Man sets up gripe website after council tax fury

Dec 20 2011 by Greg Christison, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

A FRUSTRATED Fair City man has set up a new online forum for residents to air their gripes with the authorities.

Bridgend resident Mark Magee has experienced a range of problems with a number of organisations, but it was a dispute with Perth and Kinross Council which drove him to launch the Perthshire Watchdog website.

The diabetes sufferer was furious to learn that the local authority had taken legal action against him because he had paid his council tax bill four days after it was due.

And now the campaigner hopes fellow complainers will join forces and share their stories in an attempt to rectify any prominent, ongoing issues.

He told the PA yesterday: “Recently my beloved PKC took out a summary warrant against me because in October of this year I paid my council tax bill on the fifth of the month, and not on the first as the law demands.

“The reason I did not pay my bill on the first was because I was short of cash. I am a type-one diabetic and I consider it a higher priority for myself to have food in the cupboard so my diabetes does not kill me, than I do to make sure my council tax is paid on time.

“This is not the first time I’ve been at loggerheads with the council through no fault of my own.

Problems

“They have the power of discretion and if they took the effort to look at my council tax payments history they would clearly see that I am not in arrears and I do make regular monthly payments.

“But it’s not just them, I’ve experienced problems with Royal Mail, the doctors’ surgery and even at the job centre.

“If it is only happening to one person, it’s just a small thing. But if there are quite a few people with the same problem, we can use that to try and solve it.

“So in return, I have set up Perthshire Watchdog, which is solely aimed towards residents of Perth and Kinross.

“The site’s main feature is a forum where we can all share information and discuss in detail the underhand, or outright stupid methods used by a growing number of organisations out there in our community.

“We all have a complaint about something going on in our community so let’s air them and shame them, because they deserve no less.”

And Mr Magee may be able to encourage unemployed Daniel Cody (34) to log on to his new website.

The Drummond Crescent resident contacted the PA to vent his anger at a barrage of letters he received from PKC demanding bill payment.

According to Mr Cody, the authority requests that he forks out £104 for the removal of a number of items allegedly abandoned when he left his previous flat at County Place last October.

Mr Cody, who received the bill in April – six months after he moved home – has been charged for leaving shelving, a roller blind, a rubbish bin, two spotlights and a cuddly-toy bat.

But he claims the list, which wouldn’t look out of place on classic television show, The Generation Game, is incorrect.

He told the PA: “I’m willing to pay for the bin bag, spotlights and the blinds, but I’m not paying for the imaginary stuff. I’ve never even seen a stuffed bat.”

A spokesperson for PKC said: “We do not comment on individual cases. If anyone has any concerns about being able to pay their council tax, we are happy to discuss arrangements with them if they contact us directly.

“When a tenant vacates a property, we check it for any rechargeable repairs including clearing out any items of furniture left behind. The tenant is then given an estimate for any recharge costs and asked to contact us if they have any queries.”

For more information, visit www.perthshirewatchdog.com.