MP calls for revised LDP consultation to be reopened

BRIDGEND MP Jamie Wallis, backed by 12 local councillors, has called on Bridgend council to reopen its consultation on the draft revised Local Development Plan.

Welsh Conservative Dr Wallis said he had called four public meetings and three surgeries with constituents specifically on the LDP and was disturbed to discover that most people knew nothing about the council’s consultation.

He said: “Public engagement has been affected because the council chose to hold this consultation during a pandemic when much of society was still in lockdown. Many people in BCBC have been effectively denied the opportunity to make their views known because the council offices where they could inspect the plans have remained largely closed because of the Covid restrictions.

“I know that my staff and I, who work with IT all the time, had problems in accessing the information we needed. It was not an easy task and the sheer volume of material available made it especially daunting. I shudder to think how people with lower levels of computer skills managed to navigate their way through it and I suspect that many will simply have given up.

“It is essential that the consultation gives everyone the chance to understand what the proposals actually are and then to comment on them if they wish.”

Dr Wallis said that people without access to computers, laptops and other devices were totally disadvantaged and effectively denied the chance to participate.

He said: “The council has made paper forms available but to know that you have to be able to go online to the council’s website so that’s pretty pointless anyway.

“I have written to council leader Huw David to ask him to extend the deadline for people to engage with this process by a further 90 days. The consultation officially closed last week but I would like the council to reopen it and to use this extra time to make documentation and plans available in printed formats at council offices and buildings throughout the area.

“A private energy company which wants to build a wind farm near Maesteg has managed to stage six separate sessions for the public in recent weeks at various venues where staff were on hand to answer questions. If they can do it and comply with Covid rules then so can the council.

“As this plan will remain in force for another 12 years I cannot see how delaying the end of the consultation period by three months will make any difference but it will certainly make a big difference to those people whose lives may be affected by some of the developments proposed in the plan.”