Local Plan consultation to be extended but Rugby Liberal Democrats concerned not all information will be included
At a full Rugby Borough Council meeting on Tuesday 15 November, Rugby Liberal Democrats Councillors tabled an amendment that would have seen the Local Plan consultation process extended until Spring next year, so key infrastructure information would be available for analysis.
Before the meeting a last minute urgency report from the Council's Executive Director was tabled. The report called for an additional consultation period ending in January 2017 due to demands made by the public for extra information.
This report also said that detailed technical work on key infrastructure requirements regarding highways, education and health provision from partner agencies will not be available until February 2017.
To coincide with this timeframe Rugby Liberal Democrats tabled an amendment to the report requesting a separate consultation exercise to be carried out in early Spring of 2017, based on further evidence to be provided by partner agencies.
A majority of Conservative and Labour Councillors did not support the Liberal Democrats amendment and the Local Plan consultation period has been extended a further six weeks from November 30 to January 11 only.
Cllr Neil Sandison who tabled the amendment said
"Extending the consultation period until January when most people will be thinking about Christmas is little more than empty gesture politics. The people of Rugby need more than just a gesture; they need the facts and modelling to make proper judgements and comments on the Local Plan. As it stands key infrastructure information on highways, education and health are either out of date or missing."
Cllr Jerry Roodhouse who seconded the amendment said
"The Conservatives who run Rugby Borough Council have a responsibility to ensure that the Local Plan process is open, transparent and informed. This is something the Liberal Democrats Group has consistently argued all along. Extending the consultation process until March when all the facts are available would have allowed breathing space to ensure that comments from residents are fairly assessed and above all else accurate, taking into consideration the up to date supporting evidence from partner agencies. However, we do urge any residents who are able to respond to the consultation between now and January period to do so, in order to ensure their voice is heard; we need alocal plan that works for our town."
Papers for the Council meeting on 15 November 2016 including additional report