What was point of consultation?

It’s nice to know that on the face it, Warwick District Council seems to be supporting the principle of consultation. In December 2011, WDC published the final report of the public consultation and we were looking forward to reading a development strategy based on a consensus of that public consultation.
By The Newsroom
Published 31st Aug 2013, 08:17 BST

However, it would appear that the public’s wishes have very much been disregarded in the Local Plan Revised Development Strategy, published in June 2013.

Appendix 5 in the Final Report of Public Consultation (page 63) shows that:

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Scenario 1. 54 per cent of the public respondents advocate low levels of development or growth in our part of leafy Warwickshire with all farming land protected.

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Scenario 2. 31 per cent say that only a limited level of development is acceptable.

Scenario 3. Only 15 per cent say that high levels of growth of services and facilities are required to support a growing population in our leafy part of Warwickshire, i.e. only 15 per cent of respondents want a high population growth.

Why then does the Local Plan Revised Development Strategy try to justify an intention to build 12,300 new homes? Even 6,000 homes would be a huge growth rate for towns the size of Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth. The consultation process shows that the public does not want it. Such a high level of growth would result in a high level increase in road congestion and air pollution - a staggering 78 per cent of respondents agree that this is an important issue.

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So, as we now observe, WDC’s Local Plan Revised Development Strategy does not seem to have been developed from public consultation. In Paragraph 1.2, WDC considers it important that the Local Plan Revised Development Strategy will “deliver the council’s vision for the district”. The idea of consultation is generally recognised as a bringing together of visions from residents, voters, elected representatives and district councils alike. A declaration by WDC that it will deliver the council’s vision for the district is not in keeping with what I understand to be consultation.

What is the point of consultation, WDC, if you publish the findings of the consultation and then don’t take a blind bit of notice of it but just go ahead and do your own thing?

WDC owes the people of Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth a re-think.

Steve Tebby, via email

Related topics:Warwick District CouncilWarwickshireLeamington