In her spirit of sharing - here is the best I can do for now, a podcast of Group C's Nov 27th broadcast. Quality isn't great so use it for reference and I'll try to improve it when I get the facilities at uni.
I've had a frustrating day of bureaucracy. Having misplaced my oyster card I spent half an hour on the 'phone to TFL's wrist-slittingly monotoneous automatated service. When someone finally answered and I told him I had misplaced my student card he asked my name, cancelled my card before asking my permission, then told me it would take a month for a new card and a refund to come through - during which time I will have to spend £80 in adult fares. "But what if I find it?", I spluttered, "oh, it's too late now, I've done it" he answered.
Then an outraged friend gives me a call. He bought a Toyota Prius six months ago, a hybrid car, partly because of its low emissions and fuel economy but mostly because hybrid cars are exempt from the congestion charge. He had been happily swanning about in it for almost half a year before he was hit with hundreds of pounds of congestion charges. Why? Because he hadn't registered it. Even though the make of the car comes up with the licence plate you have to register to be exempt, which, of course, nobody had told him. Oh, and the registration costs £10. £10 a year to not pay anything.
Fed up to the back teeth with bureaucracy, I decided to create some of my own and make a freedome of information request pertaining to a subject I've been interested in for some time. There is a derelict house at the end of Other Half's Road just off Kingsland Road, Hackney. The large detached Victorian house has been cordoned off for some time, but was inhabited until very recently by William Lyttle, known locally as 'Mole Man'.
Mr. Lyttle owns the property but has been a cause of concern to his neighbours because of his unusual hobby. Since the 1960s he has been digging a network of tunnels underneath the building, which a Guardian article written earlier this year reckon to be "some 8m (26ft) deep, spreading up to 20m in every direction from his house".
Cracks had started appearing in the road outside the house, especially worrying as the road is on the route of the 76 bus - of the large double decker variety. In 2001, the road outside the house collapsed leaving a large hole. And his excavations have also caused power loss in the area after he hit a 450 volt cable.
The council evicted him in August this year but just before then Other Half had the pleasure of an encounter with him. By this time the house was falling apart and had little if no roof on top. Mr. Lyttle had turned down the council's offer of bed and breakfast and was waiting for them to forceably (temporarily) evict him.
Other Half, being of an inquisitive nature, was looking at the property, which had fences and tape around it prior to the eviction. He was on the opposite side of the road when he spotted a local chav trying his luck and climbing the fence. Chav got as far as the main steps when Mole Man stuck his furious head out of the window, shouted 'Fuck off!' and broke a bottle over chav's head! O.H ran to lend assistance but the startled intruder ran off. Mole Man then turned and threatened O.H. "and I'll give you one too, you bastard!".
Mr. Lyttle hasn't always been so hot-headed. Not only did he give an interview to the Guardian, telling them,
"I first tried to dig a wine cellar, and then the cellar doubled, and so on. But the idea that I dug tunnels under other people's houses is rubbish. I just have a big basement. It's gone down deep enough to hit the water table - that's the lowest you can go."
But also appeared in a DIY disasters programme showing the crew round his tunnels, some big enough to stand up in,
“This is going to be the leisure centre,” he said, sweeping his hand round a large cavern. “And this in here will be the sauna.”
Anyhow, I want to know what the council are doing to this property, what it's costing, is there any danger to the public, and where have they put William Lyttle, its rightful owner? Here's my letter - my first attempt so if anyone fancies themselves a legal expect please make any suggestions:
Bambos Charalambous
Policy Law Team,
London Borough of Hackney
Town Hall
Mare Street
London E8 1EA
1st December 2006
Dear Bambos Charalambous,
I am writing to make an open government request for all the information to which I am entitled under the Environmental Information Regulations. In order to assist you with this request, I am outlining my query as specifically as possible. As you will understand, this may not be a definitive list of relevant information.
I wish to see the relevant paperwork concerning the property of 121 Mortimer Road, N1. I know that the owner of the house has excavated a network of tunnels underneath the property and I would like to see surveyor’s reports of the possible damage to the area and the risk assessment to the public. I would like to know the cost of the repair work going on and the projected timespan. I would also like to see correspondence from local people, which I understand has been going on for the last forty years, complaining about William Lyttle’s tunnelling and any minutes from meetings pertaining to this case.
I believe this case to be in the public interest.
I would also like to know if and when Mr. Lyttle will move back to his house and where he has been placed in the meantime.
I would be interested in any information within your organisation regarding my request. I understand that I do not have to specify particular files or documents and that it is the department's responsibility to provide the information I require.
I understand that under the Regulations, I should be entitled to a response within two months. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future. I have also emailed you this request.
Yours,
Ruth Owen
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