Did councillors’ vote lead to recent tirade?

The recent letter from Mr Geoffrey Copas (Viewpoint, February 25) piqued my interest.

Apart from being a delivery system for a couple of snide jabs at my ‘Liberal’ (sic) colleagues, councillors Brar and Reynolds, I could not quite fathom its purpose.

After all, he was granted the permission he sought, with the predictable assistance of all five Tory votes.

It is Mandy’s [Cllr Brar’s] duty to reflect the concerns of her residents and there is no inconsistency in her position.

She is not anti-football, she’s not anti-Cookham Dean FC and she is fully aware of the mental health challenges in her ward and throughout the Borough.

She was deeply troubled by a recent fatal road traffic incident, very close to the proposed site of this development and her concerns about the access via Long Lane are perfectly understandable, both in planning and road safety terms.

Cllr Reynolds (Lib Dem, Furze Platt) shares those concerns. His is the neighbouring ward and is connected to the proposed site by that fatal highway.

So why all the vitriol?

I dwelt on it for a while and then the penny dropped.

On November 20, 2019, the Maidenhead Area Development Management Panel met to consider application 19/02442/OUT.

The applicant was none other than Mr Geoffrey Copas.

The officer’s recommendation was to refuse. A motion to accept that recommendation was proposed and seconded and was unanimously carried.

The minutes tell us that the proposer and seconder were… drumroll… Cllrs Brar and Reynolds!

I was a member of the panel on that night. I vividly remember Mr Copas’ tirade after the vote and he castigated us for our ingratitude and implied we would rue the day.

He appears to be a man of his word!

Cllr JOHN BALDWIN

Lib Dem, Belmont