COULD someone explain the point of Cllr Morgan's "stinging attack" on those who oppose the Cinderford Northern Quarter development plan? (Review w/e December 2) The Government's Inspector has completed his examination of the proposals, but is not due to report back until the New Year, so the matter is now in his hands and there's nothing to be gained from "slagging off the critics". 

 The way in which Cllr Morgan describes the site is also extremely odd; almost surreal. I know it well, but I doubt many people would recognise the place from his description of it as 'virtually waste land', 'little more than slag heaps', 'nothing much more than mudstone' and 'certainly not beautiful'. And I've no idea why he raises the point about it once being occupied by pits – if we take that as a good reason for development, we'd be building on half the Forest!

It's true that the area is not entirely beautiful (there's a disused clay pit, which could easily be landscaped), but some parts, such as around the lake, are certainly very attractive and tranquil.

If the rest were to be planted with trees, it would look no different to anywhere else in the Forest. However you describe it though, there's no getting away from the fact that the council's proposals will result in the destruction of around 11 hectares of Statutory Forest – including the construction of a major new road through woodland.

 I'm afraid that Cllr Morgan just doesn't seem to grasp the fact that, far from being misguided, many people who object to the council's plan do so because they recognise aspects of it are deeply flawed. There's virtually nothing in it, for example, that demonstrates any real requirement for development on this scale.

When there are council-owned units on Forest Vale Industrial Estate that have been vacant for over 12 months, why do we need more? When there are hotels and B&Bs in the Forest that are already struggling, what's the point in building a new 80 bedroom hotel that will pull trade away from them? When we have a perfectly well located college, what's the point in moving it? When we already have a prime industrial location at Northern United Colliery, what's the point in erasing it, just to build another?

I could go on, but I think the most important point of all is this: when we already have so many vacant plots within Cinderford (Estate Road, etc), why do we need to whittle away at the Statutory Forest?

– Shauna Gwynne.