The meeting in the Beltinge village hall was by far the worst meeting, public or private, that I have ever attended (Villagers Vow To Fight £240m Housing Plan, Heme Bay Gazette, October 20). After an almost unending speech stressing that this meeting was non-political, 20 minutes in, my colleague was forced to ask for details of who was addressing us. The speaker, speaking from the body of the hall, was unknown to us.
Later a vote was sought without a clear mandate on whether we were voting in favour or against the proposed development. This possibly brought about the soundbites that “no means no” and “...we have to fight this lock, stock and two smoking barrels”.
During the meeting, we felt Michael Britton failed to accept all offers of help which included details of traffic flow etc across Blacksole Farm bridge and an offer of free leaflet printing. He failed to arrange a PA system or display equipment for What appeared to be a well-crafted report by Laura Calder and continuously talked over her report.
With his lack of leadership, we wondered if he was a Trojan horse for the developers as it seemed by the time they submit their planning application we will be at such a severe disadvantage, the proposal will be passed with no credible opposition.
There is an urgent need to mobilise all of villages in the area and exploit the required talents of the residents to make an effective cohesive force to oppose this application or we will be detrimentally affected.
Rohan Deane, Selbey Close, Beltinge
HB Gazette letters 27th Oct 2011