Summary of the LFE Parish Council Public Consultation
Submitted by: Gerry on Jun 17, 2006
Summary of the LFE Parish Council Public Consultation.
Leicester Forest East Parish Hall - 13th June 2006 - 6:30pm
Sorry it's taken a few days to get this online, but here it
is now :)
A packed Parish Hall (there must have been well over 200
present) attended this meeting which was opened by the Pariish
Council Chairman, Mr. Bob Scott.
Councillor David Parsons (also leader of the Leics. County
Council), slated the Highways Authority (in future referred
to as HA), for the totally inept way in which they treated
LFE residents, over the exhibition (or lack of it) held in
the parish. Yes David, we wholeheartedly agree. We felt as
if we were being treated as second class citizens. Or were
the HA naive enough to think they could con our residents.
Or maybe they felt we just wouldn't care enough?
Cllr. Parsons went on to say that he would fully support
any proposals to stop the current HA preferred plan from going
ahead in its present form. "People are more important
than Highways" he stated, which was greeted enthusiastically
by the listening audience.
Parsh Councillor Professor Malcolm Fox, then presented in
great detail his alternative plan, which basically involved
moving the entire structure of extra lanes and flyover further
south. This would mean bringing the complex closer to Makro,
and some other surrounding industrial units being affected,
but at least not at the expense of impacting on housing. It
would also alleviate the need to alter the M1 bridge across
the A47. This in itself would offer a massive saving.
He also stated that one of the reasons for the extra lanes
was so that traffic could still flow quickly through LFE,
as this causes extra pollution. But he pointed out that traffic
COULD be slowed down, as had been done on other existing highways.
At a later vote, a show of hands called for by the Chairman
demonstrated the 100% agreement of the publc present. Cllr,
Fox's proposal will therefore be discussed at Thursday's Parish
Council Meeting, and presumably put forward as their preferred
alternative solution. The HA will now hold a FULL presentation
with their latest plans, sometime in September.
Cllr. David Parsons' suggested alternative (employing tunnels)
was not discussed, as this was considered to be quite dangerous
with the possibility of jack-knife lorries, vehicle fires,
and a number of other general safety issues.
NOTE: Following the Parish Council's susequebnt Thursday
Meeting, it was decided that three alternatives will be offered
to the HA, with Cllr. Fox's solution being the Council's preferred
option.
A Question and Answer session then followed, with some constructive
points made by residents, and all ably answered by council
members.
Parishoners have been encouraged to write and object to the
HA proposed scheme, and guidelines WILL BE PUBLISHED on this
and other websites shortly. It is recommended that individuals
tailor their letters of objection to their own personal format
as far as possible, to create individuality. Also, please
send a copy to our Member of Parliament, the Rt.Hon. Stephen
Dorrell MP, who is also supporting our cause.
NOTE: Addresses for the HA and Stephen Dorrell will
be posted here along with suggestions for the content of letters
of objection, as soon as we have the latter available.
The aspect regarding the so-called National Heritage Ancient
Monument site is unclear. It could well be that it suits the
HA to use this as a scapegoat to achieve their own agenda.
Certainly, it transpired that they already own a large piece
of land which is key to the alternative proposal offered by
Professor Malcolm Fox (or are they intending to sell this
off?).
However, the National Heritage influence could yet prove more
difficult, as there are still many unploughed fields in the
Lubbesthorpe Way area, which might also need preserving? Apparently,
English Heritage are a very powerful organisation, and very
few official bodies wish to challenge them over their rights.
HA and English Heritage are going to have to get together
(unless they have done so already) and we will report any
developments here, when they are known to us.
The meeting ended at 8pm and was considered very constructive.
Full marks to our local councillors for their time and effort,
and the way in which they handled the entire issue.
FINAL NOTE:
We are are still waiting for the Sample Letters / Templates
/ Suggestions for your letters to Highways. However, we've
been told that the date for submitting these has been extended
to 15th July. Hopefully we'll have something before you all
have to go on holiday.
Please visit this site regularly to check for the latest
information.
Please keep your comments coming in.
We all need your input.
