LETTER: Very late PR job by the council

I am writing direct again so that he, and others can see (again) that one resident, and his wife, are totally opposed the Proposed North Horsham Planning Framework. We will of course be objecting through the correct channels so that our comments are seen by the Planning Inspector.

In an effort to get a little more understanding of the proposal we went to the’ exhibition’ held in Swan Walk. From what we saw this appeared to be a very late PR exercise by the council. I heard young girls telling people that ‘we had to have the proposed industrial site as it would ensure work for the young people of Horsham’.

When I asked one of them how they could be saying this when there has been no recognised case put forward cabinet member Claire Vickers came over and stated that there were companies interested in coming to the area. I asked if she could tell us who and she said that was ‘commercially sensitive’.

She also stated that someone from the Gatwick Diamond region had visited the council and said there were strong possibilities for Horsham and when I told her this was totally the opposite to what has been written and stated by them in the past she didn’t want to comment.

I then asked her and another person why the leaflets that were being handed out ‘Guidance on how to make a representation’ indicated that Horsham District Planning Framework 2014, and I quote from the document, ‘is the local draft plan for Cambridge’ !!

She stated that the Government had advised Horsham to base their submission on that of Cambridge (why?) and that there was obviously an error, it was the printers fault, etc.

When I asked if there was someone of responsibility who was supposed to check public documents she did not respond.

Call me a cynic but I know the latest development by Liberty is building a business park for Astra Zeneca in Cambridge – have they cobbled all this paperwork together for the developer-led proposal?

I await response with interest.

E. DELGADO

Parry Close, Horsham