Friday, March 09, 2007
Old St. Mellons Conservation area Update!
Further to my last leaflet, here is the latest news for Beech Tree Park
We (Sue Essex, Sophie Howe and I) have continued to lobby Council Officers and Executive Members to withdraw the proposals to remove Beech Tree Park from the conservation area.
The Executive Business Meeting (EBM) took place at County Hall on Thursday 8th March, with the report from the conservation officers on the agenda with a recommendation to agree all of its proposals. The previous day, I had contacted every member of the executive to inform them that I wanted to present a residents petition to full Council rather than to the EBM, and requested that they defer their decision until then. I also sought the help of Greg Owens (Leader of my Group and Councillor for the Ward of Llandaff who has a right to speak at the EBM) and he readily agreed to help ensure that your concerns were properly addressed.
Your direct lobbying, together with such strong representations paid off. Not only was the report deferred, it also has to be examined by a Scrutiny Committee, which means that we have considerably extended our breathing space and involved more elected members in the decision-making process. And, you can be quite sure that I will be speaking at the scrutiny stage to present the strongest possible arguments against the proposal.
Now I have to decide whether to present the petition at full Council on the 22nd March, or wait and present it to the scrutiny committee. Waiting may be better because we could get more signatures on our petition – there is definite strength in numbers!
A note of caution
This fight still has a long way to run and whether we win or not remains to be seen. However of this I am sure, it is worth all the time, effort and lobbying if only to ensure that all concerns will be fully considered and the proposals will not as the officers had wished, be pushed through hastily.
We (Sue Essex, Sophie Howe and I) have continued to lobby Council Officers and Executive Members to withdraw the proposals to remove Beech Tree Park from the conservation area.
The Executive Business Meeting (EBM) took place at County Hall on Thursday 8th March, with the report from the conservation officers on the agenda with a recommendation to agree all of its proposals. The previous day, I had contacted every member of the executive to inform them that I wanted to present a residents petition to full Council rather than to the EBM, and requested that they defer their decision until then. I also sought the help of Greg Owens (Leader of my Group and Councillor for the Ward of Llandaff who has a right to speak at the EBM) and he readily agreed to help ensure that your concerns were properly addressed.
Your direct lobbying, together with such strong representations paid off. Not only was the report deferred, it also has to be examined by a Scrutiny Committee, which means that we have considerably extended our breathing space and involved more elected members in the decision-making process. And, you can be quite sure that I will be speaking at the scrutiny stage to present the strongest possible arguments against the proposal.
Now I have to decide whether to present the petition at full Council on the 22nd March, or wait and present it to the scrutiny committee. Waiting may be better because we could get more signatures on our petition – there is definite strength in numbers!
A note of caution
This fight still has a long way to run and whether we win or not remains to be seen. However of this I am sure, it is worth all the time, effort and lobbying if only to ensure that all concerns will be fully considered and the proposals will not as the officers had wished, be pushed through hastily.
