It’s just a few days until the start of our long awaited inquiry. The venue is set, the dates are set and the schedule is teetering on being finalised. This will likely be my final post before we begin. We have some additional information for you and also some last requests before this event, that will be so critical to the future of our area, begins.
Inquiry Conduct
Firstly, let me say that the conduct of campaign supporters and the wider community has been exemplary throughout all of our engagements with both Sky Properties and the Council. For what is clearly an emotive situation, we should be proud that we have adopted a considered approach and should be commended for an open minded assessment of this application.
On analysis of Sky’s witness statements, we have found there are a number of inflammatory claims about residents behaviour which appear to serve no other purpose than to attempt to aggravate the attending residents in order to disrupt inquiry proceedings. These claims are of course untrue and we have around 400 witnesses + 2 TV cameras which prove otherwise. During the inquiry, we will not be dignifying this kind of provocation with a response. We have come to expect goading from Mr. Hirsch and it goes without saying that we will continue to ignore his baiting in favour of our clear, rational statements of truth and fact.
Current Schedule (may be subject to change)
The latest draft schedule for the inquiry has changed slightly. It currently looks like this:
Week 1:
Wed: May 9th AM – Registration
Wed: May 9th PM – Sky Witness
Thu: May 10th AM/PM – Sky Witness
Fri: May 11th AM – Sky Witness
Week 2:
Tue: May 15th AM/PM – Sky Witness
Wed: May 16th AM/PM – Sky Witness
Thu: May 17th AM – Sky Witness
Thu: May 17th PM – Council Witness
Fri: May 18th AM – Council Witness
Week 3:
Tue: May 22nd AM/PM – Council Witness
Wed: May 23rd AM/PM – Say No Witness
Thu: May 24th AM/PM – Say No Witness
Fri: May 25th AM/PM – Reserved for Member of Public
Week 4:
Tue: May 28th – Closing Statements From All Sides
Wed: May 30th – Inspector’s Site Visit.
How to Help
Attend, attend and attend. There is clearly a massive amount of opposition to this development, as was displayed by the unanimous decision of the Council to reject the application. In over 2 years, that opposition has neither diminished or lost momentum. This is our final opportunity to show how strongly we feel about our homes and the future of the area. It looks like we are going to have a good turn out on May 9th, but we also need to retain a presence for the remainder of the inquiry. If you can attend any other days, please make best efforts to be there, even if you can only take part for a couple of hours. On May 9th, we will be meeting at Monton House Hotel between 9-9:30am, if you have not already sent your availability through to us, please find a campaign representative and leave your details so we may contact you should we need assistance over the period of the inquiry.
Thanks all, See you there.