HOUSING CONSULTATION WAS A "SHAM", SAYS JULIA

4.00.00pm GMT Mon 3rd Nov 2008

Julia meets local residents in Illogan

A Government-appointed panel that called for thousands of new homes to be built in Illogan and Park Bottom did not set foot anywhere near the village before making its recommendations, Julia has discovered.

Julia made the shocking discovery while studying the details of the Regional Spatial Strategy for Camborne, Pool and Redruth. Her findings came in response to a Freedom of Information request by the Liberal Democrats. The FoI request demanded to know which areas of Cornwall the "Examination in Public" panel had visited in order to come up with its findings.

It revealed that during its consultation visit in October 2006, the panel spent just three days in Cornwall, travelling by car between Launceston and Penzance, in order to establish where thousands of new homes should be built.

The route did not include a single stop in Illogan or Park Bottom, yet the panel still recommended that thousands of new homes be built in the villages. On making the findings, Julia called a meeting with Illogan parish councillor David Ekinsmyth, and local residents.

Commenting, Julia said:

"The plans that the South West region are seeking to impose on people in Camborne, Pool, Illogan and Redruth show nothing but contempt for the views of local people.

"The fact that the panel did not even visit Illogan, when their proposals will affect the parish so radically, demonstrates that the whole consultation process on this issue has been nothing but a sham.

"The whole process for allocating housing to the area is being centrally dictated from Whitehall and Bristol - and this Freedom of Information Act request has revealed just how superficial their so-called 'consultation' process was."