http://eastdevon.gov.uk/media/1063477/letter-no-12-to-east-devon.pdf
Good to see that, in his last paragraph, he agrees that it was sensible to extend the public consultation period from six weeks to eight weeks because of the effect of elections – a concession suggested by and fought for by Councillor Claire Wright to which some other councillors objected.
East Devon Watch 
EDDC’s position points out YET AGAIN that the Tories barely pay lip-service to consultation and democracy and the contradictions between the Tory words and their actions.
They have been working on the Local Plan for over 7 years – yet they won’t allow an extra two weeks for full consultation.
They wanted to delay publication of the SHMA until after the election (which would have been a 6-8 week delay) – but they won’t allow two weeks for consultation.
What hypocrisy! What a complete disregard for local democracy!! The sooner the Tories are out of power, the better!!! Roll on 7 May!!!!
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They DID allow another 2 weeks Paul, but had Independents not pushed for it, they would have left consultation at 6 weeks – but then they expected to remain the majority for ever!
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Exactly – if the Planning Inspector hadn’t insisted that they proceed with the consultation, there would have been an 8 week delay. So the Tories objecting to the Independents’ 2 week extension is hypocrisy.
If the Tories were serious about local democracy, it wouldn’t have needed the Independents to ensure that local residents had the time to provide consultation feedback.
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