Protest Demonstration to Save Lake Farm Country Park.

I have discovered that the Council has been considering its plans to build on Lake Farm in secret. The Council has secretly commissioned and received a feasibility study on building on Lake Farm and has kept the report of the feasibility study secret. The Councillors also decided that this issue would only be considered in the secret part of its Cabinet meeting this week (Thursday) giving no opportunity for local residents to have sight of the reports to councillors, to comment on the proposal or to attend the meeting and even listen to the debate. Councillors sitting in secret to carve up local community assets isn’t democracy it is a dictatorship. Over 150 local residents attended a public meeting I convened earlier this month to protest at the Council’s proposals to build on our country park but we have heard nothing from the Council. There has been no public consultation and no discussion with local schools or the community on alternative sites for a school to avoid destroying our local green belt land. As a community we are not going to be ridden over roughshod in this way. We pay our rates that fund these councillors and we demand that decisions are in public, the feasibility study and non commercial reports are published and that local residents have their say.
Local residents are holding a protest demonstration on Botwell Common on Saturday 25th February meeting at 11am at the Skylark Statue on the Common, Botwell Lane. Come and join us in this fight to save our country park.

submitted by John on 27 Jan 2012 at 15:00