Local Plan – Public had no say on the impact of traffic modelling
Rugby Liberal Democrats are very disappointed that a majority of Councillors did not support their amendment to the Local Plan which would have allowed the public to be consulted on the impacts of the traffic modelling study which was only released days before the Local Plan vote.
The amendment which was moved by Councillor Neil Sandison (Eastlands) and seconded by Councillor Jerry Roodhouse (Paddox) was defeated by 17 votes to 14 with 7 abstentions. The amendment said:
"This Council consults upon the impacts of the traffic modelling study which has only been in the public domain on Friday 16 June 2017. This study has significant impacts on existing transport networks. We believe this is justified so that local communities can respond to this new information and that all the findings should be sent directly to the Secretary of State."
For: Councillors Brader, Brown, Douglas, Miss Dumbleton, Ms Edwards, Lewis, Mistry, Mrs Nash, Mrs New, Mrs Parker, Roodhouse, Mrs Roodhouse, Sandison, Srivastava - 14 votes
Against: Councillors Allen, Mrs Avis, Butlin, Cade, Cranham, Ellis, Mrs Garcia, Gillias, Miss Lawrence, Lowe, Poole, Ms Robbins, Mrs Simpson-Vince, Stokes, Mrs Timms, Ms Watson-Merret and Dr Williams - 17 votes
Abstentions: Councillors Mrs Bragg, Mrs Crane, Leigh Hunt, Keeling, Pacey-Day, Mrs Roberts, Roberts - 7 votes
In November when the Local Plan was previously discussed at a meeting of the full Rugby Borough Council, the Liberal Democrat group were shouted down and accused of 'rabble rousing' by the other two political groups when we proposed to extend the consultation process to ensure that all the facts around transport and infrastructure were in the public domain. Our calls were ignored and subsequently this information has not formed part of the Local Plan's scrutiny process.
At a special Rugby Borough Council meeting on Wednesday 21 June 2017 the Rugby Borough Local Plan, which sets out which sites in the borough will be allocated for housing and employment land was approved by a majority of Councillors. It will now be sent to the Government for examination.
See the Council Papers here: