I WAS very disappointed to read Cllr Bruce Hogan write so disparagingly about Andrew Gardiner in last week's Review.

Andrew is a good man who loves this Forest and is not afraid to stand up to his colleagues if he believes it necessary to do so.

I also attended the planning meeting that considered the Cinderford Northern Quarter application and what Cllr Hogan fails to appreciate is that, what he describes as 'boorish behaviour' from Cllr Gardiner and the public gallery, was in reality a manifestation of genuine frustration at the committee's failure to properly consider important aspects of this application and its horrendously inappropriate location.

Objectors were also unhappy with the report presented to members of the planning committee, which Cllr Hogan refers to.

Important and well-reasoned objections were reduced to bullet points while the supposed benefits of the application were detailed at some length.

No weight was attached to the lack of public support for the project (there were only two letters in favour and 359 objections) and highly significant points for consideration, some of which should quite correctly be tested in law but received virtually no mention whatsoever.

Is Cllr Hogan aware, for example, that this development  contravenes a public access agreement signed by the council and the Minister for Agriculture in 1992?

This is a important legal document and its contravention constitutes a serious infringement yet its existence receives only the briefest mention in the report and the matter was not discussed by the committee.

It is precisely because of issues like this that more than 7,000 people have now signed a petition calling on the Secretary of State to intervene and hold a public inquiry.

Cllr Hogan says he is entirely satisfied that the decision to award planning permission was arrived at democratically.

He is only right insofar as the decision was taken by democratically elected councillors and it  would be a serious  misjudgement to assume there is anything like widespread public support for this project.

– Alan Powell, Parkend.