John Mann’s latest self-serving campaign against the Conservative District Council has cost Worksop the chance of a new development and over 1000 jobs.

When the Planning Committee voted against the proposed ASDA development at the old Vesuvius works, Mann saw a self-promotion opportunity and adpoted his default stance of running squealing to the Press, a stance which caused him to be criticised by the Commons Standards and Priveleges Committee recently. He also called a public meeting where he spread his ususal lies and disinformation.

Now, Planning Applications are refused often, when the Committee is unhappy with some aspects of the application. In the normal course of events, the Applicant will lodge an appeal and address the concerns of the Committee and the Application will generally then be granted. However, John Mann has politicised this application, and the result of the application being granted would see John Mann crowing about a great victory that his campaign has had in saving the development.

The members of the Planning Committee will be well aware of this. So what do you think the chances are of this application skating through the appeals process as it probably would have done if Mann had not become involved? None, frankly. Mann’s outrageous action will have the effect of causing the application to be scrutinised to the quantum level and in all probablity being refused.

The Planning Committee refused the initial application for good reason. Now they are being vilified in the Press by Mann, forcing them to justify their quite legal and reasonable refusal and pushing them into taking a hard line due to the added political dimension.

The net result is that this development is now probably lost to Worksop, at least in the short term, thanks to Mann’s actions.

Unless a White Knight can provide a solution.

There is a letter in this week’s Worksop Guardian entitled ‘Mann is just misleading us’

The letter is reproduced in full:

I see that MP John Mann has, yet again, been trying to mislead local residents over planning issues.

As both a local resident and planning professional, I get very irritated when straightforward processes are twisted for what I assume are political ends.

Maybe it’s an attempt to cover up the fact that he has no ideas of  his own about how he thinks his Government’s housing targets (that’s right – they’re imposed on local councils from above) should be met.

I’ve read the same documents he talks about, and they don’t show major development in the villages or propose this Kilton development he keeps banging on about.

So let’s keep things in perspective, shall we, and stop this underhand campaign of disinformation.

Just what we’ve been saying all along!