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>Public Meeting is.....On..........Maybe........No
its OFF Press
release from Pembroke Dock Town Council
Attached the statement and e-mail form the Martello Quays Project
team concerning the invitation to attend a Public Meeting. This
statement was read out to the Town Council at its meeting held on
Thursday last (28th June). As a result the Town Council has decided to
hold a special meeting of the Council on Thursday 5th July 2007 when
their observations on the planning application will be given. The Town
Council will give their opinions based on the best available evidence
they have i.e. the presentation made to the Town Council on 17th May,
the public exhibition which members attended during the period 21 to 23
June and local opinions expressed to them over the period of time the
application has been in the public domain.
If you require any further information please let me know.
Ian Jones, Town Clerk, Pembroke Dock Town Council, Council Offices,
Lewis Street, Pembroke Dock, SA72 6DD Tel: 01646 684410
I attach below part of an e mail from Keith Williams which
I received with the statement.
Attachment 1
I was engaged in discussions yesterday with the County Council, Welsh
Assembly Government, and the Port Authority to discuss our collective
stance on a public meeting. The unanimous conclusion reached was that as
a consequence of the attendance we received at the Public Exhibition and
the analysis of the comments that were left, we see no need for a public
meeting to be held. I have consequently attached a joint statement from
the Martello Quays Limited and Client Group together with the analysis
of the comments received during the three days of the Public Exhibition.
We would be grateful if you could present this statement to the Town
Council and ask them to reconsider the need for a public meeting in view
of the information enclosed. It is our decision however that if the Town
Council feel it necessary to hold a public meeting neither the developer
or members of the Client Group will attend.
Regards
Keith
Attachment 2 To Pembroke
Dock Town Council
As you are aware we had requested that you delay any decision to call a
public meeting until after we had reported to you the results of our
Public Exhibition.
The Exhibition was held between the 21st to the 23rd June 2007 and was
attended over the 3 days by some 850 to 900 people. Throughout,
officers’ of the Client Group and the Developer were in attendance and
had the opportunity to speak to the majority of those who attended. All
were encouraged to leave their comments, and the analysis of the
comments is attached for your information.
As a consequence of this analysis and the feedback we received through
conversation, we have concluded that through the Public Exhibition
process we have received a wide cross section of opinion with the vast
majority unreservedly in favour of the scheme presented.
Where we have identified genuine concerns it is our attention to speak
to individuals or groups to further explain our proposals, and hopefully
in doing so alleviate the concerns expressed. This individual approach
is a far better and more effective method of dealing with issues than by
means of a public meeting, which by its very nature and relatively short
timescale will be dominated by a few.
We appreciate that you may find this decision disappointing, but our
interest is to engage in a democratic public consultation process which
is informed, and considered and available to all. We would therefore
expect those parties with concerns to have attended the public
exhibition, taken the opportunity to speak with us, and record their
comments which therefore will be reflected in the analysis we have
given.
We believe the people attending the exhibition went away better informed
and we hope those members of the Town Council who attended also found it
beneficial. We believe that this is the most accurate way of assessing
public opinion and concerns where there are any. We do not believe
public meetings in general are necessarily representative or
constructive.
On behalf of
Martello Quays Limited
The Client Group
Editor Pembroke Dock Community Web Project |
