I went along to the IW Council Planning Committee tonight to support a new Newport parish councillor who was endeavouring to put a stop to Sainsbury's manoevuring to secure the re-routing of historic Petticoat Lane as part of their approved (but highly controversial) expansion plans. Our parish council had supported her objections earlier this month and she volunteered - as one of the local members - to make the objections to Sainsbury's seeking to overturn a planning condition about the lane only imposed on them - with their agreement - last March.
Well she made her objections - not easy in the Council Chamber when you have a quiet voice and the PA system is absolute rubbish (still) - supported by the other local parish member and IW councillor, but to no avail. The quality of debate by the committee shed no intelligence on the issue, with only one councillor having any real understanding of what the issue was. The rest of the contributions were bordering at times on the asinine and the variation to the planning condition was approved by a clear majority. The only Newport member of the committee voted in favour of this variation.
On the way home it got me thinking about how this committee works. It is a deeply unimpressive body of people who, in the main, seem to have little understanding of what they are deliberating. And these people will determine the biggest planning application in a generation next April.................All the consultation in the world will never deliver people from the whims of this deeply flawed committee.
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