Shepway Conservatives Voted Down Chance to Hold Lydd Airport Meeting in Public

The Liberal Democrats have backed objectors to the expansion of a Kent airport who claim they are being excluded from the final debate on the issue. Scores of people are expected to attend a meeting to decide plans to build a new terminal and extend the runway at London Ashford Airport (LAA) in Lydd.

Shepway District Council said it did not have enough room for everyone to attend the debate on 30 January but people could watch via video link. The Liberal Democrats proposed a motion to Shepway Council in December that the meeting should be held in a large local venue so that the public could attend, but were voted down by the Conservatives.

Objectors have said they deserve to be there in person. Resident Di Matra said: "In April last year there were over 3,000 people who voted in a referendum and 66% of them were against the airport.

"If it [the council chamber] is not big enough, hire somewhere else. We want to be there when our fate is decided. We don't want to see it on a TV screen, we want to be there."

Shepway District Council is considering two planning applications from the airport.

One is for a new terminal building to handle up to 500,000 passengers a year - the equivalent of 10 flights a day - the other is for two runway extensions, together 444m (1,456ft) in length.

Shepway Liberal Democrat Councillor Peter Carroll has slammed the Council decision to hold the meeting at the Civic Centre. Cllr Carroll moved the motion at a full Council meeting on 19 December 2007 that the meeting should be held in an alternative large local venue such as the Leas Cliff Hall. Peter Carroll said:

"The Liberal Democrats have been saying this meeting should be held elsewhere for months. In December we put down a motion for this meeting to be held in public, in a suitably sized venue. The only reason it is not is that the Conservatives voted against doing so.

"Far from being interested in allowing people to watch this most important of decisions, the Conservatives voted to effectively hold this meeting behind closed doors. We're told no member of the public that isn't speaking will be able to attend.

"It's an absolute disgrace to democracy - and Shepway Conservatives are squarely to blame."

The motion from the Liberal Democrat group to Shepway Council on 19th December read:

This council notes:

1. The enormous regional impact of the proposed development of the London Ashford Airport in terms of the environment and the quality of life of people across a wide area.

2. The immense public concern about this issue as evidenced by the thousands of letters written on this matter over recent months to both the Council and the Government Office of the South East (GOSE).

3. The plan for Shepway District Council to sit as the Development Control Committee on 30 January 2008.

4. That the Council has a responsibility to encourage public participation in its democratic processes.

5. That the public gallery in the Civic Centre is small and likely to be insufficient in terms of housing the public if the meeting on 30 January 2008 is to be held there. Indeed, the public gallery may not be sufficient for the numbers of people who wish to speak on this subject.

6. Relaying this meeting to a distant location by internet, or CCTV link, will not allow the required community participation needed in this case. The council needs to be seen to be inclusive.

The Council resolves to:

Secure the use of a building within the Shepway area that has sufficient accommodation for the many hundreds of Shepway citizens, and many other interested parties, who will undoubtedly wish to attend.