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The Position As At 5th June, 2008.
Introduction
The meeting at Brookfield School on 5th
January achieved its objective in alerting local residents to the proposals in
the Hampshire Minerals Plan. This enabled residents to submit their views on the
proposals to Hampshire County Council within the extended time frame for the
consultation process namely by 15th January 2008. The extension to the original
consultation period had been obtained by CAMELsolent because Hampshire County
Council had singularly failed to publicise the 6 week Consultation to local
residents who would be affected by the proposals.
Hampshire County Council Update
Since the meeting on 5th January,
CAMELsolent has been in regular contact with Hampshire County Council. We are
pleased to record that HCC were inundated with objections to the Brownwich/Chilling
proposals sent direct to the Council, via Mark Hoban MP and Councillors Keith
Evans, Geoff Hockley, and Trevor Cartwright and also via the CAMELsolent web
site. At one stage the Council's website "went down," because of the level of
activity.
HCC have now finalised the web site Comments in respect of Brownwich/Chilling
which can be found
here.
There are 1,931 Comments opposing the proposal in respect of Brownwich/Chilling
which contrasts with 869 recorded Comments in respect of Hamble Airfield. We
appreciate that this is not a numbers game but the numbers clearly demonstrate
the depth of feeling amongst those concerned that the Brownwich/Chilling
proposal would destroy a unique part of the Hampshire countryside enjoyed by
all. Hamble is a more densely populated area and yet Brownwich/Chilling Comments
are more than double those recorded in respect of Hamble.
Following representations by CAMELsolent, HCC have also shown in a separate
section of the website, the responses to Question 6 on the Response Form which
effectively asked the Hamble residents whether they would prefer the gravel
extraction to take place at Brownwich/Chilling. HCC originally recorded the
Answers as Support for the proposal in the Brownwich/Chilling section of the
site which we believe gave a misleading impression. This has now been rectified.
We understand that the Hampshire Minerals Plan will be considered at the HCC
Cabinet meeting on the 23rd June and that the Cabinet�s recommendation will be
put to the full Council on 10th July. We believe that we, and all those who
responded so positively to our fliers and posters, have done all we can to
ensure that the HCC make the right decision. As soon as we are aware of the
decision, we will notify all those who have registered on our web site.
Fareham Borough Council
We have also been in regular
communication with Fareham Borough Council having written to their Chief
Executive on 10th January 2008 raising a number of questions. Our main concern
was that Fareham's formal response to the consultation process was made at a
meeting of Fareham's Executive on 3rd December which stated that significant
constraint issues would need to be addressed "before the proposal can be
supported". The clear implication was that if those constraint issues were
addressed the proposal could be supported by Fareham Borough Council. It is fair
to say that at that stage Fareham Councillors were totally unaware of the
strength of feeling in the Western Wards - because at that stage there had been
no consultation. Councillors clearly became aware of the strength of feeling at
the meeting on 5th January and this prompted a letter from Councillors Sean
Woodward and Trevor Cartwright to Councillor Ken Thornber leader of Hampshire
County Council dated 29th January 2008. A copy of the Councillors' letter in pdf
format can be found
here.
CAMELsolent's concern was that this was a personal letter from two Fareham
Councillors to the Leader of Hampshire County Council and we asked the Chief
Executive of Fareham Borough Council to send a copy to his opposite number at
HCC with a request that it be circulated with FBC's formal response to the
Consultation. FBC have declined to do this but we are pleased to report that
Mark Hoban MP has now received confirmation that Fareham�s opposition to the
proposals will be taken into account when the County Council finalise the
Minerals Plan.
Central Government
At the end of the day, the Government
will make the final decision. It would be a travesty if the Government ignored
local feeling and local decisions but it is important that we continue to
monitor the position. We understand that there will be further public
consultation on the soundness of the Plan in Autumn 2008 with a Public
Examination likely in the summer of 2009. We are also fortunate indeed to have
the full support of Mark Hoban MP who will do all he can at Westminster to
ensure that Brownwich/Chilling does not become a Preferred Site within the Plan.
Future Action
CAMELsolent will do all that it can but
it needs YOUR support. We will continue to monitor the position; and liaise with
HCC and FBC as the consultation progresses. We will ensure that those affected
by the Brownwich/Chilling proposals who register on our web site are kept fully
informed so that they can continue to contribute and express their views and
provide assistance should that be required. Please encourage all those who
oppose the Brownwich/Chilling proposals to register on our web site now.
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