Westmorland and Furness Councils Eden planning committee councillors have been accused of betraying the local community by members of the Fresh Air for Penrith group.
Code of conduct complaints have been formally made against three councillors who serve on the Eden area planning committee after the group claims “they failed to declare a company visit”. That has submitted the planning applications approved earlier in January by the councils.
Three Eden local area planning committee members Cllr Simpkins, Cllr McCall and Cllr Baker, along with other councillors and council officers, visited the Omega Proteins animal rendering plant, Greystoke, Penrith, on the 4th of September last year according to a freedom of information request submitted by the group to the council. The councillors and officers spent around two hours at the plant and met the company owner and the company planning agent.
At the time of the visit the company had around ten 'live' planning applications with Westmorland and Furness Council, including two applications to install 25metre high chimney stacks.
When the planning committee, with Cllr Simpkins, Cllr McCall and Cllr Baker, met on the 15th of January to discuss the retrospective chimney applications, The Fresh air For Penrith group claims “they failed to declare the visit to the public before voting to approve the applications.”
Now, Jeff Thomson of the Fresh AIR for Penrith campaign, has accused the council and councillors of keeping the visit and meeting 'secret' from the public.
"I had earlier asked through Freedom of information for minutes of the meeting or notes on what had been discussed, but was told none had been kept," said Thomson, "Then when it came to the planning committee meeting on January 15, no one on the council side mentioned the visit. This is alarming and lends itself to accusations of pre-determination by the councillors of planning applications."
One of the two applications had 12 community objections against it, including from a local school teacher and the Fresh AIR for Penrith campaign along with the Town Council. Thomson claims the council and councillors failed to consult with residents or seek to obtain a fair and balanced view on the applications before making their decisions.
"They made wholly one-sided decisions, failed to consult with the local community, and put the council credibility and reputation at risk.
"We need accountability, fair play and openness from our council and councillors.
"On this occasion they failed completely and have lost the trust of a great many local people," said Thomson.
Mr Thomson has now lodged formal complaints against three councillors and has called for the planning approvals to be withdrawn. "The council must follow an open, fair and transparent process when dealing with controversial and high public interest planning applications, such as two 25metre high chimney stacks," said Thomson.
Westmorland and Furness Council was approached for comment earlier this week on the code of conduct complaints and claims by the group over the planning applications.
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