I read with interest councillor Ted Lewin’s attitude to Southend development control committee, of which he is a member.
The committee will be dealing with one of the most important applications for the development of Southend Airport, the opportunity to provide jobs and an airport for local passengers.
He posed a number of questions, the answers to which we would all like, namely the extra stress on roads, the diversion of Eastwoodbury Lane, night flights, noise and pollution and the effect of the runway extension on St Laurence church.
The theme behind the letter was politics and I feel he has had too much to say in advance to make an unbiased decision on the day. Why write anything when members are supposed to keep an open mind on planning applications and place their vote on council officers’ recommendations, the debate in committee and representations from residents?
How can he prejudge what will happen on the day? What evidence does he have that the Conservatives are going to vote in favour of the application regardless.
What evidence does he have that Stobart is putting pressure on members to ensure its plans to invest in our airport are agreed?
David Garston
Conservative Candidate, St Laurence Ward
Maplin Way North
Southend
Tags: Cllr David Garston
We have the evidence of the second phase of JAAP consultation, which ignored the majority of respondents to Phase 1 and nominated the least popular option as the Councils’ preferred option.
We have the evidence of the shambolic state of the planning application file where legitimate objections were being discounted for no discernible reason, objections and invalid responses were being counted as support and supporting comments were being counted twice.
We now also have the evidence of the Officers’ Report, which recommends that the planning application be approved in many cases solely on the evidence of the applicant with no independent analysis.
People were saying that the decision on this planning application was a foregone conclusion the moment it was submitted. We have yet to see any evidence to the contrary.