I AM surprised to see Fiona Unwin and an unnamed writer of the Save Historic Newmarket Action Group describe the meeting at the Memorial Hall as "acrimonious" – I saw it as an interesting and frank exchange of views.
One thing I found especially surprising was the notion that the developers had abandoned an appropriate design and replaced it with an inappropriate design. Who or what would cause this?
Maybe the developers were dismayed with the protracted nego
tiations but such a change could only be in spite – or untrue – surely?
As I understood it, Mr McCurdy's view was that there was a gentleman's agreement to exceed the legal timescales but the developers, basically, reneged and invoked the law.
Undoubtedly, mistakes were made. Mr Burnip admitted this but short of committing hari kiri I am not sure he could have done much more at the time.
There is a litany of contentious issues listed by Mrs Unwin. Some, if not most, of these are items of long standing.
I would accept that Forest Heath Council should consider – or rather reconsider – a number of these as a matter of urgency.
The proposed £3.5million office refurbishment was postponed last week with the Conservative majority accepting that my Liberal Democrat colleague, Cllr Radford, was right to have advocated this last year.
As a member of the Home of Horseracing Working Group, I know the current state of play with Palace House Stables but I am not allowed to say anything about it, as it is "confidential".
The essence of the local government system is that local affairs are administered by officers acting on the direction of elected councillors. District councils are corporate bodies and councillors effectively "directors" of the "company".
The problem, in my view, is that councillors are part-time. The solution, I believe, is for councillors to be full-time. I would refer to my first letter on this subject (Journal, May 15) and emphasise that this is not Liberal Democrat policy but my own personal view.
We await the report of the Boundary Review and its decision, which is due at the end of the year. We may have a single authority for Suffolk or east and west councils, possibly with a Greater Ipswich Council.
My personal preference remains for a single council: I believe it will be more efficient, economic and effective.
Cllr Andrew Appleby
Fordham Road
NewmarketThe full article contains 403 words and appears in Newmarket Journal newspaper.
