"Cliffe villagers left to fight on, as Council withdraws from Trenport farce' - says Lib Dems campaigner

Medway Liberal Democrats asked the Council to place on record at last Thursday's (19th July) question time, what led to the Council's decision to withdraw its objections to the Trenport appeal process. After following evidence heard in the first week of the inquiry, it instructed its officers that it was necessary to withdraw its reasons for refusal, with the developer Trenport's legal team. 

The Council stated, that this was because Trenport initially were going to waive costs, but changed their position under cross examination, with its legal team applying for full costs, estimated in the region of £100,000. We understand the business sense of the Council's decision to withdraw, citing “significant financial implications of continuing to defend the appeal”, but blame must be laid with the previous Conservative administration, leaving the current administration in a dire financial state, with no viable alternative.

Liberal Democrats believe there was incompetence by the previous administration. Our understanding is that the paperwork regarding costs, was not fully prepared, thus allowing Trenport to pursue full costs. With the Conservatives not preparing the case properly and filling the papers in wrongly, this left the newly incumbent Labour Council with no choice but to instruct its officers to withdraw, making its legal team look weak, not confident and underprepared. 

Alan Wells, Medway Liberal Democrats spokesperson for Strood Rural said, "We take two messages from this, one that the new Labour administration was undermined by the financial position it had inherited, and the actions by its predecessor in preparing the casework. This in turn presented a weak case against the heavyweight argument led by the Trenport legal team and the current Council not confident of victory, and consequently instructing officers to withdraw.

The situation has been farcical, the previous administration starting an appeal process which under the circumstances, did not have the necessary financial clout to win. Subsequently, the Council’s legal position by pulling out has been made to look weak, not just by Trenport but any future developer who decides to take the legal route to fight appeals against development. Hardly a good start to Labour's term of office.

The Council withdrawing from the legal process has now left Cliffe villagers and residents group who were represented at the appeal, and the Parish Council fighting the proposals on their own."

ENDS