Select Committee announce timetable for eco-town investigation
, Friday, 16 May 2008
Preparations for the Council’s public investigation into the possible eco-town at Ford are well under way following the publication of an agreed timetable of events.
The members of the special Select Committee tasked with leading the investigation, comprising of eight councillors and one independent planning advisor, have already met several times and have now agreed how the six-day inquiry will unfold. They have compiled a list of the most important topics to be discussed over the course of the inquiry in order to establish the viability of an eco-town at Ford and assigned each topic to a particular day.
Topics include roads and transportation, economy, housing, flood risk and drainage and biodiversity (see www.arun.gov.uk/ecotown for the full timetable).
Councillor Graham Tyler, Chairman of the Select Committee, said: “We have looked long and hard at the areas which need to be discussed in public in order to gauge the impact of an eco-town at Ford.
“Whilst it would be impossible to cover every possible aspect, we believe we have agreed a comprehensive timetable that will allow detailed discussion into the major topics and help inform us all about the impact such a development would have on Arun.
“We sincerely hope that the public, many of whom have expressed strong views about the eco-town proposals, will attend these meetings to give us their input and to listen to the evidence.”
Invitations have now been sent to a wide-ranging list of organisations to attend the investigation and to submit evidence to the Select Committee on each particular topic. These invitations include Government Departments and Agencies such as the Highways Agency and Environment Agency and essential service providers such as Portsmouth water and the Primary Care Trusts.
Following a meeting with senior Government officials last week, the Council is delighted that leading Government Departments will be ‘encouraged’ to attend as the process is seen to be a credible and serious public investigation in to the proposals.
Councillor Mrs Gillian Brown, Leader of the Council, said: “Whilst I am less than happy that the Government has decided to shortlist Ford without even consulting with anyone in Arun, I am extremely pleased they have agreed to give our own public investigation their full attention.
“Hopefully now we can look forward to a proper public examination of the eco-credentials of the proposals at Ford, whether they are sustainable and deliverable, and what the real effects might be on the rest of the District.”
There will be a period of time at the beginning of each day for the public to put their questions to the Select Committee and their guests, which will be fed into the investigation and the final report.
Each meeting will be open to the public for its entire duration and will take place in the Council Chamber of the Civic Centre in Littlehampton, apart from the final day (04 June) when the Committee concludes its investigation at Yapton and Ford Village Hall.
The public are being encouraged to watch the Council’s website, www.arun.gov.uk/ecotown, for the latest updates and topic papers on individual subjects being examined at the inquiry.
The members of the special Select Committee tasked with leading the investigation, comprising of eight councillors and one independent planning advisor, have already met several times and have now agreed how the six-day inquiry will unfold. They have compiled a list of the most important topics to be discussed over the course of the inquiry in order to establish the viability of an eco-town at Ford and assigned each topic to a particular day.
Topics include roads and transportation, economy, housing, flood risk and drainage and biodiversity (see www.arun.gov.uk/ecotown for the full timetable).
Councillor Graham Tyler, Chairman of the Select Committee, said: “We have looked long and hard at the areas which need to be discussed in public in order to gauge the impact of an eco-town at Ford.
“Whilst it would be impossible to cover every possible aspect, we believe we have agreed a comprehensive timetable that will allow detailed discussion into the major topics and help inform us all about the impact such a development would have on Arun.
“We sincerely hope that the public, many of whom have expressed strong views about the eco-town proposals, will attend these meetings to give us their input and to listen to the evidence.”
Invitations have now been sent to a wide-ranging list of organisations to attend the investigation and to submit evidence to the Select Committee on each particular topic. These invitations include Government Departments and Agencies such as the Highways Agency and Environment Agency and essential service providers such as Portsmouth water and the Primary Care Trusts.
Following a meeting with senior Government officials last week, the Council is delighted that leading Government Departments will be ‘encouraged’ to attend as the process is seen to be a credible and serious public investigation in to the proposals.
Councillor Mrs Gillian Brown, Leader of the Council, said: “Whilst I am less than happy that the Government has decided to shortlist Ford without even consulting with anyone in Arun, I am extremely pleased they have agreed to give our own public investigation their full attention.
“Hopefully now we can look forward to a proper public examination of the eco-credentials of the proposals at Ford, whether they are sustainable and deliverable, and what the real effects might be on the rest of the District.”
There will be a period of time at the beginning of each day for the public to put their questions to the Select Committee and their guests, which will be fed into the investigation and the final report.
Each meeting will be open to the public for its entire duration and will take place in the Council Chamber of the Civic Centre in Littlehampton, apart from the final day (04 June) when the Committee concludes its investigation at Yapton and Ford Village Hall.
The public are being encouraged to watch the Council’s website, www.arun.gov.uk/ecotown, for the latest updates and topic papers on individual subjects being examined at the inquiry.
