Firstly I’d like to thank everyone who
took the time to come to Bolsover Council meeting last week to ask why Sherwood
Green and Lodge has been chosen as the site for a new superstore. I had hoped
that the members of the Planning Committee would also want to hear from local
traders and residents but instead they chose to walk out of the meeting claiming
that even hearing the questions would expose the Council to a legal challenge
for predetermination.
The strange thing is that these same
Councillors had just received training and should have understood the difference
between an open and a closed mind. As Section 25 of the new Localism Act says
“A
decision-maker is not to be taken to have had, or to have appeared to have had,
a closed mind when making the decision just because the decision-maker had
previously done anything that directly or indirectly indicated what view the
decision-maker took, or would or might take, in relation to a
matter”.
There
is no excuse for their actions. The law has made it very clear, they could, and
should, have stayed and thus kept their mind open to what local people said.
Their behaviour was not only discourteous but showed a lack of commitment to
being “in touch” with the public.
They have their hands over their ears as they don't want to listen. They know the plan has more holes than a Swiss cheese but they've gone too far to climb down now
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the council has already started moving out if the litter-strewn, bindweed infested
shrub beds in front of the offices is anything to go by. It looks as if they've given up on it already. Could it be that any planning application is purely academic?