Planning Department

in Forum > Writing to the Council re ASDA

gaby 115 posts Monday, 14. July 2008 01:32PM

I've just been told that Planning have received 49 objections. It makes me wonder - are we on the same planet?
There are 104 online comments, letters and emails on the UK Planning website. Some of them are on there two, three or even four times. This is because some of us have copied our letters into online comments, because they were taking so long in publishing them. Some of our online comments, but by no means all of them, have been printed out, scanned and published again. So I have just gone through every single document on there and discounted all the copies and copies of copies and then counted the net objection comments. I came up with 77. If the Planners have only received 49, then where are the other 28?

biscuits 27 posts Monday, 14. July 2008 04:29PM

Have you contacted the planning regarding the discrepency? I've got the name of Rebecca Bishop as one of the officers in the dept.

gaby 115 posts Monday, 14. July 2008 04:55PM

I've emailed our councillor, Stephen Springthorpe. I'll see what he can find out, if anything. If I don't hear from him, I'll contact Planning direct. I contacted them anyway today because the letter of objection from Stagecoach Busses is incomplete - only 2 pages of 5 are shown on the site.

carolnjohn 34 posts Wednesday, 16. July 2008 08:08AM

Perhaps they are counting the number of objectors rather than letters. Does that mean we only get one letter each?

gaby 115 posts Wednesday, 16. July 2008 10:41AM

Perhaps they are counting the number of objectors, hopefully I'll get an answer to my query and then we'll know. As far as I know, the number of objectors is immaterial and we are entitled to write as many letters as we think fit. Ultimately, it's the number and the strength of the arguments that counts. And I believe there are some very compelling arguments there. The letter from Stagecoach looks interesting, although it's still not complete. I've been told that pages 3-5 should be published later today. Fingers crossed.

We still don't know when the planning committee will sit but I'm hoping that it will now be September. The Council are still waiting for some additional documentation from Asda and so August is looking more and more unlikely.

Once we know when the meeting will be, I think it would be good to organise a brief rally near the site with as many people as possible so that we can get an Observer journalist down to take a pic and report on the overwhelming opposition to the store in Silverhill. I'd also then appreciate a meeting with some of you to discuss the arguments I should put forward during the 5 minutes I get to speak at the meeting. We'll also need to motivate people to go and attend the meeting. The more, the better. If we have people queuing out of the doors Councillors will understand how strongly we feel about this and hopefully be extra careful about what decision they make.

As more things are being published on the site (such as stagecoach letter and, presumably, the documentation that the Council are still waiting for, whatever that may be) I'm sure we are entitled to continue commenting on these. So if you know anyone who has not written to object please encourage them to do so.

biscuits 27 posts Friday, 25. July 2008 10:07AM

Count me in for a meeting once we get the planning meeting date. In terms of the arguments that you are putting forward in the 5 minutes, '5 reasons why ........' or similar as a way of structuring your presentation might be worth considering, although there are thousands of reasons why in this case.

I've just received a reply from Michael Foster which suggests I ring his office for an appointment, which I did ages ago and they asked to write in for an appointment - talk about going round the houses. So I will. The letter also says 'I have no role to play in either the process or the eventual decision', which we know, but he may have some influence with some the Labour council members, although he also states 'we have a Conservative council they will be making this decision quite without regard for the views of myself or my Labour colleagues'. If this is true, I wonder if this benefits our case or not - any thoughts?

gaby 115 posts Friday, 25. July 2008 01:30PM

Personally, I think it sounds like he's washing his hands. Just before the Council Elections he was out canvassing in my area and I asked him about his views on Asda then. He said that people vote with their feet and the fact that people buy at supermarkets shows that people don't want to shop in small shops. - To my mind a very simplistic view. In any case, I had the impression that he was in favour but chose to sit on the fence because he wanted us to vote for his party.

Our Council is not, strictly speaking a Conservative Council, is it? I thought it was a hung Council? Also, the Planning Committee is made up of

Terrence Fawthorpe (Chair) - Conservative
Joy Waite (Vice Chair) - Conservative
Peter Armstrong - LibDem
Paul Barlow - Labour
Keith Bing - Conservative
Godfrey Daniel - Labour
Kim Forward - Labour
Alan Roberts - Labour
Stephen Springthorpe - Independent
John Wilson - Conservative

Therefore, it's an all party committee and he should have some influence. In any case, as our MP he should be aware of our opinions and put them forward on our behalf. He seems to be interested in fishermen and the Conquest only at the moment and has no problem ranting against Conservatives in that context. Why can't he take an interest in Silverhill? Presumably, simply because he does not agree with us and is pro Asda.

I'm pretty certain that Alan Roberts and Godfrey Daniel will be pro Asda. Kim Forward was against before she was elected. (She lives on Sedlescombe Road South and would be directly affected by the development), but may pull the party line. As far as I know, they will be given a recommendation by the Planning Officer in charge, Chris Sampson, and Head of Planning, Tim Cookson.