THE planning inspector gave Durham County Council three alternatives for the fate of its County Plan: continue the examination on the basis of the current evidence; suspend the examination; or, withdraw the plan.

The thread of comments from the council seems to say “well, there are just a few areas where there is disagreement, so let’s all talk, and sort it out!”. Or: “We believe we are right, the Inspector is dead wrong; so we should proceed!”

The Inspector’s views can best be laid out in just one sentence taken from his conclusions: “In my view, these shortcomings are so fundamental that proceeding immediately to the remaining parts of the examination would be unlikely to overcome these problems.”

Are all the council Cabinet members suffering from dyslexia, or is it that they just cannot understand plain English?

The County Durham Plan, compiled at great cost, is dead in the water, and the council should accept the words of the inspector, and start again. It should start with a true consultation with all interested parties, instead of a cosy sit-down by the ruling Labour group on the council, headed by Cllrs Simon Henig and Neil Foster.

Mike Cunningham, Gilesgate, Durham City.