Letter: JR Decision is the First Big Test of Leadership

Published on: 13 Jul, 2019
Updated on: 13 Jul, 2019

From David Roberts

In response to: Judicial Reviews of Guildford’s Local Plan Get Legal Go-Ahead

It hasn’t taken Cllr Harwood long to master the art of political circumlocution. What does “participate in an open and transparent manner” actually mean? Is there still a chance the council Executive will support the Judicial Reviews, will it contest them or doesn’t it know?

Is the LibDem group still split three ways? If so, what are they going to propose to the full council (assuming they let them have the final say)? Can we be sure that their pro-Plan leader isn’t cooking up another deal with Cllr Spooner’s horrible Tory rump?

It’s quite clear that to contest the JRs would be a scandalous betrayal of the expressed wishes of the electorate. But this means that council leaders must now stand up to their own officers and legal advisers, who have invested a lot of personal capital in the Local Plan and are still on Tory auto-pilot. They must tell them who’s boss. This is their first big test of leadership.

Responses to Letter: JR Decision is the First Big Test of Leadership

Jules Cranwell Reply

July 13, 2019 at 2:03 pm

I agree, this would be a dreadful betrayal, and would indicate that democracy has still to be restored to GBC.

What is “open and transparent” about this decision to defend this much-needed challenge, given no councillors, including the Executive, were consulted.

The Lib-Dems need to reflect on the results of the election and pledges made by many of their members.

What is the value of spending our hard earned money on a defence, when the court will decide on the result, with or without GBC’s intervention?

Jules Cranwell is one of those who have applied for a Judicial Review of GBC’s Local Plan adoption process.