Meeting documents

The Chairman will allow members of the public to ask a question or make a statement about any matter on the agenda for this meeting. These questions may be taken during the meeting, when the relevant agenda item is considered, at the Chairman’s discretion.  

The Chairman welcomed the following members of the public to the meeting and invited them to speak about agenda item 5: Mr Baddeley; Mr Farrell; Mr Power; Mrs Power; Mr Hossell; Mr Lodge. It was explained that statements received from those members of the public had also been circulated to the Committee in advance of the meeting along with a statement from Mr Orr, who was unable to attend the meeting. The statements submitted by those members of the public are attached to the minutes as an Appendix. The Chairman thanked the members of the public that had spoken and others who were in attendance to observe and listen and he noted that the concerns and opinions they had expressed were no doubt shared by many people in the local area.  

The Chairman then invited Cllr Hall, Cabinet Member for Resources and Economic Development to respond and he began by thanking those present for attending the meeting and sharing their views. He noted that the Council along with other bodies had supported and lobbied the Government for improvements to the A303 and A358 however any improvements had to be right for and benefit local communities so the Council would not support a new road at any cost; with any proposed development there would be concerns raised and it would be important for all opinions and viewpoints to be taken in to account; and finally he reminded the meeting that the consultation was being undertaken by Highways England (HE) as it was a HE scheme and he urged everyone to also engage directly with HE so they were aware of all comments relating to the local perspective and points of view.