30/10/10…..Allegations ‘unfounded’ says town councillor

DEAR EDITOR, I would like to address Raymond Powell?s completely unfounded allegations against the Town Council and the Mayor.

Firstly, Thame Town Council has not voted to ?support? development on site F. The District Council have taken the view that Thame should have a large new housing estate on the outskirts of town ? the Town Council strongly disagrees with this view. However, if the District Council decides, against all the evidence and weight of public opinion, to go ahead with a new housing estate, then the Town Council vote was that site F would be marginally less awful than Site D, but that the original site C favoured by the public consultation two years ago is still the ?least-worst? option. To twist this into an allegation that the Mayor or the Town Council support site F is playing with words.

Secondly, Mr Powell?s allegation that the Town Council is a cosy cartel. Any member of the public can attend the Town Council meetings and speak at the meetings. All meeting dates are announced publicly in advance. The agenda of each meeting is published in advance and Councillors cannot add items to the agenda after publication. The minutes of each meeting are made available publicly. The sixteen Councillors are from all parts of Thame and there are Conservative, Lib Dem, Independent and Labour Councillors.

Thirdly, Mr Powell?s statement that the public meeting was more opposed to site F than other sites. I was at the meeting, which was organised by the Town Council, and listened to every contribution. None of the independent news reports on the public meeting agree with Mr Powell?s statement. Opinion was pretty evenly balanced, as is the feedback given following the meeting.

Finally, I accept and support that people will have very strong opinions However, that is not an excuse to make unfounded allegations against Town Councillors or any resident of Thame. Town Councillors should represent the views and interests of the whole town, not just those who hold a specific point of view or shout the loudest.

Cllr Pieter-Paul Barker
North Ward, Thame Town Council