Hansard

It is a live planning application. Having pondered that, I really cannot see how it would be correct for us to interfere in a process in which a clear set of rules has been established and the petitioners and others can submit their objections to the local authority for consideration within the determination. We want to reach out to help petitioners in every case. However, in this instance, and this particular circumstance, I cannot see how—other than by interfering with legitimate existing proceedings—it would be for us to seek review of an on-going process. If people are dissatisfied at the end of it, they can lodge a further petition to Parliament on the perceived defects in that process. We have considered applications of that ilk before. Lastly, I want to record that I am very grateful to the council for taking the time to give us an extensive briefing, not least on misinformation in the BBC’s reporting of the issue, which is unfortunate. I just wanted to allude to that while expressing our thanks to the council for pointing it out to us