Tesco Planning Application Voted Down
This letter was printed in CEN on August 13, 2008:
John Hodgson in his letter concerning the Tesco planning application (”It’s the councillors’ job”, 8 August) makes the very salient point that of the 12 councillors who were in a position to cast a vote, only two voted against it, and the rest either didn’t turn up or abstained. This is correct.
However, he then proceeds to lament “the performance of the Mill Road councillors”.
This is not entirely fair. Of the four Liberal Democrat councillors for Romsey, Cllr Raj Shah was not permitted to participate or vote because of “a prejudicial interest”, and Cllr Ellis-Miller had booked her family holiday long before she learned the application would come before the committee on this date.
Meanwhile, not only was Cllr Smart one of only two councillors who voted against the application, but it is thanks to her calling in the planning decision in the first place that the public have had a chance to express their feelings. And although I, as a county councillor, am not entitled to vote on planning decisions, I was allowed to speak and took this opportunity to give a sustained critical account of Tesco’s shambolic acoustic report and the unworkable delivery system being proposed.
I hope this clarifies any confusion about the Liberal Democrats’ participation in this process.
Kilian Bourke
County Councillor for Romsey
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