On 15th September, at the Special Council meeting, Councillor Sands spoke in favour of delaying the Hoo Development Framework, thereby denying the people of the Hoo Peninsula the opportunity to have their say.
This flagrant disrespect towards the input residents have already had in this process, is a disgrace. As the Councillor for the Hoo Peninsula, he should be focused on pointing residents in the right direction to contribute to the consultation process. He even pointed this out himself at the meeting, when he said “We've had consultation time and time again and we've asked questions and we've looked for inquiries”
So the consultation opportunities are there and as Councillor Jarrett said "The consultation will inform council decisions. That is the way democracy works and we encourage residents to give as much feedback as they wish during the upcoming 9 week consultation period”.
Leader of the Council, Alan Jarrett said “it’s shameful that Councillor Sands refuses to support consultation of his residents and instead, seemingly, chooses to complain that there’s been too much consultation! We are committed to creating development on the Hoo Peninsula that is carefully structured to take account of the views of residents living there, whilst at the same time delivering on the stretch targets for housing, set by government. It will also ensure that the £170,000,000 Housing Infrastructure programme is delivered. One way to do that, is by listening to feedback from the local residents, however, Councillor Sands wants to prevent further consultation going ahead, which would ultimately, be to the detriment of his residents.”
