Councillor Geoffrey Theobald is right, there is a need for more traveller sites in Sussex (The Argus, July 24). When Brighton and Hove City Council was Labour-led, we made it clear that a search of possible sites needed to be made – so where is that list Coun Theobald? Surely you aren’t deciding on a site without undertaking such a vital piece of work?
It isn’t that you want to avoid a more suitable site in a Conservativeheld ward, is it? We need constructive solutions to the lack of traveller sites – not ones based on political expediency that ignore the unsuitability of a former refuse tip.
When Labour led the council, the opposition parties made it rightly clear that we needed to be transparent about such processes and that ward councillors always needed to be consulted.
Since the Conservatives took control they have done the opposite, with levels of secrecy and a lack of consultation not seen for decades.
We didn’t get always get it right, but we always adopted the recommendations of any scrutiny investigations – recommendations now ignored by this Conservative council.
The travellers site issue is just an example of the Conservatives’ determination to make political decisions in private and then steamroller them through.
Simon Burgess, Labour parliamentary candidate for Brighton Kemptown
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