Without wishing to sound either patronising or complacent, I think you need a special type of diplomacy at times like this. The ultimate goal is making reparations to the Common. Sometimes you have to tone down the anger/frustration to get the right end result and not burn the bridges of dialogue/partnership. You've clealry pissed them off, but what has that achieved? I've been in this game a long time. A softer and more conciliatory approach generally works best. Steven Steven Falk BSc ARCS FRES Entomologist-Artist-Photographer www.stevenfalk.co.uk <http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/> mobile: 0781 555 7263 Twitter: @StevenFalk1 Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland: http://bloomsbury.com/uk/field-guide-to-the-bees-of-great-britain-and-irelan d-9781910389027/ Consultancy: http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/help-our-bees Flickr Image library at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/collections/ LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-falk-aa8ba817 2012 winner of the Royal Entomological Society Marsh Award for Insect Conservation
_____ From: Adastra [mailto:adastra-boun...@lists.sxbrc.org.uk] On Behalf Of D BANGS Sent: Sunday, May 28, 2017 12:03 PM To: Adastra discussion group Subject: [Adastra] Fwd: Henfield Common LATEST NEWS The latest news is not good. The SWT and I were to have a meeting with the parish council at the cricket club on Friday morning. When we arrived the chair of the PC, Malcolm Eastwood, histrionically banned me from the meeting, to which he had earlier invited me, and attempted to remove me from the common (not realising that as it was a registered common I had a statutory right of access!!). His justification was that he thought my BBC R Sussex radio interview (BBC Radio Sussex Neil Pringle 24th May 1hr 48 mins into prog) was 'unbalanced' and untruthful...for instance by saying there was a chamomile lawn. He said it did not exist!! I refused to leave and they were obliged to re-convene the meeting at the parish offices in Henfield ! We have also missed a major media opportunity, for BBC TV South Today wished to do a piece but would not proceed without the participation of the SxWT, who didn't want to engage. (Clearly South Today don't have much time for individual whistleblowers like myself). I haven't got any feedback yet from Tony/the SWT and I wasn't around to seek it later on Friday. I hope the SWT will have got something from the meeting...With the media moving our way and the parish council so defensive they refused to be interviewed by the media, we have them on the back foot, Dave Bangs