Richard Baum

I received a phone call from a resident a couple of nights ago. A street light near her house had not been working for a while, and despite a couple of calls to the Council, nothing had been done to sort it out.

I said I’d get involved, and lo and behold, only hours after a Councillor had raised the issue, the light had been fixed. According to the resident, it took all of three minutes to do the job.

Whilst I’m pleased to have been able to help, and happy that the light is fixed, once again I am disappointed that it took three phone calls from two people, and the sizeable prod in the back that is a Councillor ringing, to get this tiny job done. Responsive repairs like this should happen quicker and with much less effort required. On several occasions before I was elected I used the Council’s online “Report a Problem” system, and was given an immediate “RAP” number. Nothing else ever happened. Nobody rang me to ask for more details, and the problem was never ever repaired.

I am partly here to sort out the problems of residents in this regard. And I don’t begrudge it in the slightest. But I am also here to empower residents to take control themselves, and sort out problems with the Council directly. I can’t do this if these complaints are ignored. But imagine how frustrating and belittling it is for the people of Bury to be so brazenly ignored by the Council, and have to turn to their Councillors to get even the tiniest things done.

Rick