Letter published in the Surrey Ad, 2nd August 2014
“Although Haslemere Town Hall was full of residents on Monday night at a specially called Full Council meeting, wanting to hear a debate from the Town Council about the issues around Sturt Farm’s Outline application for 135 houses, they were left disappointed as councillor after councillor abstained from having a view.
We know the Council has no planning powers, all we wanted was to hear an opinion – a gut reaction – on should this site be used for housing. What a missed opportunity for the Tories to demonstrate some localism. An Outline application is exactly that, about the principal of development, not about the number of parking spaces. Should outline permission be agreed – now without the input of the Town Council, it will be impossible to prevent any number of houses here.
I was stunned that having convened such an important meeting the whole Town Council abstained from representing the people of Haslemere, with a clearly whipped vote to agree ‘No Comment’. How will we be able to get residents involved in Neighbourhood Planning if even the lowest tier of Tory Controlled government treats them with such contempt?”