Nuneaton’s MP Marcus Jones has announced that he is ‘staggered’ at the Borough Council’s latest announcement about the controversial Borough Plan and has branded the latest delay as ‘unacceptable’.
Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has set a date for when local people can have their say on the Borough Plan, which they say will happen in February. The Town’s MP has reacted to the announcement with concern.
More than 5,000 people responded to the first consultation a year ago, and those people have been ‘treated with contempt’ by the Council, according to the local MP, who has been urging the Council to introduce a Borough Plan to avoid ‘planning by appeal’ from developers looking to develop on greenfields.
Commenting on the latest delay, Marcus said: “It is absolutely staggering that the Labour Council continues to treat so many local people in such a deplorable way. We have had dithering and delays for a year since the first consultation and now we are told there are further excuses for delaying the opportunity for local people to have their say.
“The Council claims that the delay is because so many people responded to the consultation, yet they have had a year to work through this and they have monumentally failed to act in a timely fashion. Their announcement of a further delay is hugely frustrating and will be met with dismay by thousands of local people who will be directly affected by housing developments as a result of the Council’s dithering and delays.
“The theory of the Labour Council delaying doing anything about the Borough Plan until after the next election for political purposes is starting to be more and more credible with each passing week. Labour politicians have a lot to answer for over this delay and hiding behind their officials is unacceptable.”
Adding, the Leader of the Conservative Group on the Borough Council, Cllr Kris Wilson, said: "It's no wonder that the controlling Labour Group delayed on Conservative demands for them to publish their revised timetable. By the time the Planning Inspector gets to read the Borough Plan Labour will have had almost 6 years in control and the residents of the Borough will have had 6 years of delay. Labour's excuses are many and feeble, but ultimately it boils down to this - they are simply not up to the job of producing a fair, balanced and timely Borough Plan."
Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has set a date for when local people can have their say on the Borough Plan, which they say will happen in February. The Town’s MP has reacted to the announcement with concern.
More than 5,000 people responded to the first consultation a year ago, and those people have been ‘treated with contempt’ by the Council, according to the local MP, who has been urging the Council to introduce a Borough Plan to avoid ‘planning by appeal’ from developers looking to develop on greenfields.
Commenting on the latest delay, Marcus said: “It is absolutely staggering that the Labour Council continues to treat so many local people in such a deplorable way. We have had dithering and delays for a year since the first consultation and now we are told there are further excuses for delaying the opportunity for local people to have their say.
“The Council claims that the delay is because so many people responded to the consultation, yet they have had a year to work through this and they have monumentally failed to act in a timely fashion. Their announcement of a further delay is hugely frustrating and will be met with dismay by thousands of local people who will be directly affected by housing developments as a result of the Council’s dithering and delays.
“The theory of the Labour Council delaying doing anything about the Borough Plan until after the next election for political purposes is starting to be more and more credible with each passing week. Labour politicians have a lot to answer for over this delay and hiding behind their officials is unacceptable.”
Adding, the Leader of the Conservative Group on the Borough Council, Cllr Kris Wilson, said: "It's no wonder that the controlling Labour Group delayed on Conservative demands for them to publish their revised timetable. By the time the Planning Inspector gets to read the Borough Plan Labour will have had almost 6 years in control and the residents of the Borough will have had 6 years of delay. Labour's excuses are many and feeble, but ultimately it boils down to this - they are simply not up to the job of producing a fair, balanced and timely Borough Plan."