Barbara Anderson, of Hope Cove, writes:

I was wondering when councillor May would put his head above the parapet to defend his planning committee in the light of so much flack regarding planning decisions and processes. Councillor May urges correspondents to 'look at the facts before putting pen to paper', an excellent suggestion which he would do well to practice bearing in mind that his contribution to the debate carries virtually no facts. So here are some 'facts'.

Cllr May says 'We give everyone the opportunity to have their say and the process is as open and transparent as can be'. Not so, in the January planning meeting when objections to the proposed Sun Bay development in Hope Cove were discussed, the person representing the objectors was allowed only a five minute slot to put forward our numerous objections and furthermore he was refused the opportunity to correct some subsequent misinformation. Cllr May as chairman also cut short one councillor's comments in mid sentence.

As to transparency, not so, why is it that some five months since questions were lodged under the 'Freedom of Information Act' regarding The Sun Bay has there been little or no adequate response from the council? Hardly transparent.     

Cllr May says 'correspondents refer to local parishes and members of the public being ignored by the committee. I can assure them this is not the case'. Not so, in relation to the same application, the National Trust, the AONB, the parish council and 90% of local persons who expressed a view lodged objections to the proposal.

Cllr. May says the committee 'considers all of the information and make our decisions based on the reports and relevant information before us'. This is interesting because it is clear that in some cases not all of the information has been read by committee members, who would rather rely on the planning officer's recommendation.