Letter: SCC Consultation on London Road Scheme is All ‘Smoke & Mirrors’

Published on: 30 Aug, 2023
Updated on: 30 Aug, 2023

Image of London Road taken in August 2022. Google Street View.

From: Jim Allen

In response to: New Plan for London Road Scheme ‘Engagement’ Receives Mixed Response

As technical coordinator of the Burpham Neighbourhood Plan, I am on the second tier of the consultees for the London Road Active Travel scheme.

As the statutory body for planning in Burpham, the Burpham Neighbourhood Forum should have been kept in the loop. Courtesy at least should have dictated nothing less.

In 2020, I personally requested to be kept informed but received nothing by way of communication. In 2021 I again requested progress reports. Again nothing was received. It was the same in 2022.

Then, all of a sudden it appeared as a fait accompli last December (I have the email evidence). The county council was and is not interested in hard technical facts nor community involvement, it’s all “smoke and mirrors!”, “mitigations” not solutions.

I say that the consultation is a public farce and demonstrably biased, if G-BUG claims that they have been kept in the loop for months, if not years, are correct.

SCC has wilfully been excluding Burpham Neighbourhood Forum, a statutory body, for the area (and I note County Cllr Colin Cross’s remarks on West Horsley Parish Council being excluded on road closures).

It is now for the residents to decide just how much the public input will be acknowledged and concerns observed.