Like the others, because I hadn’t read the proposals prior to the meeting, I felt it could never be a meaningful consultation.
I certainly plan to read the proposals and give some feedback to the council, but was wondering how WEN go about commenting on proposals, i.e. do you all do it separately, or do you make a collective response?
Gill made the point last Saturday that it’s a shame WEN don’t have a much better working relationship with the council, and in the organisation of LDF consultations I can see how this has evolved. Would it be worth approaching the team from Wednesday night, to say as much and suggest a way of forging a better relationship might be to meet with WEN (once we’ve had a chance to look over things and formulate our ideas)?
I’m aware that this might seem a little naive of me, but the alternative is to continue very much in the spirit of a battle, whereas creating a better relationship with individuals may if nothing else enable us to find out exactly where and who exerts certain pressures, so that WEN could focus it’s energies more efficiently. The council evidently want all responses to follow Wednesday’s consultation using their response forms, however as it fell short of our needs and the council claim to be committed to working with the public, a meeting would enable them to either demonstrate their commitment or further prove they are merely ticking a bureaucratic box (which if this is their response would further feelings of animosity). If they really do want meaningful feedback we could get questions answered and make more meaningful comments, which would ultimately save them time and lead to a better quality of response. Just an idea…
Sarah
WEN Committee member