AGAIN we see Durham County councillors trying to defend the seriously flawed County Durham Plan, (Echo, June 16).

In the report Durham County Council's leader, Councillor Simon Henig, said Lib Dem. Cllr Amanda Hopgood had "misinterpreted the situation" when she accused the authority of failing to engage constructively.

In my opinion it is Cllr Henig who has misinterpreted the situation.

The planning inspector has stated that he is still awaiting DCC's response to matters in his Interim Report issued in February. It would appear that DCC have not engaged with anyone with regard to the report, except to solicit support from all and sundry to have it overturned, and allow it to plough on with the plan regardless.

Cllr Neil Foster hopes the CDP would be "back on track soon and then everybody could get involved".

Surely the time for "everybody to get involved" is during the consultation period? Once the plan goes through examination in public, if the inspector finds problems within the plan and these are addressed and it becomes acceptable, it can then be implemented.

Cllr Foster's comments suggest to me, as I have suspected all along, the many consultation exercises on the CDP were merely "box ticking" for DCC.

What will it take for DCC to accept that their spatial and development policies are, as stated in the interim report and by many others throughout the county, seriously flawed?

In my view these are the main issues, but by no means the only ones, which need to be addressed. I agree with Cllr Hopgood that DCC is failing to engage constructively on addressing the points made in the interim report.

Tom Pattinson. Stanley.