Voting against own green belt policy

A PLAN has been approved to site holiday accommodation created from shipping containers on the green belt at Poplar Tree Garden Centre in Shincliffe.

The result was affected by the political posturing of the Labour members on the committee combined with the shortcomings of the council’s professional advisers.

The credibility of the planning system in County Durham is abysmally low. This meeting did nothing to change that. Surely, it has to be a negation of local democracy when the member representing the people of Stanley can dismiss the 161 letters of objection from the residents of Shincliffe as “irrelevant”.

What passed for a debate had nothing to do with a reasoned examination of the facts.

Instead, you had statements from Labour councillors that were flatly in denial of the facts that had been presented to them.

Consequently, you had the bizarre spectacle of Labour members speaking against council policy aimed at protecting the countryside for the benefit of the whole community. Supporting instead an application which would only benefit a minute number of individuals and put a few extra pounds into the coffers of an already profitable enterprise.

The meeting concluded with members being advised by their planning officer that there were no very special circumstances which would allow the application to be approved.

Nevertheless, Labour members still chose to vote en bloc against their council’s own green belt policy. A policy which had been adopted by the previous Labour administration as recently as 2020.

The result was seven votes to six in favour with all seven votes in favour being cast by the seven members of one political party.

It is regrettable, but not unusual, for the vote to be split along party lines, but out of the last four planning applications for development in the green belt, three have been approved contrary to the council’s own green belt policy and the recommendation of the council’s own planning officer.

This suggests that it would be extremely unwise to trust the Labour members on the planning committee to protect our green belt.

COLIN JUBB, Shincliffe