Friday 10 June 2011

The sage of Lamberhurst opines

Roy Bullock, the deposed Leader of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and de-selected Conservative candidate, has broken cover and fired a salvo of shells at his opponents.  Welcome back Roy.

His subject matter is, as might be expected, the issues concerning the future of the civic complex. His letter, in today's Courier, takes careful aim at his opponents.

One target is the Aspic Brigade whom he describes as a vocal minority. His comment is scathing. The  M & N report on consultation on town centre sites has given publicity to more reasonable voices.....from a far wider age group. The Aspic Brigade does not represent a dominant view and no minority group should be able to wield a veto when the future of our borough is at stake.  The venom is palpable.

His second target is the current cabinet as he fears momentum could be lost.  The comments of Councillor Jukes, reported in my blog earlier today, do give the impression that matters are proceeding very slowly, hence my question: when?

His final shell is aimed at the new cabinet and the new leader: I just hope we have the leadership in place to see the scheme positively progressed in 2011.  Ouch.

Under Bullock's leadership the Council bungled the public information/consultation process, so much so that the economic arguments for redevelopment were lost in a welter of recrimination about process.   I see signs that the new leadership is committed to the economic objectives.  The consultation will be all the better for having a new Leader as it will be the issues that are discussed, rather than a consultation with the bear in the room.

I have been disappointed by the banal response of the Leader of the Liberal Democrats to the M & N report, describing it as a red-herring and a whitewash.  He criticises also  the report for not coming to a conclusion - how could it when there is such a diverse range of opinions?   I had hoped the Liberal Democrats would rise above political mud-slinging and engage in constructive dialogue about the economic future of the town. Their current tactic is to ally with the Aspic Brigade which I believe is misconceived.  the Aspic Brigade made the initial running and the Liberal Democrats jumped on the band-waggon. Unfortunately for the Liberal Democrats the N & M report does not show a predominance of support for the Aspic Brigade's view, hence the attempt by the Liberal Democrat Leader to rubbish the document.

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