We put faith in Phil Haseler’s integrity

Having taken several deep breaths, I am replying to Lin Chen’s letter (Viewpoint, November 26).

Ostensibly concerning the Planning Inspectorate appeal into refusal by RBWM to grant planning permission to Claires Court School to develop the 42 acre Grade 2 agricultural greenbelt site, the letter was primarily a personal attack on Cllr Phil Haseler, and by extension the community group Cox Green Says No (CGSN).

Like, I assume, Lin Chen, I am the mother of a son who attended Ridgeway School: unlike Lin Chen I have lived on the affected part of Cannon Lane for over 28 years and have close knowledge of CGSN.

Phil has given a full rebuttal of her claims re his own actions (Viewpoint, December 3) but I would like to add some further thoughts from a community perspective.

CGSN is a voluntary group of many people who live in and around the area, with a substantial Facebook group as the main means of communication.

Many of us have contributed to the evidence used in the appeal, through assisting in traffic counts and providing photographic support for reports of our daily experience of traffic levels.

We know the reality of Cannon Lane’s traffic, and together with several parish councils and other local groups in the surrounding the areas, realise the increased chaos, pollution and social cost that will result from installing the required infrastructure and subsequent substantial increase in traffic movements on this overused road.

It remains a mystery as to why RBWM’s highways department fails to acknowledge it.

Phil Haseler has been the main spokesperson for Cox Green Says No since its formation in 2016, and his election as a first-time RBWM councillor in 2019 (topping the poll in Cox Green) is testament to the belief that the Cox Green community has in him. His conduct throughout the recent eight-day appeal was exemplary: his approach was professional and fact-based throughout, and the value of his contribution on behalf of local residents was acknowledged by both of the barristers involved and the Planning Inspector.

CGSN has no financial support – everyone involved gives their time and knowledge freely. We have been amazingly fortunate to have someone who combines a belief in his local community with a family who are willing to support him wholeheartedly in doing so.

Sadly, Lin Chen has chosen to use terms of personal abuse in her letter that are both unwarranted and wrong.

As Daniel Moynihan wrote ‘everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts’.