Since that meeting, at which Council Leader Stephen Greenhalgh proclaimed his "hurt" and determination to "listen" to the residents concerns, the same Cllr Greenhalgh submitted the plans against which the residents were protesting without change. Among signtaures given publicly against the development, is now to be counted Tory star Zac Goldsmith MP.
I spoke to Cllr Harry Phibbs before the start of the first Save our Skyline meeting, who said he recognised the residents concerns but felt they underestimated the dilapidated state of the current Town Hall building, the redevelopment of which forms the basis for the whole plan. Perhaps anticipating the doubts that were cast on the case for this redevelopment he told me he was going to organise tours of the building so people could see for themselves, which seems to be quite a good way of engaging people at least.
And true to his word the first tour will be taking place this afternoon at 4pm. So well done Cllr Phibbs, but expect an even more rancorous meeting in December. I have a sneaking feeling that Cllr Greenhalgh may not attend the next meeting after his decision to ignore the residents he claimed to want to "listen" to by submittting an unchanged plan to the developers.
No comments:
Post a Comment