WASBO
Waddington Against Southern Bypass Option
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Waddington Against Southern Bypass Option
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| ROUTE SELECTION – BUT DECISION CALLED IN BY LABOUR COUNCILLORS On Tuesday 4 April Lincolnshire County Council’s Highways Portfolio holder, Cllr William Webb announced that the authority had selected Corridor 2, Route C as the route for the Lincoln Southern Bypass which would be taken forward for the next stage of the process. Cllr Webb’s statement said “On choosing a route for further analysis, I had to take into account the feasibility of delivering the scheme. I can only plan a road I know I can build and secure funding for …..” WASBO’s Chairman, Peter Brier was interviewed on Lincs FM and BBC Radio Lincolnshire within minutes of the announcement being made. He censured Cllr Webb for refusing to investigate Corridor 3 and ignoring the views of the residents, Douglas Hogg MP , the Parish Council, NKDC and the Ministry of Defence. Peter Brier also questioned the prudence of such an important and far reaching decision being taken by one person acting alone, “where’s the democracy?” This was extremely bad news for the residents of Waddington and WASBO working on their behalf, however there has been a positive development. Very shortly after the announcement was made, the council’s Labour group “called in” the decision for further scrutiny. The Labour highways spokesman, Cllr Richard Coupland said “we believe such a major decision should be taken in public with a full discussion. We also believe there has been insufficient research into Corridor 3. Residents of Waddington have serious concerns about planning blight on their properties.” The decision is now officially on hold until further notice. The ‘call-in report’ will be published 5 working days before the meeting of the Lincolnshire County Council’s Scrutiny Committee scheduled to hear the matter on 27 April. WASBO has been instrumental in lobbying all the councillors in an effort to bring this action about and we welcome the move made by Councillors Coupland, Jackson & Robinson. In choosing Corridor 2C we believe Lincolnshire County Council have acted very unwisely, leaving themselves wide open to criticism from many quarters. The local press and radio have picked this up as usual, and we are pleased to announce that we have had some interest from regional television stations. Yorkshire’s Calendar News and Central TV’s Local News have both carried this story using footage shot in the village and outside RAF Waddington and also short interviews with local residents, so hopefully we will reach a wider audience. NORTH KESTEVEN DISTRICT COUNCILAt long last the NKDC have made known their stance on the matter of the LSB. They issued a press release on 7 April stating that more consultation needs to be carried out on the proposed route. NKDC has failed to make a statement before now as they were waiting to be formally asked for their opinion by the LCC. When this did not happen, they decided to make their views known and will discuss the matter fully at its meeting on 13 April. Tina James (Publicity) Please see HERE for North Kesteven's Press Release. WILL CORRIDOR 2C GO AHEAD? Councillor William Webb earlier this week announced that he was formally recommending the next planning stage in the furtherance of the Lincoln Southern Bypass option Corridor 2C. We believe that he failed to pay adequate attention to many inputs that he received. We are unsure what he has received because he has excluded the public from his considerations. Residents, councillors, the local MP and the Ministry of Defence have all tried to persuade Councillor Webb to drop all further consideration of Corridor 2. Although he was empowered to make the decision, WASBO believed that the impact would be so serious that the decision should have been made by a more representative body of Lincolnshire County Council (LCC). Although Councillor Webb made his announcement of support for Corridor 2C, the fight is still very much alive. WASBO is fearful that hasty action and lack of correct consultation may eventually show that the selection was not only inappropriate but possibly flawed. Interesting publicity, interviews with WASBO members with coverage in local TV and press, demonstrate that the issue is far from over. We are proud that our WASBO team are sufficiently informed to face questioning. However, the same does not apply to those elected or salaried staff of LCC involved in the Southern Bypass fiasco. Up to now they have avoided any public statements or appearances other than to report from prepared scripts or reports. By Thursday 6 April it was clear to LCC Highways officials that all was not going their way. Some LCC councillors used a procedure to ‘call-in’ Councillors Webb’s decision. The effect of the ‘call-in’ is to postpone any further action of the decision Councillor Webb announced. Whilst it is not clear what the result of the ‘call-in’ will be, the matter of Corridor 2C will be reviewed with the attendant publicity. On balance publicity has been highly unfavourable towards the manner in which Corridor 2C was to be approved. The route would divide a thriving and vibrant Waddington Community. WASBO says Abandon Corridor 2 in all its guises. Mike Humphrey (Publicity) 7 April 2006 Please see HERE for more..... |
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