The bad news: On Friday 18th September the full council voted by 20 to 16 to progress the Plan to its second public consultation.
The good news: the number of councillors who voted against the Plan increased massively, from two earlier this year. Also, there were 7 did-not-votes and one abstention. This shows that there is a big swing against the Plan amongst councillors.
This petition, signed by over 1,100 people, more than half of whom are residents of Wealden District, undoubtedly made a difference. The Leader of the council, Rachel Millward, mentioned the petition at the meeting and it contributed to councillors being made aware of the strength of feeling that exists against the dangerous and destructive overdevelopment that is being forced on this District by central government.
We may have lost a battle but we have not yet lost the war. There will be one more full council vote, on whether to put the plan forward to the Inspectorate, after the consultation ends in November. Please keep abreast of developments on the Save Wealden from Overdevelopment Team (SWOT) Facebook page.