Residents of Penally and friends of the Harriet Davis Trust have expressed their 'absolute horror' over a decision by Pembrokeshire County Council not to fight plans for a Tetra mast in the village. The shock news was revealed in a letter to John Davis, of the Trust, from the council's planning consultant, Mike Thorne. Mr. Thorne said that intensive consultations had been taking place about the matter and the conclusion was that, because of the resolution of the county planning committee in October, it was "not appropriate for the council to sustain an objection to the proposal at the public inquiry in January." That resolution was to the effect that the planning committee would have approved the application by Arqiva, in respect of a site near The Wheelabout, on The Ridgeway, if they had still had jurisdiction. "The County Council will not be submitting any evidence to the inquiry other than the Statement of Common Ground, which is a set of facts, agreed between the local planning authority and the appellants," explained Mr. Thorne. "In other words they are agreeing with the two telecommunications giants and leaving the Harriet Davis Trust to fight this on their own at their own expense, and leaving local residents without any defence whatsoever," claimed angry campaigner against the mast, Mrs. Ann Dassen, of Penally. "This is really below the belt." She said the decision had apparently been made by Mrs. Linda Taylor and Mr David Lawrence, of the LPA, a local barrister and Mr. Thorne, and they had used the highly contentious vote made at the October planning meeting as their reason for withdrawing previous arguments they had pledged to fight in Mr. Thorne's Statement of Case to the Planning Inspectorate in September. "The proposal for the October planning meeting, the conduct and content of the meeting and the resultant vote have been the subject of many complaint letters from residents, Penally Community Council and Nick Ainger MP," stated Mrs. Dassen. "The matter is under serious investigation by the Public Services Ombudsman and Penally Community Council are still awaiting a proper response to three separate formal complaints. "The first letter was sent on October 8, the second on November 8 and the most recent on December 4, complaining about the complete withdrawal of support. "Despite these very detailed letters and the investigation by the Ombudsman, Pembrokeshire County Council have seemingly decided to ignore all the advice, questioning and investigation and ride roughshod over the rights of the many people who have supplied earnest, researched and valid planning objections. "It is with a touch of irony that on the same day Pembrokeshire County Council launch their new Disability Equality Scheme on their website, as they are obliged to do under the Disability Rights Act 2005, two out of their three main aims have been ignored by failing to mount a proper defence to the threat to the future of The Wheelabout as they had previously stated in writing they would," continued Mrs. Dassen. "The matter has been reported to Clr. David Simpson, who has been given the title Disability Equality Champion on the website, and we await his response." Meanwhile, the local public inquiry into the mast application is expected to take place at the De Valence, Tenby, on January 24 and 25. "It will be David versus Goliath," remarked Mrs. Dassen. "Two major telecommunication giants and Pembrokeshire County Council against the Harriet Davis Trust. What on earth have they done to deserve this?" Should anybody wish copies of any correspondence, you can telephone Ann on 844957 or email her at [email protected]">[email protected]. "We would love to see as many people as possible at the De Valence at the end of January," she said.
