Planning Committee – 1st December 2010 – Part 1

Planning Committee – 1st December 2010 – Part 1                                                    The agenda for last night’s meeting can be found here. The meeting started late. Prior to the meeting the officers had insisted they were having a briefing (despite none of the Committee being present). Quite how officers larking around and hitting each other over the … Continue reading “Planning Committee – 1st December 2010 – Part 1”

Planning Committee – 1st December 2010 – Part 1

                                                  

The agenda for last night’s meeting can be found here.

The meeting started late. Prior to the meeting the officers had insisted they were having a briefing (despite none of the Committee being present). Quite how officers larking around and hitting each other over the head with the plan for Birkenhead High School Academy constitutes a briefing is anyone’s guess but Matthew Rushton was quite adamant that this was a briefing. He got quite annoyed when I pointed out the briefing started at 3.15pm and therefore by that time it was finished. Strangely, he said we can’t treat you (referring to myself and my wife) differently to any other member of the public.

However, officers are often under deliberate instructions from councillors to treat different members of the public differently. We only have to go to yesterday when the thirty members of the public were all ushered for drinks in the Mayor’s Parlour and a reception (before and after) whereas myself and Leonora were told (as far as I know no one else was) not to sit on the first three rows of the public gallery.

Minutes of the meetings on the 27th October and 9th November were agreed. There were no declarations of interest. Item 5 (an extension of Melrose, Oldfield Road, Heswall) was deferred for a site visit. Item 7 (57 Argyle Street South, Tranmere) was also deferred as officers had asked the applicant for extra info. The petition regarding item 7 was mentioned; it was asked whether it was fair for the petitioners to be denied extra time when the applicant had more time. Matthew answered that the last date for comments had passed.

The agenda was then reordered to take into account the numbers of the public present for each item with the item on Birkenhead High School first.

Birkenhead, Merseyside, UK

Author: John Brace

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