Paused, reflected and re-opened!

So, we've all paused for over a week now. All visitors have had an opportunity to reflect on the comments that were being posted and we can hopefully look forward to more constructive comments in future.

We're going to re-open the website to allow comments to blog entries, but these will be checked before publishing to the website. The comments may have to be edited and in extreme cases may not be allowed at all.

Guidance is as before: keep your comments on topic and avoid making unkind references to private individuals or groups. For further content guidance, please see Google's Blogger Content Policy.

For those people who were able to attend the Club Romano meeting a couple of weeks ago, thanks again for your time and contributions. We hope that the information presented was of interest and has encouraged you to consider the council's proposal and the way in which the consultation process has been conducted.

Pausing for reflection

Due to some unpleasant comments that have been posted earlier today, this website will not accept comments for the time being to give everyone a chance to reflect on what has been said and whether it is in the spirit of open and honest dialogue.

We hope that this action can be revoked in the near future.

Anonymous posts allowed again

Following feedback from visitors, we've decided to allow Anonymous comments once more. Please be sensible with this: use the Name/URL option rather than posting completely Anonymous comments, and be consistent so that others can follow the trail of comments that you leave.

Also, comments are permitted without moderation, but if this is abused, all comments will have to be moderated before being published, which will delay adding your comment to the website.

Note: if you're having trouble locating the comments, just click on the Title of the blog post. This will show you the entry followed by comments, as well as a text box to post your own comment.

Website reopened for discussion

The Council's public consulation period ended last week on 6 April 2009. We hope that you were able to make written representation to the Project Director, Gillian Ross Pond, in time for the deadline.

We have been advised that the Director of Education will now review all the representations and write a report to go before the Education Committee to consider whether to accept or reject the proposal. All 29 local Councillors will be involved in this decision so it is important that you let your local councillor know your views and if you have any concerns.

We are advised that the date of this event has yet to be confirmed, but it may be near the end of this month. We are therefore reopening this website for comments and open discussion.

In order to ensure clarity in the discussion, comments can only be posted if you have signed up to one of several online systems. Although you can no longer post Anonymous comments, you can sign up to one of these systems using whichever nom-de-plume you wish (as long as it complies with the system's terms and conditions). This should make it easier to follow discussions.

No more comments

The end of the public consultation is almost upon us and we have decided that no further comments should be posted to the blog.

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to the debate thus far. We hope that you have found the information and discussion useful and interesting.

Please remember to submit your written representation to Gillian Ross Pond by 6 April 2009, whether you are in favour of the proposal as it is, or if you have questions and concerns.