A Conservative councillor has accused the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion of not giving equal support to the different communities in her constituency.
Councillor Anne Meadows, who represents Patcham and Hollingbury, spoke out after Caroline Lucas gave her support to residents fighting plans to redevelop a derelict site in Beaconsfield Road.
In contrast, Councillor Meadows said that the MP was not publicly supporting neighbours fighting Royal Mail’s plans to build a new sorting office on council-owned farmland in Patcham in the same way.
But Ms Lucas said: “I have been taking action since November 2021 on behalf of constituents with concerns about Royal Mail plans to develop the Patcham Court Farm site to support them.”
In a letter to the MP, Councillor Meadows said: “I couldn’t help comparing that (support for Beaconsfield Road residents) to the lack of public support you have given to residents in Patcham and Hollingbury who are opposed to the 24-hour development proposed on virgin, green land off Vale Avenue.
“The Royal Mail development will destroy the wildlife in the area besides polluting the area’s water supply.
“It will concrete over that green land, possibly causing further flooding on the Old London Road.
“It will also be a noisy operation with 24 hours of vehicle movements and is next door to a conservation area. This will affect hundreds of residents who live in this area.
“Would you be able to explain your reason for not publicly supporting the residents of Patcham and Hollingbury please?”
Councillor Meadows contrasted the public support for people campaigning against converting the Beaconsfield Road site into a car hire business because it was “brownfield” while Vale Avenue ws “greenfield” farmland.
The number of objections to Enterprise Car Hire’s plans for Beaconsfield Road has reached 159 while 859 objections have been lodged in response to the Royal Mail scheme.
Talks about the sale of the 3.6-acre Patcham Court Farm to Royal Mail by Brighton and Hove City Council were put on hold in July last year.
A deal could free two current Royal Mail sites for housing – in North Road, Brighton, and Denmark Villas, in Hove.
The planning application is still open on the council website, with Southern Water having submitted new reports in April.
Ms Lucas said that the council was responsible for planning applications and decisions but the three MPs representing Brighton and Hove could and did comment on planning applications at times.
After Councillor Meadows’s complaint about the lack of obvious support for the Patcham Against Royal Mail campaign, Ms Lucas emailed residents with a promise to keep them updated with her actions against the plans.
In response to Councillor Meadows’s comments, Ms Lucas said: “While individual planning applications are the responsibility of Brighton and Hove City Council, I have been taking action since November 2021 on behalf of constituents with concerns about Royal Mail plans to develop the Patcham Court Farm site to support them.
“Royal Mail has so far failed to adequately answer the residents’ questions I have put to them and it’s vital that clear and accurate information is in the public domain so it can be properly scrutinised by the local community.
“Unless Royal Mail addresses the many valid questions and concerns residents are raising in the assessments they assure me they are working on, I will be submitting a formal objection.
“I’ve also contacted Southern Water on behalf of constituents who are concerned about aspects of the plans relating to the impact on water supply and Brighton and Hove City Council about lease arrangements at the site.”
No date has been set for the planning application and any property deal to go before councillors.
Anne Meadows is a fine one to offer lectures on consistency. She used to be a Labour councillor until she was deselected, at which point she suddenly discovered that she’d always been a Tory!
Councillor Anne Meadows, during the latest Housing meeting on the 21st of June, took a shot at homeless people with a statement that then required the good councillor to be reminded of the language used should remain respectful. In this – I find her very hypocritical.
The so called homeless put them on a train and send them back to where they came. Perhaps millionaire Lucas can accommodate them with her many houses here and abroad.
And that would be illegal, John.
Local planning issues (aka NIMBYs moaning) are matters for the council, not our member of parliament.
Councillor attacks MP for not doing councillor’s job
Councillor attacks MP for not publicly supporting her resident’s. Two things came out of the article , one: Caroline Lucas won’t support residents in Patcham and two; She reveals she knows about the secret deals the council are doing with the Royal Mail.
Conspiracy time. Does bill gates have anything to do with this one?
Let’s face it, both schemes should be approved. Bunch of NIMBY nonsense. Why do we have 3 royal mail depots which means 3 times as many HGVs when 1 dedicated site next to the motorway would be a lot more environmentally friendly?
Answer: Because 2 neighbours of some scrubland may see a few extra cars…
Why can’t enterprise get a proper yard and are forced into using multiple sites that causes traffic issues, because 5 people run a lame clicky bar in a disused shop underneath a busy railway on what use to be a very busy builders merchants. Mind blowing tbh that anyone takes these people seriously.
Both arguments against the developments are genuinely equally pathetic. So to be fair, it’s a good point to ask why Lucas isn’t all over both of them equally.