Dorset residents told to stop complaining - as they're stressing out council staff

Residents of Ferndown in Dorset have been told to stop writing letters of complaint to the council - because it's stressing out staff.

After Ferndown Town Council decided to reduce the speed limit on a stretch of main road, it was inundated with complaints by letter and email. Many residents wanted the new limit to be extended over a greater distance.

But when writing to residents to explain the council's decision, traffic working party chairman Cathy Lugg asked them to put a stop to the letters, the Bournemouth Echo reports.

"The town council is working on a skeleton staff due to sickness and holiday at present and the large number of emails has caused extra stress for the staff," she wrote.

"If you wish to respond further, may I request that you contact me directly through the town council website."

The council has six office staff members – a town clerk, an assistant clerk, a part-time finance officer, an administration officer and two customer services assistants.

Residents had been encouraged to voice their concerns by East Dorset district councillor George Russell, who told them that the council was obliged to acknowledge their letters.

And, as local resident Mandy Willis told the Daily Mail, "Surely the job of the town council is to communicate with residents who are there to hold them to account for its decisions. If we can't write to the town council where are we supposed to turn to get issues in the town sorted?"

All councils have their own procedures for complaints and requests of this sort. Ferndown encourages residents to use its feedback forms - presumably dealt with by the stressed-out staff - or by contacting councillors directly.

Ms Lugg is well within her rights in asking people to contact her directly - and will no doubt be popular with her staff as a result.

But councils do risk alienating residents by declining to consider their concerns - Sheffield, for example, recently refused to answer any more questions about its tree-felling policy, claiming they were 'vexatious and 'manifestly unreasonable.'

If residents believe that their council has done something wrong, failed to provide a service or not followed correct procedures, they should complain to the council itself first. If they're not happy with the response, the next step is the Local Government Ombudsman.