Town Plan Advisory Panel meets...at last.

On 1st November I added a post on subject of the Tunbridge Wells Town Plan Advisory Panel which the Council had stated needed forming as a matter of urgency. See:

http://kentcommunityactivist.blogspot.com/2011/11/tunbridge-wells-town-plan-advisory.html

The first meeting of the Advisory Panel was held on 7th November, a week shy of three months since its announcement. Urgency?

It took over a week for a press release to appear on the Council's website.

http://www2.tunbridgewells.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=4650

However, nothing about the composition of the panel.  Who is on it, who chairs it, will it meet in public, who is the contact point, will minutes be published for public scrutiny?

Importantly, what interests do members of the panel represent?

I support the formation of the panel and congratulate the Leader of the Council on his initiative.   The panel has echoes of the Community Plan Steering Group set up to draft the first community plan for Tunbridge Wells.  I chaired that group and my contact details were made publicly available.  I expressed the view that it should have met in public, so I am being consistent.

The difference between the Town Plan Advisory Panel and the Community Plan Steering Group is that the former is purely advisory whereas the latter published a document which was used by the Council to meet a statutory obligation.

The community plan has been revised, as any 'living' document should be. It is important that the aspirations of the community plan stakeholders, insofar as they make demands on the utilisation of land in the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells,  are reflected in decisions taken by the Borough Council on strategic planning matters.

UPDATE: 19/11/2011.  A local free newspaper informs us of some of the members of the panel.  Some interesting names, a few with axes to grind, based on previous statements.  Would be good to have the full list published on the Council's website.