09 06 08
Eco Town Protest
Firstly, a huge thank you to those of you who took time off work or managed to get into Leicester centre for 9.30am today. Well over 50 people were there and the sight of this number waving placards, posters and banners was very impressive. A wide range of local media were there including TV news channels (BBC and ITV) and several local radio reporters. As usual the noise was deafening at times, so should come over well on today's news items.
The main thing is that it completely overshadowed the Co-op VIP launch event in the Holiday Inn and to which the media had also been invited. News is what you make of it, and a few suited people in a dimly lit hotel conference suite should be less newsworthy than a crowd of noisy and vocal campaigners.
Secondly, the Co-op's exhibition events are now up and running. Some of us attended this VIP event from 8am this morning so now know what will be presented at the other venues. 15 large A2?sized poster boards with different themes were around the edge of the room with a large satellite map view on a table with the Co-op landholdings marked out. The handout is an A4 booklet including the large theme posters. When Steve Charlish, Graham Stocks and I arrived we were surrounded by senior Co-op & English Partnership managers including Lynda Shillaw and Graham Ramsbottom eager to tell us their concepts and to glean any specific comments we might make. We tended to do a lot of listening interspersed with questions. The key one being "Why is this location suitable for an eco-town, when it has already been discarded by regional and county planners?" They argue that their single ownership (with English Partnerships) means the cost of ownership for new homes, especially affordable, will be lower because they already own the land. They also feel they will be able to influence the regional and county planners to include this area at the Regional Strategy mini-review.
Thirdly, the first of the two County Council consultation evenings starts at 8pm tonight at Gartree High School - next to Beauchamp College in Oadby. Although first indications were that the Co-op would not have a speaker, I now understand somebody might arrive later. This is an ideal opportunity to ask the Co-op questions in public. The second such meeting is 8pm on this Thursday 12th at Billesdon Coplow Centre. It would be good to see both venues packed if possible, and with the Co-op finally coming out from their bunker, it is an ideal opportunity to make your comments.
Finally, the Co-op are holding exhibition events on most days this week at various venues, but this Saturday they will have a marquee on part of the airport off Gartree Road - plenty of parking. CASCET would like to hold another demonstration on Saturday 14th outside the tent from 11am for an hour or so. If you are available please turn up to support the campaign and meet committee members. Another big turnout will help keep the publicity running our way. There may be problems because the Co-op are landowners and we would effectively be trespassing, but we have also been invited to be there as part of their open public consultation haven't we?
Kevin Feltham (Dr)
Leicestershire County Councillor – Gartree Division
Chairman of CASCET: Campaign Against the Stoughton Co-op Eco Town
Mobile: 07771 967323
Website: www.save-england.net
Email: kfeltham@leics.gov.uk Skype: kfeltham