Chocolate teapot or no teapot?

Now I've had my issues with my local councillors. Basically with 9 months of the new bin scheme and the streets still regularly littered with uncollected rubbish I'm pretty firmly of the opinion that they're about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

However spare a thought for the residents of Shooter's Hill, one of their Councillors Councillor Daniel Thorpe has been on holiday on Australia for the last six months.

I thought that it really took something for a prospective Councillor to stand before the people and say "trust me, I will work for you, I will represent you" and then to blithely ignore them as my terrible trio are want to do. However Councillor Thorpe appears to have taken that sort of behaviour as a bit of a challenge. He's taken contempt for his ward to a new level and skipped off out of the Country.

As if showing that level of disdain for those who voted for him isn't enough he then proceeds to really push him out front in the "I couldn't give a Monkey's Uncle about you" chart by also being on the following committees and panels and abandoning them too.

• Best Value Review Team: Homelessness


• Best Value Review Team: Libraries


• Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel


• Greenwich Council Joint Committee


• Safer and Stronger Communities Scrutiny Panel


• School Teachers and Lecturers Joint Committee

What a thoroughly revolting example of public service.

And what do the Council do about him? You'd think that they might chastise him and stand up for the residents of Shooters Hill and those affected by the Committees that Councillor Thorpe has jilted.

Oh no, not Greenwich Council, they seem to be backing him.

Sigh.

You can read more about this story at the follow web sites:
News Shopper
The Last Boy Scout
Thurrock Gazette

It's quite nice to note that if you Google for "Councillor Daniel Thorpe" the Thurrock Gazette story comes up first.

Maybe he was trying to beat some of his fellows on Google too?

Jim Wintour, Director of Neighbourhood Services and therefore the man responsible for the shambolic new bin scheme, has negative stories about him coming up in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th positions (myself and the last bus home).

Councillor Allan MacCarthy has my discussions about his lack of performance at number 4.

Councillor Janet Gillman limps in with a link to her lack of interest in Charlton at number 6.

Finally Councillor Gary Parker draws with Allan MacCarthy with one of my entries about him coming up 4th.

So Councillor Daniel Thorpe is good at something, it's a shame that it's not serving his ward.