Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

Was looking up my old motorcycle training school (Essex Bike Zone in Colchester) online earlier only to found out they had gone out of business :(

After a bit of link surfing, etc, eventually stumbled across this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-21533320

What a very sad state of affairs when people are treated like this.

Asa (my old instructor) was (and I'm sure still is) a really top bloke. Am really gutted for him and his family :(

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

There is a great deal more to this story than has been reported in the media. They brought most of their plight on themselves.

Save your sympathy for others more deserving

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

I don't see how losing your home due to a business failure and living in caravans is "bringing it on yourself".

As ever there are two sides to every story, so please feel free to elaborate.

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

It's all about who owns the land they decided to put their caravan and tents on. I've chatted to someone in the planning department of the local council and they knew exactly the legalities of the situation. They were also offered several houses to go to through the council and housing associations. I don't know about the closure of his business however

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

Just an unpleasant situation all round I think, and perhaps a sign of the times in our country.

I would have thought if there was a better option than staying put they would have taken it rather than going to prison (especially when there's children involved).

Either way we only know the facts either as reported or through second hand information. Two sides to every story, but a sad outcome.

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

Hardly council bureaucracy gone mad either way.

It's not easy or quick to get people off land when they occupy it illegally IMHO it should be A LOT easier and quicker.

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

How come pikies don't get thrown in the slammer for doing the same thing?

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

Some do.

But like I said it takes bloody ages.

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

No wonder the prisons are full.
How come other western democratic countries(USA excepted)dont feel the need to put people in prison for these kind of things.

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

Quite often they do.

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

Cos they move on once they have trashed the place.

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

Ai, the pikeys don't like living in a dump!

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

These people aren't pikies.

They were being self sufficient on land they had a reasonable claim to own rather than taking housing benefit handouts.

Pikeys move onto land, strip it of it's resources and ruin it before moving on. Not the same thing at all.

Oh, and it is council bureaucracy gone mad when they are willing to waste thousands of pounds of taxpayers money dragging these people through the courts, and government bureaucracy gone mad when they end up being inprisoned.

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

Only it turned out they didn't own the land.

I'd say its government done right, much better use of time than chasing speeders.

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

Really?

How many people are killed occupying land? Less than speeding I would imagine.

And the reason they didn't own it was because they were insolvent through loss of a business. If the land had been in a less 'desirable' location then the council would not have been so aggresive in their approach.

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

Nobody's killed because of speeding, they're killed because another object try to. Occupy the space they're in.

Sometimes however speed is a factor in bringing that about, there's no telling what would have happened if the speeds had been different though.

You mean so say if the council didn't need the land they shouldn't have kicked them off it so fast? Sounds suspiciously reasonable to me. I don't see the problem. I have to buy or rent the land I occupy as do you, as should they have done.

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

If you were a creditor to their failed business would you want the land sold to recover some of your losses?

The real problem is neither the creditors or the Pykes will see very little of the money because the insolvency firm always ensures they are paid first and its profitable to drag it out so long as their is money to be made. Once the cash dries up they wind it up pretty quickly and move on to the next one.

Pete

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

It would be a different story if they were parked on your property

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

Hardly the same thing when it belongs to an insolvency firm. Not exactly someones front lawn is it?

Looks like I will have to agree to disagree with most of you. Perhaps I have a slightly different perspective as I knew the guy, but either way I think it could have been dealt with better.

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

Not exactly the same, but let's say you own the insolvency firm. You need to sell this land on to pay your employees. What are you gonna do? Just write off the profit and let them live on it for free? Of course you are going to get the courts involved.

Re: Council bureaucracy gone mad
 

But you don't actually know how it was death with, you just know the end result.

The courts don't just bang people up for the hell of it, there must have been a lot going on in the run up to this for it to happen.