Press Report of Residents Meeting on 19-Mar-06

20th March 2006
Dear fellow resident,

This is a copy of the report which was sent to the Middy and the Leader following our meeting on Sunday.

Report of the Meeting held 3.30pm on Sunday 19th March at the Gateway Baptist Church for the residents of Queens Crescent, Station Road and representatives of other interested groups in Burgess Hill.

This was a very constructive meeting of approximately 50 people including representatives of other concerned groups in Burgess Hill. Three Councillors also attended the meeting as observers.

The purpose of the meeting was to update people on events to date and to advise on potential action to be taken up to and beyond the consultation period.

People agreed that all 54 Members should be made aware of concerns and e-mail addresses and template responses will be made available via www.kevanang@windyend.co.uk.

Councillors present heard some very constructive criticism regarding the process that is being followed however, grave concerns were raised about the validity of this process, with an agreement that legal advice will be sought in relation to the management of the process - namely, the responses being reviewed by the same people who wrote the Masterplan.

To mark the end of the consultation period all residents of Burgess Hill who have concerns about the Masterplans and would like to show solidarity are invited to the ‘Big Photo’ (a group photo) to be taken on Queens Crescent Park on Saturday 25th March at 1.00pm.


P.S. Some of you may have received a letter this morning from Anne Halligey at MSDC stating that the council has no plans to use Compulsory Purchase Order on properties in the “demolition zone”. We know this is stating the obvious, but residents shouldn’t take this as confirmation of safety. If our properties remain in the scheme’s development area, any planning application that adheres to the guidelines in the plan is likely to be approved. Our aim must still be to see that our properties are not included on an adopted plan.

However, this is an interesting development from the Council, as it seems to:

Ø directly contradict the arrogant statements made by Mr Jory in the press.
Ø support the statement made by Dick Lankester at our meeting.
Ø contradict the press comment made by MSDC after their meeting, that Dick Lankester’s statement was the opinion of an individual.

In this instance, it is encouraging that we have made them think about what they have been saying and how things have been presented.

Look forward to seeing you and your friends and family at the ‘Big Photo’ on Saturday at 1.00pm.