I WANTED to draw your attention to the new Hillingdon First scheme.
I am a shopkeeper in Eastcote and meet a lot of people. When I ask them about the scheme many think it is a good idea that they can get discounts in shops.
When you get further into the discussion, most seem to know nothing about the scheme, don't realise that they need to carry a card with them if they want to pay parking rates as they are now, or that their parking and dumping habits will be monitored for six years.
I can't understand why the council would be forcing our loyal and local customers to pay more - and what about the workers all over Hillingdon coming from outside?
The council says it's because they want the tax paying residents to pay less for services. I for one won't be carrying this card with me, and from my chats a lot of people won't.
It won't just be our neighbours paying for our services. It'll be the Hillingdon tax paying residents who forget their cards or value privacy.
Our other London neighbours have similar plans to be linked to our scheme so we can use their services and vice versa. Will that cut costs?
The scheme is a consultant led exercise with no input from residents. A 150-person consultation was done, with a positive result.
I wonder why this consultation isn't published on the website.
A leading question of: "Do you want discounts for Hillingdon residents?" will result in a 'yes'.
"Do you want discounts for Hillingdon residents, but usage will be tracked and we will add features later without consultation?" would likely result in a 'no'.
How much did this cost? What are the future uses of the scheme? Why keep six years of data?
There are many questions that Hillingdon is not answering. There is more information on the scheme at http://hillingdonfirst.info
PAUL GRIMSHAW
Field End Road Eastcote
