Gscene News Archive

An LGBT group in Canterbury today accused the local council of dismissing its concerns, following a six-month battle involving the Local Government Ombudsman.

Andrew Brettell, chairman of Pride in Canterbury, accused the council of “giving us the run-around” after its failure to reply to a complaint made in November last year.

The council has not yet issued a response to the complaint. The document, which was delivered by hand to the council, detailed a series of concerns that Pride in Canterbury felt were being ignored by the council, including the need for an LGBT community drop-in centre, the absence of a gay bar in the city, the potential revenue generated by pink tourism and the importance of regular LGBT culture in the city.

Pride in Canterbury today challenged the council to respond to the manifesto, but stated that it was “not optimistic”.

“Canterbury Council sees us as a problem, not as an opportunity,”
said Brettell.
“We’re someone to be dealt with, not a group to work with. They’re more interested in ticking their equality boxes and engaging in back-and-forth ‘who-said-what’ games than in dealing with the real issues."

“They’ll respond to our letters, so that they can say they’ve replied to us. But they never respond to our concerns. We do not believe the Council wants a thriving LGBT community in this city.”