THE article in the Journal (April 23), 'New housing estate will cause gridlock on roads', is yet another article that identifies concerns which appear to be critical about the planning process which exists within Wychavon.
Although Cllr Paul Middlebrough responds to comments made about this development by Daniel Walton as being, “naive political opportunism”.
It shows how defensive these local politicians can be when people raise concerns about the decision-making process.
What worries me even more is the comment from Cllr David Brotheridge, who says, “Refusal would result in an appeal being lost”.
What an attitude to take when dealing with decisions which will have significant impact on the local community, not only from Pershore, but also those from the wider community who have to use these roads.
I get the distinct impression that Mr Brotheridge is more concerned about Wychavon losing an appeal or trying to save money than trying to protect the rights and interests of the electorate.
Surely, where people have major concerns about a planning application, they are honour-bound to put the interest of the people before the risk of any costs!
If they are so concerned about losing appeals, then surely the planning authority is being held to ransom in some respects by big developers and those with the financial clout to mount an appeal.
It makes you wonder if they want to save money, then is there any point in having a planning department or councillors being paid expenses to sit on these committees?
Doug Langdon
Eckington
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