Letter: Accepting the Facts Will Help Understanding

Published on: 28 Sep, 2021
Updated on: 27 Sep, 2021

From: George Potter

Lib Dem county councillor for Guildford East and borough councillor for Burpham

In response to: The Local Plan Review Is an Enigma

With respect, Mr Roberts’ suggestions are, unfortunately, completely impossible within the confines of the national planning law.

The legal limitations on what the council can and cannot do have been explained numerous times (for instance, that the updated ONS population projections cannot be taken into account until and unless the government updates the national housing need calculation formula to use the new data), and unfortunately facts have no respect for ideology or wishful thinking.

It is indeed a good question to ask whether (and, if so, then why?) R4GV made promises that a Local Plan review could never deliver, but angry conspiracy theories by those who refuse to listen to the facts are getting pretty tiresome.

If someone can’t make the effort to understand even the most basic facts (such as that the Planning Committee is not responsible for reviewing the Local Plan) then it’s no wonder that the Local Plan review remains an enigma to them.

Responses to Letter: Accepting the Facts Will Help Understanding

David Roberts Reply

September 30, 2021 at 12:16 pm

Let me patiently respond to Cllr Potter’s patronising comment by taking, for instance, just one of the six simple steps I suggested the council should adopt:

“All relevant terms of reference and consultancy contracts for the review should be open to scrutiny, especially to the full council, before being approved.”

Where is the “legal” obstacle to proper transparency and what “basic fact” am I failing to understand here.

The Lib Dems appear to be hiding behind R4GV and legal mumbo-jumbo to try to justify a meaningless review that leaves the Tory Local Plan entirely intact. Is this because their former leader voted in favour of it? Is it because Lib Dems like Cllr Potter passively support it because it would shove development away from their urban wards onto green fields?

It is high time his party leader or rural colleagues such as Cllr Hogger broke their silence on this.

It is not appropriate for a councillor to call members of the public ignorant and “tiresome”. We have a right to hold public servants to account and can’t help it if we have a nose for hypocrisy.