In response to Cllr Meredith-Edwards's description of me as back-seat driver I wonder why, if we are 'two a penny' as he comments, there are not more of us in the public gallery?

I would prefer to call myself a spectator who sees most of the game. As he does not usually attend council meetings outside full council, Cllr Meredith-Edwards will not have been present at the last two Development Control (planning) meetings. The second was a continuation of the first meeting as this had to be adjourned for a week because of unfinished business. At the end of the original meeting Cllr Norman Stevens commented that he hoped the new council (to be elected on May 5) would take much more time over planning decisions with longer debates. Heaven forbid!

What matters is not the length of the debate but its quality. Members should give more thought to speaking without repetition, deviation or hesitation and if they need role models, then they have the planning officers. Peter Williams, in particular, has the enviable gift of clarifying complex technical matters succinctly. In contrast, many of the councillors mumble, repeat themselves, and ask for clarification of matters already explained in the accompanying application papers. When they also forget to switch on their microphones their words are lost, further muddling the debate. There were two cases in point in the last meetings.

The first, Rose Cottage at Ellwood, was an application for demolition of a cottage and the subsequent permission to erect two new houses. The applicant made an emotional appeal on behalf of an elderly relative, but applications should not be granted on compassionate grounds as these can rapidly change.

Cllr Thomas, as ward member, recommended refusal, citing the views of West Dean Parish Council. He then, quite clearly, reserved the right to sum up.

Cllr Hale, the other ward member, put forward a proposition but what it was no-one in the public gallery could hear and, it appears, neither could several councillors.

Cllr Thomas was refused the right to sum up on the grounds that the chairman had not heard his request. The result was that some councillors voted for a proposition that they were unclear about and on an application for which they have said, later, they had not intended to grant permission.

This is a shambles and no way to decide planning applications that affect people's lives. There is a glimmer of hope for the protesters because the existing cottage is home to a European protected species of bat, something determined by an ecological survey. Before any development can proceed a licence from Natural England has to be issued and their spokesman has commented that they have never known a colony survive when moved from an old building where conditions and food are perfect for it to thrive.

The second debacle was at the adjourned meeting. The officers' recommendation was for permission to erect a double garage in Bream but, by chance, it was again Cllr Thomas who spoke first and proposed refusal.

He failed to find a seconder so the proposal failed. During the ensuing debate every councillor who spoke said they were against granting permission yet none had seconded Cllr Thomas's motion to refuse. Eventually Cllr Stevens said that if Cllr Thomas would propose the motion again, he would second it but then quickly remarked that he would prefer deferment to a subsequent meeting.

Cllr Thomas agreed to propose deferment but this was followed by a complicated debate over suggestions to the applicant on how to revise his application. In spite of Peter Williams's request for specific advice for him to pass on, this took considerable time to elicit. The result was that councillors spent three-quarters of an hour over something that could have been resolved in a few minutes.

These events are by no means unusual and it is apparent that the procedure needs overhauling so that all councillors understand thoroughly what they are voting for and can debate it coherently. Perhaps it is time for any

motion and/or amendments to be displayed on the electronic screens, as they are on occasion at full council.

- Daphne Pearson, Tinman's Green, Redbrook.