Having previously raised the issue of Full Sutton and Skirpenbeck Parish Council circulating false/misleading information regards the new prison application I am pleased to see that this morning ERYC Head of Planning Stephen Hunt sent an email to FSSPC in an attempt to clarify false/misleading information they have published.

FSSPC Councillors Andrew Davies, Sarah Davies and Ruth Milling

It is inappropriate for a Parish Council to circulate information that causes extra work for ERYC. An objection submitted by the appropriate route takes minutes to process. While one sent via the method suggested by FSSPC takes over an hour.

Hopefully FSSPC will now ensure that false/misleading information on their website and all false/misleading information originating from them in “information” packs are corrected.

Email From Stephen Hunt TO FSSPC

“I write with regards to the above application and the ‘Prison Objection Documents’ on the Parish Council’s website.

I wonder if I may clarify one or two points on the ‘Instructions’ notes and the advice being given to the public regarding the submission of comments.

Firstly, the date by which comments should be submitted is not 15 February.  The consultation expiry date is currently 25 February (because we have had to carry out an additional consultation), but as you will be aware the Council does accept comments after the expiry date and up until the day before it is heard at Planning Committee.

Secondly, and as previously advised by James Chatfield a few weeks ago and myself during the meeting with the Parish Council on Monday, it would assist us greatly if comments were not sent to the case officer (Susan Hunt).  My reason for this request has also been posted on the Facebook page, but essentially sending comments direct to the case officer creates delay and double handling.  We are trying to process comments as quickly as possible and the quickest way for comments to be published is through Public Access.  If emails are sent, the email address for any correspondence and comments is beverley.dc@eastriding.gov.uk  We have a dedicated team managing this email address who will redact any sensitive information and place the comment in the planning file ready for the case officer to read and publish.

Additionally there is no need to send responses to Alan Menzies as this leads to further duplication and delay particularly with the double handling or even triple handling of responses!

Thirdly, the note gives a Planning Committee date of 7 March. No date has yet been set for the application to be heard at Planning Committee. It is likely that the determination of the application will be extended beyond the 13 week period.  

I hope this clarifies matters.  I am not trying to discourage responses, but wish to encourage them to be submitted in the most efficient way so that we can publish them as quickly as possible.  By doing so we can also address some of the concerns locally regarding the time that it is taking to process comments.”