A Burntwood community group has been explaining why they refused to be part of a link-up they proposed between groups across the Lichfield district area.
The Lichfield District Residents’ Alliance has seen groups covering Beacon Street area, Borrowcop and District, Hammerwich, Leomansley, Streethay, Fradley and South Lichfield come together to oppose the scale of development proposed in the Core Strategy and Local Development Framework currently being drawn up by Lichfield District Council.
But Burntwood Action Group (BAG) have refused to join the Alliance, citing differences with others involved.
According to the group, they proposed the creation of the Alliance for:
- Sharing ideas and developing strategies to present a coherent and unified case to Lichfield District Council for the preservation of Lichfield District’s green land.
- Ensuring that actions taken by member Groups were mutually supportive and never contradictory.
But now the group have questioned the actions of others involved in the Alliance.
A statement on the BAG website said:
“Our decision to withdraw from the Alliance is based solely on the manner in which the new Alliance was set up and is now run. The letter addressed to individual Councillors [by the Alliance], which we counselled against, is toned down from the original draft, but its hostile, dictatorial tone still makes it unlikely to generate a positive response. Also the integrity of the Council Leader is still questioned. We completely disassociate ourselves from this letter.
“Burntwood and Hammerwich Action Group has stayed within the Alliance but will maintain its individuality and will continue to work with us to present a unified front against development on our surrounding green land.
“We are saddened to have left the Alliance in the hands of those who adopt a bludgeoning approach to negotiation. But we give Burntwood people the assurance that we will continue to fight, on their behalf, to keep as much as possible of our surrounding green land. We will always try to lobby for support using well researched and reasoned arguments and welcome any constructive ideas from residents.”
Lichfield District Residents’ Alliance chairman David Woods hit back at the criticism from BAG.
He told The Lichfield Blog:
“We were sorry that Burntwood Action Group decided to leave the Alliance. Their views were out of step with the other seven residents groups comprising the Alliance. If their views change then we would be happy to see them return.
‘The Alliance approach to challenging the excessive and irrational proposal to build 8,000 houses between 2006 and 2026 is not dictatorial – only 3,000 or so are needed for indigenous growth. It is difficult to understand how BAG can pronounce authoratatively on the letter we sent to councillors since they did not see the final draft.”
