[Yellow Ribbon] Council Meeting - 13th Dec 2001

At tonight's meeting of the Council, a question regarding the closing date of the public consultation period was raised by Leader of the Labour group, Cllr Chris Dandridge. This, together with Cllr Roger Weaver's answer, is given in full below.

Question from Councillor Dandridge to the Executive Councillor for Planning, Transportation and Engineering

Question

Given the late and sporadic delivery of "Civic News" in many parts of the town and the intervening Christmas and New Year holidays, will the Administration consider extending the consultation period for the Priory Crescent Traffic Scheme beyond the current closing date of 4th January 2002?

Answer

When consulting over 70,000 households there will always be a risk that some deliveries do not arrive when required, or indeed at all. However, in this instance the proposals for Priory Crescent and Cuckoo Corner have been covered widely in the press over the last few weeks. It is very hard to see how those who live and work in the town do not know of the Council's intentions. Indeed, it is only following through the proposals included in the Borough Plan adopted in 1994 after a Public Inquiry. It was decided to include the Christmas and New Year holiday periods so that the additional opportunity existed for those who are interested in the matter to have further time to decide if they wished to submit any comments away from the normal pressures of the working week. However, in accordance with this Administration's practise of openness, I have decided to extend the consultation period to 31st January 2002.

In response, Cllr Dandridge said of Mr Weaver: "It just goes to show that he is not as black has he's sometimes painted."

A very significant point to be found in the minutes of a previous meeting, distributed at this Council meeting is the following statement by Roger Weaver:

"The position has been made very clear that the Council do not consider it to be acceptable to take land from Priory Park and this remains the position."

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