The meeting was lively and acrimonious as far as Cllr. Curran was concerned, he doesn't help himself, he is by turns, dismissive of other's views, sarcastic and patronising, and got roundly and soundly booed nearly every-time he spoke.Representatives from Brentford Community Council, The Green Party and other local organisations made excellent points and raised sensible and probing questions, none of which appeared to have answers from the panels. I thought the (in)famous Sarah Ruane who we have also had to deal with over our park saga frankly made an idiot of herself. After banging on about how the council had no money and squeezed budgets, she then proceeded to say that if this school plans went ahead then the remainder of the park might get all this fabulous equipment, begged the question where was the money for this if they haven't got any? She also waxed lyrical about how this particular part of the borough was rich in green spaces so used that as some justification for snaffling some rather than the council having to maintain them. It became abundantly clear that this application for a school would turn into something permanent after this 'temporary' plan. If it really is only a two year temporary fix where exactly will the children who go there be put after the two years is up? The representative from Floreat, very full of herself, assured the understandably anxious parents of local children they had several contingency plans but these are akin to a State secret so she couldn't possibly say anything! No-one could tell the meeting why the old Acton Lodge site wasn't a suitable location for the school, 'it just isn't so there' seemed to be the response. When people are presented with a planning application that has already been recommended for approval they are bound to be very cynical and rightly so. Although assurances were given that a report of last night's meeting would be an addendum to the committee report for members I didn't see one single officer making notes or taking Minutes, so that should be interesting. Clearly this council are not to be trusted an inch where looking after our green spaces are concerned, they are an arrogant, self righteous, mealy mouthed bunch at best. None of the councillors present came out of last night with any credit at all, a little humility wouldn't go amiss, just try talking to people that's all they need to do, people can see through a stitch-up a mile off, and that's what this is.
Vanessa Smith ● 3903d