Will The Masterplan Survive?

THE Conservatives bite the dust. Will the Masterplan survive, who knows? So what have we learned?

Should we be surprised? I don't really think so.

Not only do MPs pay themselves well above the national average income but also they have voted themselves fabulous pension arrangements and, now we are learning, outrageous expenses allowances for food, light bulbs, kitchens, houses, you name it, they've fixed it for themselves.

The Lib Dems must be really happy, they have been against the Masterplan from the beginning. Clearly they were right to be suspicious since, apparently, the whole thing has been done by an unofficial group, not established by the council. If this is so, then the expenditure on the Masterplan has not been authorised by the council and should, therefore, be paid for by the individuals concerned. If the expenditure has been properly approved by the council, then the group could not really be considered unofficial although the council might not have had the authority to approve the expenditure if the group was unofficial.

No doubt, the district auditor will have some fun with it, this is where the laws governing the actions of local government get quite complex and interesting. I still do not know what the Lib Dems really had against the Masterplan, as opposed to the process, as overall it made a lot of sense. It makes one wonder!

So we now know that the experts, the consultants, considered the land on Lisle Lane should have been zoned for Leisure use. I cannot see how even politicians could have the nerve to agree any other use in the future.

Quite where that leaves the industrial units presently occupying the land I don't know but, I suppose, compulsory purchase orders would have to be used.

All we can do is sit back and enjoy seeing them trying to dig themselves out of the mess they are in. Please keep reporting on all the developments.

I ROBERTSON

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