Councillors' Quotes at Planning Committee - Cllr Heaton-Jones

And I am not here to represent the Conservative administration of this Council – I am here as a ward councillor to represent the views of residents...To do anything else would not have been honest....Chair, I have to say a phrase that includes the words ‘not worth the paper it is written on’ springs to mind....My job tonight has been to tell you that many residents I represent, many of whom are here tonight, are opposed to this application. I share their concerns, the message is loud and clear, please do not ignore it."

Tadpole Farm is being mentioned on Oakhurst doorsteps

During bouts of heavy rain tonight Oakhurst residents got together and went out to speak to fellow Oakhurst residents.  Though people were busy on a Saturday night they took time to talk to their neighbours from Oakhurst.  We are grateful for the time they spent talking to us and it was obvious that the local Conservative councillors had actually created more questions after their visit.

ORA was able to answer these questions and hope that more interventions like this do the same.

Justin Tomlinson, MP uses a term, it's being mentioned on the doorsteps.  If he continues to promote the capitulation by Cllr Elliott, who proposed Tadpole Farm for approval, then people will react in a way he may not have seen before.

It is good that the local Conservative councillors and MP are aligning themselves to their actions and attempts to reassure local residents are failing.  If they had been aiming at a target then today they would have missed it by a country mile.

Councillors' Quotes at Planning Committee - Cllr Tomlinson

Cllr Vera Tomlinson (St Andrews) has served several years as a member of the Planning Committee.
She completes a U-turn in her point of view about what should happen to the Tadpole Farm application in the space of five days.  What happens to change her view so completely would only be conjecture; but it is ORA's opinion that to say it should be refused in one meeting and then say it should be approved in another is, at the least, very disturbing for the residents of North Swindon. 

At the North Locality meeting on Thursday, 7th June 2012 Cllr Tomlinson speaks to the residents about how the Tadpole Farm application should be refused:

"We’ve got to get through this first hurdle, and you know our mission is to try and bring up enough points to persuade the committee to vote against it.  And it is only outline planning permission that they are seeking on the night.  So you don’t get all the conditions and bits and pieces – it is purely do we have permission to build and then the officer will decide what the conditions are. Now, if I was on Planning Committee I wouldn’t vote for that because I think the committee needs to know exactly what they are voting for......

Councillors' Quotes at Planning Committee - The Decision

"Tonight you have complained about the fact that consultation does not always happen and you want to close the circle further? I think that as many ward councillors as want to have a say should." 
(Cllr Toby Elliott to Cllr Vera Tomlinson)

Councillors' Quotes at Planning Committee - Cllr Friend

"There is nothing in this application to support it being refused and I am very sad to say this, but like Cllr Tomlinson, I am a realist."  Planning Committee - 12th June 2012

"It shocked me how many people were against it and reading the application there are so many things that are wrong with it for the people that already live in the area."  North Locality Meeting - 7th June 2012

Tadpole Farm - North Locality Meeting 7th June 2012 - What's in a Minute?

On 7th June 2012 the North Locality meeting went ahead and Tadpole Farm was on the agenda.  We have put the minute up from the Locality Lead and have contrasted this minute with ORA's.

ORA note that the Northern Development councillors who attended the meeting spoke against development at Tadpole Farm but at Planning Committee recommended it for approval or left it up to the Planning Committee.

Cllr Vera Tomlinson says:

"I would like to respond to David [Cllr David Renard (Haydon Wick)] and I am sure he knew I would. It is a bit of a defeatist attitude, that one. We are fighting for something that means an awful lot to an awful lot of people that live in the area which we are talking about and who will be affected most. It is not a done deal if we turn it down, if this Planning Committee turns it down, that the inspector will also turn it down. We have the right to speak at that appeal and if our arguments are good then the inspector will agree with us. So don’t think that if it is turned down it is going to cost you all a lot of money. Not necessarily so. And, in my opinion it is a fight worth fighting. We have to do it, it concerns so many people and it is such a bad application..."

On the night, Cllr Tomlinson recommended the committee to approve the planning application.

Quotes from Officers at Planning Committee - Ms Cornelius, Transport

This is the discussion about the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system at Planning Committee on Tuesday, 12th June 2012 reference development at Tadpole Farm.  This post should be read in conjunction with ORA's briefing about the Bus Rapid Transit.

Ms Cornelius opens the discussion about the BRT: 

"A couple of comments on the Bus Rapid Transit system... I’d just like to clarify a couple of issues.  We know that all of the residents and councillors will be interested.  The Bus Rapid Transit is not a scheme put forward by the developer or devised by the developer it is a Borough-led scheme.  It is contained within our own Transport Strategy and in our own Local Transport Plan all of which have had consultation procedures that go with it.