Objectors treated like ‘criminals’

A WEST Devon councillor has slammed the system in which she claims objectors at a meeting last week were treated like 'criminals'.

Cllr Caroline Keane said she was 'ashamed' to be part of the process at last Tuesday's borough council extraordinary meeting, when supermarket giant Lidl was granted planning permission to build at Okehampton.

Cllr Keane, Conservative ward member for Tavistock, said: 'I'm not saying that Lidl should not have gone ahead, I'm not saying the decision was wrong, I'm saying the process was disrespectful.'

Several members of the public attended the meeting in Okehampton, and under the same rules which apply to the borough's planning meetings, they were allowed three minutes to speak.

But Cllr Keane said the normal rules were not adhered to.

'They were paraded like criminals in a dock, they should not have been made to look like fools,' she said.

'Instead of questioning objectors after they presented their arguments, councillors were forced to wait until everyone had spoken. The points of their individual arguments were thus lost in what seemed to be a morass of negativity.

'It did little to induce a mutual respect for councillors, applicants or objectors points of view.'

Cllr Keane said the borough council and the planning committee in particular should look at their procedures and their methods of communicating with the public, especially if they want to involve them in the Local Plan.

Ana Pulteney, who spoke at the meeting, said: 'I would totally endorse what the councillor has said.

'I felt the council didn't actually know how to handle us. They were basically trying to get through us as quickly as possible.'

Objector Charles Pulteney said: 'It was a travesty of democracy — we have written a formal letter of complaint to the council.'

He said speakers brought up a wide range of issues and it was 'clearly impossible' to cover them properly in the way the meeting was held.

Anne Crampton, one of the objectors at the meeting, said she felt the subject had been treated in a 'casual' manner — she would have preferred that questions had been asked after each speaker but conceded time was limited at the meeting.

'There were one or two councillors who said rude things about Okehampton,' she added.

Cllr Christine Grills, who chaired the meeting, said: 'In my capacity as chairman I tried to be as fair as possible to all the speakers.

'There was a time limit put on how long they were allowed to speak, which I think is fair enough, otherwise the meeting could have gone on all afternoon.

'I think West Devon did the best they could in the circumstances. I took advice and was told it was better for the questions to be asked at the end — I think if questions had been allowed after each speaker it would have prolonged the proceedings considerably.'

After a lengthy meeting, councillors decided the supermarket scheme in Okehampton's School Way should go ahead, despite a planning committee recommendation to refuse consent.