Knutsford Hustings

The first question of the evening related to local planning.

This is a topic which has occupied quite a lot of column inches in the Guardian in recent months including contributions to your letters page.

Unfortunately the question, as phrased, provided the candidates with their easiest challenge of the evening.

Anyone with the remotest interest in local planning will know that, as yet, Cheshire East Council does not have an approved five-year housing land strategy in place having had the original one rejected by the government.

The absence of the said strategy is allowing inspectors from the Planning Inspectorate to approve applications on appeal contrary to both the local planning regulations and opposition from local residents.

The questioner sought to identify blame for this unsatisfactory situation.

As the answer was in the question the responses from the candidates were predictable.

George Osborne, after a gentle swipe at nimbys thought that Cheshire East had, in essence, got it right in projecting new large scale housing concentrated in areas of good communications and proposed new infrastructure.

He studiously avoided criticism of Cheshire East Council.

The remaining candidates rounded upon Cheshire East Council with gusto including a personal attack on the leader Michael Jones.

While some audience members may have found this entertaining it did nothing to move the debate forward and address the fundamental democratic deficit caused by a central government department imposing decisions upon a community solely on the pretext that its local council is non-compliant with a strategic target.

It would surely have been much more enlightening to learn what each candidate, if elected, would do to restore local democracy to the planning process.

Glynn Heselwood Over Peover Knutsford