Letter: The Council Should Not Mount a Legal Defence of the Local Plan

Published on: 4 Jun, 2019
Updated on: 3 Jun, 2019

From David Roberts

In response to: GBC Will Not Seek a JR Of Its Own Local Plan Process But Divisive Choice Still Looms

We know that Cllr Reeves, the new council leader, is a big fan of the hated Tory Local Plan. But how far are other Lib Dem councillors, and their R4GV allies, prepared to go to defy the clear will of voters to see it sensibly revised?

It appears that Cllr Reeves has already dismissed the idea of the council itself applying for a judicial review. This is her first blunder in office.

A second blunder would be to mount a legal defence against the judicial reviews now being planned by others. This would be a huge waste of council taxpayers’ money and would split the coalition. The Tories would laugh their socks off.

It is in the public interest for a judge to decide once and for all whether the Plan is sound. Ordinary residents are showing enormous public spirit in funding legal challenges out of their own pocket. These challenges should be allowed to take their course without the council getting in the way.

Council officers and legal advisers who became politicised during the long Tory reign should be told firmly that they are now under new management. They are not paid to defend the policies of a defunct regime.

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