LETTER: Horsham’s future is now insecure

The ‘meeting’ on Wednesday evening last week was yet another case of clearly going through the motions. Lucid, clear, logical arguments against the Horsham Strategic Plan to build 2,500 houses in North Horsham greenbelt met no credible counter response from the majority Conservative group. They had clearly colluded on and predetermined their collective vote ahead of the meeting and their lack of credible counter- response beggared disbelief.

Indeed where residents might have hoped to see evidence that the HDC were exercising democratic process, the opposite was observed.

There were calls to bring a vote forward when opposition arguments had not been voiced, the chairman clearly curtailed opposition opinion yet allowed colleagues to speak freely, one councillor was so pro-Liberty (developer) in her arguments that her speech could not have been more biased if written by Liberty itself – where were her residents interests in this ‘play to the gallery’ speech? Where was the equity in this process?

Most importantly where was the democracy in this ‘show’?

Your representatives ‘toed’ the party line; they had no regard for the residents they represent.

Indeed North Horsham’s Jim Rae incredulously voted against a motion to defer a decision on the Strategic Plan until after the Gatwick Consultation in 2015 – which was by far the most sensible suggestion all evening as the whole plan would need to be revisited after then anyway.

What a blatant disregard for taxpayers’ money if nothing else!

All surrounding neighbouring councils are sensibly deferring their development plans – why is Horsham not?

All evening we heard the ‘we have no choice’ argument.

Yet we do and we have. I sincerely ask you to think long and hard about who you vote for in the forthcoming elections.

Do not go through the motions. Irrespective of political persuasion, vote for a candidate who will represent your views, someone who as a conscience and above all who values all that Horsham has to offer.

You DO NOT have that representation now I assure you and all who attended the meeting on

Wednesday bore witness to this.

We are a young family and we will have to live with the consequences of today’s decision unlike most of the ineffective councillors that evening.

I motion a ‘vote of no confidence’ against the existing HDC – it is not a credible group and Horsham’s future is insecure in their hands.

JULIE LAWRENCE

Oldbury Close, Horsham