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Public should be consulted

THE exchange of letters between local residents concerned about the construction of high voltage pylons near to their homes and China Light and Power, raises doubts about the whole public consultation exercise.

When Friends of the Earth (FoE) complained to the Ombudsman last year about the construction of power lines, gas pipelines, road and other major developments through Country Park land, one of the key points of complaint was the lack of consultation.

The Administration maintains that a wide public consultation exercise with concerned groups and residents was carried out in all cases. The present controversy would suggest otherwise.

The terms of reference of public consultation need to be reviewed. So often consultation is done too late after irreversible decisions have already been made.

Objections to environmentally damaging projects are routinely overruled, and the existing advisory and decision-making bodies have discussions behind closed doors.

If the public had been given the full facts at an early stage in the planning process, many of the problems that have only just come to light could have been avoided.

Public consultation should not be viewed as a necessary evil or a sop to concern groups, but as an integral part of the planning process which can actually produce a more environmentally acceptable scheme.

MEI NG Friends Of The Earth

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