Letter: There is no wrong time

I don't know who Mr Proctor is, Let’s Talk, February 13, nor why he is so anxious to defend the council from legitimate criticism, but he certainly has a lot to learn.

To start with, he doesn't seem to know that Mr Cyril Olsen has long been a great contributor to public life in Sheffield.

He has voluntarily worked on many public projects, holding high office in them.

He was, for example, a publicly-elected director of Southey and Owlerton Area Regeneration Board (SOAR) which managed a multimillion pound budget.

He is currently a director and trustee of the Parson Cross Development Forum, working on education, training and leisure.

Accordingly, he is entitled to the utmost levels of courtesy. He certainly shouldn't be told that he's mardy and that he's throwing his toys out of the pram.

Actually, nobody should be told that: but general manners in print constitute a long subject which I'm not going to explore today.

The obvious defect in Mr Proctor's reasoning is that there is a ‘right’ time and a ‘wrong’ time for questions to the council. There is no wrong time. Mr Olsen should have been kept informed of protocols and progress at any time he asked.

All Mr Proctor can find to say is, effectively: "Nah nah nah, Cyril, you missed the boat!" Actually, Mr Olsen had been on the boat the whole time.

Oh, and of course there was ‘security’ to consider. This, and ‘data protection’ and ‘commercial confidentiality/sensitivity’ are excuses frequently used to keep citizens in ignorance.

Which of us has been really reassured by the purportedly generous two-page report?

Does Mr Proctor not know that this issue has been reported in Private Eye in its Rotten Boroughs section because of those very issues that Mr Olsen has justifiably raised?

Ruth Grimsley

Oak Park, Sheffield, S10