30/10/10….Letter to the Editor from the Mayor of Thame
Dear Editor, I am writing to respond to the letter from Raymond W l Powell concerning ?the last nail in the town councils coffin.?
As you know I am a great admirer of your website and the service you provide to the residents of Thame but I do have to take issue on this point.
How does a letter from a resident constitute headline news?
I look at your website most days and never have I seen a letter to the editor under any other heading than ?letters to the editor?. I know from your facebook postings you are heavily in favour of option D (Which of course you are entitled to your opinion) but I feel your personal views are creeping into your independent reporting.
Although I am not in the habit of conducting an argument through the press I do need to respond to Mr. Powell?s claims, so can I make the following points.
.In the first consultation carried out by SODC the most favoured site was site F and the least favoured was site D. FACT
.I didn?t have the casting vote in the Council meeting on Tuesday 26th of November. Out of 16 Councillors, 1 was on holiday, 2 SODC councilors had to abstain ( Otherwise they wouldn?t be able to vote in the SODC vote in November) and then it was 7 in favour of site F and 6 for site D. It just so happened that I was last to vote as chairman so all eyes were on me. It was not a casting vote it was what we call democracy! FACT
. Mr. Powell mentions in his letter a couple of times that it was a ?Questionable straw poll? then highlights the fact that he thought that significant evidence of preference for site D.
I would hardly call 225 for D and 205 for F as Significant difference in opinion and I would question the fact that he thought the majority of residents opinions were more in favour of site D at the public meeting.
But as I said at the start of the public meeting (If Mr. Powell had been listening) we all have opinions on which site would be best, if indeed we DO have to accept 530 houses in Thame, but we need to accept that we all have opinions and we need to ?agree to disagree? and respect each other?s views
I also take issue with Mr. Powells point that there was no Town Council Officer to record the minutes, there was and the minutes will be available to the public from Tuesday 2nd November. FACT
At the End of the Public meeting I announced that all comments and emails that the Town Council had received would be forwarded to SODC as part of the consultation and indeed the 2 SODC representatives along side me were busy taking notes as the public meeting went on. How do you sum up a public meeting when so many different views were expressed? Maybe Mr. Powell can advise an amateur.
Maybe Mr. Powell will be heartened if SODC decide to build on Site D. ?Out of ?Site?, Out of Mind?
Lastly I come to the subject that has hurt me most.
I live at 33 Morton Lane. If houses were built on option D it would have no affect on my life.
I wouldn?t be able to see the houses, I wouldn?t suffer from traffic, I wouldn?t suffer from flooding, I wouldn?t lose my view, and I wouldn?t lie awake at night worrying that the ?new? residents would cause a problem! So how Mr. Powell can accuse me of ?a whiff of self interest? is (to put it in his own word?s) beyond belief! As a long standing resident of Thame, when I consider what is in the best interests of ALL the inhabitants of this beautiful town I think of the big picture NOT MY BACKYARD.
I hope Mr. Raymond W L Powell from Union Way (Next to site F) can say the same thing!
P.S Mr. Powell, instead of mudslinging from the sidelines is very welcome to stand in the local elections next May so he can ?influence? the Future of Thame.
Good Luck
Adam Buckland ( Mayor of Thame)
EDITOR’S REPLY
I think I have answered your query about why I have started to put the letters on the front page
I DO think this issue has now become the main news subject and I will continue to publish the responses on the front page for the reasons stated.
