am in favour of paying for the services you use, garden waste, house extension documents etc. I dont use them and dont expect to have to pay unless I use them. Bills of course should be accurate