Comment

For at least a decade, and according to one former Parish Councillor, longer than that, two agenda items have graced the bottom of every Council meeting agenda: “Correspondence” and “Questions from the Public”.

At next Monday’s meeting, that tradition ends.

chilbolton.news attended TVBC’s Exhibition on their Local Plan at Barton Stacey Village Hall on Monday. It comprised a series of charts and documentation on notice boards, together with maps laid out on tables.

Helpful and knowledgable staff were on hand to answer questions.

The last Parish council meeting alarmed several of those who attended. The “ambush” proposal to change the CDC’s terms of reference and the question of whether the SWG had evaluated Gravel Hill as a potential housing site both generated heated discussion.

The space of a few days to reflect on what happened has raised the question of how the meeting was conducted. Did the discussion and vote which resulted in Cllr David Hall resigning as Chair of CDC take place in accordance with the Parish Council’s newly adopted Code of Conduct?

An interesting article in the Hampshire Chronicle by Charles Elliman asks whether Test Valley Borough Council councillors on the planning committee are “voting tactically” when considering planning applications.

A Freedom of Information request made by chilbolton.news to Chilbolton Parish Council has cast more light on why their planning pre-application to TVBC had to be paused.