Tories reject Lib Dem proposals on Consultation

At Mid Sussex District Councils June meeting the Conservative Administration, supported by the councils 2 Labour members, rejected a Liberal Democrat proposal, which if it had been adopted, would have meant the community of Mid Sussex had a basic set of rules to judge consultations, the council carries out from time to time.

Cllr Graham Knight, Lib Dem Group Leader at MSDC had submitted the motion to try and give a framework for the community to gauge consultations against. Graham said, 'these proposals will allow our residents to have a quick check that the consultations are fit for purpose, they would also give members of the public, confidence that a named senior officer had checked that displays and access to information by the public were of an acceptable standard'.

The proposals were rejected by Tory Cabinet members, who catalogued all the various policies and documents the public would have to go through to find the information. Cllr Knight replied ' it is all well and good for Cabinet members to list through all these documents, however, members of the public do not have the same access to the council officers to trawl through council policies and papers to try and see if the council is doing its job properly. The criteria we propose would help establish trust that comments from the public are being listened to and were meaningful'.

This issue first came to light in the recent consultations on the Mid Sussex Town Centre Masterplanning, Area Action Plans for East Grinstead and the Small Scale Housing Allocations. The Liberal Democrats feel strongly that the council needs to show plainly its commitment to engaging with its community.