HMS Ganges development

The final session will be held at Shotley Village Hall on this Thursday 9 March starting at 10am. After the Inquiry ends it will not be possible to put in any further evidence. If you wish to submit late evidence send it to sian.evans@pins.gsi.gov.uk. marked for the attention of Christopher Frost and send a copy to info@myshotley.com On Thursday there are a few matters to clear up and then there will be the summing up speeches. The parishes have engaged William Upton, a barrister, to sum up on their behalf. This is a public session and anyone may attend.

This week they have been hearing evidence on highways and transport. Much of our case even in this section has been to do with sustainability for example the development will only create a very small number of permanent new jobs - as few as 13!.This will mean up to 650 extra people commuting to work every day. Our barrister William Upton and our expert witness Simon Blinkhorne were impressive. We had a number of “backroom” people supplying them with the local knowledge, which is so important. Thank you as well to the 53 people who spoke at the public session and for the many hours that several people have put in during this Inquiry. The case for the developer in the highways/transport session appeared to be 'as agreed by Suffolk County Council'. It was perhaps a pity that SCC were not present to hear what they had 'agreed to'.

Laurie Mayer showed the DVD “B1456-A road on overload” on Friday afternoon which showed a graphic description of the local traffic problems of the peninsula.Copies of the DVD are available from the web site. Also on the site are Shotley Parish Council's responses to the Section 106 agreements - those measures agreed by the developer and the District and County Council to mitigate or compensate for the impact that the development will have.

by Elizabeth Aldous and Graham Steel

Shotley Peninsula Parishes Alliance

• HMS Ganges page
• If you have any views or queries, please email info@myshotley.com, or telephone 07845 875238.