Marc McLean at The Lennox Herald devotes half a page to the Judicial Review verdict. The article doesn’t appear to be online so if you click on the thumbnails below, you’ll be able to read it.
My own quote is as follows:
“Those of us concerned about Dumbarton Town Centre have said for years that
our own local authority has not acted in the best interests of regeneration
of the area. At last someone with the means to challenge this has come along
and we now have judicial proof of the modus operandi at work in the council
particularly amongst the officers. It is my sincere hope that this is the
beginning of a new era for the regeneration of the town. Business for
Dumbarton is not seeking preferential treatment, just fairness within the
law and a genuine desire to build a better Dumbarton.”
I am totally with Peter Dolan in his comments which centre on us all working together. As I have said before an anchor store (be that a Tesco or whatever) in the town centre will present its own challenges to the independents but we have realised that in this climate, bigger stores are a necessary part of bringing people back into a town centre. The alternative was the further development at St. James and Jermon’s plans and continued investment being put in jeopardy.
I sincerely hope that there is no appeal to this decision which will condemn stakeholders to further rancour and disagreement over an extended period. That will take up time that we simply don’t have. The departure of the WDC Director of Planning offers the opportunity of a new start and a new approach.
We also hope that Jermon will support us in the quest for improving access to the High Street where they have done such a good renovation job on the old Co-op building. Watch this space.
