How mcuh of our money has Hofman wasted - councillors?

Thu 12 May 2011, 10:23

I completely agree with Jean - we need to put this behind us and move on. As well as the events mentioned, there is also Riverside in June and The Beer festival in July to look forward to.

Wed 11 May 2011, 23:18

Well said Jean, the discounted Wilderness Tickets for local OX7 residents are on sale from tomorrow at the Post Office

Wed 11 May 2011, 22:29

Can we now please leave the subject of the Cornbury Licence and all it involved.It was an arduous experience for many people, it costs Cornbury Park and ourselves through our Council Tax a lot of money. It raised unneccessary bad feelings among the community and now is the time to put it to bed and get on with other important events. Charlbury Gardens are open on June 5th with a Jazz Lunch in the Memorial Hall, see the notice board to book a table. there is The Rally Show at Cornbury Park this weekend and Wilderness, instead of the Cornbury festival,in mid August and the Street Fair in September. There are many other Charity Fund Raising events in the area. So look forward, don't look in the wing missors!

Wed 11 May 2011, 13:41

I'm not suggesting there is anything vexatious in this particuar case, or an abuse of process, only indicating that there ARE some limitations on what cases you can bring, at least in some courts, and that this should always be borne in mind.

Wed 11 May 2011, 10:28

Absolutely right, Chris. And John: it's for the courts to decide whether a case brought before them is vexatious or an abuse of process, not for individuals, and especially not individuals who have a close personal interest in the issues which are in dispute.

Wed 11 May 2011, 08:47

Sorry, but where's the abuse of process here?

He followed hios democratic right and appealed. He settled out of court agreeing to an offer from WODC, that we don't know was on offer before the court case date.

Tue 10 May 2011, 18:06

Got to be a joke here somwhere

Tue 10 May 2011, 17:29

Mark and John - there's only one "f" in Hofman!

Tue 10 May 2011, 10:48

There also, built in as part of the democratic process, such things as vexatious litigation and abuse of process. It's not just that you can do what you like to anyone you like and make them pay.

Mon 9 May 2011, 14:01

I agree very much with Chris Bates's first posting. I don't have any particular sympathy with Mark Hoffman's campaign, but the fact remains that he had every right to bring the legal challenge that he did. The logical outcome of some of the the arguments on here would be anyone with an unpopular cause would be told that they couldn't seek legal redress because it might cost a local authority money.

The fact that we don't operate like that is what differentiates us from Syria.

Mon 9 May 2011, 09:05

You ought to be able to file a FOI request to get that figure from the Council....

Sun 8 May 2011, 15:28

Perhaps Mr Hoffman would care to restore his reputation by trying to help keep the library open?

Fri 6 May 2011, 13:04

Totally agree with you Cally, everyone has been so careful not to hang the accused in public and not to take personal vendetta against Mr Hofman. But the blame lies him, plenty opportunity has been had to come to an arangement before yesterday. But no he just wanted to throw his toys from the pram, at the time and expense of others.
It must be nice to be so popular in the town !!!!

Fri 6 May 2011, 11:51

For the record, I happen to have been privvy to the email trail in which Mr Hofman ignored appeals from the Rotherwicks to find a compromise BEFORE he submitted his appeal against the license.

Other individuals, impartial and highly respected in the community, also tried to find out what he would be satisfied with.

But Mr H simply would not T clarify or discuss what he wanted. He went to ground and submitted his appeal anyway. Just as, in threads in this forum (eg Noise Limitation Group), it is clear he would not engage with the community, despite having kicked off the debate.

If he had asked for the mere writing in of conditions already laid on the Safety Advisory Group into the licence itself (his request at the appeal hearing), this would have been easy to achieve. It is such a miniscule and pedantic point to have taken issue with.

Having kicked off the appeal process, he started a something which he still could have very easily stopped by just clarifying what he wanted!

It seemed that Mr Hofman was intent on having his day in court.

I absolutely agree with the licensing appeal process and the right to appeal a decision.

But anyone who abuses that right, especially at unnecessary cost and aggravation to the community and involved parties, in my opinion should be held accountable.

Best to all, Cally

Fri 6 May 2011, 08:41

Malcolm - there's such a thing as democracy. This was it ib action.

I don't agree with Mr Hofman either, but it is his right to challenge. At least he eventually did the decent & negotiated, but it should not have got that far. Maybe WODC didn't offer him that option in advance?

Fri 6 May 2011, 07:55

I'm sure if you contacted West Oxfordshire District Council's Licencing Dept they we would have all the details. A simple written request to Mr Bill Oddy would be better than a FoIA requested because it would cost less than an FoIA request to process. However, this wouldn't reflect the true cost of the case, as it wouldn't include court cost that come from general taxation.

Fri 6 May 2011, 06:09

An FoIA request should tell you, should you choose to make one.

Fri 6 May 2011, 02:54

It should be public knowledge how much money WODC has wasted in this appeal. After all we have a library to keep open. This sort of information should be open to the WODC councillors (and if not WHY not?!) and moves should be put in place to recover this "waste of local authorities and taxpayers' time and expense". If these powers are not available WHY not? Just who is our local MP for starters....

Not to mention the hole chewed into the Rotherwick's receipts from the festival and consequent running of the estate (how about a bit more public access to the forest eh?? But I digress. A bit. Quid pro quo for the support eh).