Strategy of meaningless and costly gobbledygook
Dear Editor, I have just finished reading the new West Midlands Economic Strategy "Connecting to Success" that was released this week. Its 50 very expensively produced pages are full of meaningless gobbledygook, with all the words that we have now come to expect from our governing and tax-taking masters, like "clusters" and, as John Duckers noted in his article on Tuesday, much use of the word "partnership" (Advantage West Midlands still needs to toughen up to succeed, Post Business, December 11).
How on earth anyone could think that they, government employees, can get real value in stimulating economic success in this highly competitive and fast moving world beats me. I just wonder how much all of this cost us?
But my real interest in taking an hour or so to suffer reading this twaddle, was to see what plans they had for our creaking transport infrastructure, and out of 50 glossy pages, the absolutely vital subject of transport got - half a page.
To confirm my concerns, I noted that we will "have to make best use of existing networks", and public transport will get "new infrastructure where required". Compare that to our European or even Far Eastern competitors.
We're told that the "Lead Support & Delivery Partners" (yes that word again), is the "Regional Transport Partnership" whoever they are, and they are back up by the West Midlands Regional Assembly for goodness sake.
So there were are, and folk like me - heavily invested and with a lifetime involved in the transport sector - can settle back, and take heart that our bureaucratic masters know just where they're taking us.
CHRIS KELLY
Keltruck Ltd, West Bromwich
