Bennetts Lane

Unfortunately Andy Pope was not able to make the meeting tonight - it was led by Rob Polhill.

It would seem that all residents objections have been forwarded to the inspectorate and unless anybody has any new arguments against the appeal then it would be a waste of time sending these in.

Also it seems that the sheer numbers of objections would not necessarily have any effect on the decision of the inspectorate. They were more concerned about the legalities in the process of the refusal of planning permission by the council than any other issue.

There was some discussion about the Halton View Action Group sending in a letter on behalf of residents reiterating all the points objecting to the unit and this presumably is going to be followed up.

Rob Polhill was at pains to state that he thought the council had a good case. However he admitted at the end of the day if the Priory/Montpellier appeal was upheld the council would only go ahead with appealing against this decision on points of law if thier barristers advised them that they had good grounds for mounting such an appeal.

It's unfortunate that planning permission was given in the first place to a care unit on the site by Rob Polhill and all party members of the planning committee - it really is an inappropriate setting for any care facility owing to its siting in a COMA area near to dangerous chemical factories. The Green Party would certainly have raised objections to such a development if it had been represented on the council at the time.