We are still trawling through what was and what was not decided at last evening’s meeting of the Spelthorne Corporate Policy & Resources Committee Click here for details

There were so many votes, some cancelling others, some dependent on others, and with at least one councillor abstaining because they didn’t understand what was being voted on, that in the chaos at the end the Chair herself did not know what had been decided. We’ll get to the bottom of it and get back to you.

However, right at the outset of that section of the meeting dealing with the Local Plan, the Chair – Cllr Sexton, Leader of the Independent Spelthorne Group – said the following:

“…The debate has not been helped by some scare-mongering publicity and material that is designed to frighten people into believing that the ulterior motive is to scrap the Local Plan and start afresh. This is emphatically not the case. I repeat. This is not the case….”

Well, it would be churlish not to point out that the “scare-mongering publicity and material” originates within the Chair’s own group of councillors. She and they have been banging on about it for more than a year, but below are screenshots of a more recent example, from a local FaceBook page, in which Howard (now Councillor) Williams said, two days before the local elections:

“IF INDEPENDENTS ARE ELECTED WE AIM TO:

1. WITHDRAW THE “LOCAL PLAN” THAT WAS RECENTLY SUBMITTED

2. REPLACE IT WITH A NEW LOCAL PLAN WHICH …

…WE CAN ONLY DO THIS IF YOU VOTE INDEPENDENT ON 4 MAY”

Not “…if I am elected…”. He says “…if Independents are elected…”

This is a group policy for the Independent Spelthorne Group., and one with which the Greens, Liberal Democrats and Labour councillors agree. Why is Councillor Sexton so bashful about acknowledging it?