You mentioned recently that “a newspaper’s role in the community it serves includes holding councillors to account for their actions – particularly with regard to… public property they are custodians of”.

The approval by South Hams District Council’s development management committee of the latest planning application of The High Nature Centre for a permanent roundhouse to be built on a greenfield site is a recent example of councillors making decisions about the East Portlemouth Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Heritage Coast that completely ignore the professional advice of the council planning department, as well as the wishes of the local community.

The parish council had objected to the application. The planning department had also been unequivocal in its recommendation to decline – as it was with the original application for a temporary structure – on the grounds that the roundhouse would represent a permanent and incongruous building, unsupported by any business justification, in a highly sensitive landscape.

The development committee chose to ignore and contradict all this, as it did for the original proposal, and approved the application.

Is this democracy at work, where the decision makers are guided by the professional judgement of planners and local wishes?

Or is it a case of blatant cronyism and political patronage, where the local ward councillor, in this case Cllr Julian Brazil, can exercise his powers of persuasion over other councillors on the committee through the influence he can bring to bear on decisions in other wards, and in doing so can obtain what he personally wants for his ward voter, regardless of what planners and the community have to say?

If this is the case as it appears, what is the point of having planning regulation, planners and local opinion if they are to be completely ignored by decision makers who fail to exercise their responsibilities in safeguarding the AONB and Heritage Coast?

Cllr Brazil should be held to account by this newspaper and the community at large on this and other decisions he has made on planning applications which are particularlly environmentally and community sensitive and where he has influenced the democratic system of decision-making and supported private interests at the expense of the public good.

And in this particular case and in other cases too, the applicant reaps the benefit from the rise in land value resulting from the planning decision – which can amount to a small fortune – without being required to make any recompense to the AONB, the council or the local community.

Explain your actions, Cllr Brazil.

G Fitzgerald

Parkhurst Road, Torquay