I was impressed with the presentations of the objectors who addressed West Devon Borough council prior to their meeting to consider the Lidl planning application for School Way.
The five speakers gave a first-class appraisal of their environmental concerns. The points raised convinced me that this third supermarket was not a suitable development for such an important site.
Despite these objections the council were strong in their insistence that it should go ahead and advised accordingly — mind you, 12 votes to 11 with one abstention is hardly convincing! (It is sad that they discredited the advice of the Environmental Agency who opposed the application because of the environmental considerations.)
I believe that if we mean to honour the commitments made following Agenda 21 we should invariably take the advice of bodies such as the Environment Agency and English Nature. Otherwise we stand no hope of achieving sustainable development.
I have an uneasy feeling that in this case the borough council has failed in not putting community interests first and in not protecting the environment to the best of its ability.
Alan Flack
7 Park View Terrace
Okehampton