Letter to the Editor: I write in response to Andrew Gardiner’s letter concerning the Greens’ response to various activities in the Forest.

I was not surprised that Andrew and Thom  did not get the support that they needed to be re-elected. 

That said, in my opinion they were better than most of the other councillors. 

Why I did not vote for them, or in fact any councillor, is that they refused to stand up to a hidden elite who actually run the council. 

There is a hidden agenda which often blocks the presentations of councillors who propose anything in opposition to this hidden agenda. 

What I see as the greatest harm being caused by the council is the same as Andrew and Thom agree. This is the huge public projects, such as the Northern Quarter that are not properly discussed at a full council meeting. 

I have proved that any planning determination must by law be made by the full council. 

Very few planning determinations go before the full council. Andrew and Thom could have used their position as councillors to force the council to operate within the law but the phrase Andrew said to me when I challenged him about this was, “Well you know how it is, John. We’ve got to work within the system.” 

My personal result of this is that I could not vote for any councillor who will not use his/her authority to expose the corruption of the council who use a planning committee to make decisions that are only legally allowed by law to be made by by the full council. The Forest people have elected Greens. 

Those Greens that were in power before the election refused to force the council to stop using illegal processes to evict the long term occupiers at Bullo Pill. 

It’s the bottom line you Foresters. You get the rulers you deserve, so sit back and wait to see more greenfield sites being built on while there are large areas of brownfield sites available. Who is in control? 

At present it is the hidden elite. Hidden because you Foresters just moan and will not insist that your council operates within the law. 

The Greens conned you.

John Timbrell, Drybrook

Editor’s note: The Forest Council has repeatedly refuted Mr Timbrell’s claims that it does not operate within the law.