Planning protest at Parish Council meeting

Audlem Parish Council has been criticised for publishing the leaflet Your Village Need You Again!

Angry councillor John Langston accused fellow members of sidestepping democracy in declaring that the council was opposing the Mill Lane planning proposals before the Parish Council had actually voted on the issue.

"This council is out of control. This is not democracy," he told a meeting of Audlem Parish Council on Monday night.

Waving the council leaflet at fellow councillors he added: "I don't know who did this but it should not have gone out. It is a matter of principle."

"We have got to have democracy and this is not democracy. The Parish Council had not made that decision and the people who sent this leaflet out should be censured."

The leaflet 'A message from Audlem Parish Council – YOUR VILLAGE NEED YOU AGAIN!' was distributed to homes throughout the village last week.

The leaflet stated that "Audlem Parish Council is objecting to the proposed 36 dwellings on the Heathfield Road/Mill Lane site" and urged residents to lodge their objection with Cheshire East.

But Councillor Langston pointed out that the decision to oppose the Mill Lane scheme had not yet been taken when the leaflet was circulated.

The matter was not put to councillors until Monday night's meeting when the parish council formally voted to oppose the plans.

Audlem Parish Council has had only a short period in which to vote on the plans following an August break from its normal monthly meetings.

At an Extraordinary Meeting in the Public Hall on August 22nd more than 100 people gave an almost unanimous show of hands against the Mill Lane scheme.

And the Parish Council meeting scheduled for September 2nd left only two days to meet the Cheshire East deadline of September 4th for submitting comments.

Councillor Langston was told the council's planning group had done a lot of work behind the scenes in order to frame a policy before the Parish Council meeting.

Councillor Geoff Seddon told the meeting: "It was the planning committee that was responsible, not one individual."

But Councillor Langston was adamant that proper democratic procedure had not been followed.

"This is a matter of principle," he said. "The principle is we have got to have democracy and we do not have it here."

His call for those responsible to be censured was not taken up and nothing further was said on the matter.

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