Cancelled meeting should signal start of new era

WELL, maybe it was for the best the county council didn't go to great lengths to advertise the meeting on the Duke of Northumberland's plans for Prudhoe town centre.

After all, they left it to the day before to call a halt to the thing, meaning officers' time then had to be spent frantically getting in touch with objectors to inform them of the disappointing news.

My sympathies, though, lie mainly with Robert Gibson, the talented and handsome reporter who covers Prudhoe so well for the Hexham Courant.

He'd spent Monday pulling together the bulk of what was going to be a double page spread, only to learn the following morning that his profound insights would be put on hold.

Ah well. In grand scheme of things the adjournment is to be welcomed.

Although the county council, in its usual fashion, wasn't giving too much away, I'm pretty convinced the “representations” its spokesman referred to concerned the environmental impact assessment, and that, following legal advice, it was clear the authority could not proceed.

The fact the application is unlikely to be considered for another few weeks at least means significant additional information will be requested, and, hopefully analysed thoroughly.

The flip-side, of course, is that the council should have had this sorted long ago.

Plans to redevelop Prudhoe town centre have been on the table for five years and it's not like the objectors have been timid when it comes to pointing out alleged inadequacies.

In fact, it sometimes seems that they know their planning law better than the planners themselves, who, I get the impression are, even now, shocked by what's emerging in the town.

A few people I spoke to this week have called for investigations.

Others have called for new planning officers to be brought in to oversee the application.

One Prudhoe resident pointed out that, for legitimate planning decisions to be made, the council must be sufficiently competent and... well, you can guess the rest.

My own view is that it's best not to get distracted from the main issue right now: what is to become of Prudhoe town centre?

This has gone on long enough and, though the debate makes good copy for the Courant, the uncertainty faced by residents and traders just can't be sustained.

The county council ought to seriously consider how its handled this so far, look at the objections afresh and have the nerve, if need be, to tell the Duke of Northumberland that no, this won't do for Prudhoe.