Scrutiny meeting tonight to look at East Barnet gas crisis (From Times Series)

Scrutiny meeting tonight to look at East Barnet gas crisis

9:10am Thursday 4th March 2010 in

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AGGRIEVED homeowners in East Barnet whose gas supply was disrupted over Christmas will have a further chance to air their frustrations to a select panel of councillors.

Public meetings have already been held between the utility companies and residents to address the major concerns emanating from the emergency response to the crisis, which left almost 1,000 homes without a gas supply during freezing weather.

But the newly formed Barnet Council ad hoc overview and scrutiny committee will meet tonight to examine what led to some residents being left without gas for more than a week in late December.

It is the first time this committee will meet over the issue, and the first time an ad hoc committee has been organised to investigate an emergency situation.

Representatives of all the utility companies involved, including National Grid and Veolia Water, have been invited to attend, as have council staff.

The meeting will be chaired by Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Brian Coleman, who has called for residents to send in accounts of their experiences to the council to help analyse the performance of all the parties involved in dealing with the incident.

Criticisms already levied on the companies and authorities involved have included poor communication and a lack of reasonable compensation following the reconnection of all properties.

And Cllr Coleman said: "It became abundantly clear to us that a large number of East Barnet residents were left inconvenienced for several days over the Christmas period, and many have raised concerns about the way that all agencies involved responded to the situation.

"I want to hear from as many residents as possible so that we are fully equipped to speak with authority on lessons that need to be learned for the future."

Two people have already been invited to speak at the meeting tonight although there will not be an opportunity for any other residents to speak on the night.

The committee meeting is open to the public and takes place at 7.00pm at Hendon Town Hall, in The Burroughs.

A second meeting is planned for later in the month to review the findings and make recommendations to improve the response if any other similar events occur in the future.