...and in reply

Dear Riverside Development,

Thank you for the answers that you have provided. The content of your reply has been posted to our blog http://riversideaction.blogspot.com where it has been divided to match the questions, but is otherwise unaltered.

It seems surprising that so much is still to be decided, particularly given the publicly stated completion date of 2011. We were disappointed that there was no detail on areas such as the population assessment (hardly a confidential document); surely these exist? Given the lack of detail and the statement "...the information that we have available to date on this project." it seems that the question must be asked, who exactly is driving this project - the Council or the developer?

While we appreciate that the Council has finite funding, surely it should put those funds into services that the public want, rather than what the Council thinks the public wants. As we have pointed out previously, we are not against changes to the Riverside complex. We are however very much against any attempt to 'railroad' the process.

It is pleasing to see a reiteration of the undertaking to hold a proper round of public consultation. This, it must be said, is in stark contrast to the repeated assertion by Cllr. Whitehead, delivered in the Council chamber, that the public had already had their say, so further consultation was unnecessary.

On a final note, it is a shame, that after the refusal to answer our questions because messages were not originating from a single identifiable individual, the reply has come from a 'faceless' address rather than an identifiable Council officer - surely we have the right to know with whom we are dealing - yet more double standards perhaps.


Yours faithfully

R Brotherton
(On behalf of the Riverside Action Group)

cc Cllr. Whitehead